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Legal Healing
Pain
fuels industry. Let us examine the industries that service our pain.
Pharmaceuticals, coffee, cola and tea, the lottery, tobacco, alcohol,
entertainment, Art and pornography are examples of legal industries we turn to to ease our suffering.
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Prescription Drugs
The
pharmaceutical industry produces countless drugs that in sum ease a great deal
of physical suffering in people who can afford them and have them properly
prescribed. Unfortunately many of these drugs carry side effects that only
create new suffering in the very patients they are meant to help. Also these
side effects can create a demand for certain drugs which people prescribe for
themselves to catch a buzz.
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(32)
Caffeine
Coffee,
cola and tea, the caffeine kids are fairly harmless to most people but many are
dependent on them to wake up in the morning or to keep going through the day.
Caffeine’s side effects can include the jitters and trouble sleeping, and it
may interfere with the action of certain prescription drugs.
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(33)
The Lottery
The
Lottery represents hope for many people in our society. Their one and only
chance at wealth and transcendence in life. Sadly they have small chance of
winning and even if they did it may bring only a tangle of possessions and
obligations. Side effects of the Lottery are poverty and delusion.
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(34)
Tobacco
In
defense of tobacco I will simply state that its effects are medicinally calming
to a racing mind and can bring a momentary peace to many people who desperately
need it. So it kills us painfully and horribly. Death is not the worst thing
that will happen to us in our life and we must respect a person’s right to
control her own destiny.
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Alcohol
Alcohol
used in moderation can help us overcome inhibitions and bring us to an elevated
state of mind. Sadly this state is only temporary and disappears entirely with
one drink too many. Alcohol’s side effects include a deadly stream of
ill-considered actions.
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(36)
The Entertainment Industry
The
entertainment industry buys Art, converts it into a product and markets it.
This is a fine thing in itself but unfortunately too many of us consume it
exclusively and form our experience from it. The side effect of this is poor
understanding and an unformed personality.
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Art
Art
as an industry eases the suffering of practicing human beings, and confounds
those of lessor understanding. A crusading politician in New York once
attempted to close a museum because he couldn’t appreciate that even if you
throw elephant dung on a picture of the Virgin Mary she loses none of her
dignity and is still to be revered. Art’s side effects are happiness
understanding, and acceptance.
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(38)
Pornography
Some
people like pornography. Pornography is not inherently evil. If the actors are
engaged voluntarily and fairly compensated it does no harm. Sadly many persons
are forced into the industry unwillingly and are exploited by it. This is the
terrible side effect of pornography and is a violation of liberty of the
highest order. As for children viewing it, a well-adjusted child will be upset
or revolted by pornography, while a confused and impressionable one may become
traumatized or obsessed by it.
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MORE On.
Civil
Disobedience
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