Boomtown

Welcome to the 14^th edition of Boomtown. If you’re reading this for the first time, welcome to Boomtown. We’re tripping as usual and it’s another Saturday, another weekend, in a year that seems to stretch longer and longer. Maybe we feel that way because so many events, so many narratives have blazed across the world of ours today, that we can scarcely keep up with it all. As always, we resume the fight against bad logic, against unfettered, nonsensical emotional hysteria and what not. 

Let’s start blazing, 

Don’t be a bliss junkie

The problems are everywhere. 

There are personal problems, dissatisfactions, longings, desires, needs and wants. There are societal problems, ills, immorals, crimes, frauds and what not. Yet amidst all this, there is also hope. Somehow, somewhere, amidst the deepest echoes in the bones of each and every human being, there is hope. And yes, many people do not have hope. Suppressed and trampled upon physically or mentally or both, many individuals lose their sense of hopes, and believe they will never be able to change their circumstances or standard of living. 

For the rest, it is easy to feel comfortable and sit back. 

And seldom do individuals actually do something to push themselves out of the abyss they have sunk themselves down into – addictions, hate, violence, perversion of the worst kinds, a lack of basic respect or courtesy, a lack of civil sense, shortening attention spans, an inability to listen, stuck in conservative thoughts and notions about life and society, we ask here – will the youngsters of a progressive bent speak up, or continue to be influenced by their elders out of ‘respect’ or ‘tradition’? 

In the New Indian Manifesto, we’ve laid down a few points that should serve as a useful starting point for anyone interested to immerse themselves into causes greater than their individual selves. And isn’t that what we really want? A way to get out of our heads and get in the ‘zone’, a state of mind where everything is wonderful and full of bliss. Well, an everlasting bliss is not possible. And chasing activities that cause bliss for the sake of bliss is simply a mode of becoming a bliss junkie. Let’s not be a bliss junkie. Pain is constant. Change is constant. Blisses, few and far in between, before the pain comes back. 

Let’s keep blazing. 

Argentina will allow patients to cultivate their medicine

Natural, medical cannabis goes against the traditional business model of giant pharmaceutical companies, in the sense that they cannot patent the strength of compounds, who derive their strength from nature. What they can do (and many are trying, no doubt) is to create synthetic versions of the natural, medicinal compounds found in cannabis and then patent them. 

We’re not against anything per se. All we want is this –  the ultimate choice and the decision to consume anything must lie with the patient. In this way, everyone has an opportunity to consume what they want once all the information about their origin and process of production is out in the open in front of the person, who is assumed to be rational minded, which is what economic theories all over the world, assume the person to be – that everyone is rational and none can be manipulated. Haha. As if that were true in reality.

The Argentinian government has allowed people to grow cannabis for medical purposes. Excerpts below from Ganjapreneur which is where we first read about it.

“Argentinian President Alberto Fernández on Thursday issued a decree allowing home cannabis cultivation by patients, requiring insurance providers to cover medical cannabis costs, and permitting pharmacies to sell cannabis-derived oils and topicals, the New York Times reports. Argentina legalized medical cannabis in 2017 but advocates say the law was so strict that it made medical cannabis inaccessible to patients. Under the new rules, individual cultivation licenses will be based on patients’ medical needs. Those who grow without a license will still face a penalty between four and 15 years in jail. The law does permit third parties to cultivate for patients who are unable to do so themselves.”

Reforms. Progress. Vision. All good adjectives to be applied here. Many people imagine and fantasize that one day they would be elected Prime Minister or President of their respective country. One does wonder about the obligations, social alliances and influences that politicians lay their allegiances to. We don’t know. 

Let’s keep blazing. 

The Festival of Blazing

May we never stop blazing ourselves towards progressive, uplifting, motivating, transformational and revolutionary thoughts and actions, backed by logic and objectivity. May we strive towards peace, freedom and equality, which sound brilliant in writing and speech. Let us not fear the loud and dumb, let us not fear the evils and most importantly, let us not fear away from doing our own research and be informed as much as possible, and strive to dive deep into details as much as possible. The festival of lights call for a celebration.

Tripping on this piece by Iron Maiden. Released in 1982. Still relevant of course.

Let’s keep blazing. Have a great weekend 🙂