Thanks Erica - I'm not brilliant, but I am an addict - addicted to salt, sugar, and to optimism.
I read your article from the bottom up, as I wasn't sure if it was worth the time - it is long.
It was worth it, and still disappointing, because for those of us who have at least a clue what's happening, and why, the fundamental systemic, structural problems in society are not being addressed successfully, or on a scale equal to the enormity of the problem.
When dangerous drugs are being manufactured just about everywhere near you in small illegal labs, at the same time professionally made drugs are being smuggled into the US by every means imaginable, by the pound, the ton, and the shipload, the responses required to stop it have to match the demand, and they never have. It seems to me that denial is the key to failure.
Two things our society makes by the boat load are denial, and stubbornness. Our people seem to prefer Hollywood fantasy land to real life where work is much harder, and problems are not solved in 30min to hr. episodes.
Our problem is thinking that doing the same things the same old ways, or even doing essentially the same old things in new ways, we make it better - it hasn't, and it won't. Proof? Look outside and see what's happening all around us. The fact that there are still tons of places where things look normal, and people are happy hides the truth, behind closed doors, and family shame.
Do we need and Odyssey House and an Uncle Ricky on every corner in every town and city? Most would probably say oh no, we don't want that here (NIMBY). Some would say the same thing about police. Yet maybe they are wrong. Think about our society as a living body, and all of us individuals are the cells of that body. The MD has told the body that it has an aggressive cancer, but the body is so big, and so strong, and so arrogant, that it refuses to take the MD's advice. Guess what happens over decades? Yes - the cancer spreads. Unlike us as individuals,
our society is far bigger, and has proven able to withstand great suffering and loss for many decades, but eventually, things reach a tipping point, and like a person alone in the ocean, they can't swim forever, but they can float, and they can tread water, but eventually they will become exhausted, and gently slip under to a quiet death. Of course most of us are far too busy to see any of this, and not interested in getting emotionally worked up over situations we feel completely powerless to fix. That's where leadership comes in. You and I, and everyone else who is caring enough to write on this subject are planting seeds, and ringing warning alarm bells. The BIG Q is are the elected officials, and over paid professionals listening?
Thanks Erica - I'm not brilliant, but I am an addict - addicted to salt, sugar, and to optimism.
I read your article from the bottom up, as I wasn't sure if it was worth the time - it is long.
It was worth it, and still disappointing, because for those of us who have at least a clue what's happening, and why, the fundamental systemic, structural problems in society are not being addressed successfully, or on a scale equal to the enormity of the problem.
When dangerous drugs are being manufactured just about everywhere near you in small illegal labs, at the same time professionally made drugs are being smuggled into the US by every means imaginable, by the pound, the ton, and the shipload, the responses required to stop it have to match the demand, and they never have. It seems to me that denial is the key to failure.
Two things our society makes by the boat load are denial, and stubbornness. Our people seem to prefer Hollywood fantasy land to real life where work is much harder, and problems are not solved in 30min to hr. episodes.
Our problem is thinking that doing the same things the same old ways, or even doing essentially the same old things in new ways, we make it better - it hasn't, and it won't. Proof? Look outside and see what's happening all around us. The fact that there are still tons of places where things look normal, and people are happy hides the truth, behind closed doors, and family shame.
Do we need and Odyssey House and an Uncle Ricky on every corner in every town and city? Most would probably say oh no, we don't want that here (NIMBY). Some would say the same thing about police. Yet maybe they are wrong. Think about our society as a living body, and all of us individuals are the cells of that body. The MD has told the body that it has an aggressive cancer, but the body is so big, and so strong, and so arrogant, that it refuses to take the MD's advice. Guess what happens over decades? Yes - the cancer spreads. Unlike us as individuals,
our society is far bigger, and has proven able to withstand great suffering and loss for many decades, but eventually, things reach a tipping point, and like a person alone in the ocean, they can't swim forever, but they can float, and they can tread water, but eventually they will become exhausted, and gently slip under to a quiet death. Of course most of us are far too busy to see any of this, and not interested in getting emotionally worked up over situations we feel completely powerless to fix. That's where leadership comes in. You and I, and everyone else who is caring enough to write on this subject are planting seeds, and ringing warning alarm bells. The BIG Q is are the elected officials, and over paid professionals listening?
Almost everyone uses drugs at some point in their lives, probably even you.
And smart people are far more likely to use illicit drugs.
https://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20111114/high-iq-in-childhood-may-predict-later-drug-use
And yes addiction is a tragedy and we should do what we can to help those addicted.
Those things can all be true at the same time.