Anews Podcast 114 – 5.10.19

From Anews Podcast

Welcome to the anews podcast. This podcast covers anarchist activity, ideas, and conversations from the previous week on anarchistnews.org.

Editorial: Drugs? by chisel
TOTW: Drugs! with Aragorn! and friend

sound editing by Dim
what’s new was written by Jackie and narrated by Chisel and Dim
Music!
1) Minor Threat – In My Eyes
2) Eduard Khil – The Trololo Song
3) Replicants – Just What I Needed




There are 9 Comments

i am basically in the mindset as chisel with regards to drugs. nettle’s case by case pragmatic approach seems sensible.

a!’s hesitancy points to a larger truth that he did not make explicit, because he was asking questions to nettle.

the thing is “ideally” a lot of drugs (including specific food products) wouldn’t or shouldn’t exist.
“Ideally” people would not have problems with drug abuse (or any kind of problems). but drugs exist, gross treats like twinkies exist, nuclear bombs exist.
how can each deal with this world is what’s relevant.

“don’t do drugs.” seems to be a simple one phrase fool proof guideline to avoid drug problems, except it’s just like preaching “abstinence” when it comes to sex. yet “sex education” as complex as it can be, is simpler than all the material regarding all of the drugs, fortunately each person is not interested in taking all of them. also, as a side note, an unwanted pregnancy is arguably worse than a “bad trip”, or even a dependency on some drugs.

what wasn’t discussed as much (i mean the podcast can only be so long) is the specific social contexts that pressure certain drug uses. like work. i’d use less coffee or none if i didnt have to wake up early, or do boring tasks all day, or stay up late. people might not need medicine for migranes, headaches and allergies if office environment wasn’t dusty with flourescent lights and computer screens, etc. sendentarism, sugar, obesity. eating fattening foods and drinking beer as a hobby/social event, or the isolation and sedentarism of video streaming services.

if more people had better friends and peers that looked out for each other, if growing up people had less traumas and stress, then problenatic drug use would decrease.

but framing it as a public health problem (instead of a ???) implies management and governance, surveillance and invasive control to some degree or another.

so i dunno.

more common. people binge because they don't know when they'll get them again, and binging leads to addiction. this is a known thing for decades among at least some people.
so yea, yet another reason to be against government control.
'cause we needed one, amirite?

together with narcotics (cocaine/crack, opioids, meth) as "drugs" replicates enemy ideology. 2 cases in point:

Why has research found that the "drugs" LSD and psilocybin, used in high doses with appropriate intent, to be the most effective treatment ever found for drug/alcohol addiction? "Drugs" to treat drug addiction?

As is widely known, "savages" (i.e. normal or hunter-gatherer-permaculturist humans) work with psychedelics if they are available in their particular ecosystem. They do NOT, however, make or use alcohol. It is hardly rocket science to ferment fruit, grain, or tubers, but no one bothers. Neither did opium poppy cultivation/opium dens spread like wildfire among the "savages"/normal humans of Eurasia like the use of the bow and arrow did around 30,000 years ago. Alcohol only shows up with the consolidation of slavery/agricultural toil.
"Savages"/normal humans do not exist in mass slave "societies", do not suffer from a 5000-10,000 year accumulation of epigenetic damage, and are able to meet their real needs (eliminating the "need" for pathological substitutes).

It should be noted here that use of true psychedelics is HIGHLY context-dependent. In our present mass slave "society", access to psychedelics is far more widespread than the understanding of why they were given to us.

This is not me talking to A! here, just to be clear.

Carry on.

oh, i thought it sounded like neo, turns out it was. but that's not what show description says. thanks for clarifying

Okay so maybe I'm just another spectator/consumer/critic of Anews, but even though I love most of the content, it is sometime inaudible or spoken to rapidly (thus I often try in vain back up to the part I missed). Set that aside for a moment as that is not my central point. Have you not considered posting a text since so much of it is scripted anyway? It comes and goes too fast not unlike all too many other social interactions these days. You folks are exceptional but I want me and those I refer to it to be able to savor and have time to think about these often times profound reflections of anarchist media and events.

i have thought about it, mostly for some of the editorials, but decided against because speaking things/hearing them is different from reading them. the expectations are different. the feel is different. i will check in with others but i am pretty decided about text not being right for it.

i will remind the readers to slow down and speak up. an on-going struggle.

good feedback, thanks.
edit: it might work better to ask for a specific piece. for example, some of the editorial writers could be fine with putting their pieces up. but you'd have to check re: that particular piece and author.

edit 2: ha: rocinante's point too! and also, thanks for the kind words. i always forget that part.

I was referring to the "What's New This Week" part more than the editorials, but yea.... I can read slower than they talk, then contemplate it. Thank!

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