Russell's open letter is a passionate and unapologetic indictment of current drug laws and is buoyed by his own personal struggle with addiction and recovery.
And I agree with much of what he has to say.
Firstly, that Philip’s death was indeed, tragic and avoidable.
Secondly, that we need to de-criminalize drugs and address the ways in which addicts are perceived and treated. History has painfully illustrated the pitfalls of prohibition and common sense dictates that we are very much in need of regulations for safe access, education for proper care and compassion for understanding.
But, in tandem, I feel we should also address the condition of what Russell describes as “…the unrelenting echo of an unfulfillable void”…beyond the cause and effect of addiction.
I believe addiction isn’t just a physical/biological condition. I believe it starts when intelligent, sensitive observers seek refuge from unrelenting, meaninglessness and injustice.
Isn’t it time for an acknowledgement of the crisis of culture?
Isn't it time to recognize and reject the endless forwarding of the cult of personality, spectacle and crisis to divert human consciousness away from awareness and justice - toward complacency, inequality and resignation?
It’s time to identify the real enemy. The Masters of Diversion and Misdirection - the owners, the oppressors and the geopolitical planners.
It’s time to call these entities out. It's time to call them what they are...the architects of power, the engineers of economic inequality and the perpetrators of social injustice.
If not now...when?
***About***
it’s not about the bulge in his pants
or, the rose beneath her lace
it’s not about the property lines
or, lovers losing face
it’s not about who’s right or wrong
or, who will win the case
it’s about the roles we play
and the lies we’re told
that keep us in our place
those who print the money
rule by phones without a trace…
while poets
vainly soliloquize
on the lack of human grace
©2005shareeannegorman
At least, that's the way it seems to me,
annienomad-cyberpoet
http://annienomad.com
