Can’t Kick the Habit 0
Steven M. considers Sam Polk’s argument that wealth addiction is a thing (follow the link for a description of “wealth addiction”).
The problem is that, in this case, we’re letting the addicts decide how society deals with their addiction.
In a way, this is what we do with guns in America, at least at the national level and in the red states: we let the junkies control who can obtain the stuff, how freely it’s sold, and how few restraints we can put on its exchange, by means of their unchallenged access to elected officials.
I don’t disagree with Steven M.’s analysis of the problem. The inmates have bought the asylum.
I do, however, resent the use of the word “addiction” in this context.
I’ve been addicted–cigarettes, in my case–and I’ve known persons addicted to far worse things. Addiction is a physical thing–when you stop the substance, you experience real, measurable physical symptoms.
When “addiction” is applied to excessive acquisitiveness, computer gaming, or sexual behavior (“sex addiction”), it puts a gloss of involuntariness over what is, ultimately, persons behaving badly because they want to, not because their body punishes them when they try to stop.
There’s another, much more descriptive term for “wealth addicts”: Pigs.
