That said, you make a good argument for why status:q sees it to be in their best interest to ban psychoactive substances. Monotheism and government are fundamentally the same phenomenon: the generation of a rigid central structure of authority that acts as a sink for responsibility. What I disagree with is the idea that the members of any given government have this reasoning; I would argue that it is not any given person in government who wants power (the power is not particularly useful, in government; a small business owner might have more social status and control with slightly fewer headaches and roughly equivalent lobbying benefits) — it is the concept of government that seeks to stay in power. Psychoactive substances allow a greater level of introspection, and introspection is dangerous to memes that are essentially toxic, particularly ones that require the extermination of competing memes and their carriers (capitalism and communism, for instance, or most monotheistic religions; more or less any dogma that suggests that opposing ideas be silenced or that those who disagree be killed will fit this criteria, particularly given the essentially neophobic essence of these doctrines. Psychoactive substances are too direct and could easily be eliminated, but slow infection has proven to degrade the most authoritarian elements of most of these).

And why is using a drug the only way to achieve that?

This article was written with an insight and eloquence that is rare to see on the web today. Excellent article! Ethenogens are a powerful and insightful tool for expanding awareness beyond our normal condition. My use of mushrooms, LED and salvia, while rare and occasional, have given me a perspective on life and existence that simply is not attainable to those who have not tried them. They are NOT for recreation, they are much too powerful and unpleasant for that purpose. They open doors in your consciuosness that are much more than simple hallucinations or mind tricks. In fact, I believe that our normal reality is the true illusion.

The fact is, government and religion, while initially founded in good faith, over time become institutions which succumb to one of man’s worst attibutes… ambition. The ambitious become enamored with the power of the institution, and that in turn attracts more like-minded, until an untameable beast is created.

A few snakes soon becomes a pit of them. The pit becomes the Monster.

While I have no argument that the institutions of government, and especially that of religion (ESPECIALLY monotheistic relion) understand the nature of ethenogens and the threat they pose to their beloved bureacracy very well, it must be further realized that these organizations create other actions that cause our society great harm. War, discrimination, and social inequalities are all results of the powerful and their power-hungry conciliators. While ethenogens can help one reveal that, if one dares to look for the truth, they alone cannot turn evil into good.

We have much growing to do as a species. As I age, I realize more and more that Man is a very child-like creature. I’m afraid our abilty to breed unchecked and our technological progress of destroying each other and our environment quickly outpaces our ability to gain wisdom. With 7 billion people on the planet, we are at the brink of collapse. From what? Name it… nuclear war, bilogical war, global pandemic, climate change, mass starvation, economic collapse… we are facing threats that we enevitably come to fruition due to our igorance.

Maybe, if some small bands of us survive, we can return to the way of life from which we ascended, as small tribes eeking out a meager, but sustainable living from the land. Only them will we bee free from the prison we have built for ourselves called “civilization”.

Obstrep: I think you describe pretty accurately the situation we currently have. It’s called the US health care system.

Keith: Whatever. When you can spell capitalism, then (maybe) I’ll believe you actually understand how it works.