Addict Nation Read Free Page B

It has certain clear-cut characteristics:
    an endless cycle of craving, bingeing, remorse, and withdrawal;
    a progressive pattern, leading to invariably uglier and more destructive behavior until a “bottom” is hit;
    obsessive rituals and elaborate paraphernalia;
    defiance and denial in the face of evidence of the wreckage caused by the addiction;
    strenuous and imaginative rationalizations to justify the addictive behavior;
    the “user” is invariably paired with a “pusher.” One is
    exploited while the other profits.
    Addiction spawns its own unique culture. In every addict’s world, there is the “pusher” and, beyond, the “cartel,” which reaps the profit. This even applies to chardonnay. Back when I was drinking, I felt like I was personally supporting the entire economy of France! My American Express bill was so heavy I did bicep curls with it. Opening the bill, I would have terrifying flashbacks of yelling, “Champagne for everyone!”
    Addictions Are Expensive
    That holds true for our national addictions to crime, war, sexual exploitation, animal exploitation, cleanliness, overconsumption, materialism, drugs, and food. In each of these categories, there are billions, if not trillions, of dollars at stake. Anyone who seeks to expose the addictions at the heart of these problems will provoke the wrath of powerful industries and government bureaucracies that perpetuate the status quo for their own gain.
    If there were no prisons, what would happen to those corporations, unions, and government bureaucrats whose sole purpose is to supply and police those prisons? One of America’s biggest “growth industries” is private prisons and related companies that have discovered a way to “cash in” on arresting, prosecuting, housing, feeding, and clothing inmates. How can they keep “growing” their business? By creating more criminals of course. (I will explain in one of the following chapters precisely how they do this.)
    Hollywood also profits off of our culture of violence, selling the American public tickets to highly stylized assaults, car chases, rapes, and murders, glamorizing it all in the process.
    Food addiction is making billions for fast-food manufacturers and agri-businesses that are protected by their allies in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and subsidized by the U.S. government.
    War addiction is fueled by the military-industrial complex. The Halliburtons and the Blackwaters make the news, but many mainstream companies also profit magnificently from war. 3
    Prescription drug addiction is encouraged by the secretive but powerful pharmaceutical industry that controls government decisions through its powerful lobby.
    In all of the above cases, the people funding these powerful interests are you and me . . . the taxpayers and consumers. We, the people, are doubly exploited and victimized. We have to live with the albatross of addiction, and we make our enslavers rich in the process! It’s a really bad deal.
    Ironically, if all us consumers/taxpayers joined forces to demand change, we, as a unit, would be more powerful than the most powerful industrial cartels. But first the American people have to “hit bottom” on these cultural addictions and feel the desire to change!
    Addiction Is Progressive
    A fundamental truth of addiction is that if it’s not confronted and treated, it will invariably get worse. That’s because the addict’s pleasure receptors become skewed and require an ever-increasing amount of the same substance/behavior for the high to kick in. In other words, addicts are insatiable and will always need more of their “junk” to get off and to stay high. So the addict’s predicament is always getting more perilous.
    In this book, I will offer you a view into our world from an addict’s perspective and suggest where we might be headed. If you think things are bad now, imagine an America even more defined by life-threatening obesity, pervasive drug dependency,