http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/p...ndulgence.html
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....I could Google up thousands of these links if I had the time. But I will only speak to
my interpersonal experiences.
People I talk to (unless they have direct experience) ROUTINELY express opinions to
me of the 'addicts as waste of space'....'need to be put away forever'.....and "we'd
be better off without them". When I say routinely---what I really meant was
EVERY SINGLE PERSON.
(Sadly...including me before this awful sidetrack)
Will they VERBALIZE and put their name to these feelings in a broader sense than
one-on-one communication? Do we here on SR broadcast our true identity?
Why not?
Like other societal subjects too explosive to touch......they will never be 'discussed openly'.
HI! My name is Peter Gibbons and I live at 453 Klaas St in Hoboken and I think that ____________
........you can fill in the rest.
No. In real life, people speak in code. People move to a certain neighborhood "for the schools".
Why didn't you move to THAT neighborhood? Homes cost 1/3 as much there!
(Oh.....right........"the schools".).....class is another red hot "no touchie".
But if your thesis is that there is an enormous groundswell (evident in
everyday conversations with everyday people) of empathy for "junkies",
then I have to say you and I inhabit very different worlds.
I sense more empathy for active Al Q'aida combatants.
(not too many people have had their home burglarized by the latter)