VLVL The Wayvones; drugs

[jbor]

on 13/10/03 1:51 AM, Otto wrote:

> There's an implicit value
> judgement in the text about the way America honors big criminals and
> prosecutes those you've called "petty thieves" in some other post.

Where, or how, in the text is this judgement made, precisely?

Ralph Sr proves himself to be an "ass grabber" (102.23-4, cf. 87.9, and NB
that Isaiah is likewise probably a "coke snorter"). The only difference I
can see between Ralph Sr and the others on that list of thieves and cons on
p. 87 is that he hasn't needed "*to seek*" (my emphasis) the "embrace and
shelter" of the government like Frenesi and Flash have.

>> Why shouldn't she be
>> discussed?
>> 
> Because her story comes later in the reading.

DL's close friendship and previous business dealings with Ralph Sr are
depicted in this chapter. I realise it doesn't fit with your
cardboard-cutout conception of how the world works and you'd like to erase
it from the text, but it's there.

And the similarities between DL and Hector, both of them strongly opposed to
drugs and at various times believing themselves to be and acting the part of
some sort of vigilante-hero, are clear enough.

>> "And how else is an honest cop like Hector once was going to be able to find
>> and prosecute the main players behind the drug cartels if not via the
>> network of junkies and small-time dealers?"
> 
> Hector was chasing after Zoyd, again and again.

Yes, why *was* he trying to get information from Zoyd, and all those other
small-time dopers and dealers like Van Meter and Scott Oof and Leon?

> So I assumed you meant Zoyd
> being part of that "network" you were referring to. Is there any textual
> support for the allegation that Zoyd sold dope?

It's not an allegation; it's an assumption, from experience. At the Gordita
Beach house there were "substance dealers and their go-betweens", as Zoyd
admits (25.11-2). I'd find it pretty unlikely that Zoyd would only buy stuff
for personal use out of some moral or legal scruple, and refuse to sell
partial deals on to his buddies. But whether or not he was or is a
"small-time dealer" is "beside the point", as I wrote.

The point is that Zoyd certainly was part of that network of users and
dealers. And you still haven't answered the question: how else was Hector
supposed to do his job?

best