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Number Three
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[Excerpt] Capitalism Plus Dope Equals Genocide

By Michael Cetewayo Tabor

Circa 1970

 

[…]
IV. Capitalism and Crime

 

Dope selling is beyond a doubt one of the most profitable capitalist undertakings. The profits from it soar into billions. Internationally and domestically the trade and distribution of heroin is ultimately controlled by the Cosa Nostra, the Mafia.

 

Much of the profits amassed from the drug business is used to finance so-called legitimate businesses. These legitimate businesses that are controlled by the Mafia are also used to facilitate their drug-smuggling activities. Given the fact that organized crime is a business and an ever-expanding one at that, it is constantly seeking new areas of investment to increase profits. Hence, more and more illegal profits are being channeled into legitimate businesses. Partnerships between the Mafia and “reputable businessmen” are the order of the day. There is a direct relationship between legitimate and illegitimate capitalists.

 

Given the predatory and voracious nature of the capitalist, it should come as no surprise that so-called legitimate businessmen are deeply involved in the drug trade. Capitalists are motivated by an insatiable lust for profits. They will do anything for money. The activities of organized crime and the “legitimate capitalists” are so inextricably tied up, so thoroughly interwoven, that from our vantage point any distinction made between them is purely academic.

[…]

 

Opium production in Afghanistan

[Excerpt] From Wikipedia

Circa 2007

 

Afghanistan has been the greatest illicit opium producer in the entire world. […]

 

Opium production in Afghanistan has been on the rise since U.S. occupation started in 2001. Based on UNODC data, there has been more opium poppy cultivation in each of the past four growing seasons (2004–2007) than in any one year during Taliban rule. Also, more land is now used for opium in Afghanistan than for coca cultivation in Latin America. In 2007, 92% of the “non-pharmaceutical-grade” opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan. This amounts to an export value of about $4 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords, and drug traffickers.

 

UNODC Afghanistan Opium Survey 2013 Summary findings

[Excerpt, Page 23] Reasons for Cultivating Opium:

 

[[[GRAPH]]]

 

Imperialism is an indispensable tool for capitalist expansion.

 

Vanity feeds both.

 

[Quote] Envy by Helmut Schoeck

“Envy is a drive which lies at the core of man’s life as a social being, and which occurs as soon as two individuals become capable of mutual comparison.”

 

[Quote] Vanity Economics by C. Simon Fan

“Vanity By Possession” “(…) It should be emphasized that possession is a feeling, rather than ownership itself. (…) People obtain vanity by possessing a spouse and children. In fact, for most people, the vanity from this source is much more important than the vanity obtained from possessing material goods such as cars and houses.”

 

 

Does it matter whether or not envy and vanity are intrinsic aspects of human nature?

 

Even if reality is not a social construct, isn’t it still capable of change?

 

Vanity does not have to be our source of self-esteem.

 

Let’s end the “system within the ‘anti-system’ community!”

 

Fight vanity and envy internally.

 

Fight capitalism and imperialism externally.

 

Bibliography:

 

Fan, C. Simon. Vanity Economics. An Economic Exploration of Sex, Marriage and Family. Cheltenham and Northampton: Edward Elgar, 2014.

 

UNODC. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ministry of Counter Narcotics. Afghanistan Opium Survey 2013 Summary findings. November 2013.

 

Schoeck, Helmut. ENVY: A Theory of Social Behaviour. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1987 (1969).

 

Tabor, Michael “Cetewayo”. Capitalism Plus Dope Equals Genocide. Black Panther Pamphlet, 1970.

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