Dreamers

I am now a resident of a very peculiar and unique corner of California. Jules de Gaultier once commented that- "Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality". If such is true, then the Humboldt Bay Area is waging an all out blitz against the ghastly state of human existence. The economy has been pretty much shit ever since the huge logging mills shut down, although a few are still in operation. Arcata is wholly dependent upon the University for keeping it from becoming a hobo-hippie commune. Luckily there is one cash crop up here that has to account for at least half, if not more, of the income for this area. You would think that cultivating an illegal black market crop would in some way lead its growers to get into some sort of full blown confrontation with the Federal Forces that swoop down each harvest season to wreck havoc. That just isn't how things function in America though. As long as the potential for personal economic survival exists it appears that people in developed countries will always prefer arbitrary laws, corrupt international policy and the omnipresent threat of incarceration to that of anything honestly resembling a responsible role in their political systems. The sad fact is that it's impossible to criticize the system that sustains ones whole existence. You might as well start talking shit about the Milky Way, saying that there are thousands of vastly preferable galaxies you would rather live in. The bottom line is that humans don't just pull societies out of thin air, they are the accumulation of centuries of struggle, culture, ideals and geography. Revolutions always fail because they try to make a dramatic break with the past and jump headfirst into a hypothetical future that can always be undermined by cruel reality. Having done some traveling and being somewhat aware of the demographic makeup of the world, I readily admit that Humboldt is nothing but a provincial backwater of the Colossus that is the US Economy. And no matter how much the residents of this land wish to deny it, all the dreaming and hoping does little besides ensuring that no effective action will ever be taken. The fact that the aforementioned cash crop is consumed in large quantities locally makes coherent thought for a large number of residents difficult at best.