Las Luchas del Corazón

There are many more addictions than simply those related to drugs. There’s workaholism; addiction to shopping; to the Internet; to video games. There’s the addiction to power. People that have power but they want more and more; nothing is ever enough for them. Acquisition - corporations that must own more and more. The addiction to oil or at least to the wealth and to the products made accessible to us by oil. Look at the negative consequences on the environment.

We are destroying the very Earth that we inhabit for the sake of that addiction. Now, these addictions are far more devastating in their social consequences than the cocaine or heroin habits of my downtown Eastside patients. Yet, they are rewarded! And considered to be respectable.

The tobacco company executive that shows a higher profit will get a much bigger reward. He doesn’t face any negative consequences legally or otherwise. In fact he is a respected member of the board of several other corporations. But, tobacco smoke related diseases kill 5 ½ million people around the world every year. In the United States they kill 400,000 people a year. And these people are addicted to what? To profit. To such a degree that they are addicted that they are actually in denial about the impact of their activities which is typical for addicts, is denial!

And that’s a respectable one. It’s respectable to be addicted to profit, no matter what the cost. So, what is acceptable and what is respectable is a highly arbitrary phenomenon in our society. And it seems like the greater the harm the more respectable the addiction.