There are a lot of barely functioning people out there who aren’t imbibing anything. Surely they should be jailed too.
Oh? We expect them to take drugs? What a country!
There are a lot of barely functioning people out there who aren’t imbibing anything. Surely they should be jailed too.
Oh? We expect them to take drugs? What a country!
I re-read the Brooks article but, in my mind, replaced all the pot references/lingo with ones about Circle Jerking and masturbation.
It’s a slightly more sensible article that way, imo.
Ya, I figured at least even odds that it was, but I figured it didn’t matter because it was still funny, considering how he comes across in his columns.
Still, I have the unfortunate feeling that what people will remember is the parody kerfuffle and not that Brooks is still an authority worshipping toady not worth reading.
I am against imprisoning people for almost all drugs. If legal we will have a repeat similar that of the alcohol prohibition repeal which had provided big bucks for illegal sources. As for grass, I smoked it in the 70’s and also smoked regular cigarettes. I quit smoking cigarettes and now wonder if all hot inhalants could trigger lung problems.
how can you compare a great thinker like DAVID BROOKS with some also ran rocket scientist?
Well, we could certainly use more drugs that make humorless, officious pedants like Brooks seem funnier…
Fungus amungus …also a crime
and don’t forget!
Even quitting booze can kill you.
Alcohol is one of the few drugs that will kill you when going cold turkey.
Sudden withdrawal from drugs such as alcohol, benzodiazepines and barbiturates can be extremely dangerous, leading to potentially fatal seizures. In long-term alcoholics, going cold turkey can cause life-threatening delirium tremens and thus is not an appropriate method for breaking an alcohol addiction.
I suspect that Brooks is to culture what prescriptivists are to language: empirically vacuous and largely worthless to the actual study of language (except the super-important project of bolting bits of Latin grammar onto English, because Classics).
I’m a fan of the UChicago ‘great books’ approach; but it has unfortunate effects on some percentage of the class. The ones who absorb the ‘here are some enduring and enlightening texts that will enrich your understanding’ message are fine. The ones who append ‘because they are basically the highest expressions of Culture and everything else is degenerate drivel’ you just give thanks that they aren’t majoring in something like Econ that will probably place them at the levers of too much power and avoid them socially from then on…
It’s important that a few do. What would we rub in the faces of the squalid masses of those who don’t if it were otherwise? So long as at least one rags to riches story is available, God’s Favorite Nation remains a Meritocracy, free of the taint of hereditary privilege or social bias!
Rarely do I wish that I can push the “Like” button more than once. So well said. Thank you.
The danger of drug use depends on the circumstances. It’s particularly dangerous when the drug is very common. When everybody is using the same mind-altering chemicals, everybody will be making the same mistakes. When a drug is common it’s possible for people to float through college in a semi-conscious haze and make up for that after graduation by getting their ideas from people who were just as stoned.
When a drug is rare, it’s possible for someone to get a unique insight from it. When the drug is common that will be the same insight as everybody else.
Yes. This even applies to caffeine. In 2012, I voted for someone who didn’t use caffeine. I figure somebody has to avoid caffeine—just in case it has some bad effects—and I’m glad the Mormons have volunteered so I don’t have to.
Actually, I might have. (Former classmate of his, though I have no recollection of the git from that time.)
What makes using pot or other drugs a “lesser pleasure”? Just because it tingles your receptors directly and not indirectly through different experiences (which can be harder to accomplish if you, for example, suffer from clinical depression)?
I’ve never understood the people who smugly imply that they’re better people than us drugs users because they can enjoy life without the use of drugs. Well, good for you! I still want to use the drugs, though. I can also do all the other awesome things in life, like have sex, spend time with loved ones and be in nature, and at the same time get the pleasure of various state-altering drugs.
Opiates are my favorites. Why couldn’t I just use them the rest of my life? When the product is clean and it’s administred safely and in reasonable doses, opiates are very safe. The only problem is the fear of not getting the drugs and having to go through withdrawal (sucky, I tell you). But that would not be a problem if it they were legal. People use opiates for pain very safely, why couldn’t the same be done for people who want to use it to improve their life?
I’m a much happier person, now that I’m a daily opiate user. I went through a couple of years long phase of psychedelics, stimulants, dissociatives and weed, but I’ve now mostly settled down with various opiates (with maybe the occasional stimulant), which simply feel the best. I’m actually able to function. I have energy to do things. I feel motivated to study and improve myself. I don’t have panic attacks. I’m not anxious. I can actually be around people and talk to them. I’ve made friends. It’s great. So what’s the problem?
Is it because it’s “cheating”? Sometimes it feels like some people are jealous that drug users are able to feel good, and would rather have us suffer instead. Because it’s “natural”. Well, if it’s natural to be depressed and anxious every living moment because your past was fucked up and you were bullied and raped, then fuck natural. Some people are lucky enough to be able to feel okay. But for us that are hindered by crappy experiences, isn’t it better to cheat so we can be productive members of the society?
Now, it’s worth noting that not every person uses drugs to be able to function, but all do it in order to feel better or do better, in some way. Sometimes the risks certainly outweight the benefits, but most often it’s the other way around - and that should be for the user to decide, anyway.
Now that’s a strange thought. A drug doesn’t inspire same thoughts in everyone. Not only does everyone react differently to each drug, but the insights depend wholly on what goes in your brain and what experiences you’ve managed to scoop up in the there. This is especially true for psychedelics, but also weed and other psychoactives.
That’s also how bad experiences while tripping happen. It’s not because of some “bad batch”, it’s because there were more troubling thoughts tucked away in the corners of your mind than you thought, and you weren’t quite prepared to face them.
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