Cigarettes
I have grown to achieve a certain mental clarity here in Sweden. So many things have just became so clear to me and I have come to several realizations.
The first of which deals with something that been in abundance all around me for so long now.
Cigarettes.
Now, I have smoked a cigarette here and there, mainly when on other drugs, but I have never been a full blown "cigarette smoker" like so much of America is. In result of this, I have never understood in dealing with aspects of drug control just exactly why cigarettes are so populus amongst are culture, even in comparison to more ethically appealing alternatives such as chewing tobacco or even cigars.
Recently, however as I am away from the constant presence of cigarettes here in Sweden, the logic of cigarettes has really dawned on me as to why it is so appealing to everyone, not just in America, but in a worldwide, first-world perspective.
The main topic at hand is the incredibly complex aspect of cigarettes within soceity. I'm not looking to write a full-blown thesis on this topic (at least not yet) but something about cigarettes became evidently clear to me here in Sweden.
Cigarettes, in a nutshell, are used to keep the "average" person, the Johns and Janes with their shit 9-5 jobs and 40+ hour work weeks with no insurance at bay and content with their current situation in life.
Think about it. If you know anything about nicotine (the addictive substance in cigarettes) you will know that nicotine occurs naturally in tobacco as either an acid or a base. The acidic form is rather stable and emits very little nicotine initially. However, the base form emits a large quanity of nicotine when smoked, which causes a cigarette "high" that is much stronger (also more hazardous)and is achieved much more quickly with the base form of tobacco than the acid form.
What form of tobacco do you think the cigarette companies use? Of course, the base form. Not only do they use the base form, but they also "blend" tobacco and use special chemicals in cigarettes to convert the acidic forms on tobacco found in cigarettes into base forms, which of course creates a larger cigarette "high" for the user.
So the Johns and Janes of the world, uneducated, poor, working two or more jobs to make ends meat, get done with six straight hours of cleaning porta-potties and have a cigarette to escape their shit life for a moment instead of becoming enraged with their current status in life and going to school or working towards a better job.
Actually, under this light, I enjoy the average cigarette smoker. I don't want to clean porta-potties for hours on end, or drive a 18 wheel semi truck for 13 hours straight. Cigarettes keep people content with their shit jobs and shit lives, offering a light at the end of the tunnel and a simple, periodic, release from the things in life they hate so much. In fact, I bet this is probably the predominant reason as to why cigarettes are even still legal. The people in Armani suits that sit behind desks, the ones who hold the actual power in the world, don't want to clean toilets or drive semi trucks. If little white sticks can prevent their Armani suits from getting dirty doing these hideous tasks, then maybe they aren't so bad after all. Not to mention the added toxic substances and high prices of cigarettes so that by the time the smoker realises their condition and status in life after so many years of smoking that their health, economic, and mental perspective are so shot that they can do nothing about it.
The men in the Armani suits do absolutely no dirty work, but yet they profit off the people who do it all, without ever having to deal with the people who they have manipulated so masterfully because they kill them off before they can realise what has happened to them and fight back.
Cigarettes: The White Sticks That Steal Our Soul
The first of which deals with something that been in abundance all around me for so long now.
Cigarettes.
Now, I have smoked a cigarette here and there, mainly when on other drugs, but I have never been a full blown "cigarette smoker" like so much of America is. In result of this, I have never understood in dealing with aspects of drug control just exactly why cigarettes are so populus amongst are culture, even in comparison to more ethically appealing alternatives such as chewing tobacco or even cigars.
Recently, however as I am away from the constant presence of cigarettes here in Sweden, the logic of cigarettes has really dawned on me as to why it is so appealing to everyone, not just in America, but in a worldwide, first-world perspective.
The main topic at hand is the incredibly complex aspect of cigarettes within soceity. I'm not looking to write a full-blown thesis on this topic (at least not yet) but something about cigarettes became evidently clear to me here in Sweden.
Cigarettes, in a nutshell, are used to keep the "average" person, the Johns and Janes with their shit 9-5 jobs and 40+ hour work weeks with no insurance at bay and content with their current situation in life.
Think about it. If you know anything about nicotine (the addictive substance in cigarettes) you will know that nicotine occurs naturally in tobacco as either an acid or a base. The acidic form is rather stable and emits very little nicotine initially. However, the base form emits a large quanity of nicotine when smoked, which causes a cigarette "high" that is much stronger (also more hazardous)and is achieved much more quickly with the base form of tobacco than the acid form.
What form of tobacco do you think the cigarette companies use? Of course, the base form. Not only do they use the base form, but they also "blend" tobacco and use special chemicals in cigarettes to convert the acidic forms on tobacco found in cigarettes into base forms, which of course creates a larger cigarette "high" for the user.
So the Johns and Janes of the world, uneducated, poor, working two or more jobs to make ends meat, get done with six straight hours of cleaning porta-potties and have a cigarette to escape their shit life for a moment instead of becoming enraged with their current status in life and going to school or working towards a better job.
Actually, under this light, I enjoy the average cigarette smoker. I don't want to clean porta-potties for hours on end, or drive a 18 wheel semi truck for 13 hours straight. Cigarettes keep people content with their shit jobs and shit lives, offering a light at the end of the tunnel and a simple, periodic, release from the things in life they hate so much. In fact, I bet this is probably the predominant reason as to why cigarettes are even still legal. The people in Armani suits that sit behind desks, the ones who hold the actual power in the world, don't want to clean toilets or drive semi trucks. If little white sticks can prevent their Armani suits from getting dirty doing these hideous tasks, then maybe they aren't so bad after all. Not to mention the added toxic substances and high prices of cigarettes so that by the time the smoker realises their condition and status in life after so many years of smoking that their health, economic, and mental perspective are so shot that they can do nothing about it.
The men in the Armani suits do absolutely no dirty work, but yet they profit off the people who do it all, without ever having to deal with the people who they have manipulated so masterfully because they kill them off before they can realise what has happened to them and fight back.
Cigarettes: The White Sticks That Steal Our Soul