What The Senate’s Apology For Slavery Really Means
RSS 2.0 Generation Xed Out
I hardly watch TV since I feel guilty about the multiple other tasks I could be completing while sitting in front of the boob tube. In the same amount of time I could allow the television to draw away my attention, I could be writing a new chapter in my book, finishing a lecture, improving a marketing plan, or curiously researching a fascinating topic. Therefore, catching ABC News’ Earth 2100 was indeed a rare and inadvertent event. I just happened to be looking for the following day’s weather forecast, when I stumbled upon the program and was immediately drawn in, as if I were standing on the event horizon of a black hole. Earth 2100 painted the picture I had in my mind of capitalism’s dire consequences.
Call me pessimistic, but I believe the Bush Administration ushered in the beginning of the world’s new Dark Age. As the planet’s role model for success, the United States abandoned all regard for environmental responsibility in favor of economic superiority. The endless pursuit of oil and relentless control of that resource, clouded and continues to impair this country’s judgment. We made an excuse to trample on the Middle East to secure a foothold in the region that controls a significant portion of the world’s oil supply. Instead of exploiting the United States’ greatest competitive advantage, innovation, we allowed our government to barbarically cling to a system of old world industrialism. The planet is now at its breaking point.
I wish I could say humanity was simply trying to find its way and made a mistake, but Ray Charles could have seen this coming. Oil is a finite resource. Why did we not invest the trillions of dollars we spent in Iraq on developing alternative energies? The answer is the powers that be are reluctant to let this oil gravy train come to a halt and stifle their pockets. The wheels have already started to fall off but we’re still going full steam ahead over a cliff. With the US as the locomotive, China, India, and other developing super powers are unlikely to give up any ground in constructing their competitive economies. That means caring for the environment is secondary to capitalism.
Until the world’s superpowers agree to sacrifice their economic pursuits in favor of environmental sustainability, we are doomed. I used to think the wild events in Revelation were far fetched, but now I see how they may just play out in my lifetime. Global famine, drought, pestilence, disease, and war are inevitable if we do not immediately change our way of government. Ruthlessly competing with each other for food, water, and energy can only go on for so long. As long as capitalism is king I have little hope for humanity. It was clear to Paul in the first century that “each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). In the 21st, and possibly last century for mankind, the same advice is relevant – we must embrace some form of global socialism if we plan to survive. If not, we will certainly end up HERE.
10,000 Days On Earth… Now What?
May 26, 2009 was a major milestone in the life of yours truly. Just as I embraced my youthful, golden age of 27, I reached my 10,000th day as an independently breathing homo sapien. (In case you’re wondering how and/or why the heck I calculated this number, rest assured that I am not an anally retentive, number crunching, semi-psychotic weirdo… I simply typed in my birthday after learning of this new search engine HERE, I promise!). Anyway, I realized that while my body is in mint condition, I have quite a bit of mileage on this engine. After all of the potholes I’ve hit, dents and scratches I’ve endured, and great stretches of the Earth I’ve visited, what will motivate me to continue driving forward?
When a new car leaves a dealership, the driver is warned not to drive ridiculously fast until the engine is “broken in.” So, for all intents and purposes, I’m going to consider my first 10,000 days “break in mileage.” I now have a feel for which lane I want to travel in and an inkling of my ideal destination. Everyday I will speed towards global social equality. En route, I hope to also:
- Leave the planet Earth and do some space travel in the next 10,000 days. Seriously, I believe space tourism will be an affordable reality in my lifetime. After going to school with an orphaned prodigy named Paul Zhang, I am convinced that quantum teleportation is right around the corner.
- Figure out what’s beyond the edge of our universe, since it is definitely finite. Parallel universes, a fifth dimension, heaven?
- Plant a new seed with this glorious DNA (just in case my engine gives out before I arrive at the conclusions to Numbers 1 & 2).
Reaching these goals will require lots of maintenance. I have already committed to keeping my body in top condition with my 24 Hour Fitness membership. As well, my diet is rich in premium fuel. Tune ups will be handled by my mechanic Pastor J. To keep my mental engine in top physical condition I will continue to read, write, and lecture. Perhaps I’ll find a sexy sports car to accompany me on the long road of destiny… I guess time will tell. For right now, I’m warning everyone to hit your turn signal and move over to the right lane. I’ll be doing about a buck fifty blasting “Move B***h” by Ludacris for the next 10,000 days!
Red or Blue Pill? Escaping The Matrix of Consumer Driven Capitalism
Being the owner of a streetwear line, I try to stay semi-fresh… well at least when there’s a chance I might be seen by people outside my inner circle. Otherwise, I’m rather comfortable rocking my funky, old, grey sweatpants and a dangerousNEGRO tee. I’ve never gotten a rush out of spending exorbitant amounts of cash to impress others or fill a subconscious insecurity. This is not to say that I haven’t made any purchasing mistakes (uhh buying a brand new BMW 1 year into my professional career on the advice of my girlfriend). Like most Americans, I have succumbed to the pressure of “keeping up with the Jones’” from time to time. Even still, I realize that our current system of consumer driven capitalism has desensitized us to the world’s ills and shields us from what is most important in life.
Though these thoughts have been floating around my mind for quite some time, I wasn’t inspired to write this article until an incident at the Houston Galleria this week. After striking a deal with It’s On Fashions to carry dN|Be Apparel, I perused America’s 4th largest mall looking for new fashion trends. I decided to stop in Sneaker Lab to get some ideas on color schemes for our tees. Looking at the new Dunks, Forces, and Jordans, I concluded that purple and teal are still king in urban wear. Before I left the store, the owner told me he had something special for me – a pair of Air Yeezy’s, size 11. “Yo I’ll give them to you for the low low… $700 for the white ones and $750 for the grey joints” he said with a straight face. Internally, I was thinking “is this dude out of his @#$%* mind?!” He promised me it was a good deal and encouraged me to at least see them in person. I declined and hauled @ss out the store. 700 ways to better spend that sum of money scrolled through my cerebral cortex on the drive home. “What kind of person justifies a purchase for sneakers that expensive?” I thought. “People trapped in capitalism’s matrix” was the only conclusion I could comfortably surmise.
Ever since watching Neo choose the red pill in The Matrix, I have been highly skeptical of the way the world operates. Never would I allow myself to succumb to Herd Mentality I vowed. No matter how calm the climate in my environment, I know there are people facing storms elsewhere.
In 2008 I was able to travel to Arusha, Tanzania where I learned valuable lessons which reinforced my philosophy. Once I got settled, the first place I visited was the downtown market. For an American accustomed to shopping at Wal-Mart, Kroger, and the classic mega mall, the Arusha market would have seemed primitive, unsanitary, and unpleasant. There were chickens running aimlessly, merchants cutting fish on wooden stumps, and tons of non refrigerated produce exposed in the open air market. Nevertheless, the residents of Arusha were eager to show me that they had access to food. As an obvious tourist, I began to attract a significant following of locals during my walk through the market. Near the end of my market tour, two 6 year old boys approached me for money. My natural inclination was to ignore the young men in order to not attract an even larger crowd of beggars. In broken Swahili, I tried to tell them that I had no money. In their tattered clothing they began to point to my shoes. I was wearing a pair of grey Jordan IIIs worth over $100. How could I not afford to give them some change when I walked through their town with 3 months worth of food on my feet?
Later that summer, I participated in a youth camp in Colorado for Black children adopted by White families. One of the families insisted that I meet their daughter, adopted from Ethiopia. As I was introduced to the shy, innocent, young lady, I had no idea her story would bring tears to my eyes. She had witnessed the murder of her mother at the hands of her father. Starving and desperate to feed her family, the girl’s mother had stolen a potato from the local market. Upon coming home and seeing his family eat the potato, (which he knew they could not have afforded to purchase), the husband grew irate. When his wife confessed that she had stolen the vegetable to save their family from starvation he beat her to death… in front of the children. To put things in perspective, I purchase a 10 pound bag of Russet potatoes for $3 every time I shop for groceries. This girl’s mother was murdered for a single potato.
So what drives Americans to feel justified in purchasing severely overpriced items that serve no benefit to the greater good of society? I’ve heard several excuses which make my skin crawl. Speaking with women I am close to, the common rationale is that they feel they “deserve to have nice things”; whether this is the result of them having worked hard or it is an inherent birthright, they believe there is nothing wrong with coveting designer handbags, shoes, clothes, and accessories. Typically, the more expensive the item, the more they want it. Some will even save in small monthly increments so they can feel guilt free when they finally amass the capital to purchase said items. Can someone please tell me why it is so important to carry around your wallet, cell phone, and other miscellaneous junk in an $800 purse when people die over potatoes in other parts of the world? Do you really need a $300 pair of pumps to match the dress that you will wear only a couple of times in a given year (for fear of being caught dead in a repeat outfit)?
Men are not exempt from my scrutiny either. Fellas, if you’re buying Air Yeezy’s for $700 you should be ashamed of yourself. In fact, if you’re spending anywhere in the triple digits for your sneakers, you should reexamine your life. Last night I saw Soulja Boy spend 12K at the Louis Vuitton store on TMZ. I wished with all my heart that I could have reached through the screen and smacked his kufi off. What has Louis Vuitton, Gucci, etc. done to improve the lives of people across the Black Diaspora? Are you just wearing this crap so you can feed your own ego and make others think “he must have money to burn because he’s wearing a $500 shirt?” If you have the money to waste on luxury goods that benefit no one but the company you purchase them from, why not spend it on something constructive instead?
My belief is that the pursuit of the almighty dollar has corrupted people’s vision and impaired their judgment on life’s values. Because most people cannot imagine existing in a world where financial gain is not the number one priority, it is difficult to prevent them from being slaves to currency. When you believe that “Cash Rules Everything Around Me” (C.R.E.A.M courtesy Wu-Tang), there is no way to detach yourself from the rigors of attaining money for the purpose of spending your way to your coveted lifestyle. Essentially, you are trained to swallow the blue pill of conformity – get money and spend what you can since you worked hard to get it in the first place. After all, you deserve it right? Wrong. You may have earned your income legitimately and labored great hours to get it. Does that justify throwing it out the window on luxury goods? Swallow the red pill for once. Open your eyes to the shortcomings of your community, your city, your state, your country, your planet. Before you give Louis Vuitton and Mercedes your hard earned cash, think about how that same money could impact the homeless (humans and/or pets), the poor in 3rd world countries, and families in your neighborhood. I challenge you to exit the matrix, which wants you to ignore society’s pains so you can spend, spend, spend to keep this capitalism machine running. I’m talking to YOU Neo! In the words of Morpheus “Remember, all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.”
When Black Kids Talk “White”
Tuesday a good friend of mine asked me to speak to her 8 year old daughter about an issue in which I am quite familiar. For the entire semester, her oldest child has been pleading with her for a transfer to a new school. Apparently the young lady is being badgered and teased on a daily basis. It’s no secret that bullies tend to pick on those with obvious differences – the skinny kid, the overweight girl, or the guy that stutters. Unfortunately, in this instance, and across Black America, “talking white” can be added to the list of subjects that trigger harassment.
Somewhere in the last 3 decades, the usage of slang, ignorant language, and/or Ebonics became exclusively associated with being Black. Was this the end product of the 1970s blaxploitation films? Or could it be the direct result of Hip Hop’s emergence on the urban landscape? I would truly have to do more research to get to the bottom of this issue. Whatever the origin, it gravely concerns me that our youth are brought up with the expectation that they should avoid scholarly behavior and rhetoric in order to be considered authentically Black.
The mentality that proper sentence structure and words with more than two syllables are exclusively reserved for Caucasians is more than troubling. This thinking perpetuates a cycle of ignorance that compels Black youth to find comfort in underachieving. Growing up, I would listen to all the “cool” kids brag about how many absences they had and how many classes they either failed or were close to failing. In order not to create a spectacle of name calling, or worse, physical assault, I did my best to conceal my report card and deny receiving commendable grades. As well, I even made sure to incorporate improper grammar, foul language, and the latest slang to assimilate to my inner city public school environment. Occasionally a bully would wrestle the stiff piece of paper out of my clutches and discover that “yo this ni**a is a nerd!” While these experiences forced me to develop thick skin and a sense of humor (to distract the ig’nant folk that could obviously dish out a ghetto shellacking), it’s quite sad that I and many Black adolescents had to live in fear of being considered “too” intelligent.
In the age of Obama, the destruction of degenerate Black mentalities is essential to the reversal of our race’s misfortunes. The longer we associate “talking white” with being inferior, the farther we will fall behind our White, Asian, and other counterparts. Black parents, encourage your children to speak properly. Make them take pride in being Young. Gifted. Black. College students, graduates, and scholars make it your duty to mentor at least 1 elementary, middle, or high school student. Be America’s Next Top Role Model for them. Professionals, take time out of your schedules to do what Wu-Tang’s Inspectah Deck asked in ’93s C.R.E.A.M and “kick the truth to the young, black youth.” Certainly scholarship was involved in you arriving at your destination – prove to them that Smart Is REALLY The New Gangsta.
Although the following video is humorous, it has a message. Wayne Brady is notoriously associated with “talking white.” In this clip he goes out of his way to prove his “Blackness.” I love this clip because it shows how silly it is to assume that you can prejudge a person’s “Blackness” by the way he or she talks. I’ll tackle the whole issue of “Blackness” in another article. In the meantime enjoy!
Enlisting In The Fight For “Freedom”
Anybody that knows me will attest to the fact that my favorite movie is Robert De Niro’s A Bronx Tale. If you really knew me you would also know that Dead Presidents, starring Larenz Tate, is my second favorite movie of all time. (Well it’s actually tied with Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America, but for the purposes of this article it stands solely at number two). Dead Presidents was instrumental in shaping my early opinion on serving in the United States military.
Most people would be surprised to learn that I spent the first few years of my life as a military brat. My toddler years were spent trekking up and down the Atlantic coastline from Charleston, South Carolina to Portland, Maine. Following my dad’s Navy Destroyer, the USS O’Bannon, my earliest memories include the peculiar scent of a ship and bright white uniforms. Perhaps I was too young to grow attached to dedicating my life to Uncle Sam, as these recollections did nothing to cement my desire to serve in the United States military.
At 13 years old, watching Dead Presidents, a movie based on the experience of Vietnam War veteran Haywood T. Kirkland, solidified my stance on joining the ranks of U.S. soldiers and seamen – NOT GONNA HAPPEN. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, “The film depicts the struggle of returning war veterans who are neglected by the US government. Many veterans of the Vietnam War were denied benefits, compensation, and recognition for their efforts in serving their country. Anthony [the character based on Kirkland] is no exception; upon his arrival in The Bronx he is unable to find gainful employment to support his daughter, born while he was on tour in Vietnam” (Wikipedia). Ultimately, the bright young Anthony is forced to resort to crime and consequently incarcerated for his actions.
Like the Corporate American Plantation system, which I have reluctantly experienced in the past, enlisting in the US military at this time would be equivalent to handing one’s life over to an unjust slave master. Our country’s militaristic agenda is based on lies, greed, and corruption veiled as “the expansion of freedom.” Young men and women are tricked into joining an organization that rapes its own, annihilates potential, and destroys the lives of its members and others. Not to mention the fights picked with opposing forces are laced with hidden political motives. Barring an invasion of tyrannical overlords or bloodsucking aliens, do not look for your boy to succumb to Uncle Sam’s propaganda and enlist.
So how should the military fill its ranks you ask? Well it definitely should not do so by recruiting low hanging fruit in neighborhoods where there are few options. My call is for the United States to give illegal aliens a pathway to legalization by allowing them to earn their citizenship with a defined term of military service. What American could deny a new immigrants’ commitment to the betterment of this nation after serving in the military? I also feel that tapping into our huge prison population would be much more productive than leaving a bunch of aggressive criminals caged in boxes. Almost anything makes more sense than our current system of luring unsuspecting young people into horrific situations. The US military and it’s recruiting efforts MUST BE REVAMPED IMMEDIATELY.
Before I get off my soapbox I must say that the minds that call the US military into action must be heavily examined and scrutinized. Those minds consist of the Commander-In-Chief, Congress, and all of the citizens that blindly follow the lead of government in times of uncertainty. Protecting our soil is one thing, invading and disrupting others is another. A good friend of mine once told me that it’s naive to believe the United States could be the great superpower that it is without proactively waging war to secure resources. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We have the resources we need to survive in the forms of wealth and brilliant minds to devise new strategies to compensate for any items we lack. Waging war is wasteful and barbaric. Peace is patriotic.
Checkout the video below. It contains some testimonies of people that fell for the okey doke and put their lives on the line to serve our dishonest and ungrateful United States government.
Why I Am The Voice Of The Hip Hop Generation
People ask me all the time why I consider myself the “Voice Of the Hip Hop Generation.” Some fans of the culture even take offense to me claiming the title. Go to sleep haters, I was Hip Hop before I was I.
Indeed, Hip Hop has been the soundtrack of my life. Inherited congenitally from my father, one of the very first DJs to scratch a record, the rhythm is in my roots. From the womb, my ears were inundated with the thumping bass lines of Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. Growing up, my Pops was always mixing and scratching at the crib. My Uncle Greg kept me on my toes when it came to the underground jams that weren’t on the mainstream radar. I remember the Beastie Boys’ “License To Ill” cassette being an additional appendage to my tiny hand. In Kindergarten, the first rap I could recite by heart was Audio Two’s “Top Billing.” In 1988, the first album I purchased with my own money was Biz Markie’s “Goin’ Off”.
As a youngster in East New York, Brooklyn, I have fond memories of my Uncle Dwayne praising Slick Rick. He also took me to get haircuts at his boy Zack’s crib, who also happened to cut EPMD, back in the age of high top fades. Auntie Jonelle would pick me up from P.S. 345 and immediately turn on Video Music Box when we got to Grandma Gloria’s brownstone. Hip Hop has had a pervasive presence in my life.
Today, I consider myself a Hip Hop historian. I can name more samples than people 20 years my senior. At the same time, I bridge the gap between Hip Hop’s origin and its present day manifestation. I’m just as comfortable critiquing Lil Wayne as I am Whodini. I’ve had the privilege of meeting legends like KRS-One, Nice N Smooth, M.O.P, Ludacris, Bun B, and Common (plus countless others). Being raised on the East Coast, and residing in The South for the better part of 9 years, I can appreciate every element in the gumbo that is Hip Hop. More importantly, I am able to contribute social commentary and inspire action from the perspective of a scholar that understands the entire spectrum of Hip Hop culture.
So challenge me if you will… I have no problem defending my title as “The Voice of The Hip Hop Generation.” Before you do so, checkout my video below. I shot it last week during my trip back to the northeast. Walk with me through the streets of NYC, as I take you to the New York I know – a city with Hip Hop at its heart. Making stops in Harlem, The South Bronx, and East New York, I venture into the areas most fans won’t feel welcomed, to make sure New York City’s Hip Hop pulse is still alive!
Demetrius Walker’s Master’s Tea at Yale University
I was invited to speak at Yale’s prestigious Master’s Tea on April 9, 2009. It was an extreme honor to be invited, as past speakers have been Bishop Desmond Tutu, Denzel Washington, and R.L. Stein. The format of the Master’s Tea is a bit informal to allow students and faculty to have a fluid discussion with the guest speaker. I talked about visiting Yale 10 years ago as a high school senior and how it changed my life. I ended up meeting recording artist Common at that time and we went for a bite to eat with a faculty memeber that lived in my dorm, Mr. Hill. Years down the line, I ended up crossing paths with Common once again and he became the first celebrity to wear my line, dangerousNEGRO. The moral of the story is that every moment of your life is precious and you have to embrace what you are passionate about in order to truly live out your dreams.
The footage shot at Yale was over 2 hours in length. Due to Youtube’s constraints, I condensed it down to 10 minutes as best I could. Let me know what you think.
SXSW Changed My Life
Humanity has a bright future. Observing the sea of hippies, hipsters, and hip hoppers at the South by Southwest (SXSW) 2009 music festival, I couldn’t help but to feel an overwhelming sense of peace. People from all walks of life, religion, race, and nationalities united to share the basic human love of music. Partiers flooded the streets of Austin, converging on bars, clubs, and eateries. Ironically, this vast range of liberal-minded individuals congregated in the capitol of America’s most conservative state – Texas.
Growing up in New York, I was no stranger to the stranger things in life. My mind was semi-numb to the outrageous scenarios and bizarre people I grew accustomed to seeing everyday in the sprawling Subway. Even still, upon my entrance to Austin I was shocked to see the diverse crowd of certified weirdoes crammed into Bush’s backyard. Black Borat, a Dominican lesbian with a pink halfro, Mexican battle rappers, and white DJ skateboarders, were among the first people I encountered on arrival. I thought I must have surely opened a portal to a parallel universe.
As I shadowed super emcee ZEALE for the whole week, my eyes were opened to a world I wasn’t sure could exist, at least not in the United States. The only pervasive theme for SXSW was individualism. Nobody was trying to fit in anywhere. Everyone in town was on their own wavelength. There were such dynamic differences between the attendees that racism was rendered idle, sexism was silly, and homophobia was pointless. The walls of ignorance melted in the Austin heat. Prejudgments about excessive body piercers, eccentric hair wearers, and interracial daters went out the window for people like me. I found myself questioning the derivative of preconceived notions about people I never had the privilege of interacting with.
During my last night at SXSW, I looked out into the sea of marvelous creatures as we all sang in unison to Erykah Badu’s rendition of Common’s “The Light.” The most incredible feeling of love filled my heart. I didn’t care that the white girls next to me had dreads, that the two Asian guys in front of me were gay, or that the cats behind me were smoking weed. They were all doing them, I was doing me, and at that moment, we all simultaneously enjoyed life.
Then my mind started racing. Why does racism continue to thrive elsewhere? Is war the only essential means of resolution across this planet? If this huge group of weirdoes (including myself) could exist harmoniously, why can’t we live as a human race undivided by doctrines of religion, race, class, and gender? SXSW answered all of these questions for me. Homosapiens are not naturally destructive life forms after all. The key is embracing diversity, shunning ignorance, and actively exhibiting love.
Checkout my video recap of SXSW 2009 below. I had over 7 hours of footage to edit, but I tried to encapsulate all of the major highlights of the trip:
Pot For Profit?
Puff puff pass
If you’ve been keeping up with me you are already well aware of my stance on drugs. Making them illegal is counter-productive, costly, and inefficient in regulating consumption. For years my peers have looked at my position as radical… insane… unrealistic. Today, California has given credence to my long unmerited argument.
It took going flat broke for California to realize that banning the sale and consumption of marijuana is unwise. Now that our most populous state has “pockets like rabbit ears” (Ala Notorious B.I.G), it has suddenly dawned on lawmakers to capitalize on the state’s largest cash crop – the sticky icky icky. All of those arguments about weed destroying people’s lives, rotting your brain, and killing your lungs have suddenly become null and void. I’ve deduced the new call for legalization to the following rationale in lawmakers’ minds: “Who has time for old stuffy morals when we need money!”
Ahh yes. People have finally started to realize that taxing the sales, distribution, and consumption of cannabis is a much more efficient method for generating income than trying to prevent its proliferation. Think about how much money is wasted on drug enforcement officers and prisoners that get locked up for trafficking a substance that is as pervasive as cockroaches. It has to approach figures in the billions of dollars. Now put this into perspective:
Pot is, after all, California’s biggest cash crop, responsible for $14 billion a year in sales, dwarfing the state’s second largest agricultural commodity — milk and cream — which brings in $7.3 billion a year, according to the most recent USDA statistics. The state’s tax collectors estimate the bill [introduced by state assemblyman Tom Ammiano] would bring in about $1.3 billion a year in much needed revenue, offsetting some of the billions of dollars in service cuts and spending reductions outlined in the recently approved state budget. (Time Magazine)
How much do you think the entire United States stands to gain by legalizing marijuana? Imagine if all drugs were deemed legal, regulated effectively, and taxed. Trillions of dollars would be raised! The government could also monitor the potency of the substances to prevent abuse. People wouldn’t have to worry about getting shot by black market drug dealers since there would no longer be a need for them. Jails would cease to disrupt the family structure of our community due to meaningless drug offenses. It’s a no brainer to me. People that use drugs will do so regardless of whether there is a law discouraging them to consume. So why leave money on the table?
In high school I offended one of my closest friends by saying that Jamaica could elevate itself from Third World status by legalizing marijuana. It made sense to me back then and it still does now! This is a way for any struggling economy to rally back from our worst economic time since the Great Depression. How can anyone rationalize the ban of a substance that will undoubtedly be consumed by those who are fans anyway? Let me ask a question to the non weed smokers out there – will you make sure to pick up an ounce of chronic the next time you stop through Cali (solely because the law may have deemed it legal)? Probably not. I know I won’t (I’m too cheap to waste money on a drug habit). So in light of the obvious benefits of raising much needed capital, keeping a closer eye on purity/potency, and helping to stem drug violence, what is the counter argument to legalization?
