Lesson 5

There's a lot to say here. Too Much, actually. He's built up these ideas over the past 4 days and now he's opening up the language. Legality and a Weed Analogue for Cats? It wasn't that long ago that we saw Pops on the lam. I wonder.... but that's beside the point.

This piece of technology is hiding out in the woods away from the city because it's not legal for it to be sold in the city. But whose machine is this? Why is CATNIP illegal?? Are these owls gesturing at the way Non-Weed-Legal states have generated an arms race for THC loopholes (and now there are turbo strains of synthetic THCs that blast your brain to kingdom come?)

The cats are pondering here, which tells me this is pretty routine and that there are options, right? They are casually Breaking The Law and Being Picky simultaneously. This is *embedded in their infrastructure* and *their money is going to Capital.* Who is actually breaking the law here?

I lived in TN (weed is illegal), so this feels exactly like what you see there: CONVENIENCE stores are all selling the legal loophole synthesized turbo weeds. It really does feel like going to a vending machine and popping in a $20. And since it is THC, it's really hard to prove that you were smoking "The Legal Kind" and not the evil illegal kind. You'll get Busted for a Product that you Purchased Legally from a Vendor that is Technically Legal to Buy and Smoke because Weed is Illegal.

Also, just look at this. The cats are OUT in NATURE for the first time this week. there's a lot that could be said about the way technology intrudes on nature and gets in the way of cats accessing natural catnip. because it's still just a plant that grows out there, you know? Just like how it's pointless to have a fly vending machine. but you could say that finding catnip in the wild is actually kind of hard and annoying. kind of like growing your own weed! but at least doing that keeps you in touch with the world around you, right? You can develop a symbiotic relationship with a plant or flies or fish. can you do that with a vending machine? You have lost touch with the origin of the things that are inside the machine. There are too many layers between you and the source. This also plays on the way things become commodified. nature has become commodified. bro, it literally just wants to exist out there. It doesn't think of itself as a product but if we just slap it in a vending machine, suddenly it is a product regardless.

Also take note of the specific wording that the owls use. It's not legal "in this state." They could easily be talking about One of the 50 United States and their criminalization on a state-by-state basis. or they could be talking about catnip 'in this state' as in "a product in a vending machine." It's not illegal as a plant that grows on the ground. It *becomes* illegal once it is identified as a product. Once it becomes something people pay money for.