Quote:
Originally Posted by Russic
This thread is an interesting example of (what I see as) the main problem. In order to solve this issue, people with severe problems need to be seen as legitimate people first. We don't do that though. This thread has floated the ideas like shipping them out and letting them Mad Max it alongside the citizens of Airdrie, or indefinitely incarcerating them. Hell, the word "people" was put in quotation marks.
|
Have to put yourself in their shoes. I'm fortunate to have never been sucked into such activities, nor been prone to addiction. But if I happened to be and it spiralled out of control, I would hope that the people in my life wouldn't cease to think of me as a person, friend, family member with a past and with hopes and dreams.
People who are addicted are stuck in a haze and need help & support. Like you say, their reward system has been hijacked and the quickest route to relief is through the substance. Not through constructive or (largely) innocent means like the rest of us. But they're still as human as you or I beneath that shroud.
We need to stop abandoning people or writing them off because they fell into a dark/difficult place, and essentially petitioning for them to get out of our way just so it doesn't inconvenience us or infringe on our lifestyle (with the exception of real dangerous situations), like they're clutter that we don't want to look at. It's a perspective that's devoid of humanity and we really need to reflect on that. That me & mine attitude is full of neuroticism and defensiveness and it's about building barriers instead of connecting, and it's low-vibe. People who live this way need to get outside of themselves and see the bigger picture and realize it's not all about them.
Everybody here is here for a reason. That includes the people who fall on hard times. We all do. Treat people how you'd wish to be treated if you fell into the same troubles.
We're nothing if we leave behind our humanity. We defeat the point of contributing to society with our talent, work and entrepreneurship, if we no longer even recognize nor try to protect our own kind.
Helping one another is ultimately the point. It isn't putting cars in your driveway and buying a plot of land. That's a checkpoint on the way to realizing the greater point, which is contributing to something greater than yourself.
Too bad many people will treat others coldly and refuse to give people in need the time of day until they get all their stuff, realize it isn't all that, and figure out that the point was just being a better, kinder, and more giving person all along.