Having been a licensed addiction counselor for several years, people often ask me "what is the worst addiction that anyone can have?" For many years, I answered that alcohol was the most destructive substance or behavior that I had worked to eliminate in people's lives. Despite such truly deadly substances like alcohol and opioids (prescriptions or street), and such horrible behavioral addictions such as gambling, I have decided that the worst addictive behavior around is the hoarding of money.
Before you roll your eyes and laugh until your side hurts, consider this....what other species accumulates valued "stuff" to the degree that the chasing of such "stuff" in a hoarding manner results in the progressive poisoning and contamination of the very environment they depend upon for life? The exchange of goods and services that results in 6% to 10% of the world's humans possessing between 50% to 60% of the money that exists worldwide, brings starvation, epidemics, and life expectancy being shortened by 15 to 20 years, or performing what is slave labor which seems incredibly self-destructive and absurd.
Meanwhile, another 35% of the world's population controls the other 50% of the money. Furthermore, the people who are wealthy are addicted to the compulsive accumulation of money, and resent the desire of the poor and middle classes to feed, educate, and to keep their familes healthy.
We revere certain people through the centuries who teach the lessons of detachment from the material world. This does not mean living off the backs of working people. What it does mean, to quote Jesus of Nazareth or the Buddha, is to forego the accumulation of excess money or expensive luxuries that are not essential to one's day by day living. After all, how many laborers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Why are wars fought? In my mind, primarily to snatch/control a commodity (e.g.Iraqi Oil) or luxury that makes life easier or less painful than before such a war is fought. I don't think that we should wear yellow robes and hit the road with a begging bowl. I find that those who are wealthiest are the very people who cannot be satisfied unless "yours, mine, and ours" until it becomes solely "mine." Sometimes these sorts of people develop the idea that they "will be happy when ______."
Happiness and sadness are human emotions that drive our compulsion to acquire that one thing we have to possess or to attract that one person that will make us happy forever, only to divorce them when they are no longer young and pretty/handsome. Those types of people who marry hedonists do so because the hedonist has usually fooled the prospective husband or wife into believing they really matter. My experience in working therapeutically with addictive behavior is that there is usually some sort of event or events in the addictive person's life that causes a sense of loss or unfairness that cannot be resolved. Thus, they adopt an irrational sense of importance and think that if they can acquire______they will finally be happy. The reality is that such people can never be content because the hunt for whatever they think they compulsively need is never satisfied.
The person with the addiction therefore has what I would term an unconscious insatiable compulsion that hides the true reason that the addicted person cannot feel. Occasionally, a compulsive behavior replaces potentially self-enhancing behavior with addictive self-harming behavior due to a sense of unfairness or unsatisfied need in their life, often unresolved pain/abuse...or a feeling that they have never really been truly loved. The resentful behavior "numbs out" the terrible pain, and the addicted person regurgitates/repeats the addictive ineffective behavior until the chemical or behavioral dependence is mistakenly identified as the primary problem being presented. Among other driven addictive peers, the financier who piles up such a fortune that it cannot be spent to meet the money driven addict's compulsion to accumulate money--will be judged as successful. No one in the money addicted person's circle will see the money addict for what he or she really is--addicted!
A sense of entitlement manifested by the addicted person, family, or even a nation envelopes the addictive behavior and family members, peers, and allies erroneously believe that the money addicted person, peer, or nation is "unique, destined for greatness, or entitled to whatever substance, commodity of value, or emotion for which they manifest desire." The addicted person, family, or nation will compulsively seek money or act out repeatedly ad nauseam, until the money addict destroys himself or herself and any unfortunate person, family, or aligned nation is destroyed along with the addicted person or group.
One last thought about public life and service.....to the extent that a nation helps its poor, aged, infirm, or disabled populations, or other nations that are suffering......that nation manifests the genuine compassion that is spoken of in great world religions or codes of ethics. Individuals in public service, as a corollary, show their true selves by what they can realistically assist in caring for the impoverished, aged, infirm, or disabled. Unless I am ill informed, no person ever became a saint or exceptional person by being addicted to money.
Copyright 2017 by Peter Reum - All rights reserved
Before you roll your eyes and laugh until your side hurts, consider this....what other species accumulates valued "stuff" to the degree that the chasing of such "stuff" in a hoarding manner results in the progressive poisoning and contamination of the very environment they depend upon for life? The exchange of goods and services that results in 6% to 10% of the world's humans possessing between 50% to 60% of the money that exists worldwide, brings starvation, epidemics, and life expectancy being shortened by 15 to 20 years, or performing what is slave labor which seems incredibly self-destructive and absurd.
Meanwhile, another 35% of the world's population controls the other 50% of the money. Furthermore, the people who are wealthy are addicted to the compulsive accumulation of money, and resent the desire of the poor and middle classes to feed, educate, and to keep their familes healthy.
We revere certain people through the centuries who teach the lessons of detachment from the material world. This does not mean living off the backs of working people. What it does mean, to quote Jesus of Nazareth or the Buddha, is to forego the accumulation of excess money or expensive luxuries that are not essential to one's day by day living. After all, how many laborers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Why are wars fought? In my mind, primarily to snatch/control a commodity (e.g.Iraqi Oil) or luxury that makes life easier or less painful than before such a war is fought. I don't think that we should wear yellow robes and hit the road with a begging bowl. I find that those who are wealthiest are the very people who cannot be satisfied unless "yours, mine, and ours" until it becomes solely "mine." Sometimes these sorts of people develop the idea that they "will be happy when ______."
Happiness and sadness are human emotions that drive our compulsion to acquire that one thing we have to possess or to attract that one person that will make us happy forever, only to divorce them when they are no longer young and pretty/handsome. Those types of people who marry hedonists do so because the hedonist has usually fooled the prospective husband or wife into believing they really matter. My experience in working therapeutically with addictive behavior is that there is usually some sort of event or events in the addictive person's life that causes a sense of loss or unfairness that cannot be resolved. Thus, they adopt an irrational sense of importance and think that if they can acquire______they will finally be happy. The reality is that such people can never be content because the hunt for whatever they think they compulsively need is never satisfied.
The person with the addiction therefore has what I would term an unconscious insatiable compulsion that hides the true reason that the addicted person cannot feel. Occasionally, a compulsive behavior replaces potentially self-enhancing behavior with addictive self-harming behavior due to a sense of unfairness or unsatisfied need in their life, often unresolved pain/abuse...or a feeling that they have never really been truly loved. The resentful behavior "numbs out" the terrible pain, and the addicted person regurgitates/repeats the addictive ineffective behavior until the chemical or behavioral dependence is mistakenly identified as the primary problem being presented. Among other driven addictive peers, the financier who piles up such a fortune that it cannot be spent to meet the money driven addict's compulsion to accumulate money--will be judged as successful. No one in the money addicted person's circle will see the money addict for what he or she really is--addicted!
A sense of entitlement manifested by the addicted person, family, or even a nation envelopes the addictive behavior and family members, peers, and allies erroneously believe that the money addicted person, peer, or nation is "unique, destined for greatness, or entitled to whatever substance, commodity of value, or emotion for which they manifest desire." The addicted person, family, or nation will compulsively seek money or act out repeatedly ad nauseam, until the money addict destroys himself or herself and any unfortunate person, family, or aligned nation is destroyed along with the addicted person or group.
One last thought about public life and service.....to the extent that a nation helps its poor, aged, infirm, or disabled populations, or other nations that are suffering......that nation manifests the genuine compassion that is spoken of in great world religions or codes of ethics. Individuals in public service, as a corollary, show their true selves by what they can realistically assist in caring for the impoverished, aged, infirm, or disabled. Unless I am ill informed, no person ever became a saint or exceptional person by being addicted to money.
Copyright 2017 by Peter Reum - All rights reserved
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