Power of Addiction

A revolutionary perspective

Anybody who has ever experienced addiction up close — whether personally or by witnessing addiction in a loved one — knows how incredibly destructive a force addiction can be. I remember vividly when a girl at my school, Martina, died from an overdose of heroin when I was probably no more than 13 (she must have been only 15). Although she wasn’t a seasoned addict, this powerful drug had claimed her life before it had even really begun. The whole school was shellshocked by this experience, and I remember there was talks about it all around our little rural community for years after. I can’t even begin to imagine the hell her family must have gone through.

Often we think about drugs like heroin when the topic of addiction comes up, but thankfully the majority of us never experience an addiction to such a drug. Far more common addictions are related to drugs like nicotine, caffeine and alcohol. Drugs that are made available even to adolescents in many cases, and which have a destructive potential just as great as heroin, although the burn is usually quite a bit slower. So whilst my school friend died way too young, at least she didn’t suffer thousands of nights of caffeine infused insomnia or wreck the childhood of her children by being a full time alcoholic for 20 years.

I was myself a smoker for many years, and I still smoke from time to time (it’s a hard habit to kick). I’ve also gone through periods of heavy drinking, which could have easily turned into full blown alcoholism. I would be lying if I said that none of these things have had a damaging impact on my life and the life of my loved ones — however modest compared to other factors at play in my life. But there’s a type of addiction that I came to know first hand in my life (circumstances of which I may write about at a later point when I feel ready for it), which I believe is far more damaging than any drug addiction can ever be. And this is not least due to the scale of this addiction in our global society. An addiction so monstrous in nature, that it will devour anything in its path without hesitation. An addiction entirely rooted in the basic chemistry of human emotions and instincts.

What I’m talking about is greed and lust for power — which are very closely related. Two incredibly destructive forces that I see as a type of mental condition so similar to addiction that it doesn’t really make sense to distinguish. Deeply rooted in our basic survival instinct, greed and lust for power (in my layman’s opinion) affect the deepest parts of our brain, and once they take hold they will slowly but surely start to consume every aspect of the life of the ‘infected’ individual and inevitably leave a trail of destruction — and even death — everywhere this person goes. Nobody is safe from the negative effects of this condition, as it will ultimately annihilate even its host. Because anybody affected by this horrible type of addiction will eventually begin to make choices in life that are not governed by any sense of right and wrong, but instead entirely fueled by the insatiably desire to accumulate more possessions and exert more control. And they will slowly but surely cease to care about the destructive impact they have on the world around them, as they become entirely engulfed by the relentless flames of uncontrollable desire.

Imagine what would happen to a world where this terrible condition became idolized and idealized, and where the vast majority of people inhabiting said world would all strive to be like those affected by the most advanced stages of the condition. Imagine then what would happen when you sprinkle some vanity and self loathing on top of the whole thing, and you would end up with the world in which we all currently live…

I firmly believe that the root cause of all the problems that we face as a species, are due to the fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic of greed and lust for power, which has been growing in intensity since the advent of agriculture and amplified by our ability to make tools so advanced that they now have the power to wipe us all off the planet. As we all go about our daily business of accumulating wealth and striving for promotions and aiming to reach growth targets, we have become completely blind to the fact that both we and the planet have limited resources and that most of us are effectively enslaved. At the individual level, some of us have certainly spotted this and are actively trying to fight against the onslaught of this decease, but the trend for our species is undeniable and the curve is exponential.

But oh how easy it is to point fingers at the rich and powerful, or come up with theories about how a tiny cabal of pure evil is manipulating us all against our will. Conveniently acquitting ourselves of any charges of complicity and placing all the blame and responsibility on a tiny minority. If only it was that easy. But like with any addiction, those that enable the addict are in many ways as complicit. By failing to do everything in our power to prevent the addict from feeding their addiction, we become accomplices and enablers.

Not like there are no loud voices calling for a revolt against this kind of behavior. I hear plenty of those as I roam the vast, digital plains of modern society, but many of them seem to have failed to learn a very important lesson from history: the void left by a revolution is far from guaranteed to be filled by a lesser evil.

And so it is with our societal addiction to greed and power: Even if we were to ‘remove’ all the worst addicts among us — like how poor Martina was ‘cured’ by overdosing on heroin — the drug and the addiction would remain, and the vacuum created by the sudden absence of the worst addicts would only cause those slightly less addicted to fill the vacancy at the top of the addiction pyramid. And we that are merely codependents at the bottom of that pyramid, would keep providing the steady supply of drugs to the most addicted by continuing to work for them, buy their useless products and allow them to exert ever more control over our lives.

The truth is that the only way to cure this addiction once and for all, is the same way you would cure any drug addiction: by removing access to the drug from those addicted to it, instead of continuing to feed the addiction by being a codependent accomplish to the ‘crime.’ And this requires us to collectively face the fact that the vast majority of us are either addicts ourselves or we are enabling those that are addicted.

Every time we go to work to feed our children and bring home more ‘luxury’ products, prescription drugs and heavily processed foods, we are giving more power to the most greedy and power hungry among us. Every time we buy into the idea that the negative effects of overconsumption can somehow be eliminated by more consumption, and every time we submit to some new program that offers us ‘convenience’ at the cost of freedom, we are enabling the addicts and normalizing the addiction in our own minds.

We need to stop blaming the addicts — despite the atrocities they are responsible for — and focus on how to cure the addiction once and for all. We need to stop being codependents of those that are using and abusing us to feed their addiction and realize that we won’t save neither ourselves nor them from this horrible pandemic that has our species in a stranglehold by continuing to enable them. Because if we continue to blame the addicts, without realizing that the addiction itself is the problem, we will surely be the next to fall prey to this horrible condition. And then we will be the ones saying things like ‘it’s just business’ or ‘it’s for your own good.’

---