Some people just don’t get it…

     Banning drugs does nothing to curb drug use.

     As well,

     Taxing people for more treatment centers does nothing to increase recovery rates.

     If addicts want to get high, they will get high.

     If addicts want to recover, they will recover.

     This is what clueless sounds like:

     “They should pay for this!” They should pay for that!”

     Who’s they, the government? Um, dumbasses, the government pays for shit with money they tax from the few people still working in the private sector. And when they just print money to pay for shit that they can’t pay for, (deficit spending), it comes from your children, as new currency is borrowed into existence. Most people don’t know this, but our monetary system is literally designed to bleed you slowly over time.

     Anyway, ban oxycontin and we will just start drinking. Ban drinking and we will just start cutting ourselves or something. We will get what we need no matter how much you try to control everything. And where does it end? Who are all of the whiners to endorse just taking people’s money? Who are they to draw the boundaries of our freedom?

     So you can’t just control and ban everything you think is bad, for that sort of power trip lays the foundation for tyranny. I realize the collectivists would love to just tell people what they have to do, what they have to think, where they have to work, what can and cannot be produced, and what can or cannot be on the market, but the truth that is inexplicably lost on them for some reason is that all socialist societies throughout history have collapsed after devolving into impoverishment, massive unemployment, massive dependency, a total loss of freedom, privacy and authoritarian rule. It is an abject failure.

     Obviously, nobody wants poison to be sold or for the earth to be polluted, but that’s not the point I’m making. Freedom and free markets is the only way to go, so long as you prosecute fraud, corruption and criminal activity, which we don’t currently do. In fact, the current mandate is to promote failure and reward fraud and corruption… and then run for office, of course. But we must distinguish between what is an actual threat and what is simply a political movement based on nonsense.

     At any rate, if you just ban and control and tax everybody until they are bleeding out, guess what happens next? Civil unrest. Chaos. Total breakdown. Great job.

     Try dealing with the real world as opposed to the theoretical world. 

     Sort of an interesting comment recently about recovering vs. recovered. The assertion was that whether we used the term ‘recovered’ or ‘recovering’ was merely semantics. Now, needless to say, if what you’re doing works, then great. However, my specific use of the two terms describe two totally separate conditions, and as such, is anything but a cursory study of semantics. This often happens where someone just looks at the title of a post and quickly replies before actually comprehending it.

     The majority of people who “join” AA, go to meetings, and relapse chronically are certainly not recovered, and therefore, we wouldn’t choose to use that term if we’re still owned by our alcoholism or addiction. To note, many people in AA are not alcoholics anyway, and in that case, neither term is relevant.

     When I say recovered, I am using the term to describe being free from the mental obsession. In other words, a recovered person no longer suffers from thoughts to drink or use. When I use the term recovering, I am sadly referring to the more common state of still suffering from the mental obsession and therefore subject to relapse at any moment. Thus, to be recovered is an entirely different condition than being recovering, if we use those terms to describe the above two conditions. A recovered man is sane; a recovering man is still very much insane.

     The comment also described being recovered as including freedom from both the mental obsession and the physical allergy. If you are recovered from the physical allergy to drugs and alcohol, that would imply you can drink or use normally, moderately and recreationally, like a normal person. So if you don’t have the allergy, then you’re not an alcoholic or a drug addict, and you never were.

     The point is that we never recover from the physical allergy once we have crossed over that line and broken our bodies. We will never be able to drink or use drugs normally. If we are alcoholic or drug addicted, then we die with the allergy. This is just an unfortunate fact for all of you who are bummed out that we can’t drink recreationally. Ironically, were an individual who misses drinking actually become recovered, they would have no interest or desire whatsoever to become a normal drinker again. Talk to a recovered person who has had a profound spiritual experience and you’ll know what I mean.

     So you can make a non-addict into an addict, but there is no turning an addict back into a non-addict (physically speaking). Hope that clears it up. It is very important to realize that if you’re still suffering from the mental obsession, you are not okay, and you will relapse at some point in the future, probably sooner than later.

     However, once you experience a psychic change and your obsession is lifted, then you will know what I mean when I say recovered, and why using that term has nothing to do with being recovering or being complacent about my illness. I am recovered simply because I no longer suffer from thoughts to drink or use, not because I am cocky about my addiction or my recovery. I might be a cocky shithead asshole anyway, but not about drug addiction or alcoholism. I assure you that I take addiction and recovery as serious as life and death.

     As the big book so eloquently states, “We are on a life and death errand.”

     That being the case, I would figure out how to become recovered if you’re still struggling and fighting to get through each day, or if crawling from meeting to meeting isn’t cutting it, or if you have mind-blowing depression and still want to drink or use at every turn. Trust me, being in recovery is no place to be, and it certainly is something to take far more seriously than dismissing it as semantics.

     To note, semantics refers to the branch of linguistics concerned with meaning, context, implication etc. So I don’t mean to be a dick, but when you say “Hey, recovered/recovering, it’s just semantics”, you really aren’t making the point you’re trying to make. You are saying that the meaning, context and implication of these two terms is exactly the same, when semantics quite literally deals with the difference in meaning between the two terms.

     So guess what… you’re right!  I am dealing with semantics, and I’ll just assume that we’re now all aware of why it is important to do so.

So if therapy is sitting on a couch and talking about yourself, you wanna do the opposite of that.

      Since December, I have been actively writing a new addiction book entitled, “Anybody Can Take Steps”, which breaks down the 12 Step process for anybody, addict or not. There is no reason why these universal tools and insights should be limited to the maladies of alcoholism and addiction.

     The book also tries to describe many of the challenges we face today regarding our feelings, thoughts, behaviors, habits, relationships and social dynamics. More importantly, I try to repeatedly connect all of that stuff to the importance of attending to our spiritual health, as many of our problems can be explained by some void or emptiness, by some disconnect or lack of purpose.

     At any rate, I’m almost done with the rough draft and then I will edit it and publish it.

     I’m also writing a book entitled, “Privileged Addict Quotes”, which will be a collection of the best quotes, ideas and concepts from the last several years of writing and blogging about addiction and recovery. Who has the time to read the entire blog or the books? Besides, some of it is repetitive and can be left where it is. So this book will simply give you everything you need in one fell swoop.

     Remember, of course, that written work is just that, words on a page, and can never be equated with action. Reading can be wonderful, refreshing and educational, but we must work hard if we are to effect real and lasting change in our lives.

     In the meantime, I will continue blogging as much as I can. Promise.

     At some point, however, I want to get back to some other more creative writing I do. Writing about addiction and recovery has been one of the great loves of my life, but it is very targeted and limited stylistically. I’ll probably always continue writing about addiction throughout my life, but I do have to make some time to work on other projects.

     God bless all of you.

     And thank you so much for continuing to read this nonsense 😉