5 ms·

Rightist Psychedelia

33 points by pmoriarty 5y ago

aaron695 5y ago
mw888 5y ago
Was expecting at one point patronization or moralization but the author restrained themselves - a feat not easy in this day - without lacking content.
scarecrowbob 5y ago
I know a lot of hippies. There are of q-pilled hippies, right libertarian hippies, sovereign citizen hippies, etc. That's not even getting into the generically apolitical but anti-authoritarian folks who are in the counterculture and who definitely aren't embracing typical liberal aesthetics. I know more or less progressive anti-vax folks who are also anti-Trump. And then I get into the older folks I know who grew up in the 50s and 60s who were in that first giant wave of psychonauts. Most of those folks are incredibly conservative by contemporary liberal aesthetics. I grew up in a conservative part of Texas, and it took me until my mid-20s to fully comprehend that there are plenty of right-wing folks who are into all kinds of psychadelia.
- betwixthewires 5y ago
  I think this sort of thing comes as a surprise to more left leaning people who still hold on to the 1960s stereotype that they have a monopoly on all the cool and interesting things.
  - giraffe_lady 5y ago
    My guess is it's just the habit of jamming everything into the rigid left-right dichotomy demanded by the american two party system. Very very many trends and inclinations in the US don't line up well with a purely left/right alignment. Or a progressive/conservative one, which is often used interchangeably, but doing that is throwing away layers that could help with understanding rightward hippies, black hebrew israelites, other groups that just don't fit cleanly into a "left" or a "right" of anything.
    - dTal 5y ago
      Well, it's a global phenomenon, as noted in the introductory paragraphs of TFA. But delete "demanded by the american two party system" and "in the US" and your comment is perfectly valid globally. You needn't artificially restrict your scope :)
      - giraffe_lady 5y ago
        I was restricting it only to assertions I'm confident about. It may be largely true elsewhere but I've learned to be really careful on HN. If there is a counterexample anywhere it will be used to attempt to dismiss any point you're making. That aside, I do think having having two permanent political parties reinforces this way of thinking. The US isn't the only place with that setup but it's the only one I'm very familiar with the culture of.
- BossingAround 5y ago
  Which is interesting, because for example cannabis is not legal in Texas (not fully, that is, only with a prescription and only under 1% of THC, which is not great). I keep hearing about how most folks are for legalization of cannabis in various countries, and yet we just don't legalize it. It's crazy how much money the state is missing on! (Note: I know the article is not directly related to cannabis specifically, but this has been bugging me for a while.)
n4r9 5y ago
The article touches on three ways in which people with right-wing political views have been involved with psychoactive drugs: * Wealthy billionaires funding research into medical or therapeutic uses * Right-wing figures appearing in 60s counter-culture * Use of psychedelics in modern alt-right groups. It's interesting but short and vague. It doesn't explain whether each bullet point was made up of just a few individuals or was a significant proportion of the culture. I searched around on the topic and found this article which goes into a lot more depth and covers the above points and more: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.733185/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.7331... In general though, I don't think this is very surprising to people who know about psychoactive drugs. They don't necessarily open your mind or show you "the true path", but rather reflect some existing aspects of your mind back at you. If you are already content and secure in your worldview then it won't do much to change it. However, if there is an underlying insecurity then prepare to have that brought to the fore in potentially uncomfortable ways.
ActorNightly 5y ago
Of note is the focus of the article on MDMA. While its considered a psychedelic, its very much a "feel good" substance, so its much more believable that people are more likely to take that. In the same way its also possible to do LSD/Shrooms in smaller doses to get high and feel good. Heavy doses of LSD/Shrooms that produce the ego death/disassociation, which are usually associated with greatly helping against depression/anxiety and other mental health issues, is a whole different story.

33 points by pmoriarty 5y ago

Was expecting at one point patronization or moralization but the author restrained themselves - a feat not easy in this day - without lacking content.

scarecrowbob 5y ago

I know a lot of hippies. There are of q-pilled hippies, right libertarian hippies, sovereign citizen hippies, etc. That's not even getting into the generically apolitical but anti-authoritarian folks who are in the counterculture and who definitely aren't embracing typical liberal aesthetics. I know more or less progressive anti-vax folks who are also anti-Trump. And then I get into the older folks I know who grew up in the 50s and 60s who were in that first giant wave of psychonauts. Most of those folks are incredibly conservative by contemporary liberal aesthetics. I grew up in a conservative part of Texas, and it took me until my mid-20s to fully comprehend that there are plenty of right-wing folks who are into all kinds of psychadelia.

betwixthewires 5y ago
I think this sort of thing comes as a surprise to more left leaning people who still hold on to the 1960s stereotype that they have a monopoly on all the cool and interesting things.
- giraffe_lady 5y ago
  My guess is it's just the habit of jamming everything into the rigid left-right dichotomy demanded by the american two party system. Very very many trends and inclinations in the US don't line up well with a purely left/right alignment. Or a progressive/conservative one, which is often used interchangeably, but doing that is throwing away layers that could help with understanding rightward hippies, black hebrew israelites, other groups that just don't fit cleanly into a "left" or a "right" of anything.
  - dTal 5y ago
    Well, it's a global phenomenon, as noted in the introductory paragraphs of TFA. But delete "demanded by the american two party system" and "in the US" and your comment is perfectly valid globally. You needn't artificially restrict your scope :)
    - giraffe_lady 5y ago
      I was restricting it only to assertions I'm confident about. It may be largely true elsewhere but I've learned to be really careful on HN. If there is a counterexample anywhere it will be used to attempt to dismiss any point you're making. That aside, I do think having having two permanent political parties reinforces this way of thinking. The US isn't the only place with that setup but it's the only one I'm very familiar with the culture of.
BossingAround 5y ago
Which is interesting, because for example cannabis is not legal in Texas (not fully, that is, only with a prescription and only under 1% of THC, which is not great). I keep hearing about how most folks are for legalization of cannabis in various countries, and yet we just don't legalize it. It's crazy how much money the state is missing on! (Note: I know the article is not directly related to cannabis specifically, but this has been bugging me for a while.)

n4r9 5y ago

The article touches on three ways in which people with right-wing political views have been involved with psychoactive drugs: * Wealthy billionaires funding research into medical or therapeutic uses * Right-wing figures appearing in 60s counter-culture * Use of psychedelics in modern alt-right groups. It's interesting but short and vague. It doesn't explain whether each bullet point was made up of just a few individuals or was a significant proportion of the culture. I searched around on the topic and found this article which goes into a lot more depth and covers the above points and more: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.733185/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.7331... In general though, I don't think this is very surprising to people who know about psychoactive drugs. They don't necessarily open your mind or show you "the true path", but rather reflect some existing aspects of your mind back at you. If you are already content and secure in your worldview then it won't do much to change it. However, if there is an underlying insecurity then prepare to have that brought to the fore in potentially uncomfortable ways.

ActorNightly 5y ago

Of note is the focus of the article on MDMA. While its considered a psychedelic, its very much a "feel good" substance, so its much more believable that people are more likely to take that. In the same way its also possible to do LSD/Shrooms in smaller doses to get high and feel good. Heavy doses of LSD/Shrooms that produce the ego death/disassociation, which are usually associated with greatly helping against depression/anxiety and other mental health issues, is a whole different story.