Avoiding the power trip
Maybe most important of all… looking at what Timothy Leary would have called the “set and setting” in which today’s psychedelic renaissance is occurring. Is it one of love, mutual aid, and collective development? Or is it about control, profit, and further domination? This matters.
…this dovetailed all-too-well with John Barlow telling the psychedelic internet that his Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace was in our best interests. It declared us free of nation states and other political bodies…. an expression of anarchy because… didn’t know enough about economics to recognize it as libertarian. (Getting rid of nations and governments… gives free rein to corporations.) …thought the Grateful Dead lyricist was just helping… make the net psychedelic and fun and human-driven… wrong… look at the history of the Internet for what happens when we cheer adoption of a new technology with too little regard for who is seizing power, or how it is actually affecting people. Let’s do it right this time.
Original Article (Medium):
Avoiding the power trip
Artwork Fair Use: Martin Fisch