Re: Fwd: Re: Drug Gaze is as real as Medical Gaze, Judical gaze or Male Gaze

--- Lionel Boxer <lboxer@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Josh
>
> On the surface what you say may be true, but what
> motivated you to make this
> reply? How has the drug gaze or drug discourse
> influenced your behaviour

honestly, throughout the majority of my life, the drug
discourse has brought about a knee-jerk, reactionary
response from me. since i grew up in the midst of the
nancy reagan 'just say no' campaign, the drug
discourse to me seemed entirely one way, 'NO' was the
way and there was very little, until my later teenage
years that suggested otherwise, since my parents did
an excellent job of sheltering me from any
culture/voice/ideology, etc. that suggested otherwise.
this led me, i think, to rebel against it(i have done
many drugs in my life though i don't anymore, really),
often simply for the sake of rebellion--but perhaps it
was also because i unconciously sensed something
inherent in it's dogma that threatened what were, in
my mind, basic freedoms--including the freedom to
desecrate one's own body if one so chooses. american
culture and law seems to be obsessed with protecting
people from themselves which i have always found
intrusive--i suppose this facet of the drug gaze would
fall into the body politic discussion, yes?


> and the wider moral order?
> Has drug discourse led
> to new rights, new
> duties, new morals and new actions that people
> should engage in? In light
> of what Stuart Eldon said, I think drug gase has had
> a resistance effect on
> normalising tendencies of productive society.
>
> Is this good or bad?
>
> Will this lay foundations for a better world?



i think the wider moral order has become characterized
by those who indentify themselves with one or the
other polarity of the argument--which is perhaps why i
was wary about the postings to a degree, since i
regret my motivations for my behavior, i.e.,
sunscribing to one dogma--the f*** off dogma. i think
the amount of people who genuinely sympathize with a
cultural icon such as eminem is evidence of how close
to the nerve this kind of 'gaze' is as well as
emblematic of how people often respond to it. members
of society who find themselves subjected to it
apparently (and rightfully, i think) praise somebody
like him as their mouthpiece. if i'm not mistaken,
this rebellion is what you characterize as, "a
resistance effect on the normalising tendencies of
productive society." and yes, i do believe that this
is, in many respects, a good thing. but, as any of us
knows, no good idea is particularly good if it is
consumed and distributed within the rigid confines of
dogma. this is where my concerns arise because, while
the drug gaze may be triggering these kinds of
resistances and new definitions of the moral
order(calling the 'moral order' into question and
such), it seems to most often manifest itself under
one flag or another, which i think is threatening to
genuine progress--in other words, a shaky "foundation
for a better world." it has many people simply
butting heads, the extremeties of their arguments
blowing out of proportion beyond anything reasonable
and creating very little that is productive--other
than a philosophical tribal war.

you'll have to forgive me, i do feel as if i am
speaking a bit out of turn since, i am not as much a
scholar of foucault, but more of a 'fellow
traveller'--this is why i am often silent on the list,
because i know i am not as well versed in the
nomenclature and scope of foucault's work. but, since
i was asked me directly, i felt obliged to respond. i
suppose becoming more involved in the discussions
might help solve this so, here ya go...

thanks,

josh



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