Enlightenment and Nachos

The consequences of addiction are multifaceted, deeply personal, excessively (and exponentially) destructive, and some of the most harrowing experiences a human can face. To begin with, such consequences -the ones needed to really wake you up and get your attention- almost never have the decency to show up on your first time, choosing instead to wait patiently to deliver the bill for a meal they have steadily offered courses and side dishes for like some moral Monty Python sketch in real life; racking up the karmic retribution for you when you’re least prepared for it. What begins with the occasional being late by only a minute or two, spirals into completely losing the job for missing a shift altogether? That new thing you only do when you’re alone now and none of your friends want to be around you; which is why no one was there when you finally called out for help. In my personal opinion, that is the worst consequence of addiction. Isolation.

On the individual level, isolation creates the conditions for addiction to thrive, which further isolates us. It is as if the mere Brownian motion of other humans acts as an inoculation of our own excessive urges. Meanwhile, on the level of the Greater Society, our individual isolation has bred fear, anxiety, and confusion into our population. This opens us up for manipulation and subjects the collective psyche to further reach of despair and dissatisfaction that began the circles of addiction in the first place.

To remedy this on the level of society is remarkably easy. Firstly, we need to rethink our public spaces. Allow people to meet each other, move around, and connect our businesses with as many parks and playgrounds as we have parking lots. Considering just how hard overhauling the entire economy would be, just to allow our parents the time they need to be at home without being exhausted or only having enough time to take a shower and go back to a second job. We need to find a way to increase our ability to create, nurture, and develop those sorts of communities that provide support for our individual needs, as well as our needs as a whole. So that when any of us struggles, the rest of us can help them along until they can get back on their feet and contribute with the rest of us—secondly, no more stranger danger. Let’s meet our neighbors, not the ones. Not just the ones we like or the ones that look like us. But the. Ones that don’t look anything like us. The ones we might need an interpreter for, especially the ones were afraid of reducing. Reducing our overall urge to isolate reduces the pervasive power that addiction wields over us. That sense of connection and fulfillment that we could otherwise find with each other.

On the level of the individual, such changes are incredibly profound and difficult. Many of us struggling with one form of addiction or another were never given the opportunities in early development to establish trust, except for accountability and vulnerability. State our needs or boundaries are even. Admit that we need help. So, for the individual, the most important thing is to eradicate the stigma around addiction and learn to accept when our friends, family, and most importantly, ourselves have a problem in the first place. Secondly, contrary to what modern society demands of us, we must first and foremost prioritize our sense of safety, peace, and happiness and relinquish the people, places, and routines that no longer serve our best selves. Collectively, we could establish resource centers, exchange, transportation, and work opportunities to redistribute excess for better and more efficient consumption. This would improve interpersonal communication with the community as well as increase personal fulfillment. Personally, I do not believe that we have a crisis of addiction. I believe what we have is an epidemic of addiction as a symptom of our crisis of satisfaction and fulfillment, coupled with our divisive media Consumption, defeatist and doom-saying news coverage, and fear-driven inclination towards isolationism. And you have a recipe for addiction that even Gordon Ramsay would only politely curse at. Our jobs accomplish less and achieve nothing. Our education was privatized for profit, dismantled for persecution, and stripped of talent like a car left on cinder blocks from the neighborhoods where I grew up. Now, a population of unhappy, unsatisfied, lonely, scared, and confused people are just looking to feel slightly better about how empty they feel before they try again tomorrow or even today.
It would take a lot more to fix how the world works, but we can concentrate on what is important to us in our community and work towards that together it would certainly be one positive consequence of addiction.