I get frustrated when anyone starts talking about being subject to the laws of the municipalities we pass through as though they're unquestionable. Our relationship with those entities in no way reflects upon the morality of our decisions to participate in any activity that might enhance our experience at Burning Man. (sex, drugs, rock'n'roll, sodomy, or some combination thereof)
This country was founded on some pretty beautiful ideals, but somewhere along the way things got confused. The people in power found that they could accumulate more by legislating the right and wrong for every moment of our days. "Do the crime, do the time." Seriously?! Try going a month without breaking a single statute in the city, county, state, and country you live in. The traffic laws alone will do you in, not to mention all the bizarre stuff no one ever talks about being on the books until they're looking for a reason to harass you.
But what about, "We're on federal property subject to federal laws." Excepting the international community, that means it's
our land. And if BRC represents the majority use of that property, shouldn't it be subject to our laws? BRC has and enforces its own code of conduct.
The Federal government exists to "establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty". (that's the US Constitution in case it seems unfamiliar--I try to cite anything someone might take exception to) Somewhere along the way I feel like the definition of justice got warped, and no one quite knew what to do about ensuring the blessings of liberty, so they just legislated what people can't do to one another and ultimately themselves.
On the same note, to all you narcophobes out there: grow up. The war on drugs is a total sham. Look at the actual statistics on prosecution and imprisonment for drug related offenses (
www.drugwarfacts.org). It's the poor and disenfranchised who are being sent to jail for getting loaded. It's a pity they don't the same quality of health insurance as my mother, otherwise they could be zonked out of their mind all day on fentanyl, and when they feel a bit down they could snort the zoloft prescribed by their psychiatrist.
But see, I'm digressing. It's probably cause I'm so tired. What I really need is some caffeine, or maybe a redbull with some taurine. But when I get off shift tonight I'll be too amped to sleep... no problem, I'll just take some legitimately prescribed ambien and wash it down with a shot of jack daniels while watching the news on how well this war in Afghanistan is going. I'm glad we're over there securing freedom and democracy! Vicodin is going to get a lot cheaper now that companies like Pfizer are importing more than a billion dollars of their poppy crop annually.
... I'm not saying do drugs. I'm just saying don't thumb your nose at "junkies" while you sip on a latte and 40% of the people around you (
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/12/03/World ... ent_.shtml) are on something that happens to be legal because the right lobbyists found a way to make some money off of it.
David
P.S. I've never done any psychedelics--I just strongly believe in the principles of civil disobedience, particularly in the face of unjust and hyprocritical legislation designed to funnel more money into all the wrong pockets--all the while masquerading as morality laws. I think every pot smoker in America ought to pick a day and go smoke together in front of the closest police station. Force the government to either enforce the law on everyone (something they can't do, logistically or otherwise) or scrap it like they should have years ago. And I'd be right there with them, even if it meant going to jail. If they hand out tickets instead of jail time? Use them as rolling papers and come back the next day, and the day after.
