3 ms·

At least we are moving past the scape goats and taking a thoughtful, considerate look at what is actually happening. I regularly have long conversations about

by gt_ 9y ago

At least we are moving past the scape goats and taking a thoughtful, considerate look at what is actually happening. I regularly have long conversations about this with my mother, a nurse in Louisville, KY and steadfast American patriot. She is at a loss of any explanation these days. I am torn when we talk about it because I know her pride in our country is a big part of her, but it doesn’t rest with what she is seeing. Watching her spirit shift into curiosity then skepticism has been difficult to witness. She wants to blame someone but she no longer believes that someone is out there.

jacobush 9y ago
This sounds like a good development?
- dmreedy 9y ago
  The loss of a source of meaning in life is a dangerous thing, especially if it isn't replaced by something else. That way lies nihilism, and, if the thesis of the article is to be believed, opiod addiction.
  - the-dude 9y ago
    > That way lies nihilism Sounds exhausting.
    - onychomys 9y ago
      How long have you waited with that username to make that reference? <3
      - the-dude 9y ago
        1598 days.
  - m_fayer 9y ago
    Nihilism is a high-brow thing for high-brow people. You're right that it is a dangerous thing, but I think before nihilism, for most it leads to depression, anxiety, anomie, and then all sorts of destructive self-medication.
- gt_ 9y ago
  Well, it depends on what you believe is the culprit, but the easy scape goats are long debunked at this point. We will some day realize that the psychological situation of income inequality (or other socioeconomic equivalences) is the root of drug epidemics. The sooner that happens, the better, because neither incarceration or isolated treatment can address this. Everyone grows up with different experiences and I think being raised different would have delayed where I’m at with this but I have worried for a long time that particular increases of drug use cannot happen purely due to availability of the substance. It doesn’t make sense in the narratives I’ve witnessed, mainly referring to what motivates mass drug use, accounting for lushes and party behavior as constants. I have never been a drug user but have observed my friends use and have lost a few of them when I was younger. It simply doesn’t happen in healthy social environments. I am a motivated and passionate person. My life always has goals and ideas floating around. When I was younger, sometimes my friends didn’t keep up, or something like that. Every time I have lost a friend to drugs(death or otherwise), it was preceded by me acknowledging they no longer felt the hope and excitement for the future we had once shared. In retrospect, it usually correlated with something in their life they were ashamed of, a harsh reality or realization that they didn’t have certain opportunities. It could be small but still have big repercussions. I have felt shame for thinking I may have overwhelmed them with my dreaming, higher-than-average curiosity or motivation for constructive activities. Although I am that weirdo, it doesn’t usually send people to drug use. What does is usually private and disguised in shame. The monster here is loss of hope. I have learned this argument usually comes across as either fleeting or ideological. It’s very hard to put into words to someone with another comprehension of the problem, and witnessing one or two people face substance abuse doesn’t bring it home either. I developed this view from watching how crowds of people use drugs. When you isolate the party people and the lushes, you are left with people who simply feel like they don’t count.
  - gnode 9y ago
    You argue that the drug epidemic is the result of income inequality, but then go on to say it's loss of hope that's the problem. Are you arguing that income inequality is the cause of this loss of hope, thus drug addiction?

by gt_ 9y ago

jacobush 9y ago

This sounds like a good development?

dmreedy 9y ago
The loss of a source of meaning in life is a dangerous thing, especially if it isn't replaced by something else. That way lies nihilism, and, if the thesis of the article is to be believed, opiod addiction.
- the-dude 9y ago
  > That way lies nihilism Sounds exhausting.
  - onychomys 9y ago
    How long have you waited with that username to make that reference? <3
    - the-dude 9y ago
      1598 days.
- m_fayer 9y ago
  Nihilism is a high-brow thing for high-brow people. You're right that it is a dangerous thing, but I think before nihilism, for most it leads to depression, anxiety, anomie, and then all sorts of destructive self-medication.
gt_ 9y ago
Well, it depends on what you believe is the culprit, but the easy scape goats are long debunked at this point. We will some day realize that the psychological situation of income inequality (or other socioeconomic equivalences) is the root of drug epidemics. The sooner that happens, the better, because neither incarceration or isolated treatment can address this. Everyone grows up with different experiences and I think being raised different would have delayed where I’m at with this but I have worried for a long time that particular increases of drug use cannot happen purely due to availability of the substance. It doesn’t make sense in the narratives I’ve witnessed, mainly referring to what motivates mass drug use, accounting for lushes and party behavior as constants. I have never been a drug user but have observed my friends use and have lost a few of them when I was younger. It simply doesn’t happen in healthy social environments. I am a motivated and passionate person. My life always has goals and ideas floating around. When I was younger, sometimes my friends didn’t keep up, or something like that. Every time I have lost a friend to drugs(death or otherwise), it was preceded by me acknowledging they no longer felt the hope and excitement for the future we had once shared. In retrospect, it usually correlated with something in their life they were ashamed of, a harsh reality or realization that they didn’t have certain opportunities. It could be small but still have big repercussions. I have felt shame for thinking I may have overwhelmed them with my dreaming, higher-than-average curiosity or motivation for constructive activities. Although I am that weirdo, it doesn’t usually send people to drug use. What does is usually private and disguised in shame. The monster here is loss of hope. I have learned this argument usually comes across as either fleeting or ideological. It’s very hard to put into words to someone with another comprehension of the problem, and witnessing one or two people face substance abuse doesn’t bring it home either. I developed this view from watching how crowds of people use drugs. When you isolate the party people and the lushes, you are left with people who simply feel like they don’t count.
- gnode 9y ago
  You argue that the drug epidemic is the result of income inequality, but then go on to say it's loss of hope that's the problem. Are you arguing that income inequality is the cause of this loss of hope, thus drug addiction?