Oh and @Voyager: would you have preferred that I wait until I sent a lot more posts before I began to insult a good chunk of the world by saying that Christianity and political conservatism are retarded?

I must now bow down to you, oh wise one who has posted much.

I completely agree with you on your observations of politics and the psychedelic experience. However, politics will not go away in our lifetime. In order to change our current reality we need to operate within our current reality.

Say no more.

I'm confused. What system of government are all of you proposing that would not be political? Kinda sounds to me like culture without art, or music without sound - the two are so intermeshed they are more or less indivisible...

And insofar as politics "going away" - again, it's sort of like saying that culture could "go away". The only way either of these would disappear is if everyone decided to live on their own self-sufficiently and with no contact with any other human beings...

Unless someone has a novel, viable system of government to propose?

JBArk

Nobody is in control, the idea that your voice doesn't count is the biggest lie ever conceived. People are apathetic and then complain that the country sucks? Does that outcome surprise anyone?

YOU go up to D.C. and see how successful you are with getting psychedelics legalized then!

The bottom line is society in general whether it is republicans or democrats DEMONIZE people like us because they KNOW we see it's infinite flaws and therefore we must be CRIMINALS!
And that just makes me mad as hell!:evil:

And yet you sit idle and bitch about it on an internet forum.

Or you can, spread awareness, find like-minded people, try to get one of those like-minded people elected, and work from there. It isn't a process that happens overnight. It is a slow and painful process. However, we can alter the course of our country if we try hard enough to. We're just too lazy to do it.

And no, going to DC won't help anything. Sucks I know

I think we need to operate outside of "current reality" if we want to establish a new one.
I will try to live my life how i want it and if it is something of appeal, people will follow to question reality and live their lifes accordingly.

I think "mass change" is overrated. I think it would be a great start if we would all just live our lifes the way we want.

I have totally lost my faith in democracy. Voters are like water: they naturally flow to the lowest point. In my country they have just started to let the devil himself run the government.

And about republicans: i don't think their souls can actually be saved. If you devote your life to hate:evil: , you'll fry your prefrontal cortex, The part of the brain that keeps you from losing controll over yourself....it's actually a psychological dead-end street.

It's ignorant to think that any sect of society as a whole is evil, all bad, retarded, etc.
Today's media and political parties have successfully brainwashed 90% of society to believe that anyone who disagrees with you is BAD.

I know many Republican's and Democrats and I agree and disagree with idea's both of them hold.

Their are always three sides to the truth: their story, your story and the truth.
Don't be brainwashed into being a sheeple. The left and the right both have good idea's the problem is everyone wants to believe they are the ONLY one with the good ideas. The sooner we as a society can learn to put our ego's a side and listen to each other the sooner we can all get along.

"I think "mass change" is overrated. I think it would be a great start if we would all just live our lifes the way we want."

This is why I find the current political modality a redicuous joke and I DO NOT vote..becasue I cant even figure out which single liar out of the handful of them I can trust..the only answer IMO is something otuside of that little box they call "party politics"..If everyone just lived every day as if it was they're last and realized that what we all want at the end of the day is to be loved and accepted for who we are then we wouldnt be in this mess..there is no real mutual level of respect and unity in this culture so we divide into these little seperate categories so we can engage in this joke of cultural masterbation while these rich liars sit at the top laughing at the fact that we actaully thought writing a name on some paper picked out of a short list given to us is the only way. Its cheap and its ugly..there is nothing creative about it..its just a failed attempt at finding an answer in cut and dry linear modality. If people just woke and realized we all just want to find love in whatever it is we do and feel accepted then we wouldnt have the hearts to do what we are doing right now on planet earth. It's sad and its pathetic and humans are capable of doing sooo much better than this..it's dissapointing and it's a slap in the face for older people to come and tell me that writing some funny man/womans name on a piece of paper in the answer..sorry thats someone elses way, not mine. I didnt create this system but I sure as hell seem to have inherited it and it never took me long to wake up and see the obvious flaws illuminated within party politics and the illusion we have of "democracy".

1. This world has limited resources.
2. People have unlimited desires.
3. Economy.
4. People really, really, really have unlimited desires. And some will do ANYTHING to satisfy them.
5. Politics.

No one escapes politics, because everyone consumes resources. Even anarchists. Even hippies.

Also, we are not living in a "civilization"... this society is STILL living the Law of the Jungle.

I hope Terence McKenna is right about society evolving into a hi-tech-hyper-whatever, or else we.are.fucked.

Oh I understand very well that politics is a rational persuit..I am just not a rationalist..I can be about as irrational as they come. Obviousily resources are a problem..but you can go on and on about how this happens and that happens..and they do happen..its just that my entire take on politics is completely irrational..and sometimes opposites are needed in cases like this to act as a counterbalance. The answers I would put forth to this problem all come from hyperspace, which is not a rational place at all...so in this case I would be the guy standing on the sidelines mumblig incoherant "bullshit" that prob noone cares to listen to since it makes no "sense"..

US voters....Please do not be dissuaded from getting out and letting your voice be heard. But...PLEASE take the time to get to know the candidates you vote for. Do not get caught up in the hype-machine.

A mediocre advertisement writer/producer can get millions of people to buy a product that does them harm (see any advertisement for medications that are later followed by advertisements for class action lawsuits)

A team of brilliant advertisement writers/producers get hired by election campaigns.

The media has become a so very powerful and the way the decks are stacked, there are plenty of hot-button issues on BOTH sides. I'm not saying it was set up that way on purpose but that is the way it is.

Im not in the US but I too have concerns about democracy as practised there.It strikes me that the choice between total shite and complete bollocks is not much of a choice.Without being elitist and supercilious I think most people lack the capacity for independent thought and analysis of the issues that present themselves, and as mentioned by others the role of the media in manufacturing consent is what ultimately rules.

Whats also depressing is that quite often the backers behind both the choices presented do seem to have connections which validate the truism 'The palace stays the same,Only the guards ever change'.

Tell that to the police officer arresting you for smoking pot. We cannot live our lives the way we want, so we vote the people fucking us over out and vote the people who will pass laws in our favor in.

police officer: "yeah, me too."

I really think police is a problem.... anyway... i like this vid... i think it is relevant to this thread.

libertarianism, loosely defined, has room for personal use of psychadelics. I doubt that Reps and Dems, as they joust for the votes of this or that interest group, or carefully hone their meaningless sound bites, will ever come down in favor that. But in recent history there are individual members of both parties, and some very heavy-hitters on the Rep side like Goldwater and Schultz (who is still alive!), who come out in favor of different kinds of legalization.

At least you can give the Libertarian Party the compliment of trying to stand on a consistent set of principles. Those other guys....it's just getting harder and harder to figure out what the hell they are or stand for. IMHO, of course!

I agree.
I am a Libertarian, unfortunately we probably won't have power in my lifetime. But I see the tide's of change shifting in our favor (not the change the con artists promised) but real change. Give the power back to the people.

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson.

Amen brother!

And for the police officer: Well, there are people who have power over you in the same sense a bank robber got power over his hostages. The only choice you have is to either comply with the gangster and tell him that all is fine and that you trust him to keep you safe...or you can say "fuck you" in your heart and start to find other options, such as tricking said gangster and sneaking out of the bathroom window...