Poll (warning: may require you to be truthful)
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led mike wrote:
is referring only to recreational use as opposed to addictions?
Generally. But remember, people drown their problems in drug use for the same reason they drown them in porn, or alcohol, or any number of indulgences. My point:
led mike wrote:
If so since recreational use is a "choice" how can we claim that is a symptom of the culture?
Well, here's a thought experiment: Imagine a society where nearly all members are generally happy, generally content and live nearly stress free (this isn't as unrealistic as you think). Now ask yourself how many of them you'd expect to find drug use appealing, and even more, how many would drown their problems in drugs/alcohol/etc. Now ask yourself how many of the cultures that our civilization leaves alone have drug problems (this might require some research, depending on how much you know on the subject). Humans have been taking 'drugs' for thousands of years; that's not really an issue, and in alot of cultures certain drugs are used in religious ceremonies, yet aren't really used anywhere else. On the flip side, people in the Andes mountains in Peru, for instance, have chewed the Cocoa leaf for centuries as a recreational drug. It never occurred to them, however, to purify it to create crack. Using drugs isn't a problem; abusing them is. It could be argued that alot of the recreational use we see in our culture is NOT a problem, and need only be one because politicians and law enforcement need something to attack.
Patrick Sears wrote:
Well, here's a thought experiment: Imagine a society where nearly all members are generally happy, generally content and live nearly stress free (this isn't as unrealistic as you think). Now ask yourself how many of them you'd expect to find drug use appealing, and even more, how many would drown their problems in drugs/alcohol/etc.
Very interesting. That raised several thoughts, all of which you addressed in the following paragraphs.
Patrick Sears wrote:
and in alot of cultures certain drugs are used in religious ceremonies, yet aren't really used anywhere else.
So this is an example of the culture effect yes? Since none of our religions include it, that potentially makes it enticing. The exact same point could be made for the legislative aspect of it (enticing people) and then alcohol could be used as a counter point.
Patrick Sears wrote:
It never occurred to them, however, to purify it to create crack.
Ok but what other modernizations have not occurred to them? And the obvious argument is, that the systemic consumption of the drug is why they have not modernized.
Patrick Sears wrote:
It could be argued that alot of the recreational use we see in our culture is NOT a problem
I don't disagree but what good does arguing do? I mean if we cannot prove definitively what the right thing to do is, what the "truth" is, as it seems in this case, then we are arguing about what exactly? Opinion? In some few cases we might be able to reason things out, but in most cases involving the human condition I don't think that is possible and many political issues are exactly that, unprovable and far to complex to reason out. That is why we are left with arguing about opinion and why civilizations peak and then decline. In the beginning civilizations focus on obvious things to build the civilization like economy, military, infrastructure, education, innovation. In the later stages you become entrenched in arguing about frivolous personal freedom issues because you have already done the majority of the "building" of the civilization. I say frivolous by comparison to issues like military defense and infrastructure. Do you really think that back when we were building the transcontinental railroad anyone would have given a crap about the President getting a blow job in the o
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I think Chris-Kaiser makes a good point here[^] on how we often use polls of a few thousand people to represent a general consensus of the masses. So let us try something different. At the time of this post there are 29,723 cpians online. I am asking a wide range of question and yes I am leaving out age to add just a little unknown to the survey. Be honest because surely someone will use your answers here against you later. This is more geared towards the U.S. but everyone is invited to take the poll. You don't have to answer every question. 1) Marital Status (single, married, divorced) 2) Nationality 3) Male or Female 4) State your religious beliefs: Atheist, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim (there is a one word answer for pretty much everything out there) 5) Do you believe global warming can be stopped? yes/no 6) Should something be done to stop countries that fund terrorism? yes/no 7) Is a national health care system in which everyone is required to contribute(like taxes) right? yes/no 8) Have you or one of your sexual partners ever had an abortion? yes/no 9) Do you believe in premarital sex? yes/no 10) Have you ever had sex with someone you were not married to? yes/no 11) Have you ever cheated on your spouse(husband or wife)? yes/no 12) Do you think society is worse off than it has ever been? yes/no 13) If yes to 12 give the decade you believe that society started to decline. 14) Do you have kids? yes/no 15) Would you be concerned if you kids were having sex at 13 years old or younger? yes/no 16) Should drugs be made legal? yes/no 17) Has drug use increased or decreased over time? increased/decreased 18) Are drugs a cause of our societies current situation? yes/no 19) Should any person(s) have the right to sue any person(s) for any thing(s) that offends them? yes/no 20) Should prayer be outlawed in public? yes/no 21) Should people have the right to their own religious beliefs or lack of? yes/no 22) Does current media promote sex to a younger generation than it did 30 years ago? yes/no 23) Would you allow someone to abuse your wife or husband? yes/no 24) If you have children, do you let them do whatever they want unchecked by you? yes/no 25) Should illegal immigrants be immediately deported upon finding them out? yes/no
- Not Married, living in sin i suppose! 2) British 3) Male - although isn't this a rather gerneralised question? 4) Agnostic/Buddhist 5) Yes 6) No, terrorism brought us all to where we are, but we call it history now..... 7) Yes. It is a sign of true civilisation to care about your fellow man. 8) no. 9) Yes, in fact i don't believe in marriage. 10) Yes. 11) No 12) No 13) N/A 14) Yes 15) Yes 16) no. no need unless it's for tax. 17) neither. 18) drug use is a result of the current situation, not the cause. 19) no. to US for my liking... 20) no, freedom of speech dude.... 21) yes, freedom of thought, freedom of religion.... 22) Yes 23) No, (unless they liked it ;-) ) 24) no 25) no 26) no 27) no 28) no, an eye for an eye is wrong.... 29) yes, if it was truely required 30) surely the same question as above? 31) only in his own country 32) no, they are only the united american nations, and america shouldn't ahve any more power, no one should 33) no, thats free speech. The responsibility that comes with it requires i accept they are offended and keep it to myself. 34) less than an hour ago. I didn't find it offensive, just mis-guided...