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robots.txt xd
draft 2
questionable memory disclaimer
this is a chronicle of impressions of an event that was rather exceptional for me personally.
i go with my wife anna to her prof. nesson's fair trial class. she tells me it's been overrun by sjws who dominate the conversation, and nesson believes that everyone with a grievance has a right to air it. he seems kind to a fault, but it is still incredibly refreshing that he is kind. if you research him, he's advocated mainly for the little guy.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ailZb8A.jpg)
today he's bringing in rastafari ras iyah v (rahss ai-yah vee), who's going to a UN conference in NY soon to testify in favor of the rasta faith's religious rights, particularly to perform rituals involving ganja and peace and love.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/SCPvtos.jpg)
nesson introduces him with that information i just gave, and the information that ras iyah v was part of some western group in jamaica who had been growing ganja against the law, which was introduced by colonists to subject their people. western was important, because recently, an eastern group led by some group of elites was trying to legitimize and wrest control of the economic fruits of the illicit ganja harvest, called the 'future ganja growers [association]'. he makes them sound like an oppressive upper class, which they probably are.
ras iyah v preaches love and peace and cultural self-determination for all. he does this for quite awhile with a bunch of idealistic sayings that have nothing to do with how he's going to bring it about.
nesson eventually interrupts him and asks about the marijuana aspect of what he's going to say to the UN council whatever. how is he going to advocate for the rastafari's right to use it?
ras iyah v repeats some of the arguments from basic human rights, as well as makes references to specific sections of the un charter. he also demonstrates knowledge of several common stoner praises for weed, love, peace, just the great things about it if you use it correctly. similar ideas with his particular cultural inflection go on, for maybe 10-15 minutes.
nesson opens it up to the class, though ras wants to keep going for awhile. nesson wants people to help ras make his case in the un council in the best way, so he wants people to bring up any concerns with what he's saying and pretty much actually tell him what they think he should say to get what he wants.
ras brings in the fact that the US leads the world in drug persecution and historically led much of the worldwide war on drugs.
someone asks what the UN's going to do about it in the US, because the US is all about states and individual states laws on marijuana. s/he doesn't really mention the existence of the DEA as far as i can remember, but whatever. ras says however it's structured, legalization of responsible use of marijuana is the duty of the people to figure out for their local systems. people should educate people about how to live life well and how to use plants well holistically, esp. of course weed.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/pAwX1OD.jpg)
another guy asks about other drugs. ras emphasizes that he is against drugs, especially the processed aspect. he dislikes alcohol, cocaine, heroin. he calls sugar a drug. he says he'll never drink a bottle of coke or pepsi. he doesn't think the (moderate) use of marijuana as a plant counts as "drug use," though he says it can be used as a drug. he says not to cook a lot and eat it, as it can be very unpleasant and you can feel it for days.
i timidly raise my hand, and nesson takes note. at a natural break, he signals for me to ask my question: "this one's an open question to the students, how do you think we should get american culture to think of weed in a healthy way, and minimize the harm? the way it's thought of, the way it's used. uh, take your time." faint laughter.
ras al v goes on advocating for things he advocated for.
another guy eventually responds, (paraphased):
i think american culture can't handle the introduction of marijuana. american culture misuses everything. look at our fat people, look at our other drugs, look at our education system. we probably won't handle weed well. he says it sardonically and gets lots of laughs.
i don't like him. i can't get a read on what he actually wants to do in life, he seems to have given up on the american education system as a generalization, and he's smug about how cynical he is. also, weed's already (mis)used, like what's his point? i laughed though, cuz it felt funny at the time anyway, and of course true regarding retards.
at this point i want to talk about how it's a personal choice anyway and retards shouldn't matter cuz retards will do retard shit and that's a dumb reason to not let me do whatever the fuck i want. in a nicer way. i don't say it though. im really fucked up, and my heart's racing. i also think about how education should be a personal thing, parents should take responsibility for educating their kids about literally everything that their kid could possibly even be exposed to ever, etc. this part never gets mentioned.
i dont remember eveything, but nesson eventually asks about the relationship between christianity and rastafarianism. i use anna's phone to signal to her that i am displeased with this line of questioning, and she gives an embarrassed laugh. my intuition proves correct, as he rambles on about a lot of theological and historical stuff that i have no interest in (jesus is black). this goes on for quite awhile, but i needed to calm down anyway.
eventually, after the class, i work up the courage talk to professor nesson, while ras iyah v was occupied talking to a girl. i asked what exactly it was ras iyah v was going to advocate for in the UN council meeting, because i wasn't clear at the time. he responded that it was for the religious and cultural freedom to use ganja in their ganja peace love rituals (paraphased). i told him what i thought ras should emphasize at the meeting: the right to self-determination, individual freedom for every culture, "libertarianism," or at least one aspect of it. of all the stuff he talked about, that should be the core of it. nesson says he agrees, and he refers to a specific part of the UN charter that apparently goes along with that angle. i can't even remember to smile, though i really should have. i blame the weed. he says thank you, and i say thank you. i awkwardly walk away.
it was a weird experience. i didn't like a lot of the things that were said. a lot of the things bored me. it felt like a really round-about way to ask the world to legalize weed, and weed specifically, because of the immense emotional connection ras has to his own culture. he is a human being who literally spends his life finding rationalizations and sayings and pieces of history that justify his own people, because in the past, his people were fucked and abused and it left a lot of wounds that were passed down.
his audience was often bored as well. this was what made the experience the most uncomfortable: the thought that none of these law students in particular, except 1 or 2, were ever going to spend any additional time advocating for this particular thing. everyone was given the opportunity to give responses by email, and a lot did. but they're just additional words that probably won't significantly impact the impact of ras on that un council meeting.
not that i could have expected anything better, but the irony bothered me, as it always does on things that feel on some level that they might ought to be important.
i won't say more bad things about how i felt about the event.
i think weed legalization progressing at a fine pace and im not really worried about it. people like me can deal with it. everyone else deals with it fine. it's a whatever thing. worse things happen. who cares, really?
if you take this badly, please don't... it would hurt me...
