Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2021 September 18

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September 18

Beware of Bad Company

According to our article Bad Company '[Paul] Rodgers stated in an interview with Spinner.com that the idea came from a book of Victorian morals, that showed a picture of an innocent child looking up at an unsavoury character leaning against a lamp post. The caption read "beware of bad company"'. Do we know the book, and even better do we have the picture? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 01:27, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Maybe Josey The Runaway? It's got some pictures inside that could be similar to what he remembered... Adam Bishop (talk) 19:09, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Cost of opioid addiction

Hey does anyone know how much it costs to maintain an opioid addiction once you start? Not that I'm in the market for such a thing, but I had believed millions of non-rich people were able to afford them for long periods and that was why they were such a huge public health problem. Now I hear about that rich lawyer dude in South Carolina embezzling millions from his law firm to pay for one. I didn't realize it was possible to spend that much just on the drugs: is it? Or are there other associated expenses (paraphenalia, bribes to law enforcement, etc.) that would run the bills up? There is of course a lot of other weirdness (mysterious deaths etc.) surrounding that guy, but for now he is blaming the drugs and I'm trying to assess whether his story matches known data about drug addiction. Thanks. 2601:648:8200:970:0:0:0:C023 (talk) 07:27, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

I honestly know very little about this topic, however, at one time, many years ago, I worked in the bar and restaurant industry. As you may know, there is a serious drug problem in that industry, for reasons I won't go into, but if you look at the monthly salary or wages of a bartender or chef, that should give you a ballpark figure minus rent (most of these workers have roommates). Viriditas (talk) 08:05, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

FWIW, you might find this document to be of interest. To quote from page 68: At the street level the price of heroin is generally measured as a ‘taste/cap’ or in grams. Nationally, the price for one taste/cap of heroin (0.1 to 0.3 grams) increased over the last decade, ranging between $40 and $100 in 2009–10 to between $30 and $150 in 2018–19 (noting there is a large overlap in price ranges). The price range reported in 2018–19 remained unchanged from 2017–18. The national median price also increased over the last decade, from $52.50 in 2009–10 to $75 in 2018–19, a decrease from $90 in 2017–18. This is the Australian situation. Of course, how many "doses" a given addict "needs" will vary, and often increases with time as they build up "tolerance" to the drug. Eliyohub (talk) 20:49, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

This sounds right. There's a post on another site that says it was costing one user $300 a day due to their high tolerance. Viriditas (talk) 21:03, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

Richard Matheson

What's the best way to approach reading works by Richard Matheson? Could a knowledgeable person point me to the best collections worth my time? Viriditas (talk) 08:02, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

The Novel I Am Legend and the short story collection Born of Man and Woman, both early works, remain his best known. As a bonus, the title story from the collection is considered an all-time science fiction classic. You can start with these two, and if you enjoy them, move on to the rest of his very sizeable output. Xuxl (talk) 14:04, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Spooky origins

As you all know, memes are an unassailable source of truth in a harsh world. However, despite this ironclad law, I'm a bit doubtful about a few claims I saw recently, in a gallery devoted to spooky, horror, and Halloween - centered items. Can anyone provide additional info about either of these? Matt Deres (talk) 14:20, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

1. The Wicked Witch of the West from the 1939 movie is the source for the trope that witches have green skin (later example). The colours in the film are famously over the top after Dorothy reaches Oz, and they chose a vibrant green colour for Margaret Hamilton's character because it showed up well.
2. Werewolves change during the full moon due to more "moon plasma" during those times. This one sounds more in-universe than a real world origin, but is it even a thing? Searches for moon plasma don't turn up anything.

• Good questions MD. I hadn't heard of moon plasma before but a fun factoid I picked up over the years is that in The Wolf Man (1941 film) it isn't a full moon that triggers Talbot's transformation rather it is "when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright". 2 others - in Stoker's book Dracula can walk around in the daylight and in RSL's book Mr Hyde is smaller in size than Dr Jekyll. I'll be interested in what other find about the green makeup. Since Karloff's Frankenstein's monster makeup was green I wonder if that was a general choice in Hollywood productions. MarnetteD|Talk 20:38, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

National Library of Panama pre 1942

If the National LIbrary of Panama only opened in 1942, what was there beffore? Was there a previous national library? Amisom (talk) 17:58, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

These articles are fairly comprehensive pt:Biblioteca Nacional do Panamá and es:Biblioteca Nacional de Panamá. It was previously the Biblioteca Colón. 2A00:23C4:570A:600:E1A9:9FF6:5B09:7258 (talk) 19:35, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Mahatma Gandhi

Am I correct in understanding that although Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most important figures in the history of India and is considered a sort of national hero, he never held any sort of position as head of state or head of government? What was his relationship to the national government at the time? JIP | Talk 22:35, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

He was a leading figure in the Indian National Congress party after WW1 (and apparently its president during 1924), but was always more of an inspirational leader of movements than an electoral office-seeking politician. He died less than a year after Partition (Indian independence). AnonMoos (talk) 00:46, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

Maybe sort of like Martin Luther King Jr. in the US. 2601:648:8200:970:0:0:0:C023 (talk) 05:09, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated less than six months after the British partitioned India and left. The current Republic of India did not even have a constitution at that time. Although some comparisons with Martin Luther King Jr. are appropriate, especially at the philosophical level and that they were both assassinated, the issue of possible governmental office is completely different. King was never a credible choice for electoral office, and Ghandi declined that role. Ghandi was 78, which was considered "extremely elderly" at that time. King was half that age when he was murdered. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 05:32, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

There was no republic until 1950 - see Dominion of India, where the country operated on similar lines to Canada or Australia with a Governor-General, initially Lord Mountbatten but later Chakravarti Rajagopalachari from June 1948. As in all Westminster systems, real power was in the hands of the Prime Minister, who was Jawaharlal Nehru from independence until 1964. Nehru was a long time ally of Gandhi, but their views had diverged somewhat during the 1930s. Alansplodge (talk) 21:01, 19 September 2021 (UTC)