TheMadPhilosopher

The moral panic of Prohibition wasn’t just a cultural moment—it was a propaganda masterpiece.

This breakdown explores how the U.S. government sold virtue to the public while expanding surveillance, enriching criminals, and deepening social control.

It’s not history—it’s a blueprint.

Just released my first Special Edition eBook:

Prohibition and the Profit Motive How the U.S. Sold Control as Virtue Special Edition eBook

Prohibition and the Profit Motive – How the U.S. Sold Control as Virtue

This $5 eBook version helps me keep going.

It funds the next piece.

It keeps the lights on—literally.

Can’t swing $5?

Even a $1 tip makes a bigger difference than you think.

Can’t support at all? Please share this with someone who needs to know.

Thank you for being here.

Every view, every read, every repost—

you’re helping me fight back with facts.

Prohibition and the Profit Motive How the U.S. Sold Control as Virtue Standard PDF

_Subject Index: 

Origins of the Temperance Movement, Feminist advocacy and state betrayal, Racialized and class-based enforcement of Prohibition, Government-sanctioned poisoning, Surveillance and control policies, Economic exploitation of addiction, The War on Drugs as a legacy system, Pharmaceutical profiteering and opioid crisis, The commodification of pain, Resistance, rebellion, and reclaiming history_

The moral panic of Prohibition wasn’t just a cultural moment—it was a propaganda masterpiece.

This breakdown explores how the U.S. government sold virtue to the public while expanding surveillance, enriching criminals, and deepening social control.

It’s not history—it’s a blueprint.

Just released my first Special Edition eBook:

Prohibition and the Profit Motive How the U.S. Sold Control as Virtue Special Edition eBook

Prohibition and the Profit Motive – How the U.S. Sold Control as Virtue

This $5 eBook version helps me keep going.

It funds the next piece.

It keeps the lights on—literally.

Can’t swing $5?

Even a $1 tip makes a bigger difference than you think.

Can’t support at all? Please share this with someone who needs to know.

Thank you for being here.

Every view, every read, every repost—

you’re helping me fight back with facts.

Prohibition and the Profit Motive How the U.S. Sold Control as Virtue Standard PDF

_Subject Index: 

Origins of the Temperance Movement, Feminist advocacy and state betrayal, Racialized and class-based enforcement of Prohibition, Government-sanctioned poisoning, Surveillance and control policies, Economic exploitation of addiction, The War on Drugs as a legacy system, Pharmaceutical profiteering and opioid crisis, The commodification of pain, Resistance, rebellion, and reclaiming history_

Prohibition wasn’t just a moral crusade—it was a market strategy.

This piece explores how the U.S. government used the 18th Amendment to criminalize behavior for profit, partner with organized crime, and manufacture obedience through scarcity.

When you follow the money, the morality myth crumbles fast.

This $5 eBook version helps me keep going.

It funds the next piece.

It keeps the lights on—literally.

Can’t swing $5?

Even a $1 tip makes a bigger difference than you think.

Can’t support at all? Please share this with someone who needs to know.

Thank you for being here.

Every view, every read, every repost—

you’re helping me fight back with facts.

Prohibition and the profit motive special edition ebook

Prohibition and the profit motive standard PDF

They said it was for the children. For the families. For the soul of America.

But Prohibition wasn’t a war on alcohol—it was a war on the people.

It wasn’t about virtue. It wasn’t about safety.

It was never about saving anyone.

It was about power. About profit. And about punishing the very people it claimed to protect.

Just released my first Special Edition eBook:

Prohibition and the Profit Motive – How the U.S. Sold Control as Virtue

This $5 eBook version helps me keep going.

It funds the next piece.

It keeps the lights on—literally.

Can’t swing $5?

Even a $1 tip makes a bigger difference than you think.

Can’t support at all? Please share this with someone who needs to know.

Thank you for being here.

Every view, every read, every repost—

you’re helping me fight back with facts.

This is a radical 9-page microhistory that exposes:

• How Prohibition was used to criminalize poverty, independence, and rebellion
• How women’s pain was exploited to justify surveillance
• How the government knowingly poisoned its own people—and got away with it
• And how all of it echoes in today’s drug war, overdose crisis, and profiteering off pain

Included in the Special Edition:

• Letter from the Author
• Full design and printable formatting
• A haunting “Then vs Now” historical photo spread
• Extended commentary not included in the free version

Free version here (education should be accessible): Prohibition and the Profit Motive: How the US Sold Control as Virtue Standard PDF

Special Edition ($5+, supports the work): Prohibition and the Profit Motive – eBook Special Edition

This was written, researched, designed, and formatted by one person—no team, no budget, just rage, tabs, and truth. If you believe in history that hits back, this is for you.

—The Mad Philosopher

They said it was for the children. For the families. For the soul of America.

But Prohibition wasn’t a war on alcohol—it was a war on the people.

It wasn’t about virtue. It wasn’t about safety.

It was never about saving anyone.

It was about power. About profit. And about punishing the very people it claimed to protect.

Just released my first Special Edition eBook:

Prohibition and the Profit Motive – How the U.S. Sold Control as Virtue

This $5 eBook version helps me keep going.

It funds the next piece.

It keeps the lights on—literally.

Can’t swing $5?

Even a $1 tip makes a bigger difference than you think.

Can’t support at all? Please share this with someone who needs to know.

Thank you for being here.

Every view, every read, every repost—

you’re helping me fight back with facts.

This is a radical 9-page microhistory that exposes:

• How Prohibition was used to criminalize poverty, independence, and rebellion
• How women’s pain was exploited to justify surveillance
• How the government knowingly poisoned its own people—and got away with it
• And how all of it echoes in today’s drug war, overdose crisis, and profiteering off pain

Included in the Special Edition:

• Letter from the Author
• Full design and printable formatting
• A haunting “Then vs Now” historical photo spread
• Extended commentary not included in the free version

Free version here (education should be accessible): Prohibition and the Profit Motive: How the US Sold Control as Virtue Standard PDF

Special Edition ($5+, supports the work): Prohibition and the Profit Motive – eBook Special Edition

This was written, researched, designed, and formatted by one person—no team, no budget, just rage, tabs, and truth. If you believe in history that hits back, this is for you.

—The Mad Philosopher

_Subject Index: 

Origins of the Temperance Movement, Feminist advocacy and state betrayal, Racialized and class-based enforcement of Prohibition, Government-sanctioned poisoning, Surveillance and control policies, Economic exploitation of addiction, The War on Drugs as a legacy system, Pharmaceutical profiteering and opioid crisis, The commodification of pain, Resistance, rebellion, and reclaiming history_

BLIND ITEM: “The Watchlist Before the Crackdown”

An unnamed private tech firm—with longstanding contracts in predictive analytics, surveillance, and law enforcement integration—has partnered with a major U.S. federal agency (not officially DHS, but connected) to aggregate protest-related data across university campuses. This includes:

• Social media activity flagged by emotion-tracking AI
• Attendance at student government meetings
• Club affiliations labeled as “culturally radical”
• Usage of encrypted messaging apps on campus networks
• Anonymous feedback submitted to university “safety” portals
• Participation in Zoom-based teach-ins or virtual protest planning sessions

All of this is being collected silently, with university compliance. Some schools are not aware. Others are complicit.

The result?

A tiered watchlist.

• Tier 1: Identified protest leaders—already being targeted via immigration, academic misconduct, or financial aid audits  
• Tier 2: Repeat protest participants—monitored, flagged, and sometimes “randomly” subjected to disciplinary review or mental health assessments  
• Tier 3: “Radical-adjacent” individuals—students who haven’t protested publicly, but who engage with protest content, faculty, or groups  

This program does not show up in public records. It’s buried in private security contracts under language like “campus threat analysis” or “student behavioral tracking.”

What Can Be Done (Off the Record):

• Use public computers sparingly. On-campus networks are being monitored for metadata, not content—just enough to flag patterns.  
• Avoid student portals for organizing. Anonymous tips or incident reporting systems are quietly becoming snitch networks.  
• Print everything and destroy digital drafts. If you’re working on an exposé, flyer, or guide—create it offline, print it, and wipe it.  
• Speak in code when necessary. Resistance is ancient. If they’re using old-school surveillance, you use old-school subversion.  

Start documenting the surveillance itself. Make the watchers the watched. FOIA the firms. FOIA the funding. Begin to expose their shadow work.

~Subject Index: surveillance, predictive policing, digital profiling, student activism, protest suppression, university complicity, private sector firms, emotion-tracking AI, watchlists, encrypted messaging, metadata monitoring, resistance tactics, FOIA, dissent, behavioral tracking, campus surveillance, digital resistance, subversion, civil liberties, academic freedom~

BLIND ITEM: “The Watchlist Before the Crackdown”

An unnamed private tech firm—with longstanding contracts in predictive analytics, surveillance, and law enforcement integration—has partnered with a major U.S. federal agency (not officially DHS, but connected) to aggregate protest-related data across university campuses. This includes:

• Social media activity flagged by emotion-tracking AI
• Attendance at student government meetings
• Club affiliations labeled as “culturally radical
• Usage of encrypted messaging apps on campus networks
• Anonymous feedback submitted to university “safety” portals
• Participation in Zoom-based teach-ins or virtual protest planning sessions

All of this is being collected silently, with university compliance. Some schools are not aware. Others are complicit.

The result?

A tiered watchlist.

• Tier 1: Identified protest leaders—already being targeted via immigration, academic misconduct, or financial aid audits  

• Tier 2: Repeat protest participants—monitored, flagged, and sometimes “randomly” subjected to disciplinary review or mental health assessments

• Tier 3: “Radical-adjacent” individuals—students who haven’t protested publicly, but who engage with protest content, faculty, or groups

This program does not show up in public records. It’s buried in private security contracts under language like “campus threat analysis” or “student behavioral tracking.”

What Can Be Done (Off the Record):

• Use public computers sparingly. On-campus networks are being monitored for metadata, not content—just enough to flag patterns.  
• Avoid student portals for organizing. Anonymous tips or incident reporting systems are quietly becoming snitch networks.  
• Print everything and destroy digital drafts. If you’re working on an exposé, flyer, or guide—create it offline, print it, and wipe it.  
• Speak in code when necessary. Resistance is ancient. If they’re using old-school surveillance, you use old-school subversion.  

Start documenting the surveillance itself. Make the watchers the watched. FOIA the firms. FOIA the funding. Begin to expose their shadow work.

~Subject index: surveillance, predictive policing, digital profiling, student activism, protest suppression, university complicity, private sector firms, emotion-tracking AI, watchlists, encrypted messaging, metadata monitoring, resistance tactics, FOIA, dissent, behavioral tracking, campus surveillance, digital resistance, subversion, civil liberties, academic _freedom~

BLIND ITEM: “The Watchlist Before the Crackdown”

An unnamed private tech firm—with longstanding contracts in predictive analytics, surveillance, and law enforcement integration—has partnered with a major U.S. federal agency (not officially DHS, but connected) to aggregate protest-related data across university campuses. This includes:

• Social media activity flagged by emotion-tracking AI
• Attendance at student government meetings
• Club affiliations labeled as “culturally radical
• Usage of encrypted messaging apps on campus networks
• Anonymous feedback submitted to university “safety” portals
• Participation in Zoom-based teach-ins or virtual protest planning sessions

All of this is being collected silently, with university compliance. Some schools are not aware. Others are complicit.

The result?

A tiered watchlist.

1. Tier 1: Identified protest leaders—already being targeted via immigration, academic misconduct, or financial aid audits
2. Tier 2: Repeat protest participants—monitored, flagged, and sometimes “randomly” subjected to disciplinary review or mental health assessments
3. Tier 3: “Radical-adjacent” individuals—students who haven’t protested publicly, but who engage with protest content, faculty, or groups  

This program does not show up in public records. It’s buried in private security contracts under language like “campus threat analysis” or “student behavioral tracking.”

What Can Be Done (Off the Record):

• Use public computers sparingly. On-campus networks are being monitored for metadata, not content—just enough to flag patterns.  
• Avoid student portals for organizing. Anonymous tips or incident reporting systems are quietly becoming snitch networks.  
• Print everything and destroy digital drafts. If you’re working on an exposé, flyer, or guide—create it offline, print it, and wipe it.  
• Speak in code when necessary. Resistance is ancient. If they’re using old-school surveillance, you use old-school subversion.  

Start documenting the surveillance itself. Make the watchers the watched. FOIA the firms. FOIA the funding. Begin to expose their shadow work.

_~Subject index: surveillance, predictive policing, digital profiling, student activism, protest suppression, university complicity, private sector firms, emotion-tracking AI, watchlists, encrypted messaging, metadata monitoring, resistance tactics, FOIA, dissent, behavioral tracking, campus surveillance, digital resistance, subversion, civil liberties, academic freedom~

Declaration of Educational Warfare — A Manifesto from the Classroom Frontlines

> This is not a reform. This is a rebellion.

I wrote this as a public declaration—because the education system is not broken.

It was built this way.

What we call “school” is often just a pipeline: from trauma, to obedience, to silence. This isn’t about fixing it. This is about burning it down and building something that actually nurtures minds.

Declaration of Educational Warfare

Subject Index: education reform, political indoctrination, propaganda in schools, American history, truth in education, anti-authoritarian, critical thinking, curriculum manipulation, modern revolution, cultural warfare, media literacy, civic responsibility, youth empowerment, educational resistance, information control, censorship in education, radical pedagogy

Declaration of Educational Warfare — A Manifesto from the Classroom Frontlines

This is not a reform. This is a rebellion.

I wrote this as a public declaration—because the education system is not broken.

It was built this way.

What we call “school” is often just a pipeline: from trauma, to obedience, to silence. This isn’t about fixing it. This is about burning it down and building something that actually nurtures minds.

Declaration of Educational Warfare

~Subject index: education reform, political indoctrination, propaganda in schools, American history, truth in education, anti-authoritarian, critical thinking, curriculum manipulation, modern revolution, cultural warfare, media literacy, civic responsibility, youth empowerment, educational resistance, information control, censorship in education, radical pedagogy~

Ablaze

Sometimes when my pen hits the paper I start to bleed. 

I scribbled this on a page of notebook paper and decided to post it—just raw and real. 

I wrote this while I felt like everything around me was on fire.

Ablaze

~Subject Index: spoken word poetry, raw emotion writing, trauma poetry, unfiltered prose, poetic rage, healing through writing, mental health expression, survivor poetry, emotional catharsis, dark poetry, stream of consciousness, grief and growth, poetic vulnerability, feminist poetry, writing through pain, confessional writing~

^Ablaze^

Sometimes when my pen hits the paper I start to bleed.

I scribbled this on a page of notebook paper and decided to post it—just raw and real.

I wrote this while I felt like everything around me was on fire.

Ablaze

Subject Index: spoken word poetry, raw emotion writing, trauma poetry, unfiltered prose, poetic rage, healing through writing, mental health expression, survivor poetry, emotional catharsis, dark poetry, stream of consciousness, grief and growth, poetic vulnerability, feminist poetry, writing through pain, confessional writing