"Spontaneously" seems an odd assertion to make. America is not an isolated
country, it is an imperialist power. Perhaps Vietnam had something to do
with it?
----- Original Message -----
From: <PsycheCulture@xxxxxx>
To: <foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 10:05 AM
Subject: Drugs and Social Reality
> In a message dated 7/1/03 5:38:14 PM Eastern Daylight Time, katmara@xxxxx
> writes:
> > Marijuana (and the marijuana leaf) signifies a certain lifestyle and a
> > certain
> > set of values. Generally speaking, the predominant cultural meaning of
> > marijuana is (and/or traditionally has been) that of resistance or
> > contestation
> > of the dominant order.
>
> Drug-use lay at the essence of the rebellion of the Sixties. In
1962,
> there was no "drug culture." Persons barely knew what marijuana was. Then,
> gradually, persons began to smoke marijuana. Drugs were not a response to
some
> "discourse." The use of drugs arose spontaneously as a reaction to inner
psychic
> needs.
>
> The idea was to "blow the mind," that is, to destroy the ordinary
> structures of cognition and perception.
>
> There was, fundamentally, one American culture in the early
Sixties.
> This is hard to understand for young persons now.
>
> Marijuana use took off at the same time (1964) as Peter Berger
wrote
> THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY. When there seemed to be only a single
> reality principle, no one could understand that reality was a social
construction.
>
> The "Oh wow" of early marijuana use was the recognition that there
was
> more than the concept of reality that had been presented as American
culture.
>
> Now, however, I wonder if drugs are still necessary to shatter the
> reality principle. There are other spaces of separation or separateness.
>
> It is not so much a question of escaping "the gaze." It is escape
the
> DESIRE TO GAZE, that is, to see what everyone else is seeing, partake of
the
> shared reality principle. Marijuana represents a space within where
culture and
> discourse cannot so easily penetrate.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Richard K.
>
> Richard A. Koenigsberg, Ph. D.
> Library of Social Science
>
>
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country, it is an imperialist power. Perhaps Vietnam had something to do
with it?
----- Original Message -----
From: <PsycheCulture@xxxxxx>
To: <foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 10:05 AM
Subject: Drugs and Social Reality
> In a message dated 7/1/03 5:38:14 PM Eastern Daylight Time, katmara@xxxxx
> writes:
> > Marijuana (and the marijuana leaf) signifies a certain lifestyle and a
> > certain
> > set of values. Generally speaking, the predominant cultural meaning of
> > marijuana is (and/or traditionally has been) that of resistance or
> > contestation
> > of the dominant order.
>
> Drug-use lay at the essence of the rebellion of the Sixties. In
1962,
> there was no "drug culture." Persons barely knew what marijuana was. Then,
> gradually, persons began to smoke marijuana. Drugs were not a response to
some
> "discourse." The use of drugs arose spontaneously as a reaction to inner
psychic
> needs.
>
> The idea was to "blow the mind," that is, to destroy the ordinary
> structures of cognition and perception.
>
> There was, fundamentally, one American culture in the early
Sixties.
> This is hard to understand for young persons now.
>
> Marijuana use took off at the same time (1964) as Peter Berger
wrote
> THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY. When there seemed to be only a single
> reality principle, no one could understand that reality was a social
construction.
>
> The "Oh wow" of early marijuana use was the recognition that there
was
> more than the concept of reality that had been presented as American
culture.
>
> Now, however, I wonder if drugs are still necessary to shatter the
> reality principle. There are other spaces of separation or separateness.
>
> It is not so much a question of escaping "the gaze." It is escape
the
> DESIRE TO GAZE, that is, to see what everyone else is seeing, partake of
the
> shared reality principle. Marijuana represents a space within where
culture and
> discourse cannot so easily penetrate.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Richard K.
>
> Richard A. Koenigsberg, Ph. D.
> Library of Social Science
>
>
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> This message may have contained attachments which were removed.
>
> Sorry, we do not allow attachments on this list.
>
> --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
> multipart/alternative
> text/plain (text body -- kept)
> text/html
> ---