Very tragic. No doubt the media and and the general attitude out there will blow this up. Even though this was an isolated incident, I doubt it will matter. We'll see. They'll demonize the plant, while not being able to see the larger picture. To quote some comments made on that article, "you can't regulate everything. Sometimes people just do stupid things". "His parents will no doubt sue R. Kelly for making that song, "I believe I could fly". Life is dangerous, sometimes people jump off buildings for a whole bunch of reasons. They get depressed, etc. I was depressed as a young person. I thought about suicide every day for years. Then I opened myself up and wondered why the hell was the govnerment trying to block me from true joy? All that time I had been living a castrated life. I never broke any rules, I said no to all drugs, and you know what? Life was BORING. It was so empty, I felt no reason to live it. I saw no reason why I couldn't step sideways every once in a while, and still easily maintain all my responsibilities in life.
Sometimes people die, they fall down stairs, no matter how many safety regulations you put on stairs. With life comes death. People have died of everything imaginable. I'm not trying to be cold, or be particularly philosophical, I'm just stating some basic facts of life that a lot of people don't seem to accept. Criminalizing the plant and the people will only result in more pain and suffering..... and for a lot more people than one man in an isolated incident.... who for some reason chose to take powerful substance while on a balcony.... with his ex-girlfriend. But those who wish to cause pain and fear for others do not see themselves as an instrument of death. They see people who use the plant as an enemy, just as bad as if someone pushed that student off the balcony. It is sad. It really is. I've been grappling with these ideas lately, as more places are set t ban one of the most special things on the planet. It saddens and frustrates me that people seem to refuse to take responsibility for their own lives. If something bad happens, blame must be put on someone or something, someone else must pay. And so, rather than take responsibility for their own lives, people would rather give someoene else the power to take your life. Rather than make their own decisions on what to put in to their body, people would rather give someone else the right to point a gun at you, ransack your home, kidnap you and throw you in with the most violent people on earth for years at a time. It's madness. And is there any recrouse against people who put you in jail and the hell one is put through there? Is there any recourse for the beatings and rapings and hellish conditions in jail? No. But if someone gets coffee spilled on themselves, they can sue for millions. Just a point about people not being able to see the big picture. They'll focus on whatever issue of the day, be outraged about it, then wipe a cold hand of "justice" over that issue by declaring war, and then they'll never think about the issue again, nor the cost that their decision might make.
Some disturbing comments made by the father, ""Sometimes the only way to stop people is to make them afraid. I want people to be afraid of this stuff." And by 'be afraid of this stuff', he means, "I'll do everything in my power to get this thing out of the market.... it cannot be legal anymore." This disturbs me because this philosophy can be applied it can be applied to absolutely anyone, for any issue. This merely reinforces the idea that violence and fear are the answer. Sure, this comment was made by a grieving father, but how hard would it be to imagine this same comment being made by a person on the edge? I don't condone violence, I don't agree with the father's statement at all, but how hard would it be to imagine someone on the opposite side of the coin? There are people out there who do believe they have the right to certain things. So what if they decide one day they're going to take drastic action and decide "sometimes the only way to stop people is to make them afraid", and then they decide to go out and shoot a bunch of people. What happens if both sides decide that the only way to stop the other side is to make them afraid? What happens is you get both sides killing each other. That is NOT what we want.
Maybe Jared Loughner felt nothing was getting done, and he realized, sometimes the only way to get anything done is to take drastic action. And take action he did. Something did get done. He killed 6 innocent people and mortally wounded his target. And did anything positive get done? Of course not! No, striking fear in people is not the right way to get things done in most cases. What disturbs me is that people do not take in to account the true cost of "making people afraid". They don't count those who are afraid as potential victimes, potential lives lost. They just care about their own agenda of ridding the world of this or that, with no concern for the cost, no concern that what they might unleash on the world might be worse than whatever it is they are fighting against. They become the monster they wish to destroy. "Battle not with monsters lest ye become a monster".
Well, I assure everyone in the world, I am "afriad" of what Salvia divinorum can do. I know full well its effects, and I still choose to do it. And rest assured, I am far more afraid by a great order of magnitude, of what police might do..... and I still choose my own path in life. I cannot allow the threat of violence to stop me from living my own life. Please don't kill me for that. Please??
