Austin Improv

Read page F again.

"United Nations Estimates of Annual Drug Consumption".

Again, those figures are worldwide.



--edit. Saw your latest post. So according to these new figures 1 out of 43 people have tried pot. Not 1 out of 2.

mpbrockman wrote:

MitchellD wrote:If the majority of the U.S. has used it, why is it illegal?

For the same reason people vote GOP when it's clearly not in their best economic interests. "Values", "morals", the deeply Puritanical streak in America that fears above all that somebody, somewhere is having a good time. These are the same people who vote for the candidate that's going to slash their pensions, eliminate their right to collectively bargain etc. because they promise to put the 10 Commandments on the courthouse lawn.

Eh, I've done this rant in more detail here.

(Also Don't Think of an Elephant has interesting things to say about this.)



--
peter rogers @ work | http://hujhax.livejournal.com

Lord, let me always desire more then I think I can do.
      -- Michaelangelo

i really don't get why Christians are so puritanical...Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine. the guy CLEARLY liked to party!

Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell wrote:i really don't get why Christians are so puritanical...Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine. the guy CLEARLY liked to party!

The explanation that I've usually heard centers around the argument that Jesus was saving his family from social embarrassment, rather than that Jesus wanted to party hearty.

What I don't get is why the puritanical types feel the need to inflict their beliefs on the rest of us. If they'd keep their private lives private, those of us who don't agree wouldn't have to spend so much energy arguing with them. The stereotype of the "angry atheist" derives directly from the "insistent 'holier-than-thou' evangelical".

In a semi-related note, Rick Perry has called a governors' prayer meeting to be held in Houston; saying "There is hope for America... and we will find it on our knees". My gut reaction was, "Doing what? Blowing the same corporate masters you've been serving for years?"

<<<open mouth, insert ???

hujhax wrote:

mpbrockman wrote:

MitchellD wrote:If the majority of the U.S. has used it, why is it illegal?

For the same reason people vote GOP when it's clearly not in their best economic interests. "Values", "morals", the deeply Puritanical streak in America that fears above all that somebody, somewhere is having a good time. These are the same people who vote for the candidate that's going to slash their pensions, eliminate their right to collectively bargain etc. because they promise to put the 10 Commandments on the courthouse lawn.

Eh, I've done this rant in more detail here.

(Also Don't Think of an Elephant has interesting things to say about this.)

Dammit, why is it that every time I write about a subject like this, it turns out some better writer with more credentials has already written a whole effing book about it.

Oh yeah, because it let's me let off steam. Never mind.

I've always hated puritanism but I find that it's a natural evolutionary social dynamic. Perhaps it stems from the resentment of others for having more children. Or being jealous of others who can have children in the first place.

Perhaps it's just a safeguard within tribal communities to protect children of irresponsible parents.

I was walking down Bourbon Street this past Saturday, and I found myself judging the father of a small girl. "What a horrible dad, there are hookers, and drunk people, and live sex shows and this where he takes his daughter?" They walked past me on the street. I was a little tipsy. I had just walked out of a strip club. And I don't want children any time soon. Nevertheless, I was the one judging him.

mpbrockman wrote:

Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell wrote:i really don't get why Christians are so puritanical...Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine. the guy CLEARLY liked to party!

The explanation that I've usually heard centers around the argument that Jesus was saving his family from social embarrassment, rather than that Jesus wanted to party hearty.

oh, come on...goes out sailing one night with his buddies and when a storm hits, he decides to take a walk on the water then dares one of them to do it too? who HASN'T partied with that guy?

Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell wrote:

mpbrockman wrote:

Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell wrote:i really don't get why Christians are so puritanical...Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine. the guy CLEARLY liked to party!

The explanation that I've usually heard centers around the argument that Jesus was saving his family from social embarrassment, rather than that Jesus wanted to party hearty.

oh, come on...goes out sailing one night with his buddies and when a storm hits, he decides to take a walk on the water then dares one of them to do it too? who HASN'T partied with that guy?

Hell, I've been that guy. Worship me.

Seriously though, I remember asking questions about this when I was quite young ("So Jesus' first miracle was making booze?"); and the answers I was given generally avoided that whole aspect of the issue and centered instead on the social ramifications.

mpbrockman wrote: Hell, I've been that guy. Worship me.

if you heard some of the things said in the green room between the Marathon sets you accompanied, you'd be hard pressed to prove we don't already.

mpbrockman wrote:
Seriously though, I remember asking questions about this when I was quite young ("So Jesus' first miracle was making booze?"); and the answers I was given generally avoided that whole aspect of the issue and centered instead on the social ramifications.

yeah, one of the benefits of not being raised in a particular religion...i didn't have the church there to sully up my faith.

Feels like it's just a matter of time now. We are reaching a tipping point in public opinion.

"the Senate subcommitte couldn't find any evidence that the billions of dollars spent on fighting the war on drugs was actually reducing the amount of illegal narcotics that found their way into the United States"

Spots wrote:Feels like it's just a matter of time now. We are reaching a tipping point in public opinion.

"the Senate subcommitte couldn't find any evidence that the billions of dollars spent on fighting the war on drugs was actually reducing the amount of illegal narcotics that found their way into the United States"

it has done a wonder, however, for overcrowding our prison system, destroying families, creating crime, stifling medical research and hobbling our economy! so...y'know...it all balances out.

Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell wrote:

Spots wrote:Feels like it's just a matter of time now. We are reaching a tipping point in public opinion.

"the Senate subcommitte couldn't find any evidence that the billions of dollars spent on fighting the war on drugs was actually reducing the amount of illegal narcotics that found their way into the United States"

it has done a wonder, however, for overcrowding our prison system, destroying families, creating crime, stifling medical research and hobbling our economy! so...y'know...it all balances out.

Drugs - our fourth (fifth? - I understand we're bombing Yemen now) ongoing war of choice. Yippee!

Here's scary thing to ponder. What does one do with 11000 unemployed former DEA agents?

mpbrockman wrote:

Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell wrote:

Spots wrote:Feels like it's just a matter of time now. We are reaching a tipping point in public opinion.

it has done a wonder, however, for overcrowding our prison system, destroying families, creating crime, stifling medical research and hobbling our economy! so...y'know...it all balances out.

Drugs - our fourth (fifth? - I understand we're bombing Yemen now) ongoing war of choice. Yippee!

Here's scary thing to ponder. What does one do with 11000 unemployed former DEA agents?

the most kick ass truancy enforcement officers of all time!