#35 The Financial Implications of Addictions
Shareholder capitalism thrives on your addictions and your fears. One of the most noticeable differences for me between England and Greece is related to the stresses created by the type of capitalism. In Kerkyra, society is laid back while, in England, fear is everywhere - terrorists with rucksacks, health worries, job loss, global warming, petrol shortages preventing car use, negative equity, pension security, hoodies, debt issues, the third world war, England not qualifying for Euro 2008. It suits the suits to maintain this level of fear for many reasons related to the maintenance of power and profit. For example, where would the insurance industry be without fear?
One of the prime impacts of actively destabilising a population is addiction. The type of addiction is not relevant - alcohol, MDMA, cannabis, tobacco, qat leaves or cocaine. They are all related to the same underlying triggers. The government evidently gains through excessive taxation on the legal substances and the illegal trade is hardly run by hippies anymore either.
Looking at the lifetime financial cost of these addictions as opposed to the psychological and health costs... The British government now reckons that fourteen pints of beer per week is fine and dandy. At £2.50 per pint, an individual drinking to government guidelines for 60 years hands over to bar staff £109,000 and a 20-a-day tobacco habit adds a further £109,000. £218,000 at 2007 prices is a lot of money to suppress reality - counselling is markedly cheaper, for example.
Of course, if you are like Groucho Marx and drink "to make other people interesting" then that's okay but, at least, it's worth remembering that the first hit is the best whatever your poison.
The society created by shareholder capitalism desires your addiction which has to be a solid reason to marginalise any addictive tendencies.
It's a libertarian strength thing...
