There are some facts that are worth knowing about addicts and addiction, because these facts have started to broadly affect the world. Not just that there are a lot of addicts, but that some aspects of their behavior have started to influence the culture. But first, let’s talk about those facts about addicts.
The first and most important thing to know about a person with an addiction is:
AN ADDICT WILL SAY ANYTHING IN ORDER TO GET THEIR “FIX.”
As the addiction increases, they will also start to do anything in order to get their fix. Essentially, they will use every power at their disposal in order to be able to do or have the thing they want to do or have. If they are smart, they will use the whole of their intelligence to manipulate others. If they are charming, they will use the full power of their charm to deceive you. At first they will attempt to limit themselves, but as time goes on, their ability to control themselves will lessen and they will take actions that are more and more destructive in order to accomplish their goals.
This is not me talking theoretically. This is me talking from personal experience with myself, with personally counseling addicts, extensive reviews of case histories of addicts, and much more. The reason addicts behave this way is:
FROM AN ADDICT’S PERSPECTIVE, THE THING THEY CRAVE IS MORE IMPORTANT TO THEIR SURVIVAL THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
When an addict is in the “grip” of an addiction (they are feeling the craving hard and it’s overpowering their mind), the thing they crave is more important than food, sleep, family, love, truth, honor, or anything. They may have moments of clarity when it’s not gripping them hard, when they realize what’s going on and can be more rational about it. But they will very rarely talk about it, because talking about it would prevent them from fulfilling their addiction in the future.
What does this have to do with the rest of the civilization? Well, this leads us into our third fact:
ADDICTS DREAM OF A WORLD WHERE THEY ARE ALLOWED TO GET THEIR “FIX” WHENEVER THEY WANT.
Now, combine the fact about “say anything” and this last piece, and you will get an interesting viewpoint on certain ideas that are being pushed in the civilization today. When addicts reach a certain point of losing control, they will actually start trying to make the world they dream about into a reality. Obviously, most addicts don’t have this power. However, some of those addicts are powerful, or well-spoken, or researchers, or great writers.
This intersects with the fact that some nations are using addiction against the populations of other nations as a way of demoralizing them, affecting their effectiveness, etc. as part of some sort of international political maneuvering. So here’s what I think happens:
First, some nation or intelligence agency or somebody has the “bright idea” to push some drug or other addictive activity as a way of somehow controlling a population, or dumbing them down, or whatever stupid idea they have. (And believe me on the control point: addicts are slaves—if you are certain that you must do something, and somebody fully controls your access to that thing, they become your total master.) Then once enough people are addicted to the thing, they will themselves produce propaganda and encouragement within the population to make that thing more allowable and more common.
This explains the trend of people writing allegedly “intelligent” positive articles about obviously harmful things. It’s not just drugs. Think of anything that people can be addicted to. Sex, video games, gambling, pornography, even food. Especially food—think about how many irrational things have been pushed in the area of food, many of which add up to, “I would like to continue to keep eating something addictive, but it causes some problem that I now must fix, without ceasing the addictive behavior.”
This doesn’t actually even require some insidious conspiracy. The nation-to-nation thing actually doesn’t even have to happen—it’s just my theory about how some of it started. Once one addict sees another make a credible argument that adds up to (in one way or another) “wouldn’t it be nice if we were allowed to do this?” then they will happily jump on the bandwagon.
One last note about this: There are some things in the world that are okay in moderation, but in excess are harmful. However, because of the nature of addiction as I’ve described above, it’s almost impossible to have sensible discussions about that in a public setting. Addicts will happily jump on the “this is okay in moderation” bandwagon because that’s getting closer to “make it okay for me to do this.” So yes, a rational person who isn’t an addict can have a rational discussion about when things are good and when they are bad. (Keeping in mind that some things do have life-long effects even if you just do them once, so the “I will do anything once” argument almost certainly comes originally from addicts who are trying to get you into their thing so that you will agree with them that it should be okay. Or from sex addicts who need a second person to participate in their addiction.) However, “I am a rational person and not addicted to this addictive thing,” is also an argument that addicts use to themselves and others all the time. So that conversation also becomes impossible in a public setting.
It’s all very tricky, but the point to keep in mind is this: when you see anybody attempting to explain why some addictive thing “is good for some people, sometimes,” or “in some situations it helps people,” or “maybe it’s just Big Brother suppressing the TRUTH,” you should immediately suspect that this is really (no matter how polished) an attempt to make it okay for them to be able to do that thing whenever they want. No addict will EVER reveal their motives or do anything that might make you suspect their motives. So it’s just on you to realize that this is what’s happening.
I hope that helps clarify some things you’ve seen in the world, and helps you understand other ones you encounter in the future.
Max Kanat-Alexander 