Psychedelia and Socialism

Today's post is something of a bit more relaxed subject: Psychedelic music. Naturally, I thought this would be an excellent article whilst listening to Pink Floyd's - Animals this evening, but it soon led to an interesting thought; if the purpose of psychedelic music is to recreate the feeling and state of mind that one obtains through the use of mind-influencing drugs, then the penultimate psychedelic music would perfectly emulate these effects. The interesting consequence of this is that such music would render (illegal) mind-influencing drugs obsolete, because it makes little sense to drop acid or smoke a joint if you could just listen to *band name here* and obtain the desired state of mind.

As best as I can determine, no musician has ever accomplished this, and after all, it is only a theory. I have met people that argue instead that the purpose of psychedelic music is to accentuate the altered state of mind; in this case, many musicians have accomplished their goal, and this theory would seem to support the use of mind-influencing drugs as something that furthers appreciation of music.

My personal opinion? I think that achieving a "false high" is an almost perfect state of being, and as such is almost impossible to obtain. Even so, just because something seems impossible, does that mean that people should stop trying? This arguement extends far beyond the subject of psychedelia, as I am often frustrated by persons that reject the ideas of socialism (for example) with the response, "Oh, it will never work in a real atmosphere. It never has." To set the record straight with everyone that has told me this, I am well aware of the history of socialism. I am also aware that the possibility of a socialistic community that functions as designed is extremely slim. Should the people that want to create a small, socialistic community then cease their attempts? It seems to me that a simple, clipped rejection of an ideology is a rather unpleasant way to live; if everyone immediately rejected an idea because it seems unlikely, then progress will be very limited. I consider Ramblin's comment about moral obligations that are sometimes independant from pragmatic views, and I think this is a good application.

Logically, people look at statistics and history to determine "chance." In the case of Socialism, chances seem pretty bad. Morally, however, the concepts of socialism are often acknowledged as good, I.E. equality, common respect under law, etc. Should we stop trying to improve our society (whether by socialism, or any other political theory, for that matter) simply because it is unlikely? Should musicians cease trying to reach a previously unknown plateau?

I think people that are asking themselves those two questions can find the answers, if we just take some time and listen to Pink Floyd every now and again.