From: akp1@quads.uchicago.edu (Adam K. Powers)
Newsgroups: rec.music.gdead
Subject: Re: Elvis and mailorder
Date: 8 Jan 93 19:31:29 GMT
Reply-To: akp1@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago

Rob King <kingro@cdi3.sch.ge.com> writes:

>Well it was just another firday when I reading my dead.net mail right before
>I was going to go to the post office.  I rememeber reading someone's mail
>about the 48 hours story on LSD and how screwed up this would is.  I left
>to go the the post office to pick up my money orders for the mail in monday
>when I got stuck in line behind 15 Elvis fans buying the new stamp.-----
>
>What kind of world do we live in---people are such hipocrates.  Elvis was
>a major drug user and he is a national hero(yah right!!!!).  This guy has
>his know F@!king stamp and how did he die-------DRUGS.....  The media makes
>Evlis look like a national treasure --- but others who die from drugs, they
>get to be harrassed on 48hours.

Well, it just goes to show that people have selective memories... They voted
for the 'young' Elvis stamp 'cause that's how they want to remember Elvis.
The young, charismatic Elvis could do no wrong in their minds, so the only way
that they can deal with the harsh reality of Elvis' bloated, sedated death is
by writing it off as something that the 'pressure' of all that fame *forced*
him to do.  Their attitude is that Elvis was driven over the edge by evil
doctors and Col. Parker's tyrannical management; that he really had no control
over himself toward the end of his life.  This isn't entirely untrue, but I
refuse to believe that Elvis couldn't have saved himself.

As for those of us who consciously choose to partake of drugs, or pursue
'alternative' lifestyles, such as loving a member of the same sex, mainstream
America only looks at this in the same light - you don't *use* drugs, you are
*used* by them (much like the old medieval ideas of possession by demons, eh?)
Most Americans see these things only in black-and-white:  all drug-users are
junkies, all homosexuals are insatiable perverts, and so on... This is a pretty
stupid way to go through life, but it keeps a disarmingly large segment of our
population happy and bigoted against anything 'different'.  Basically, it's a
cop-out rather than hypocrisy in my opinion - these folks just operate on a
system of ethics that works by majority rule, that says "if most of the people
that I know and consider to be good approve of it, then it must be okay."
Those who can preach and win over the hearts of the majority can thereby start
witch-hunts against the 'freaks' and make people paranoid about such bullsh*t
as the 'junkie' deadheads and the 'satanist' metalheads.  The fact that there
*are* deadheads with drug problems means that they feel even more secure about
their generalization, inspite of the fact that the overwhelming majority of
'heads are quite stable, happy people.

The Elvis myth in this country has more to do with people's attractions to
someone, whom they consider to be one of their own, who has found fame and
fortune and exudes charisma.  Others who die from drugs don't have this
connection to the masses, so they get treated as monsters or ignored.
The point of all this is that we should try to explain ourselves to those who
are close to us but don't understand - some of them will eventually come to
realize that we aren't out to destroy anyone, we're just different.  This is
evidenced by the growing number of parents and friends of gays, lesbians and
bisexuals who are forming support groups, the increased awareness of 
homelessness in the U.S., and support for people who *do* have drug problems.
Crap like the Colorado amendment hurts, but I do think that we will make some
progress in getting the 'freak' attitude to recede.  Sorry to waste all this
bandwidth, I'm just clearing my throat.  Peace.

>Well now that I have vented my furstation I must go now

Umm... 'vent your furstation'???
That sounds somewhat obscene... Should you really be doing that in public? ;-)

						-Adam K. Powers
						akp1@midway.uchicago.edu