Hey Tech CEOs, You Know What’s Cooler than Psychedelics? Living Wages

Nothing against magic mushrooms, but too many millionaires push surface-level solutions while ignoring their own complicity

Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash

“A culture that does not grasp the vital interplay between morality and power, which mistakes management techniques for wisdom, and fails to understand that the measure of a civilization is its compassion, not its speed or ability to consume, condemns itself to death.” — Chris Hedges

I am a huge fan of the research being done with psychedelics. The space has been gaining momentum and mainstream acceptance in recent years for good reason. Treating mental health issues or palliative care patients through psychedelics and therapy is groundbreaking and needs to be cheered on.

There’s no doubt millions of people could benefit from the safe application of these various substances and techniques. And it probably won’t be too long until they’re readily available. The surest sign of that is the billions of venture capital dollars going into startups in the space.

The absolutely legendary and enviable writer Michael Pollan dedicated his new book to psychedelics and plants in general. Elon Musk has tweeted about them, and every techie is rambling about how productive they are when they microdose. Add to that, the likes of Joe Rogan constantly raving on their podcasts about how rad their ayahuasca trips were, and it seems like everyone has a shaman on speed dial.

It is awesome, should be encouraged, moved to a legalized and regulated market, and nobody should be spending years behind bars for non-violent minor drug offenses.

Overall, it’s a positive movement, and I’m one hundred percent on board. My objections are not with psychedelics themselves, just some of their uber-wealthy fans.

It is tough not to make this sound nit-picky and like a progressive whining about how “they don’t care about what I want them to care about,” but I think the critique holds water.

Too many millionaires with massive platforms, who claim to want change, refuse to look at their own wealth accumulation and business practices and instead, lie to themselves that…