Capitalism Plus Dope Equals Genocide
By Michael Cetewayo Tabor (Political Prisoner, NY 21)

Published in 1970, this tract, written by a member of the Black Panther party, offers a critique of the War on [some people who use certain] Drugs that is still incredibly relevant today. Perhaps even moreso, given the introduction of private prisons and the explosion in for-profit prison (read: slave) labor. While some components of this zine may be slightly outdated or use rhetoric that has somewhat faded away, it is a remarkably prescient piece of writing and is worth a read.

I'm sure this is a fascinating read, and there is definitely some very interesting insights from the Black Panther perspective.

Thanks for the share!

Thank you very much for posting this, and I did read the entire thing; I recommend others do as well.
Pretty much everything in that resonates with me.

Some somewhat relevant topics:
racism
NASA study predicts collapse of global civilization ?
Progress and Collapse

Thanks for sharing! I haven't had the time to read through the whole thing yet, but I think you're spot on that this is extremely relevant today. I think that we have a community here at the Nexus that is directly invested in abolishing the 'War on Drugs'; but I think it's increasingly important that we educate ourselves as to who is really being directly impacted by it. Like most forms of social control, the 'War on Drugs' is a systematic from of oppression. I don't think we can just focus on our little piece of the pie because we want to be able to do certain drugs legally; we can't hope to tackle this issue if we don't look at it from the ground up and work with those who are most affected and already fighting the good fight. (And there's a lot more of them than us)



I look forward to reading the rest!



EDIT: I want to add that I think this makes a really good point that a social issue as seemingly 'simple' (as portrayed in pop culture/subconscious) as drug addiction has its roots in the patriarchal, racist, classist, and otherwise divisive system put in place to concentrate wealth. Truly confronting any of the struggles that face us as a culture and a species requires that we question the systems in place which allow, if not require, for these kinds of things to exist (eg drug addiction, poverty, etc...). Anything less is half-assed. If we want real solutions we need to look at the real problems; people are afraid of it, and it really is scary to think about, but what we need is a revolution. The woes of the world, including racism and drug addiction, are not outliers or "just how things are"; they are natural and obvious consequences of Capitalism.

I'm sure I'm asking for a lot of flak for saying dirty words like revolution and Capitalism--but I think it's really, really, really important we talk about these things. This is relevant to all of us.

Thanks again Snozz!