I also live in a place that has a right-wing government that is creeping ever more rightwards. They try to pass themselves off as freedom-loving libertarians, but libertarians do not attack democratic principles and institutions.
They think controlling everything is the solution to their (subconscious) anxieties.
As an artist, musician, inventor and entrepreneur, I know that they are wrong.
Creative solutions rarely come from control, groupthink and stagnation does.
But they do not like intelligent, creative people let alone listen to us, and so most creatives leave here if they can. The ones who stay behind often use drugs to cope, and can be hostile towards anyone else who tries to escape. I got stuck here in poverty, and it is terrifying to live in a place where you are a citizen who is nevertheless considered an enemy. This involuntary isolation, powerlessness and vulnerability is where much of my distrust and anger comes from.
Since we’re talking about drugs, addiction, and in a roundabout way, fascism, it brought to mind the writer Hunter S Thompson whose work was dedicated to fighting authoritarianism and fascism. But Thompson was also famous for his alcohol and drug abuse, and so his reputation as a serious journalist and political activist suffered.
From an interview with Thompson’s biographer:
"The horror of modern American society is even though we’re in the 21st century, even though we have all of this information, we still see illness in a moral light. And we see addiction or depression as a moral failure. And that’s never gone away. It’s gotten stronger. Why can you not be somebody who sees right from wrong and what’s necessary and what’s not and also be an alcoholic?"
What everyone gets wrong about Hunter S. Thompson:
https://www.salon.com/2018/11/10/what-everyone-gets-wrong-about-hunter-s-thompson/
19 Sep 2023, 12:47 am
