OVERVIEW
To summarize - addiction is rooted in our humanity, our instincts to survive. It afflicts sufferers with a compelling, but illusory, feeling that they will die if they fail to obtain their next dose of their drug of choice (or for behavioral addictions - fail to bed the next sex partner or manipulate the next victim, or consume the next gluttonous meal etc., etc.). Recovery occurs in two stages for the fortunate ones. In the first stage following physical detoxification, one associates with new people beginning in the early stages of recovery, to acquire some behavioral tools to resist the inevitable cravings for oneâs drug of choice in that early stage of abstinence. It is important to stress, however, that this stage is only temporary - this need to resist cravings. This is simply (not easily) accomplished by substitution of another behavior so the craving can self-extinguish within minutes/hours. The ultimate goal of 12 step recovery is to not have cravings in the first place. This task takes weeks or months for most addicts early in recovery.
We know that will power is of very limited efficacy in resisting cravings, because of the nature of human thought. As we cannot decide by will power what the next series of our thoughts will be, neither can we ban any categories of thoughts from occurring at any time. We cannot decide by will power that we will not have any cravings arise in the future. However, behavioral psychology teaches that changes in thought patterns follow changes in behavior and herein lies the power of 12-step programs. While continuing to use the behavioral tools of avoiding relapse in very early recovery, addicts begin to use their will power to adopt a series of simple, suggested behaviors - not directly related to thinking about either use or non-use -as prescribed by the 12 steps.
These steps can be thought of as a kind of new operating system - like a computer - but for humans - to enable them to perform a series of new behaviors (using their wills) unrelated to their addiction. Over time - as short as days, weeks or months - performing these new behaviors consistently leads to new patterns of thought. These new thoughts indirectly displace former thoughts on the addiction spectrum consisting of obsessive thoughts as to use/non-use. These new patterns of thought concerned with daily interaction with others and with God (spirit or higher power) become pervasive and make it progressively less likely, over time, that cravings will come to mind in the first place (so there arises no need to resist them).
So, in a sense, the 12 steps work through distraction or misdirection. With the ongoing assistance and support of other recovering addicts, the newcomerâs attention is directed toward performing a series of simple, but valuable tasks. Again and importantly, these tasks are not related to the question of using or not using. They are, rather, aimed at improving relationships with others, with a higher power and at how we experience ourselves as a result of those relationships. Inevitably, as shame diminishes by virtue of real, warm and caring relationships with others - not concerning drugs/alcohol - so does the likelihood of craving fade away. Eventually, for many in recovery, one acquires a sense of neutrality or indifference to substances or to using. The need for active resistance to using simply fades away and one lives a normal life.
The ontological nature of addiction combined with its pervasiveness - such a large number of afflicted individuals - and its various forms, which include many behavioral addictions - must have a significant impact on the course of society at large. The result is that millions of pride-filled/shame filled, nihilistic, puerile, controlling (hence illiberal) individuals sense that their lives are meaningless. This ennui has led (among other things) to formation of âactivistâ groups beginning in the 1960âs. These exist, then, in order to create a simulacrum of meaning, rationalized by self-reference, religious zeal and trumpeting their own virtue and altruism - derived all but exclusively from their own vehement self-certainty (aka arrogance). Typical of addicts, they recognize no limiting principles whatsoever to guide their behavior in furtherance of their pursuits. These pursuits, in turn, they deem to be so inherently noble as to be beyond reproach or even examination. As in years past, people with such grandiose ambition have gravitated to positions of authority. Over time, these types installed themselves into positions where their power extended to the entire apparatus of state and corporation, up to and including the ability to advocate using nuclear weapons. If there is any historically consistent hallmark of evolving governance it has been concerted efforts - through constitutions, laws and the like - to create limiting principles designed to restrain power of leaders and/or states from exercising these literally deadly sins, informed especially of pride. The astounding number of âdeaths by governmentâ* of the 20th century suggests that such efforts have failed.
In observing addiction in relation to society, itâs hard to miss the tragic downfall of so many adored performers and celebrities of all kinds over several generations. Though their images (did we really know them as individuals or their curated images?) were greatly admired and though they had considerable power over others, many died young from overdoses, violence or risky behavior. What could have motivated them? Here are individuals with unlimited pleasures - âdrugs, sex, rock ân roll, food, electronic devices, possessions, etc. anyone could possibly desire. In addition, what could possibly be more affirming than the fact that their mere presence causes audiences to swoon; they seem almost godlike to their admirers. Some of these unfortunates do try spiritual pursuits, as with gurus, Kabbalah study, or some other spiritual practice, but even religiosity can be pursued excessively and addictively. In any case, the lives of such celebrities are often pain-filled, chaotic and short due to self-destruction - despite every material possession and public affirmation.
What more can there be, after all, when one engages in all the usual addictive behaviors and enjoys the adulation of millions to boot? I ask myself, what part of my own character, if it got out of control, might be at work here? No doubt, it is pride. The modern iteration of this phenomenon today- in operation now and throughout all of recorded history - is persuasive evidence it was also in operation before history was recorded. The best explanation is that the earliest and most enduring addiction employed pride - in the form of gaining and maintaining power and control over not only oneâs physical surroundings, but over as many other human beings as possible. This likely worked itself out at tribal levels with fights to the death to become the next chief.
The self-talk within such individuals would have gone like this: âJust maybe, if I can control what everyone says and does and thinks, I am not vulnerable and mortal after all. I may even be god-like, since people treat me as if I were God.â Raw political power, addictively pursued I submit, is an alternative to mere fame in service of this, the oldest dysfunctional addiction. Like all behavioral addictions, pleasure chemicals in the brain are generated when one successfully bosses others or molds a mob to act according to his will; this is heady stuff! It again shows how addiction departs from rationality, though it is reinforced by successfully forcing others to pay material tribute and obeisance of various kinds. The absolute power of the ancestral tribal chieftain, it is obvious, is just what todayâs altruism addicts (aka SJWâs) are after. It is one thing organize groups to act altruistically. It is quite another to parlay initially decent social motivations into a force for total control of everyone else because of your zealous, self-assigned, godlike, tyrannical âbenevolenceâ. C.S. Lewis pointed this out quite succinctly:
âOf all the tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baronâs cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.â
As a child of the â60âs, I myself, did not remain innocent of many of either addictive substances or, particularly, the arrogant, prideful behaviors at issue here. I know them well, having abused them for years for many of the reasons given previously (in psychic economic terms, this is called the âpayoffâ). I have been not only an equal-opportunity addict (if it felt good, I abused it; otherwise put - âa drink is a drug is a girl [substitute your preferred sex] is a cookieâ). I can report authoritatively from my â60âs âactivistâ experiences at marches, demonstrations and sit-ins that the high of epidemic self-righteous indignation - amplified and focused by a mob - is as intense as any high I ever experienced from any drug. It even lasted considerably longer, as it was sustained and amplified by the self-reinforcing in-group.
Also important to note is the fact that there was zero critical self-examination (aka a healthy degree of shame) attached to what I was doing. I was absolutely certain - high as I was with a searing zealous, spittle-laced fervor, that - despite my agnosticism - âGod was on our sideâ; all acts were thus permissible, even required; there were no innocent bystanders - you were either with us or against us. All that was missing was snake handling and speaking in tongues. If you were not acting the believer, vigorously advertising your support, you were surely among the âracist hatersâ. Of course the visceral, barely restrained hatred we felt for apostates was completely justified and necessary; âothersâ were subhuman and evil. Sound familiar now? Though our trajectory has already gone too far, I am reminded of Ovid: âPrincipiis obsta et respice finemâ (âseeing what the ends will be, you must resist the beginningsâ).
From my addiction theory perspective, I suggest the ethos of politics and civilization are partly a result of addiction writ large. The effects of pride-laden, addictive thinking on politics - as described here (especially hubris in the political realm and in executive leadership), are hard to overstate. I believe we are witnessing a frank failure of governance in every facet - from fiscal incontinence to regulatory overreach (a crypto-tyranny, really), to attempted coercion of other sovereign nations armed with nuclear weapons. For example, for anyone of my generation who remembers the âCuban Missile Crisisâ of 1962, it is clear that by attempting to induct Ukraine into NATO, the US is the party which knowingly caused the Russian incursion into Ukraine. Imagine how the US would respond if Mexico decided to become a province of Russia or China. Do you suppose it would be any different from the USâ aggressive response to IRBMâs in Cuba in 1962? The parallels donât require much insight to any rational being who understands a nationâs fundamental right to determine for itself just what constitute existential threats. Do we really think we get to determine that for ourselves and for Russia (and the rest of the world) as well?
Considered from the perspective of addictive, prideful self-centered thinking - hubris, really - it is obvious that the US leadership has abandoned any rational limits in the conduct of either domestic or foreign policy. I believe it is clear that the US position regarding Russia is irrationally and unnecessarily belligerent. The Russiansâ position is not that of one man - Putin - regardless of the propaganda. Anyone who knows a bit of history of the Kievan Rus (what? The names âKievâ and âRussiaâ are rooted in the same people??!!) knows something essential as to 1000 years of history of Russia/Ukraine. To ignore it and blame Putin is absurd and may - any day now - lead to the death of hundreds of millions of us and civilization on the planet. For what? Does the US really need to place ballistic missiles armed with nukes in Ukraine? These can only be seen as an offensive regime decapitation weapon. Would we tolerate them in Cuba, Mexico or Central America?
Though this has reached beyond what I initially wanted to say about addiction, it reveals what I see as a natural progression, which has been at work throughout history. By adding up the personal, human and existential evidence and effects of addiction, we can deduce, observe and analyze the behavior of nations. History is filled with examples of tyrants whose hubris, whose lust for total power, led to war and genocide. I believe we can see these same psychic roots driving irrational, unnecessary and destructive US policy today - both domestic and foreign policy. The resultant acute risks under which we are now living are a direct result of leadership fed on the same form of pride so closely associated with addiction. This coalesced and grew out of the â60âs. It was high on power, Marxist in orientation and nihilist in puerile tactics.
In conclusion, I make the case that addiction is rooted in our humanity and have adumbrated some of its psychic mechanisms. The incipient power of this component of each of us may be harnessed for the good - by formation of voluntary communities where individuals are nurtured, allowed to self actualize and should individuals wish, contribute materially and spiritually for the benefit of themselves and for all mankind. On the other hand, even absent ingestive addictions to substances, unrecognized, stealthy addictive behaviors - especially stemming from pride/hubris - have become normalized over time. Things have gone so far that these power games are not decried as unworthy; rather they are promoted as political virtues to be pursued.
There is an alternative to this bottom up analysis, whereby understanding individual and small group psychodynamics can add up to describe function of the whole of society. Though it is beyond my ability, I believe that a deconstruction type analysis of the mechanisms by which the US functions today - both the nature and character of the individuals in power and the means by which they exercise their power - would lead to the same conclusion. I mean here those in power in the permanent bureaucracy - the deep state - the the several leftist administrations beginning with Clinton.
There is a tremendous and perhaps fatal, irony here. Small voluntary groups of individuals, working together for mutual aid to answer the great existential problems of life - faced by every one of us - offer great hope for individual and social progress. They work well for the benefit of all who choose to participate (and even for communities in which they operate and with which they associate). At the same time, mandatory or dysfunctional associations (think âsocial mediaâ), ruled from above (by a combination of state power and corporate greed of an unprecedented nature and degree), have become the rule in our society. These are now regarded as normal and state control (fascism) is justified under the banner of âsafetyâ or âjusticeâ.
So even as we are paternalistically limited in our most intimate quotidian thoughts, words, and actions âfor our own goodâ, the same leaders are rushing headlong - with zero limits or rationality and no care for our lives - into a war with Russia (and maybe China over Taiwan). It is also âfor our own goodâ the state has intentionally taken on an unprecedented and un- repayable debt. The common denominator of these two astounding actions is hubris - pride - or âI can do as I wish and have no negative consequences or accountabilityâ. This was recently stated almost verbatim by a partisan democrat (sic) in Pennsylvania counting illegal votes on behalf of Casey, the democrat (sic) senate candidate loser.
Our recent governance has been nothing else but addictive thinking writ large. Unfortunately, they may judge correctly, because the degree of devastation which may occur any day now will preclude any accountability. Following a nuclear war or a worldwide financial collapse - survivors will be too busy getting food, water and shelter to spend any time assigning blame, however righteous. But the blame is clear: leaders boldly practicing the very sins which have eternally plagued humanity.
This analysis suggests that addict-type individuals have historically tended to aggregate in order to acquire political power. Of late, this lust for raw power has become overt and un-varnished. The new practitioners boldly and defiantly tout âby any means necessaryâ. AntiFa slyly attempts to immunize itself against being seen as the actual fascists they are with a mere fake name.
All this and many more examples of addiction writ large has its roots in individual pride unfettered. It summates in elite hubris, is now extolled - sanctified, actually - by continual blatant lies from the ânewsâ organs of the state (the MSM) and their mega-corporate co-perpetrators (Google, Facebook, et.al.). This phenomenon can be observed in incarnate archetypes - in the person of David Hogg, vice- chairman of the DNC - domestically or internationally - in the poster child persona, Greta Thunberg. These are two individuals who serve as living examples of how individuals afflicted with the character type described here, will act to achieve their goals. Greta has gone so far as to have apparently replaced her congenital snarl with a surgically-implanted, strategic smile. Like most manipulations, it probably wonât work for her. It is, though, a light humorous note on which to conclude what is otherwise a most serious matter.
Iâm unsure whether Western civilization of the US will survive these very sick power games. Some addicted individuals recover from their afflictions. Some die. I see no difference when it comes to nations or civilizations. Left aside here is the important and evolving addictive use of social media and digital, online games. I know nothin about these.
Alternative ending follows:
ENDING 2
Celebrities today are prone to advertise their own virtue (advocating for the progressive cause cĂŠlèbre du jour) and dabble in what they falsely construe to be altruistic (un-prideful) acts in espousing âcausesâ. This seems to me to be, first, an effort to demonstrate their own moral superiority. Itâs de rigueur in Hollywood. Whatever role actual altruism may play in such activities by the famous, I suspect in reality it reflects people who are desperately seeking meaning, amidst empty inner lives of outward and visible excess. The effect of celebrities on society is small compared to that of millions of âordinaryâ people, engaged in the same desperate quest for self-affirmation - ostensibly through âsocial justiceâ âactivismâ and acquiring âlikesâ on (anti-) social media. Itâs not that some of the stated goals are not worthy. Itâs that the excessive zeal of the participants betrays (not so carefully) hidden real agendas. The unstated goal all these individuals have in common is unlimited power and control over acts, words and even thoughts of everyone else âby any means necessaryâ. They do keep repeating that mantra.
Here, what might even be a de minimis positive material result for purported âbeneficiariesâ of some âmovementâ or other, in reality is reduced to serving as a vehicle for assertion of overwhelming power and control over others who have done no wrong - those whose only âsinâ is to have not signaled their own virtue, publicly, with sufficient enthusiasm; they are thus âshamedâ by their self-appointed betters. Any excess use of pride addictsâ power, then, is excused, nay, demanded by the eternal ârightnessâ of their cause du jour; any violence or oppression of others is deemed merely incidental, compensatory or even deserved by those who âthink wrongâ. We are told repeatedly that making omelettes requires breaking a few eggs - as though the cracked heads of bystanders to their folly are nothing more than eggshells. - âOthersâ are thus dehumanized before our eyes. âGot historyâ? Sound familiar?
The religious fervor, the zealotry, the transporting ecstasy is written on the spittle-laced, wide- eyed, homicidal faces of such âdo-goodersâ, so certain is their cause at âmostly peacefulâ demonstrations/riots. Presciently, Carl Jung described the evil of addiction to âidealismâ, which is what we are talking about here; righteous indignation of mobs is heady stuff! Their actual belief in the inferiority of those they insist need their benevolent âhelpâ is self-evident, yet unmentionable by a so-called âmediaâ which suffers this same disease. The immediate danger lies in their fascist backup. They are armed with not de juris, but de facto raw power: the electronic megaphones of the MSM and extra-legal government/military SWAT backup. They are afflicted with an even more aggressive form of the disease of hubris, in that they cheerlead it as a required virtue (BLM, Antifa)! And scaled-up addiction is precisely what we are witnessing - writ large; it seems as pervasive as is addiction to use of electronic devices; the success of personal electronic devices in changing society has been accomplished by what is nothing more than high-tech bullying: fake amplification of the necessity, volume and import of their incoherent diktats.
As a child of the â60âs, I did not remain innocent to many of these addictive substances and/or behaviors. I know them intimately, having abused them for years for many of the reasons given previously (in terms of individual psychic economy, this is called âthe payoffâ of behavior). I have been not only an equal-opportunity addict (if it felt good, I abused it; otherwise put - a drink is a drug is a girl - substitute your preferred sex - is a cookie). I can report empirically from my â60âs experience at âmarchesâ and âsit-insâ that the âhighâ of epidemic self-righteous indignation, as amplified and focused by a mob, is as intense as any high I ever experienced anywhere; it lasted longer as well, sustained by a large, loud self-reinforcing âin-groupâ.
Also noteworthy was the fact that, completely absent was any shame or limiting principle as to what I was doing. I was absolutely certain, you see, that - despite my agnosticism - âGod was on our sideâ; all acts were thus permissible, even required; there were no innocent bystanders - you were either with us or against us. All that was missing from this religion was snake handling and speaking in tongues. If you were not acting the believer, advertising your support, you were surely among the âracist hatersâ. Of course the visceral, barely restrained hatred we felt for you was justified and necessary; you were subhuman and evil. Sound familiar now? âPrincipiis obsta et respice finemâ (Resist the beginnings - in consideration of the ends) - Ovid
These âmostly peacefulâ âactivistsâ, âmarchersâ, âyouthâ, âsocial justice warriorsâ (per the MSM) of the â60âs are the individuals now in charge of all of what used to be representative public and private institutions. This, then is what pride/idealism addicts look like (before the brown shirts and guillotines come out); actually, the brown shirt constituency have merely updated their livery to Antifa black with ski masks. Their very name Anti Fascist is intended to immunize them against recognition of their the actual, obvious reigning fascism they so precisely represent). The is blatant projection and would have been so described by any journalism worth the name. Such is the power of modern propaganda with MSM deflection and fakery, that few can see the obvious with their own eyes. Examples abound.
Following the âred scareâ of the 1950âs, loyalty oaths were demanded. They were widely regarded, nonetheless, as disgusting and loathsome. They were opposed by vocal âinfluencersâ of the time. Today, not so much. Now, the bullies like Antifa, BLM and LQBTQ++ and other shrill groups are the enforcers who fire, de-platform, de-bank, indict, harass and assault (itâs always open season on heretics) others for failure to accede to their demand that you to mouth prescribed neologisms on command. In keeping with the minuscule attention span and illiteracy of our times (thanks to the same pride addicts), loyalty oaths are now short and poignant - something like âxerâ suffices. We are instructed, you see, there is no other possible way to show normal human respect or kindness due to every other person (however similar to or different or maybe even someone deeply disturbed with a delusional mental illness), than to follow the boldface scarlet rubrics which so richly annotate the SJWâs bible, Alinsky edition. We are now all required to buy into those sacred delusions protected by the âwokeâ idealism addicts in charge of everything widely seen and heard on MSM or (astoundingly) implemented as state policy. Failure to mouth their terse creed and you are out of work and publicly shamed as a âhaterâ. According to them, thereâs nothing wrong with loyalty oaths in principle; the object of the loyalty is what matters.
So, this fake epidemic of âwokeâ(it is not areal epidemic, much less a pandemic), whose actual number of afflicted is small (but LOUD), is amplified far beyond its actual size by MSM/social media and corrupt search engines. Most sane people just keep their heads down to avoid notice; the actual number of the sane is analogously minimized out of all proportion via control of the same sympathetic influencing institutions staffed by fellow travelers. Pride/idealism/arrogance addiction has not yet brought society to the (bloody) standstill they seek. True to the compulsive, irrational nature of addiction, sad to say, signs and symptoms of collapse only embolden them; doubling down on every pathology, after all, has worked so far. In closing, I should point out I have not stressed the most pervasive addiction - which is an actual pandemic of addiction. That is addiction to electronic âmediaâ of all kinds. Much has been written on this. Being old, thus part of prior generations, though, I have only limited experience with it, as I abstain from most all of it. Its effects are obviously anything but salutary - for individuals or a decent society.
If the Twitterati (X-ati?) are the future, we must pray for divine intervention - for God to help us, because the radical, addicted children in charge have run amok with no understanding that human nature is immutable and delusions as to biology must be forced on us all as gospel. Though their addictions run to everything pleasurable - substance and behavior - pride (or âidealismâ) heads the list. Their access to nuclear weapons combined with extreme intolerance to the most important diversity - that of thought - ought to terrify anyone with the slightest inkling of the true neo-religious motivations of this âwokeâ juggernaut. The incessant blaring advertisements of their own virtuous dedication to various abstractions, combined with total intolerance of any deviation, make it unmistakably clear they are prepared to âdestroy the village in order to save it.â
While that strategy, too, is worth recalling, some of us are inclined to obsess on our plight, perhaps addictively. After all, addiction - a perversion of our normal human instincts - out of all proportion to survival needs - as I hope has become clear here, is rooted in our very instinct to survive. That is the central point I have tried to make. These particular addicts - unique in history via unprecedented technological leverage - are armed. Because they are in charge of the entire power structure of Western Civilization, a danger to its continued survival. The bizarre truth is they despise the values enshrined in the US Constitution - a document designed limit and constrain political power. They demand its abandonment because they seek only power and control every last thought of every last person. The Constitutional republic forbids exercise of the power they demand. A postmodern Torquemada may well arise on their behalf. That is why, in desperation like our ancient forbearers, I say, âGod help usâ.**
see Death by Government R.J. Rummel
** I say God with what is for me a new meaning. I remained a thoughtful agnostic most of my life, though I was religion friendly. Much of that time, I actually wished I could believe and wished that something would happen to transport me. The closest I came to that was recovery from opioid addiction in my mid 40âs. Recently, however, I have become a theist. Based upon scientific evidence regarding the origin and nature of both the universe and life, I am rationally persuaded that the existence of a creating intelligence - outside of the material universe and time - is the best explanation among the many which have been put forth. No faith is required, though I wish for faith which might find benevolence and meaning for life and the universe. As to the matter of faith, far less is required to be a theist than to believe in the multi-universe hypothesis. The former is testable and falsifiable. The latter is not testable, even in principle. See the works of Stephen C. Meyer