The possibility of addiction is, of course, a fact of life that is simply part of the frailty of humanity. Getting rid of Capitalism won't get rid of addiction any more than doing so will rid us of greed. It will, however, get rid of the biggest hot house environment ever invented to encourage either to absolutely horrible extremes.

What is most disturbing from my perspective, however, is how all of the damage done by this scourge, as well as by other scourges, gets rolled back around into the maw of Capitalism's penchant for turning destruction into profit. Because obviously, there will be opportunities to make money from the destruction itself (either with things like a "War On Drugs," or there will be money made on rebuilding what was destroyed) which gets thrown back into the grossly gross statistics (the ones that keep telling you how great the economy is doing overall = without much in the way of context, for either where the growth numbers are coming from, or whether everybody's getting paid a living wage or not).

And then, of course, there is the wonderful, from the perspective of the money men, additional benefit that addiction has in keeping folks just otherwise occupied, and/or distracted. And that is an essential element in an overall operation to keep folks attention away from the people behind the curtains of power, pulling the levers that keep things great for them, and pretty shitty for the rest of us.

There is also one other important factor involved here and that is the idea of how we all now crave the massively involving, deeply affecting, experience. We have an entertainment industry going like gang busters pumping out this sort of thing, and one could argue that it is also, quite related to addiction, and what attracts us to the experience. This fact is something that should be of great moment to us all because it speaks very clearly to what a new operating environment does to our faculties regarding perception, how we conceive of things, and what we need to feel deeply engaged in making a meaningful life. And so what we are talking about here is exactly another aspect of what McLuhan described as the effect on our sensory and cognitive abilities when new instrumentality broadens the extensions of our senses, and what can be thought of as our reach, and grasp.

The fact of the matter is that we now need involvement in depth, as well as meaning, but because we are still trying to pound ourselves into the square cubby holes of an old organizational model, we do not get these new, more complex, interactive requirements in daily life. And so we become much more susceptible to the false promise of getting these connections through the quick fix of what ever powder, or liquid, or electronic device, that gives us something sorta close, and seemingly so easy.

And so I remain convinced that, if you were to give people a new living arrangement where there was involvement in depth as a matter of course, as well as automatic meaning, and a sense that people have been made to matter once more, you will create the best incentive to avoid drugs you are ever likely to create. And I think, if you thought about this for a while at all, you would come to see this as a big possibility as well.

U.S. life expectancy falls for second straight year — as drug overdoses soar

See Also:

THE DEATH OF THE ATTENTION SPAN

Your Smartphone Is Making You Stupid, Antisocial And Unhealthy. So Why Can't You Put It Down?

22 diggs The Globe and Mail Technology

A decade ago, smart devices promised to change the way we think and interact, and they have — but not by making us smarter.

[Post Note: It's not too difficult to see that this guy probably has several addictions, even though he doesn't drink alcohol. The big two him would be feeding his own ego, and money itself. Do you suppose, though, that he doesn't realize that he's been made to be Putin's Bitch? J.V.]