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fandomhigh2013-03-15 05:10 am
thefearwasreal) wrote in fandomhigh2013-03-15 05:10 am
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Pop Culture: Everything I Ever Needed To Know I Learnt From... [Thurs, 1st Period]
There was music playing as the class arrived today. Because Oz was a horrible person. There was also a teal deer chewing on a reporters hat. This had nothing to do with Oz being a horrible person.
"Morning, kids," Oz said cheerfully as the music wound down. "Today we're talking about drugs, and since I am your teacher and you are all minors, there is probably some legal obligation I have to tell you that they are bad, don't do them. So yeah, drugs are bad, don't use them."
"Of course, you may be wondering why we're talking about drugs in a pop culture class, and the reason is that the use of drugs has formed part of human culture for a very long time, there's archaeological evidence that drugs were used in various rituals at least as far back as twenty thousand years ago."
"Naturally, over time a number of bright sparks eventually realised that drugs could be used as a method of social control, sometimes this was done through formally enshrined laws, sometimes it wasn't, for example, there were the Opium Wars, where the British basically cultivated opium addiction in China order to leverage trade and diplomatic agreements, there was also Prohibition, which banned alcohol in the United States from 1920 through to 1933, and led to crime organisations like the Mafia gaining more power and influence through bootlegging the stuff."
"Now for a less formalised and more insidious example of this kind of control, I have three words for you 'Mother's Little Helper', which does not refer to a kid who actually does their chores without being asked, but rather a rise self-medication and tranquilliser abuse that started in the fifties. Basically you had this sizable population of women who during the Second World War had gotten factory jobs or the like, discovered they really enjoyed the work, the freedom it gave them, or both, who then got kicked out of these jobs when the war ended and all the soldiers wanted their jobs back and were basically forced back into the kitchen, into boxes that didn't fit them any more, if they ever had to begin with. So they're unhappy, they're stressed, developing all sorts of issues. Is the solution to change society to allow them the kind of social equality that would prevent and reduce many of these problems? No it's to drug them to the eyeballs to they can't care any more."
"Then came the Sixties, and boy did things take a turn, since the hippies decided to fight fire with fire, or at least drugs with drugs, as they started advocating the idea of drugs as a method of social change, all about the mind expanding experiences, so if you watch anything from then and it doesn't make sense, there's your answer. After that, the next big cultural shift in drugs was the eighties, where it became a kind of status symbol for the corporate high flyers to snort cocaine, then later in the decade comes raving and party drugs like acid, ecstasy, all your chemical hallucinogens. Basically, at different points in time, different drugs hold different kinds of cultural cachet, but the thing with all of these is that they're not exactly legal, which is one of the reasons you get the 'just say no' speech, the other, more important one being that they can all have some pretty nasty side effects and addictive properties, especially since that whole illegal thing makes for a lack of quality control."
"But then you've got your 'socially acceptable' drugs and addictions, like alcohol and cigarette, which can equally harmful to their consumers, but also happen to rake in a few billion dollars in taxes each year. Or the latest incarnation of Mother's Little Helper, where prescription drugs, mostly used for treating any number of illnesses, are also widely abused."
"So what do you think, why do some drugs get different reputations in society, and different treatments in the media. Why is crack whack, but cocaine a sign of wealth and power and often celebrity? Does me telling you drugs are back and you shouldn't take them, actually serve any purpose than to increase the allure of the forbidden. Also, drugs are bad, don't take them."
"Morning, kids," Oz said cheerfully as the music wound down. "Today we're talking about drugs, and since I am your teacher and you are all minors, there is probably some legal obligation I have to tell you that they are bad, don't do them. So yeah, drugs are bad, don't use them."
"Of course, you may be wondering why we're talking about drugs in a pop culture class, and the reason is that the use of drugs has formed part of human culture for a very long time, there's archaeological evidence that drugs were used in various rituals at least as far back as twenty thousand years ago."
"Naturally, over time a number of bright sparks eventually realised that drugs could be used as a method of social control, sometimes this was done through formally enshrined laws, sometimes it wasn't, for example, there were the Opium Wars, where the British basically cultivated opium addiction in China order to leverage trade and diplomatic agreements, there was also Prohibition, which banned alcohol in the United States from 1920 through to 1933, and led to crime organisations like the Mafia gaining more power and influence through bootlegging the stuff."
"Now for a less formalised and more insidious example of this kind of control, I have three words for you 'Mother's Little Helper', which does not refer to a kid who actually does their chores without being asked, but rather a rise self-medication and tranquilliser abuse that started in the fifties. Basically you had this sizable population of women who during the Second World War had gotten factory jobs or the like, discovered they really enjoyed the work, the freedom it gave them, or both, who then got kicked out of these jobs when the war ended and all the soldiers wanted their jobs back and were basically forced back into the kitchen, into boxes that didn't fit them any more, if they ever had to begin with. So they're unhappy, they're stressed, developing all sorts of issues. Is the solution to change society to allow them the kind of social equality that would prevent and reduce many of these problems? No it's to drug them to the eyeballs to they can't care any more."
"Then came the Sixties, and boy did things take a turn, since the hippies decided to fight fire with fire, or at least drugs with drugs, as they started advocating the idea of drugs as a method of social change, all about the mind expanding experiences, so if you watch anything from then and it doesn't make sense, there's your answer. After that, the next big cultural shift in drugs was the eighties, where it became a kind of status symbol for the corporate high flyers to snort cocaine, then later in the decade comes raving and party drugs like acid, ecstasy, all your chemical hallucinogens. Basically, at different points in time, different drugs hold different kinds of cultural cachet, but the thing with all of these is that they're not exactly legal, which is one of the reasons you get the 'just say no' speech, the other, more important one being that they can all have some pretty nasty side effects and addictive properties, especially since that whole illegal thing makes for a lack of quality control."
"But then you've got your 'socially acceptable' drugs and addictions, like alcohol and cigarette, which can equally harmful to their consumers, but also happen to rake in a few billion dollars in taxes each year. Or the latest incarnation of Mother's Little Helper, where prescription drugs, mostly used for treating any number of illnesses, are also widely abused."
"So what do you think, why do some drugs get different reputations in society, and different treatments in the media. Why is crack whack, but cocaine a sign of wealth and power and often celebrity? Does me telling you drugs are back and you shouldn't take them, actually serve any purpose than to increase the allure of the forbidden. Also, drugs are bad, don't take them."
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