drugs in Vineland---and drug laws

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Because pot smoking isn't, in and of itself, an effective form of political protest, doesn't mean it's a bad thing.  Back in the sixties, though, the hippie image (long hair, groovy threads, joint-in-hand)was often confused with genuine political analysis.  I remember my mom at anti-war demos arguing with Hipster types who had a muddled world-view:  they wanted the US to withdraw from Vietnam but didn't want the commies to win -- that kind of thing.  Not every pot-smoker is politically or counter-culturally enlightened (the opposite is more likely to be true).  Neo-nazis and Hell's Angels like a toke too.

Laura

-----Original Message-----
>From: Robin Landseadel <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>
>Sent: Mar 31, 2009 2:40 PM
>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: Re: drugs in Vineland---and drug laws
>
>>> Mark Kohut:
>>>
>>> Contentious perspective for discussion:  drug use, despite our  
>>> freedom to,  is "part of the problem" in Vineland????
>
>> Laura:
>
>> Drug use is a form of social protest in a society where it's  
>> outlawed.  But it's an easy, ineffectual, and basically self-serving  
>> substitute for real protest (strikes, demonstrations, civil  
>> disobedience, riots, organizing, alternative media, education  
>> campaigns, etc).
>
>And it turns a sandwich into a banquet.
>
>Far as I can tell, TRP is one of the all-time-greats of stoner humor.  
>Far as I can tell, he quacks, walks and talks like a duck. There's an  
>elephant in the room and he just took a toke off the bong.
>
>There's no red-blooded, all-American evil fascist stoner in OBA's  
>stuff. In fact, going from front to back of the dude's oeuvre you find  
>some good stoners, some value-neutral stoners but no bad-guy stoners.  
>And while Pynchon has said a lot of favorable things about weed in his  
>work, I don't recall him saying anything negative about weed.
>
>If you are looking for a post-modern writer that delves into negative  
>aspects of marijuana allow me to recommend the late, lamented David  
>Foster Wallace. "Infinite Jest" goes there.