7 ms·

How fucking evil and cold hearted do you have to be to take advantage of addicts. I'm losing faith in humanity.

by sgwealti 9y ago

ams6110 9y ago
Humanity is the same as it's always been. There have always been those who will take advantage of whomever they can.
- westmeal 9y ago
  I think the shittier parts of humanity rear their ugly heads more simply because of population growth.
- thinkfurther 9y ago
  I doubt that. Early humans had to cooperate and share. They couldn't afford this parasitism. We still can't afford it, but for most individuals it's easier to just let it go rather than to follow them to their nest and smoke them out.
  - WalterSear 9y ago
    Most early humans cooperated and shared because they spent their entire lives surrounded by the same a few hundred people. It's the same today. We still cooperate and share with about a few hundred closest people, and for everyone else, we have capitalism. Whenever the two meet, we shock-horror a bit about the callousness of others, and then we go back to treating everyone outside our Dunbar number as an object to extract resources from. I don't want to suggest that it's biologically inevitable, but that we aren't going to overcome it until we start recognizing the blind spots in our cognition and empathy.
    - thinkfurther 9y ago
      > Most early humans cooperated and shared because they spent their entire lives surrounded by the same a few hundred people. That and, as far as I understand, when they went hunting, only a few get lucky, and those couldn't eat all the meat themselves before it spoiled.
webnrrd2k 9y ago
Like live in a town with a very high number of rehabs, one of the highest in the US. A lot of these rehabs are run by addicts and alcoholics. Sometimes they have very little time sober, but can buy a house to set up as a rehab/sober living. There isn't a whole lot of education required to start one, either. There is no requirement for the treatment plan to be science-based or evidence-based, either. Most are quasi-religious, in the AA "higher power" sense, and a bunch are flat-out Christian rehabs. Honestly, addiction is a difficult problem. A lot if the time it's good for people with similar problems to get together and work towards a solution. It's not always easy to tell who's a good actor. For example, some rehabs take mostly indigent low-bottom drinks from off the street. I'd imagine that they have a much higher rate of relapse just from the population. Ultimately I think it's tied in to a lot of similar social problems, like poverty, mental health, homelessness and prison issues. In general, the US just doesn't value improving those things very much. Which is sad.
- Theodores 9y ago
  I have been impressed by former addicts that have then gone on to help others, in fact I think that this is the best salvation for a lot of people caught in the addiction 'disease'. I have a former colleague trying to kill herself on crack and I hope our discussion one day gets round to her being clean and wanting to stay clean by helping people with their own rehabilitation. I can't think of any other gainful employment that she has the self-confidence or interest to do. In the UK we have the NHS and the only way to get into rehab on the NHS is if you are a single mum or are homeless. Otherwise you pay for some private facility. We also don't have the prescription opiates that American's take for breakfast, elevenses, lunch, tea and dinner so the problem is not a full on crisis here. From the anecdata I have I believe that coming from a broken home, not knowing whom your father was and childhood trauma is a large part of it. Drugs are 'always there for you' and work predictably, therefore a relationship with a drug is kind of preferable to maintaining real relationships, with a partner, with friends, colleagues or family. I believe that addicts that go through rehab to then work with the addicted, vulnerable members of society stand a much better chance of living a worthwhile life, even if their 'family' becomes the intake of addicts at the place where they work that 'family' is pretty good compared to the empty and pointless life that is addiction.
doubleshame 9y ago
What about the MANUFACTURERS of cigarettes? And while we're at it, what about junk food? Take cigarettes. Even if you argue that people ought to be able to make and buy and smoke cigarettes, which I can agree with, I believe certain kinds of promoting cigarettes would be taking advantage of addicts? I have read that cigarette companies also add many additional compounds into cigarettes that make them more addictive.

How fucking evil and cold hearted do you have to be to take advantage of addicts. I'm losing faith in humanity.

ams6110 9y ago

Humanity is the same as it's always been. There have always been those who will take advantage of whomever they can.

westmeal 9y ago
I think the shittier parts of humanity rear their ugly heads more simply because of population growth.
thinkfurther 9y ago
I doubt that. Early humans had to cooperate and share. They couldn't afford this parasitism. We still can't afford it, but for most individuals it's easier to just let it go rather than to follow them to their nest and smoke them out.
- WalterSear 9y ago
  Most early humans cooperated and shared because they spent their entire lives surrounded by the same a few hundred people. It's the same today. We still cooperate and share with about a few hundred closest people, and for everyone else, we have capitalism. Whenever the two meet, we shock-horror a bit about the callousness of others, and then we go back to treating everyone outside our Dunbar number as an object to extract resources from. I don't want to suggest that it's biologically inevitable, but that we aren't going to overcome it until we start recognizing the blind spots in our cognition and empathy.
  - thinkfurther 9y ago
    > Most early humans cooperated and shared because they spent their entire lives surrounded by the same a few hundred people. That and, as far as I understand, when they went hunting, only a few get lucky, and those couldn't eat all the meat themselves before it spoiled.

webnrrd2k 9y ago

Like live in a town with a very high number of rehabs, one of the highest in the US. A lot of these rehabs are run by addicts and alcoholics. Sometimes they have very little time sober, but can buy a house to set up as a rehab/sober living. There isn't a whole lot of education required to start one, either. There is no requirement for the treatment plan to be science-based or evidence-based, either. Most are quasi-religious, in the AA "higher power" sense, and a bunch are flat-out Christian rehabs. Honestly, addiction is a difficult problem. A lot if the time it's good for people with similar problems to get together and work towards a solution. It's not always easy to tell who's a good actor. For example, some rehabs take mostly indigent low-bottom drinks from off the street. I'd imagine that they have a much higher rate of relapse just from the population. Ultimately I think it's tied in to a lot of similar social problems, like poverty, mental health, homelessness and prison issues. In general, the US just doesn't value improving those things very much. Which is sad.

Theodores 9y ago
I have been impressed by former addicts that have then gone on to help others, in fact I think that this is the best salvation for a lot of people caught in the addiction 'disease'. I have a former colleague trying to kill herself on crack and I hope our discussion one day gets round to her being clean and wanting to stay clean by helping people with their own rehabilitation. I can't think of any other gainful employment that she has the self-confidence or interest to do. In the UK we have the NHS and the only way to get into rehab on the NHS is if you are a single mum or are homeless. Otherwise you pay for some private facility. We also don't have the prescription opiates that American's take for breakfast, elevenses, lunch, tea and dinner so the problem is not a full on crisis here. From the anecdata I have I believe that coming from a broken home, not knowing whom your father was and childhood trauma is a large part of it. Drugs are 'always there for you' and work predictably, therefore a relationship with a drug is kind of preferable to maintaining real relationships, with a partner, with friends, colleagues or family. I believe that addicts that go through rehab to then work with the addicted, vulnerable members of society stand a much better chance of living a worthwhile life, even if their 'family' becomes the intake of addicts at the place where they work that 'family' is pretty good compared to the empty and pointless life that is addiction.

doubleshame 9y ago

What about the MANUFACTURERS of cigarettes? And while we're at it, what about junk food? Take cigarettes. Even if you argue that people ought to be able to make and buy and smoke cigarettes, which I can agree with, I believe certain kinds of promoting cigarettes would be taking advantage of addicts? I have read that cigarette companies also add many additional compounds into cigarettes that make them more addictive.