Back in the day you would sometimes see men your grandfather's age standing around talking in the aisles or in the parking lot about simple things like their clubs, their families, or just general weather/local stuff. That was normal.
A few months ago I had the pleasure of overhearing two gentlemen that age talking about being low on marijuana and how one of their sons was late with their delivery. the two of them are just standing around talking about this in front of a store for everyone to hear as if it is the most normal thing to be talking about. No shame at all. This is normal now.
We could go on and complain about how much better things were to anyone who could hear, but what's the point? Everyone already knows. I would much rather focus on how to make things better now instead.
“We could go on and complain about how much better things were to anyone who could hear, but what's the point? Everyone already knows. I would much rather focus on how to make things better now instead.”
Exactly my point. I do differ though that we can’t make things better on a large scale, only the small. And that might just be enough to help us last.
Aug 29, 2023·edited Aug 29, 2023Liked by Alexander Hellene
Great piece, Alex. And I share a lot of JD's sentiment as well. But I agree with you that we can improve things. I think JD strikes on that in his comment actually:
"This is normal now.
We could go on and complain about how much better things were to anyone who could hear, but what's the point? Everyone already knows."
That's just it. Not everyone does know how much better things were because this is normal now. And every passing day we are losing people who remember the "before times" and churning out a new drone who only knows this dystopian lunacy. We need people like your grandfather (and now us) to tell these stories and write these articles to let others know it does not have to be like this. It can be better. It has been better. It can be better again.
Everything doesn’t have to suck and we don’t have to live like this. I think time will be the best way to clear the decks in favor of people willing to actually make positive changes.
On a different note, psychedelia being seen as the loss of innocence is interesting, because I've always thought of shoegaze as the opposite in that it is cacophonic noise reaching out for something higher and finding beauty were you least expect it. Despite most of its performers being adolescents or early adults it ends up being a surprisingly mature musical style because of how high they aimed. Listening to Never Lose That Feeling by Swervedriver still sounds as timeless now as it did in the '90s because of how they tried to stretch beyond their years.
Isn't this the case on the Philippines that drug dealers are practically lawless and can be executed on sight?
I was in Shanghai a few years ago. Not sure whether the city is representative of the whole country but it was very clean. Stuff like tent camps of homeless people is nowhere to be found. Sure, there are a lot of poor people living right next to the skyscrapers in downtown Shanghai but they all have something to do.
I agree. It is better to give someone a broom to clean the street than just giving him money to do nothing.
That is a good question. After the first outrage about the new anti-drug policy was gone from the media, I never heard about the program again. I would expect that it was as successful as the War on Drugs in the USA. From my point of view, this problem needs at least three different approaches.
1. The people need the possibilities to achieve a lifestyle where drug use is not needed.
2. The usage of drugs needs to be condemned by a moral code (religion)
3. Drug dealers and users have to be severly punished.
Your three points make sense. 2 and 3 are what I've thought for years: we DO need to stigmatize drug usage, and users have to be punished as well as dealers, at least taken off the streets and put somewhere where they won't harm others (at some point I ran out of sympathy for the harm drug users cause for themselves).
Unfortunately, I think that Western governments are not interested in getting rid of this problem as the politicians are part of it. I once read that some investigator found traces of cocain in most toilettes at the German Reichstag.
Back in the day you would sometimes see men your grandfather's age standing around talking in the aisles or in the parking lot about simple things like their clubs, their families, or just general weather/local stuff. That was normal.
A few months ago I had the pleasure of overhearing two gentlemen that age talking about being low on marijuana and how one of their sons was late with their delivery. the two of them are just standing around talking about this in front of a store for everyone to hear as if it is the most normal thing to be talking about. No shame at all. This is normal now.
We could go on and complain about how much better things were to anyone who could hear, but what's the point? Everyone already knows. I would much rather focus on how to make things better now instead.
“We could go on and complain about how much better things were to anyone who could hear, but what's the point? Everyone already knows. I would much rather focus on how to make things better now instead.”
Exactly my point. I do differ though that we can’t make things better on a large scale, only the small. And that might just be enough to help us last.
Great piece, Alex. And I share a lot of JD's sentiment as well. But I agree with you that we can improve things. I think JD strikes on that in his comment actually:
"This is normal now.
We could go on and complain about how much better things were to anyone who could hear, but what's the point? Everyone already knows."
That's just it. Not everyone does know how much better things were because this is normal now. And every passing day we are losing people who remember the "before times" and churning out a new drone who only knows this dystopian lunacy. We need people like your grandfather (and now us) to tell these stories and write these articles to let others know it does not have to be like this. It can be better. It has been better. It can be better again.
Everything doesn’t have to suck and we don’t have to live like this. I think time will be the best way to clear the decks in favor of people willing to actually make positive changes.
Learned helplessness is one hell of a drug. As is marijuana.
No kidding! A true narcotic.
On a different note, psychedelia being seen as the loss of innocence is interesting, because I've always thought of shoegaze as the opposite in that it is cacophonic noise reaching out for something higher and finding beauty were you least expect it. Despite most of its performers being adolescents or early adults it ends up being a surprisingly mature musical style because of how high they aimed. Listening to Never Lose That Feeling by Swervedriver still sounds as timeless now as it did in the '90s because of how they tried to stretch beyond their years.
Music is fascinating that way.
Music really is. Shoegaze is a style I confess I only have passing familiarity with.
Btw, all the music you mentioned was made by Silent Generation, not Boomers. They just grooved to it.
Most bands, yeah. The Boomer bands were more those who came out in the 1970s. Still made some awesome stuff.
I grew up in Southern California in the 1970s. It was paradise. I am writing this from Texas.
That says it all.
I did not see any homeless people or drug addicts in China. I would expect that they would "disappear" the moment they are noticed by the authorities.
Most likely.
Now, I wouldn’t be sorry if I heard that drug DEALERS were disappeared.
Where were you in China? When’d you go?
Isn't this the case on the Philippines that drug dealers are practically lawless and can be executed on sight?
I was in Shanghai a few years ago. Not sure whether the city is representative of the whole country but it was very clean. Stuff like tent camps of homeless people is nowhere to be found. Sure, there are a lot of poor people living right next to the skyscrapers in downtown Shanghai but they all have something to do.
Interesting. I’m sure having something to go helps!
Regarding the Philippines, I wonder if they have more or less drug crime now than before this policy.
I agree. It is better to give someone a broom to clean the street than just giving him money to do nothing.
That is a good question. After the first outrage about the new anti-drug policy was gone from the media, I never heard about the program again. I would expect that it was as successful as the War on Drugs in the USA. From my point of view, this problem needs at least three different approaches.
1. The people need the possibilities to achieve a lifestyle where drug use is not needed.
2. The usage of drugs needs to be condemned by a moral code (religion)
3. Drug dealers and users have to be severly punished.
Your three points make sense. 2 and 3 are what I've thought for years: we DO need to stigmatize drug usage, and users have to be punished as well as dealers, at least taken off the streets and put somewhere where they won't harm others (at some point I ran out of sympathy for the harm drug users cause for themselves).
Unfortunately, I think that Western governments are not interested in getting rid of this problem as the politicians are part of it. I once read that some investigator found traces of cocain in most toilettes at the German Reichstag.