21st Century Addicts: Fat, Sick, And Broke
admin February 28th, 2006
Kicking my consumer habit turns out to be a whole lot harder than I thought. I have even worked in addiction treatment and prevention programs, and I’ve still got this monkey on my back. Maybe it hurts too much to go cold turkey. Maybe I was abused as a child. Maybe my mother dropped me on my head. Oh crap, I just don’t want to stop!
Fortunately (or unfortunately) I’ve got lots of company, because most Americans are addicted to the consumer lifestyle to some extent. But just like the heroin addict, we are addicted to a lifestyle that is killing us.
We’re getting so deep into our addiction that, like all addicts, we sometimes don’t see it, and we go into denial when someone points it out. As they say in addictions treatment programs, you never stop being an addict – for the rest of our lives we are merely recovering. That’s certainly true for me despite being deeply committed to living more simply, not polluting, and working for justice.
An addiction is a vicious circle in which we drink, smoke, or shoot-up to feel better. Then we need more and more to keep feeling good, then we feel better for shorter and shorter periods of time no matter how much we use, and we can’t do without it because it hurts too much. We look around and see that we have blown much of our lives and money supporting this vicious circle … and as much we ache to get out of it, we can’t – without some help.
Fat, salt, sugar, starch, the remote control, the car, automatic washers, microwaves, and the couch – a recipe for life-long addiction, chronic illness, and early death.
Hyperbole? Not a chance. Our culture has got us by the (pick a body-part) and it has no intention of letting go because business and industry has too much money invested in the machine. This is our U.S. Cali drug cartel.
In the addictions world, there are pushers who sell us the stuff for an exorbitant profit, enablers who, consciously or unconsciously, support our addiction: “Oh come on, it’s a party! Have a drink, it isn’t going to kill you!” “Oh, come on, it’s the holidays, a little cheese cake isn’t going to kill you!” “You know, you really deserve a new car, do something nice for yourself for a change.” “Take a break – have a grease burger!”
And then of course there is ‘us’, the users.
We are caught in an inexorable, vicious circle:
- We are over-eating and under-exercising – all in the name of modern comfort and ‘efficiency’.
- Our addictive need for larger houses, more cars and lots of other stuff, requires two-earner families working longer hours with less time to cook, eat well, or spend time with our families that need personal nurturing.
- We then buy exercise programs, diet plans, and health spas that we really can’t afford in order to counteract the effects of our poor lifestyles.
- Our poor health exponentially raises the cost of our health care and creates an under-class that can no longer afford health insurance or a doctor.
- And finally we go into deep credit card debt to pay for it because many of us really don’t have the money to live this way to begin with.
This vicious circle is, in turn, fueled by industries and businesses that have become addicted to our money – they can’t survive without our addiction!
The first step in AA’s 12 steps is where we need to begin:
“We admitted we were powerless over (name your substance) — that our lives had become unmanageable.”
In my case, and probably yours too, I have to be honest and admit that in spite of my beliefs and values, I REALLY LIKE THIS CONSUMER LIFE – AND I DON’T WANT TO STOP! The Burger King Whopper and fries is goooood. That Nikon D200, 10-megapixel digital camera at a mere $1,600 is calling my name, and I DO want flat panel plasma HDTV this year.
If, together, we admit that we are hooked, and if together we admit that we have to “turn our will and our lives over to the care of God…” (AA step 3), then maybe we have a real shot at living saner and simpler lives. Then maybe we can even reach out and help others as well.