Letter to the Editor Calls for Love in Response to War on Drugs

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JUst say no cartoon by Cloe Ashton commissioned by Myles A great battle has taken place in the Emerald Triangle.

A community is falling to pieces after decades of failed policy. Our infrastructure is crumbling, inequality is rising, our not-so-quaint little mountain town is unsure of which road to take. A community once based on love and free spirit is being torn apart. Lives have been lost, loved
ones are missed; our world has been cast in a veil of uncertainty. World War III is ending and yet people still wonder why the sky is falling.

Like all other wars this one has destroyed countless lives. And like all other wars we are left wondering for what purpose. We wonder who we saved with our greed and hate.

You and I have forgotten who the real enemy is. We thought we were saving people from the evil that lay within. We were fooled into believing we were fighting Them when in reality we were tricked into fighting each other. They told us marijuana was evil and we all fought to right the faults of our society. We were told that They were the enemy.

Our real enemy is the world we grew up in that taught us to fear. Our real enemy is the idea we have fed that drew a line between Us and Them. Our real enemy is everyone who told us who we are.

I would like to tell you who we are.

We are the community. We love our families, we love our friends, we love our neighbors, and we love our earth. We love our country, and we love our right to express ourselves. We built our
lives around the intention of creating a better world for our children.

And what about them?

They are the capitalist establishment who failed to work with us. They are the bullies who tore our families apart. They put a gun to our heads and fed us into a machine that has been systematically destroying our lives for decades. They threw the constitution out the window and replaced it with a system of bigotry. They are lurking in the shadows, preparing to swallow our community whole.

They are the profiteers of war. They purport to save the world from evil while flashing their gold chains and rolling around in their expensive cars. They embody a culture of misogyny and egotism. They declared war against our soil as they destroyed our environment and knowingly poisoned our community.

These evildoers are one in the same. This war was never a battle between cops and growers, judges and thieves, heroes and vagrants. Every war from now until the end of time will always be a battle between love and hate. The people who chose hate are the same ones who chose themselves over their community. They are the ones who will have to look at themselves in the mirror and reflect on the role they played in the greatest war of our time.

And those of us who chose love? We are the ones who will take this community back from the oppressors. We fear our conscious more than we fear our enemies. We will abandon our fear, because we know deep in our hearts that we desire love above all else.

Now is the time to redraw the lines and decide what is important to us. We must decide who is important to us. We must decide who we are and what we believe in. We must fight with passion.

In spite of the apprehensions we are faced with, I have hope for the future. We have an opportunity to inspire the world with the way we rose up from the tyrants and bullies. We have an opportunity to inspire the oppressed with our determination to expel the robber barons and corporate thugs.

We feel inspired when we think the world is changing for the better. And when the world is falling apart, it takes a community to come together and grow that inspiration from a single seed.

We have an opportunity to look back on the day the war finally ended. If we work together, we can learn to love each other again.

And to hell if we don’t make it. We planted something beautiful here. We might still be broke ass scallywags with not much sense of the world but gosh darn if we ain’t happy.

Myles Moscato

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Artwork by Cloe Ashton www.obviouslycloe.org

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9 Comments
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Honeydew Bridge Chump
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Honeydew Bridge Chump
7 years ago

Our enemy is devil’s lettuce and the terrorists that weaponized it for destruction of lives and communties.

It’s long been time to deploy The Marines and root these terrorists from their rat holes.

J.A. Kraken
Guest
J.A. Kraken
7 years ago

For the last time, mom says she needs her computer back. Now come upstairs!

Matthew
Guest
Matthew
7 years ago

You have heard it said ‘Love your neighbors and hate your enemies’ But I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. If you love those who love you back what reward will you get?

Mark switzer
Guest
Mark switzer
7 years ago

Nicely said

Shak
Guest
Shak
7 years ago

Ron Paul fought “them” for years, & still does. 1988 interview, exposes them, & the main media blackout. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TFsPB5nd0uY

Pogo
Guest
Pogo
7 years ago

“We have seen the enemy. He is us!”

visitor
Guest
visitor
7 years ago
Reply to  Pogo

The correct quote is more meaningful, and relatively moreso in its original context.

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/Pogo2.jpg

“We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Walt Kelly, poster for Earth Day, 1970.

Taurus Balzhoff
Guest
Taurus Balzhoff
7 years ago

WTF are you people talking about? Pot is not much good for anything. It makes you stupid and paranoid. I hope you don’t think growing is a sensible way to make a living. Best of luck, stoners, you will be needing it. The love grass will lead you nowhere.

Anon Forrest
Guest
7 years ago

I’m thinking pot made YOU stupid and paranoid, unless you were just born that way, in which case I’m sorry for you. Growing put kids through college and cleared mortgages. supported many community improvements and charities, and it’s sad you missed the bus. But don’t blame anyone or anything for your situation. You alone are responsible for your choices, just like the rest of us. Great letter with greater morals. Thanks.