Dementia

Growing up is like a constant state of hallucination. When you begin to widen your horizons and see the world for exactly what it is at this very moment, you have to pinch yourself. How can that be reality? Maybe a lot of people have the luxury of never delving into these things but as a student of development, a student of world issues, sociology, political science, and anthropology, you are forced to swallow reality whole.

The thing that most people don't realize about the world is what a strange state it's in. They're so adjusted to life as it is today and haven't ever thought of how that came to be.

Yesterday my political anthropology professor said, "You might think that the police are your friends..." Most of the class had to laugh at this because we are taught from a very young age to believe that the police are in fact our friends. As she further explained, they come to your house when the crazy robber is breaking through your window. They make us less afraid, they protect us. Sure, this is all true. Yet, at the same time, the very reason that they exist is to maintain control over society and prevent rebellion. They make certain that you're not breaking any of their rules.They protect society as it has come to be known.

The next point she brought up was how this society we have come to know is so stratified. This means that say, someone sees a starving child in the road in the city of New York and walks on by without even a second glance. Then that person goes to their nice high rise apartment where the starving child's father tries to break in so that his child can eat. The woman then calls the police to protect her from this man. He is arrested, his crime- wanting his daughter to eat? What about the woman's crime, letting the child starve.

Of course, we must consider that maybe some of these people who beg want to take our money and buy a bottle of Jim Beam, but, that's not the point. The point is that our society is in place to keep some people starving while others strive to protect their wealth, and it is they who are protected.

My prof explained that these are the things imposed on world order by the new international organization, and the concept of states. I felt during class that I was only hearing one point of view, but the more I listened the more I realized that it was one point of view, but though there may be benefits to the state system, the reality is, more than half the world suffers because of it. My father thinks I'm way too liberal. He thinks it's my professors and that I can't think for myself. He's wrong.

When I was in Senegal I didn't really see many cops. They really didn't seem to be there to protect you. In my three months there I never saw a cop doing anything other than directing traffic or escorting a politician. There is this real sense of freedom there. No one in the US would ever believe me that Senegal is more free than it is here.

There is of course the argument that maybe life is better here. For some people that's definitely true. Don't get me wrong either, Senegal is definitely stratified as well. There aren't many societies left which aren't. I don't know of any myself.

There are so many things about the world that you could never possibly understand if you never leave the United States, or even if you travel within Europe. In fact, to make it even more complicated, you could never understand if you took a tourist agency's 21 day tour of the underdeveloped world. There's nothing you could see or know from the window of a bus, or from private beaches and 5 star hotels, or guided tours, even with a native tour guide.

There is no way to believe these people could be happier than we are, or know things that we don't know. They are struggling, but they are struggling from systems that were IMPOSED on them by another world, our world. A world that made them forget egalitarianism and strive for money and power in everything. The United States has become the world capital of those pursuits. Our government will do anything and everything- humane, inhumane, and even unimaginable to adjust the rest of the world to our hegemony. Realizing this really is like being on drugs. It doesn't seem real, it doesn't seem possible, you can't imagine it, and that's exactly how they get away with it. Most of the world, especially our world, chooses to ignore these structures because it's easier, it's more convenient, and because they wouldn't even be able to believe it if they tried. They're far too brainwashed to ever accept it.

The United States is the best place in the world to live. It's the freest country in the world. We're the top because we're the best there is and no one else is doing it any better. ...Really? Are you sure about that? Why do you know, because that's what you've been taught? Well, I wouldn't be so sure if I were you... maybe you should do a little of your own investigating.

This view is incredibly liberal, that's true. I don't like that label, "very left wing"... Liberal means to be free, right? What is it about liberalism that gives it the bad connotations? I don't understand conservatism, is that the desire to be less free? To tell people that they have to wear their seat belts in their cars or that they aren't allowed to smoke marijuana.

Why is marijuana illegal? This may seem silly but honestly ask yourself. It doesn't hurt anyone else if you decide to smoke marijuana. I've never heard of anyone dying from smoking it, or killing someone else. It's natural just like tobacco. It kills brain cells supposedly, but so does playing football and that's not illegal. In fact, it's supported by millions and millions of dollars. It seems to me that alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana. At least you can think straight if you're high, it's a different story if you're drunk, and drunk people hurt other people sort of often.

Yet, my views are crazy to the average person. It's silly for me to think of terrible marijuana being condoned or allowed by the government, why would they let us do something so crazy? If you smoke pot you're automatically labeled differently. Maybe some people think you're irresponsible, or crazy, or stupid, a bad person, or a loser. Why do we not think all of those things when we see someone smoking a cigarette, or drinking a glass of wine? Well, I think it's because we're taught to think all these things. The truth is that not being allowed to smoke marijuana is just another way for the government to control people. So, maybe you'll think I've become the craziest extreme of left-wingers now. Well, whatever that means, this is the way I see it.