Many advocates of mind-altering drugs will tell non-users that drugs like LSD act as gateway. These particular advocates argue that if you do not use drugs, you are a victim of corporate mind control. If you don't use drugs, the advocates say, you will never learn to think for yourself.
So said the folks who bought every word that Timothy Leary preached. They denounced capitalism yet had no trouble giving their dollars to buy Dr. Leary's books or his spoken-word albums.
Timothy Leary and the counterculture he led had much in common with the corporations they denounced: they had a message to sell. "Tune in, turn on, drop out" was the anthem of counter-culture druggies. The same druggies who criticized "corporate mind control" were taking drugs that controlled their own minds. A case of pot calling the kettle black.
I think there's a fundamental difference between 'mind control' and buying into a message. It is always possible to buy into a message while disagreeing with certain aspects of that message, and in no way can a person call that "mind control". 'Mind control' implies that a person has no agency. Consumerism impacts us, but it does not control us. If a person can simply stop listening to a message, that person has agency. If your mind is under total control, you cannot avoid the message. Our modern society just makes it hard to avoid consumerist messages. But if people have the option to avoid, then they are free.
It is not the consumer who is under mind control. It is the addict, the junkie, the Dionysian. When the addiction takes hold, it is impossible to take different routes. The addict cannot think for his or herself. A person who cannot think will always accuse others of not thinking. The gambling addict, alcohol addict, and shopping addict are all the same. The messages they accept are not to blame. The addicts only have themselves to blame.
"They argue that if you do not use drugs, you are a victim of corporate mind control."
ReplyDeleteWho are "they"?
"They" = the die-hard advocates of drugs. That's generally what I've come across on the Internet. I'll edit for clarity.
ReplyDelete"Consumerism impacts us, but it does not control us."
ReplyDeleteReally? I challenge you to come up with one area of life that consumerism does not effect.
Our entire modern culture is based on the fact that we NEED these things and considerable effort goes into making sure we know that.
"Our modern society just makes it hard to avoid consumerist messages. But if people have the option to avoid, then they are free."
Sure you have the option to block out all the ads and messages or to ignore them but think about how much harder that is while they are constantly thrown in your face rather then substances which are actually looked down upon by the vast majority of people.
"When the addiction takes hold, it is impossible to take different routes."
So rehab never happens? People never get better and stop taking drugs?
Kind of like when the consumer stops buying products.. oh wait, that doesn't happen unless someone goes straight minimalist and decides to live off the grid.
I am not encouraging drug use, simply sober analysis of "Consumer Culture".