A letter to Arthur

Last December, I was feeling particularly uppity and wrote this letter.

I've been enjoying Arthur since issue 4.  Here's some reflections:

Arthur seems to be embracing the role of sixties revivalist in a lot of ways.  If you're going to go that route, it's important that you avoid replicating the mistakes of that era.

There are a lot of young people who look back and have to conclude that drugs were the achilles heel of the sixties peace movement. Trying to get stoners politically organized is like herding cats. There's people who've been trying to start a NORML chapter at my college for like 6 years, but by their own admission their drug intake means they always seem to lack the motivation and organization.  The corporate media then-as-now loves drug culture because its emphasis on immediate gratification resonantes so strongly with consumerist desire.  (cf. Thomas Frank's first book, Conquest of Cool).  They glamorize and normalize getting fucked up through shitty movies like "Dude Where's My Car" and shitty music like Pantera & Cypress Hill & Staind.   For many of us, getting serious about overthrowing the corporate oligarchy means staying self-aware by not fucking with our brain chemistry.

So that's why it bugs me to see articles like Mark Pilkington's piece on magic mushrooms, replete with glamorous photos.  Pilkington adheres to a false binary between cool progressive hipsters who like drugs and stodgy old conservatives who wanna stop them.  This oversimplification means that people who support decriminalization of drugs but have strong reservations about their use are never represented.  This is pretty much true throughout the magazine.

I don't want to come off as authoritarian or judgmental.  Of course drug policy in this country is absurd, racist, and counterproductive. I'm open to the idea that psychedelics might provide legitimate insights or heightened consciousness for some folks, though I'm certain that one can get there in other ways.  And of course, I'd rather see the 14 year old kids around my small rural town doing shrooms than meth or oxycontin (seriously a big problem here).  But I'd REALLY rather see them explode their minds in healthier ways.  If you're going to try to start a consciousness-raising trend, why not publish a nice big feature spread on transcendental meditation?

I guess what I'm asking for is balance.

Also:  more articles written by and about women & queers.  Please?

Thanks.

xo,
Kevin Erickson
Walla Walla, Washington

The letter ignited a lengthy and not-very-productive exchange of emails between myself and Jay Babcock, Arthur's rather defensive editor. (Can someone explain to me why dudes always bring up "quotas" when you ask for more emphasis on women and queers?) So I was surprised and pleased when Babcock decided to print my letter and also to take my advice and print an excellent article on "Meditation as a subversive activity" by Michael Brownstein. Brownstein's article is definitely worth the effort of trying to track down a copy of the magazine (issue #15, Feb 2005). He apparently also wrote this book, World On Fire which is now on my wishlist.