unburyingthelead:

DAVID SIMON: You know, listen, the only reason that alcohol and cigarettes, which do far more damage than heroine and cocaine, are legal is that white people and affluent white people at that, make money off that stuff. You know? Phillip Morris was— you know, had— if those guys had black and brown skin and were— you know, in the Mexican State of Chihuahua, they’d be hunted. Or maybe not anymore. Maybe they’d be in control of the Mexican State of Chihuahua, that’s another story.

But I look at that, and I say, you know, “Yes, this is about, you know, money talks.” And the idea that what the most people what is best for the most people, and the utilitarian sense of democracy’s supposed to be, that that’s still applying in American life. I just don’t see a lot of evidence for that.

BILL MOYERS: So, is this what you mean when you say THE WIRE is dissent?

DAVID SIMON: Yes. It is dissent. It is saying-

BILL MOYERS: Against what? From what?

DAVID SIMON: It is saying, “We no longer buy these false ideologies. And false motifs you have of American life.” And so I look at this and I think to myself, if only you stand up and say “I’m not going to be lied to anymore.” That’s a victory on some level, that’s a beginning of a dynamic. And, listen, I don’t think— can change happen? Yes. But things have to get a lot worse.

(Moyers interviews David Simon)

Source: oversets