(Untitled)

[juliust]

I just got my Yerba Mate gourd - it's a hollowed-out gourd (go figure) that Paraguayans (sp?) use to drink their wonderful stimulating tea. It's really cool because instead of drinking from the gourd, they use a hollow metal tube, called a "bombilla," that filters out the tea leaves while leaving the leaves infused in the tea. This allows for mucho

Comments

[ryan_singer]

I think, as a whole, American society is a convenient term for individuals living in the United States. Saying that the society is overstimulated ignores and devalues the choices of the people you are referring to. Julius drinks that tea because he likes it, I hope nobody tries to "fix" him to make society better.

A less offensive thing to say would be that many Americans you know consume more stimulants than you think they should, but that wouldn't really be worth saying generally, you should tell the people you care about why you think they (just the people you talk to, no one else) should slow down.

[ryan_singer]

My compassion for people extends about as far as their own moral value. I have much more respect for a homeless man attending job interviews while staying in a shelter then a middle class socialist who fights growth and the shrinking of absolute poverty in order to make things more "fair" for those less fortunate.

I agree that stimulants are a basic type of drug, and too much is just as bad as too many pain killers, but I also think that fact only has moral value as information an individual should use in making a decision. If it's up to Julius what he puts into his body, why post critisism on his livejournal? It's fair to post a warning for him, if you care about him enough to try and help him improve his health, but what value do your views for society at large hold?