Cause without a rebel.

It may surprise you to learn that this time 2 years ago, I was a long-haired hippie. When I announced that I was going to do a charity head-shave, the reaction was pretty much all positive, but there were two dissenting voices. One had a valid point, that she thought I looked better with long hair (unfortunately could not out-sponsor the pro-head-shave people).

The other, however, (jokingly of course) accused me of lying down to the man, selling out my hippie roots (no pseudo-pun intended), and conforming to the status quo of shaven-headed Limerick "lads".

Then, she proceeded to light up a cigarette and smoke it. (This was before the smoking ban in pubs). This brings me to the point of this piece.

This is addressed at all the "Anarchists", all the anti-capitalists, left-wingers, rebels, non-conformists, goths, disestablishmentarianists and anyone else who prides themselves on being free and refusing to bow down to the modern authorities, be it legal or religious or social or fashion or any other kind of authorities.

Now, we'll ignore the fact that many of these people fall into another authority or fashion which may not be the majority, but it is a significant minority.

If you are addicted to cigarettes - especially the legal non hash kind - I'm afraid you are a slave. It may have seen as an act of defiance when you were young because your parents didn't want you to. But while it was cool to defy your parents, you were unwittingly priming yourself for a far worse conformity.

Yes, you are a slave to The Corporation. Every time you buy a pack, you are lying down to The Man. They are giving the orders, which are, "You will inhale these sticks which is bad for your health and may cause cancer to you and those around you and you have no idea what's in them, and you will give us €6 (or whatever the current price is) every day". "Why? Because we are the masters and you are the slaves. That's all you need to know." Of course, they are more subtle than that, but that is effectively what they are saying.

Your addiction is the chain. Your cravings are their whips. Some may claim (as they did against the smoking ban), "It should be our choice whether we want to smoke". If you are addicted, it is not your choice. Meanwhile the profiteers are laughing at your illusion of exercising your rights to smoke.

Now I don't mean to belittle the horrific slavery that happens in the third world, be it from unlivable low wages (sweat shops), or slavery due to debt, or even the actual capture and forced labour of people in some parts of the world. These things are truly horrific, and a mere cigarette addiction is nothing in comparison.

My point is simply that you can't claim to be anti-establishment and anti-authority if you are a keen supporter of one of the worst establishment-authority in the "Western" world.

I acknowledge that are those out there that have managed to avoid addiction and do actually have the ability to smoke the odd fag and get away with it. But these people are in the minority, and quite a few of them have actually been enslaved but won't realise it until they try to escape.


On a related note, some might say, "I only smoke joints, i.e. with hash in them..."

If you are the type who advocates boycotting socially & environmentally irresponsible companies, like Nestle, Esso, Shell, Nike, etc. then I'm afraid by smoking hash, you are supporting evil companies too. Sure they may not be registered businesses, but they are organisations that engage in the evils that those other companies do. The fame of the former is no reason why they should be hated any more than the secret drug-producing organisations.

While you may be sort of defying authority here, you are still supporting organisations that put profits above the lives of others.

You may, of course, argue that since hash is illegal in most countries, you are forced to go to the criminals in order to get any, as they control the only supply.

While this is an argument for its legalisation, it is left to your concience to decide: Is your enjoyment of a joint worth supporting the evil profiteers?