Silk Road forums
Discussion => Philosophy, Economics and Justice => Topic started by: tdk on December 08, 2012, 06:44 pm
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Hi folks. It makes much sense that SR vendors (and other drug dealers) keep their prices about 10000% of the drug production cost. Risks. Bribes. Security costs. All this makes prices high, we all know that. But what if we could able to have everything for free? Sounds crazy, but..
Some time ago I met one guy who - as I understood - was somehow aware of the ways to get mj in our little city. He refused to give me seller's contacts and just asked how much do I need. Next day he brought me the weed, but when I tried to pay him, he refused and told me that he won't ever sell. So when I need mj, I ask him to give me some, and he does it. For free. We don't pal much, he is not communicative one and refuses to talk about it. I suspect it's like a 'Pay It Forward'-philosophy, when you do someone a favor in exchange of just a promise he will do the same for the next guy. So I started to do that for my friends. If I have something I never ask my friends to compensate the expenses, just give them a little of that shit I have. No matter whether I get paid for it or not. And sometimes I ask that guy for mj, get it for free and pass to my friends also for free. Why do I do that? I don't know, but I feel like I should.
IMHO, mostly even big drug sellers do it not just for money, but for the sake of The Great Mind Freedom I believe in. We all dream of the day when our favorite shit becomes legal, so we could go to the pharmacy and buy anything we need to get high. This day WILL COME, but not for us, probably not even for children of our children.. but it will come once, I promise.
As for today, it's clear to me that illegal status of so many beautiful drugs is our key to be solidary. We all criminals. Many of us did not offend even a bug, but it doesn't matter - we all are outlaws. And that's why TOR, i2p etc. are so powerful and have so much support from 'underground'-community: this is our weakness.. but it's also our power, in front of which even FBI is just a bunch of losers. I owe i2p & Tor relays for some time just because I respect the freedom and hate authorities that try to take it from me. I believe they will NEVER win.
Selling drugs is a much more serious crime than possessing, almost everywhere, right? But if no one sells.. but everyone has it? What police will do? They will try to punish the consumers, not the sellers, right? Right, and that's the risk we have to take. But when there are no guns, lords, murders, territory conflicts etc. that are connected with drugs, all our 'high universe' become much less 'bad' in the eyes of normal people, even police and judges. Like the community to share their happiness to others for nothing in exchange. Like torrents with illegal music/movies (moral side of using pirated media/soft is out of this scope). Like.. when you drive on a highway, other drivers flash their lights to warn you of police ambush ahead. The only way to convince our society that WE ARE NOT DANGEROUS is to demonstrate our will and unity. Drug market exists not because some rich criminals catch people on the street and make them heroin addicts that are doomed to pay forever.. Drug market exists because people want, need, and love the drugs. And it's nothing humanity can do with such a love for a several thousands years. When people see how disinterestedly drug community could be, they will believe us, at last. It's our key to finally push long-awaited laws for drugs legalisation. Sounds crazy, I know. But after all, our world is full of people that don't give a fuck of money but will work at their best for the real, bright idea. Just 'pay it forward', and one day everyone would share their luck with you.
One day we'll win.
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Interesting. I don't think it would work since possession of large amounts of drugs is considered possession with intent to sell, right?
Man, must be nice knowing someone like that!
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I completely agree with paying it forward. Sadly there are too many greedy people believing money is the key to enlightenment to have this take effect in any of our generations, until the big war happens. Cannabis should be grown by everyone, not just for smoking purposes, but for the healthy oils and medicine properties it carries, not to mention the growing market of hemp and how amazing it can be used for many of our daily things that require the same structure.
If I were one of the lucky few to have a massive crop, I wouldn't even need to think about profits after the first few batches. Life is easy to live when you find the things that make you happy and throw away the distractions. Acquiring objects is what they tell you is life, having the best, most modern, most innovated things. The commercials and marketing today are worse than manipulation, its bordering brainwashing. If you believe materialistic objects are things you need to acquire, then you are sorely mistaken. If more people had a sense of pay it forward, less people would go hungry and more people would have respect for eachother. Ever had someone hand you something out of just pure gracefulness? Doesn't it feel fantastic? Karma is life, doing good has good effects, doing bad will bring bad effects.
Money can only buy you things, it can't influence your true beliefs. I have been unable to smoke or do any substances for various years due to the money factor, I wish I could have the time and money to invest in my own ops and such, but again, once your path is given, it's pretty hard to come off it. Trading was how life was lived, if we can go back to those roots, we can have a better sense of whats important to us.
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Nice sentiment, but it is possession with intent to supply.
It does not matter if you are exchanging it for good vibes, cash or sandwiches. You are still supplying.
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But imagine if money was taken out of the equation. There would be too many intent to sell charges to be even accounted for it pay it forward were ineffect. It's easy to make something illegal, it's hard to keep it illegal when everyones doing it. Hence the giant changes via stateside laws, the statesmen have realized they can take a step over federal law if the people want it, theres still a gray area the gvt has yet to address and I doubt will ever address. The states are becoming more independent due to the growing knowledge of different drugs and the positive effects it could have towards the future. If you were to take money out of the entire equation, what could possibly go wrong, other than more people actually being able to acquire such things. It would create a massive uproar and to be able to regulate free items is almost impossible.
I believe it wouldn't be an intent to sell charge but infact an intent to distribute.
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Next day he brought me the weed, but when I tried to pay him, he refused and told me that he won't ever sell. So when I need mj, I ask him to give me some, and he does it. For free. We don't pal much, he is not communicative one and refuses to talk about it. I suspect it's like a 'Pay It Forward'-philosophy, when you do someone a favor in exchange of just a promise he will do the same for the next guy.
It's known as the Law of AMRA, a Cro-Maat philosophy practiced by ancient Egyptians. (He may be Rosicrucian.) It's a strain of a "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" type thing that Christians practice (or so they're supposed to), though to Egyptians it was a strict form of payment for non-mercantile goods rendered them. AMRA forbids mercantile payment (exchange of currency) for goods supplied to the current person free of charge. A profit could not be made this way. To fail to adhere to this Law in their current lifetime was to incur negative Karma in the next life, nature's way of making up for uncompensated AMRA. He could be following this Law (in which case it would have been free), or just just practising it without even realising its tradition.
And that's why TOR, i2p etc. are so powerful and have so much support from 'underground'-community: this is our weakness.. but it's also our power, in front of which even FBI is just a bunch of losers.
Yes it's not just thrifty geeks anymore in on Tor, there's a bloody good reason to use it. On that, criminals are can be very resourceful and underestimated allies to have.... the FBI and U.S. IC have managed to piss a lot of people off and now criminals and the IT community are collaborating albeit independently on fronting these guys. You think you're the only one whose bad side they've got on? I'd like to be a fly on the wall when tech-heads finally get round to hacking into FBI and police computers and shutting them all down just for shits-and-giggles the same way they've been doing the same thing to us for about 8 years now.
Oh, I have this problem. I feel something is happening to me mentally. I'm making grammar errors and I fear I'm slowly losing my marbles. Should I go back to taking speed or will that just make it worse. Is that a silly thing to say? Is that a clever thing to say? I used to write fairly well but the last 3,4 days I have been getting worse and my eyes playing tricks on me. So excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me if I happen to make an error here or there, you can still understand what I'm saying I imagine.
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hey everyone thanks for the feedback. I know it's only a dream of a guy who is fucking tired of being watched by feds and decried by people around that think I'm on the wrong way.
I agree that it's not too different for the law whether you sell stuff for money or just give everyone for free. Although e.g. in Russia they have to prove you actually SOLD it to apply the most tough punishment, possession of big amounts (where 'big' starts from ~5 average doses) is still a very serious crime. So it's inevitable to have problems with police at the beginning, but
It's easy to make something illegal, it's hard to keep it illegal when everyones doing it
This lad got the idea. It's also difficult to control drugs exchange chains when there are no money involved. It's our task to start moving out of the shadows. We won't ever ask sellers to support us for a great purpose, we'll buy the stuff for money and pass it forward for free. Not for charity, we're not going to let junkies die with tons of free heroin, but if someone asks you to find some shit.. just go kitchen and cook it :) and never ask him to pay. Prime cost of 1kg LSD is - I suppose - not much than 10$, after all.
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If no one paid for it then where would it come from? drugs don't magically appear. Someone buys the drugs in bulk and imports them into the area to make a profit. The theory would not work because no one is going to pay $20,000 for a bunch or LSD or coke or whatever and give it away for free....
It is like saying people should give Sara Lee Cheesecake away for free. Someone has to buy it from the manufacturer at some point, or they have to make their own. So if they make their own cheesecake they have to buy cream cheese, sugar, etc spend time baking. S say someone grows their own weed...where do they get the fertilizer, lamps and seed from? They don't come cheaply.
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If no one paid for it then where would it come from? drugs don't magically appear. Someone buys the drugs in bulk and imports them into the area to make a profit. The theory would not work because no one is going to pay $20,000 for a bunch or LSD or coke or whatever and give it away for free....
It is like saying people should give Sara Lee Cheesecake away for free. Someone has to buy it from the manufacturer at some point, or they have to make their own. So if they make their own cheesecake they have to buy cream cheese, sugar, etc spend time baking. S say someone grows their own weed...where do they get the fertilizer, lamps and seed from? They don't come cheaply.
Exactly - the OP's idea sounds good in theory, but it really wouldn't work.
Firstly, no one is just going to give away drugs for free if they are going to be out of pocket ( they may if they are insane, but that's a different story)
And the whole police not being able to anything is BS, they would either change the laws - or just charge people with HUGE amounts with the intent to supply even if they were giving the drugs away for free.
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Currency is the foundation of any economy.
Drugs will always be expensive because they are expensive to produce, dangerous to sell, and a part of a huge market of illegal goods.
The currency isn't the issue as far as dealing drugs. Its the production of the drug that is the issue.
Plus sellers should get paid for their time shouldn't they?
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Free drugs!!! Free drugs!!! Free drugs!!! Free drugs!!! Free drugs!!! Free drugs!!! Free drugs!!! Free drugs!!! Free drugs!!! Free drugs!!! Free drugs!!! Free drugs!!! Free drugs!!! Free drugs!!!
ps: just bumping this thing up
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Currency is the foundation of any economy.
Drugs will always be expensive because they are expensive to produce, dangerous to sell, and a part of a huge market of illegal goods.
The currency isn't the issue as far as dealing drugs. Its the production of the drug that is the issue.
Plus sellers should get paid for their time shouldn't they?
Drugs are not so expensive to produce. There is no difference between ordinary pharmacy stuff and illegal drugs in producing - tell me if I'm wrong but regular medical market is not much less criminal behind the scenes - prices are really crazy sometimes and depend on economical/political reasons only. The very drug production process is rather cheap.. not simple, but cheap.
Who will produce drugs for free? Hard to say. Look at the programmers - they spend LOTS of hours for free. Not exactly for free but for the IDEA. Linux kernel development price is about 600 billion $, but no one got paid for it, right? Much people get excited to use their best skills to make our world better :)
We all do drugs. We like the idea to make it available. I like much when one asks me how much he should pay & I answer - that's for free - I see in his eyes that he just respects and welcome my choice.