Sobriety vs. Disconnection (beating a dead horse)

[The Johnny]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-real-cause-of-addicti_b_6506936.html

It is now one hundred years since drugs were first banned -- and all through this long century of waging war on drugs, we have been told a story about addiction by our teachers and by our governments. This story is so deeply ingrained in our minds that we take it for granted. It seems obvious. It seems manifestly true. Until I set off three and a half years ago on a 30,000-mile journey for my new book, Chasing The Scream: The First And Last Days of the War on Drugs, to figure out what is really driving the drug war, I believed it too. But what I learned on the road is that almost everything we have been told about addiction is wrong -- and there is a very different story waiting for us, if only we are ready to hear it.

....

But in the 1970s, a professor of Psychology in Vancouver called Bruce Alexander noticed something odd about this experiment. The rat is put in the cage all alone. It has nothing to do but take the drugs. What would happen, he wondered, if we tried this differently? So Professor Alexander built Rat Park. It is a lush cage where the rats would have colored balls and the best rat-food and tunnels to scamper down and plenty of friends: everything a rat about town could want. What, Alexander wanted to know, will happen then?

Yes yes i know, drugs, and yes yes, double-crossed for making a point by citing a behaviourist, BUT, its such a short and well constructed argument as to how drugs in themselves are not the devil's seed, but rather the fertile soil which is alienation is what can make addiction flourish instead of it merely being a recreational activity.

I could possibly make it an interesting sob story as to why it caught my eye but i bore myself... some solid points as to why criminalization is a doomed and ignorant approach and that it serves nefarious purposes rather than "the children", etc.

[Doktor Howl]

This was a good find.

I almost wish dickhead was still here, so we could watch him spin like a ballerina.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

I don't like the conclusion that the author comes to. She effectively ignores everything that makes humans different from rats: our tremendous capacity for dickery and mental illness. There are some addicts who may get better with nothing but hugs and understanding, but chances are if your shit is fucked enough that you're well and truly addicted, you are also dealing with other problems that you can't "nice" away. Depression, anxiety, narcissism, there's no end to the bullshit our brains are capable of that make us isolated and vulnerable to addiction, and people who are still in the middle of that shit and refusing to work on it are perfectly capable of wrecking any rat park you throw them into. I'm all for leading with compassion and everything, but caretakers and loved ones shouldn't feel guilty for protecting themselves from addicts who are being assholes.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I don't like the conclusion that the author comes to. She effectively ignores everything that makes humans different from rats: our tremendous capacity for dickery and mental illness. There are some addicts who may get better with nothing but hugs and understanding, but chances are if your shit is fucked enough that you're well and truly addicted, you are also dealing with other problems that you can't "nice" away. Depression, anxiety, narcissism, there's no end to the bullshit our brains are capable of that make us isolated and vulnerable to addiction, and people who are still in the middle of that shit and refusing to work on it are perfectly capable of wrecking any rat park you throw them into. I'm all for leading with compassion and everything, but caretakers and loved ones shouldn't feel guilty for protecting themselves from addicts who are being assholes.

But she is not, ultimately, really talking about individual responses to drug addiction; rather, she is talking about cultural responses.

Our culture can be very isolating, as part of our strange punishment obsession, our ingrained Calvinist reaction to everyone who somehow fails to be recognized by the Powers That Be as "successful".

[Dildo Argentino]

After FB, MF and SC, here as well. It really is all very old. The rat park experiments in comic form are way more entertaining. This also seems relevant, in particular the 2008 book, whose title and subtitle are genius: "The Globalisation of Addiction - A Study in Poverty of the Spirit".

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

I don't like the conclusion that the author comes to. She effectively ignores everything that makes humans different from rats: our tremendous capacity for dickery and mental illness. There are some addicts who may get better with nothing but hugs and understanding, but chances are if your shit is fucked enough that you're well and truly addicted, you are also dealing with other problems that you can't "nice" away. Depression, anxiety, narcissism, there's no end to the bullshit our brains are capable of that make us isolated and vulnerable to addiction, and people who are still in the middle of that shit and refusing to work on it are perfectly capable of wrecking any rat park you throw them into. I'm all for leading with compassion and everything, but caretakers and loved ones shouldn't feel guilty for protecting themselves from addicts who are being assholes.

But she is not, ultimately, really talking about individual responses to drug addiction; rather, she is talking about cultural responses.

Our culture can be very isolating, as part of our strange punishment obsession, our ingrained Calvinist reaction to everyone who somehow fails to be recognized by the Powers That Be as "successful".

The very end, where she's talking about her boyfriend, is the bit that was rubbing me the wrong way.

[Cain]

FYI, Johann Hari is a man.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

FYI, Johann Hari is a man.

My mistake.

[Cain]

No worries.  It's just I'm aware of Hari's previous work, so seeing him referred to as "her" was a little bizarre.  Also, completely irrelevant to the article, Hari is quite the plaigarist.  Its worth looking into, as an example of how journalism in the UK works.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I don't like the conclusion that the author comes to. She effectively ignores everything that makes humans different from rats: our tremendous capacity for dickery and mental illness. There are some addicts who may get better with nothing but hugs and understanding, but chances are if your shit is fucked enough that you're well and truly addicted, you are also dealing with other problems that you can't "nice" away. Depression, anxiety, narcissism, there's no end to the bullshit our brains are capable of that make us isolated and vulnerable to addiction, and people who are still in the middle of that shit and refusing to work on it are perfectly capable of wrecking any rat park you throw them into. I'm all for leading with compassion and everything, but caretakers and loved ones shouldn't feel guilty for protecting themselves from addicts who are being assholes.

But she is not, ultimately, really talking about individual responses to drug addiction; rather, she is talking about cultural responses.

Our culture can be very isolating, as part of our strange punishment obsession, our ingrained Calvinist reaction to everyone who somehow fails to be recognized by the Powers That Be as "successful".

The very end, where she's talking about her boyfriend, is the bit that was rubbing me the wrong way.

That sounded a little codependent, honestly. But that's more of a personal commentary than a social one, and I'm not in a position to judge his personal relationship decisions.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

FYI, Johann Hari is a man.

Heh, I didn't pick up on that. Didn't even notice the name, actually.