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do you smoke cannabis?
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grufty jim
grufty jim
1978 posts

Re: do you smoke cannabis?
Aug 19, 2010, 18:43
pooley wrote:
But, before I do, would you as a point of principle say that people should not smoke cannabis if they are unaware of it's origins. Or, because hey you can't do everything, and you kind of like it, should you ignore it?.

It's a tough one, it really is. As Zizek says in that lecture, it's incredibly difficult to condemn ethical consumption because in the current climate the only alternative is unethical consumption. But because charity and ethical consumerism, etc. ultimately prolong an unjust system, they need to be seen in that light. As Wilde says in The Soul of Man under Socialism, "... the worst slave-owners were those who were kind to their slaves, and so prevented the horror of the system being realised by those who suffered from it, and understood by those who contemplated it..."

It's been a good while since I smoked pot of unknown origins. But I acknowledge that I'm fortunate in that respect, and most people aren't so lucky. In response to your direct question though, I'd suggest firstly that if you knew for a fact that the cannabis you were about to buy came from a "sweatshop" then, on principle, you should not buy it. That at least is unambiguous.

It becomes more difficult when you're talking about unknown provenance. Because -- as I've already said -- we all find ourselves enmeshed in a system built upon exploitation. I personally cannot call on others to avoid pot of unknown provenance when I myself am willing to consume products of unknown provenance (not pot, as we've established, but I'd be a bare-faced liar if I claimed I knew the supply-chain for every single thing I own).

Again, I do my best to work (in my own limited capacity) towards a less unjust system. But we are all steeped in compromise, and to deny that would be absurd. So I don't.

pooley wrote:
By the way, my post was not entirely aimed at you. I can see how it seemed that way - apologies for that. You told me how you source, and I accept that

No worries. And apologies, in turn, for the rather snippy tone of my response. I just have a thing about that "Yeah, but I never claimed..." line. It rubs me up the wrong way and I was unnecessarily irate in my reply.
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