http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-accept-the-facts-ndash-and-end-this-futile-war-on-drugs-1818167.html
Read this article a few days ago and it led me to think of my own vision of the perfect society, and that would be a society based loosely in Marxist ideology where everyone has the opportunity to try psychedelic drugs like LSD, ecstasy, mescaline and psilocybins with the guidance of therapists. Rousseau believed that 'man is born free and is everywhere in chains', talking about the constraints that society places on human freedom with laws. In my society all drugs will be legal but with the supply of the most harmful substances like heroin and cocaine heavily restricted. Hopefully with the widespread use of psychedelics, people can always unlock their own problems and thus live their lives with mostly relaxed and positive attitudes. I believe that bad things in life happen due to a chain of events effect through society. Notoriously tough areas breed crime because people start to lose belief that they can escape poverty or escape making money through crime. If everyone had respect for each other and basic human empathy then the whole of society can escape the negative cycle of endless crime and law enforcement. Confucius said people are born good and evil people are led astray by society, and that in the ideal society everyone accepts their place and do the best they can within that place.
What about concerns like that everyone will become lazy if drugs were readily available? Well I accept in the short term productivity may fall, but that is because the capitalist society has divorced humans from their very natures. Everyone is out for their own gain but people who accrue large amounts of wealth are unhappy because to get where they are they had to screw over everyone they meet. By nature all humans have a basic level of ambition and love for others. If we all realised this again then the ideal of the Marxist society can be realised as everyone can maintain a decent living through co-operative efforts. The government can spend most of its budget on funding scientific research and education rather than things like fighting crime, social welfare and defence.
The truth is modern capitalism is a disastrous thing for the human spirit. The chains that Rousseau talked about in the mid 18th century find form today in mind numbing television, advertising bordering on the subliminal and falling education standards and attention spans. I think my ideal vision of society will never happen in reality, but in theory if everyone accepted that they want to risk some short term losses to try and achieve a better society then I think what I propose is definitely plausible.
Its a very nicely written piece but I do not agree that with the widesdespread use of psychedelics, people will unlock their own problems more - and thus live their lives with mostly relaxed and positive attitudes.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is not easy for artists and philosophers like you to live relaxed and positive lives - but many people do manage it without the use of the drugs. Indeed - there's planty of paranoid and screwed up people around on drugs as well.
This subject comes up in Plato's book 'The First Alchiabes'. It seems you want to offer solutions to the problems of society without at first sorting your own problems out (???)
- Soctrates suggests that it is not sensible to sort out other people's problems until you "know yourself" first :)
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I can see your point of view James but I think psychedelics are given a negative image in the media. It has been proven that LSD use triggers 1 episode of psychotic illness in I believe 10,000 users. I think for 98% of the population the use of psychedelics can be a great source of inspiration.
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