Draft

Addictions are a product of social dislocation and family stress.

Drug addiction has become rampant in our society. This has forced authority to come up with a number of ways to deal with this problem. However, in trying to stamp out this problem, authorities should look into the root of the problem. What is the exact meaning of addiction? In the twentieth century, addiction has been used to mean the excessive use of drugs. However, history proves that the term addiction applies to habits that are not drug related. While seeking for the roots of addiction, it is important to note that addictions result from social dislocation and family stress.

Evidence shows that extreme addiction to the non-drug habits could be very much dangerous and resistant to treatment as well. Examples of these habits could include compulsion for land, consumer goods, money, work or power. In our modern world, addiction can be best described as an obsessive lifestyle that individuals adopt as a desperate alternative in the event that they are dislocated from the countless ties between people or groups, which are vital for every individual in every kind of society. These ties can be referred to as psychological integration.

Notably, dislocation is what causes addiction as it can be exemplified in Canadian and Scottish History. It shows how free market certainly produces rampant dislocation among the rich and the poor. The spread of addiction and dislocation is the same speed with the globalization of free market. in my view, for free markets to be exactly free, the exchange of consumer goods, labor, currency and land must never be burdened by elements of psychological integration such as village responsibilities, clan loyalties, charity, union rights, religious values, social roles or family obligations.

It is essential that cultural traditions be suppressed because they twist the free play of laws such as supply and demand. As an example in the free market economies, people are supposed to move to places where jobs can be found and adjust their working conditions and culture to the demands of the world market. Those who fail to achieve psychological integration always develop alternative lifestyles. These alternative lifestyles are made up of excessive habits including use of drugs, development of social relationships that are not stable or morally acceptable, so as to afford better psychological integration.

Notably, individuals who cannot find better means of achieving psychological integration hold on to their alternative lifestyles with a persistence that is called addiction. History will prove that addiction has changed from being a bother in the prehistoric world to a growing problem as most of the western societies move into the industrial revolution and economics defined as free markets. The current Western society is based on the principles of the free market, which then produce dislocation in a huge way. Keeping in mind that dislocation is the forerunner to addiction, addiction to a number of life quests is the pathological state to the general condition in the Western world.

Another important point to note about the Western free market society is that, it provides the venue for globalization; this translates to the fact that mass addiction is increasingly being globalized along with other entities such as the Internet, the English language, and Mickey Mouse. Any attempts geared towards the prevention of addiction that ignores the link between dislocation, free markets, and addiction is better than band-aids. If the society plans to address the issue of addiction, there is need for elementary economic and political changes.

Political change will be the start of a realistic discussion that recognizes the fact that addiction is largely produced in free market society. Moreso, the society and individual must start by changing themselves. The move should be directed towards good governance while it distances itself from policies that challenge our ability to look after one another and create communities that are healthy and sustainable. Thought hurting, it is imperative that people examine the side effects of the new economy and free markets. This should come at the time that every nation globally seems to focus on gaining entry to the free trade organization so as to taste the goodies as they enjoy the high tech euphoria.   

While it is an undeniable fact that any individual in the society can be addicted, free market societies usually dislocate their member. Societies have to put this point into consideration if they want to with addiction appropriately.

The Twenty First Century has witnessed jobs disappear at the shortest notice, communities increasingly getting unstable and weaker, people change occupations, families, lovers, languages, spiritual beliefs, therapists and ideologies as they tackle daily activities. The social life is no longer stable as it keeps on fluctuating. For poor and rich alike, dislocation has caused havoc thereby creating delicate ties between individuals and the society that makes up psychological integration. It is important to note that substitute lifestyles involve over-indulging habits aimed at filling the painful space created by dislocation.

As an example of how the society forces dislocation, Britain historically forced poor rural folks from their farms into urban areas and the poor structured manufacturing system. Those who tried to resist had their unions dismantled, and their children go through forced apprenticeship. This location became widespread during the late sixteenth century. The relationship between dislocation and addiction is quite strong in most societies. Although people consumed alcohol even during festive seasons, massive alcoholism as never experienced. This problem began spreading when free markets were introduced after 1500. It then became a huge problem when the free market society dominated after 1800.

This relationship between dislocation, free market society and addiction is brought out clearly when studying the history of Native Canadians. Although the Aborigines had murder, insanity, and adultery within their community, it was not widespread as compared to free market's introduction. Communities such as Native Americans had alcohol for a long time; however, they used it moderately prior to the destruction of their culture.   

Alcohol has become an addiction among the Aborigines due to their racial inability to deal with the issue. It is important to note that this was not the case before they went through extreme dislocation by assimilation.

A new trend that is being witnessed nowadays in our society deals with fashion. Fashion magazines are showing skinny models displaying their size as the perfect one.  More and more teens have taken up this and are engaging in a number of despicable means to stay slim. A number of girls throw up after eating food so as to avoid gaining weight.  Notably, they start this habit slowly before it becomes an addiction, and they end up throwing up each day. This habit has become rampant in the current society to the point it is seen to be normal by teens. It seems that there is no place for fat people as they are usually looked down upon. Family and friends alike hate fat kids and do not want anything that is associated with them. With this rejection, teens end up throwing up so as to lose weight. They do not realize that it is not healthy. They do not see the dangers involved because they want to please their family and friends by losing weight.

The trend gets worse if the family turns into critics of these teenagers and constantly point at what is wrong with them. However, it is important to note that these notions and ideas of a slim body as the perfect shape have only come during the twenty first century. This new idea has made teenagers with weight hate themselves. In the end they are forced into a number of dangerous activities that finally becomes an addiction to them.  With constant criticism from other family members teenagers end up hurting their bodies. Hence therefore, for the society to wipe out this type of addiction there is an urgent need of dealing with the stereotyped mind.

Final essay

With the current trend of globalization rising fast, it is evident that addiction has become rampant in most of our societies. While the effects are wide, authorities are trying a number of remedies to deal with drug addiction. However, for them to curb non drug addiction, they have to look into the root of this problem. The term addiction has been used differently over the years. In the twentieth century, it is used to mean the excessive use of drugs. However, history has it that addiction also refers to a number of habits that are not related to drugs in any way. While asking ourselves questions on the root cause of addiction, it is essential to note that it results from social dislocation and family stress.

Evidence shows that extreme addiction to the non-drug related habits are very dangerous and resistant to treatment. Such habits include consumption of land, consumer goods, money, work and power. In the modern world, addiction is best described as an obsessive lifestyle that people adopt as a desperate measure when they face dislocation from the numerous ties between individuals and groups. Notably, these ties, also known as psychological integration, are vital for every person in every type of society.

As exemplified in Canadian and Scottish History, free market certainly creates rampant dislocation among the rich and poor alike. The spread of addiction and dislocation is at the same speed with free market globalization. Notably, for free markets to be exactly free, the exchange of consumer goods, labor, currency, and land must never be burdened by elements of psychological integration such as village responsibilities, clan loyalties, charity, union rights, religious values, social roles or family obligations. It is important that cultural traditions be suppressed because they twist the free play of laws such as supply and demand. In the free market economies, people are supposed to move to places where jobs can be found and adjust their work and culture to the demands of the world market. Those who fail to achieve this psychological integration end up developing alternative lifestyles. Notably, these lifestyle are usually made up of excessive habits that include use of drugs, development of social relationships that are not stable or morally acceptable, so as to afford better psychological integration.

Notably, individuals who cannot find better means of achieving psychological integration hold on to their alternative lifestyles with a persistence that is known as addiction. History proves that addiction has changed from being a mere bother in the prehistoric world to a growing and persistent problem in most Western societies as they moved into the industrial revolution and economics defined as free markets (Hobsbawm 112). The present Western world bases itself on free market principles, which produce dislocation in a huge way. Keeping in mind the fact that dislocation is the forerunner to addiction, addiction of life quests seems to be pathological state to the general condition in the Western world.

Another important point to note about the Western free market society is that, it provides the venue needed for globalization to occur. This means that mass addiction is currently being globalized along with the Internet, the English language, and Mickey Mouse. Any attempts aimed at preventing addiction that ignores the link between dislocation, free markets, and addiction is fruitless. If the society and world at large plans on addressing the issue of addiction, there is need fro elementary economic, as well as political changes.

Political change will be the beginning of a realistic discussion that recognizes the fact that addiction is largely produced in the free market society. It is important that people examine the side effects of the new type of economy and free market principles. This should come at the time that every nation worldwide strives to gain entry into the free trade organization so as to taste the goodies as they enjoy the high tech euphoria.

The Twenty First Century has witnessed a lot of jobs disappear at the shortest notice, communities increasingly getting unstable and weaker, people changing occupations, families, lovers, languages, spiritual beliefs, therapists and ideologies as they tackle their daily activities. The social life has become unstable as it keeps on fluctuating as prices do. For the poor and rich alike, dislocation has caused havoc and thereby creating delicate ties between individuals and the society that makes up psychological integration. It is important to note that substitute lifestyles involve over-indulging habits aimed at filling up the painful space created by dislocation.

As an example of how the society forces dislocation, Britain historically force a number of poor rural farmers to move out of their small farms into the urban slums and work in poorly managed manufacturing farms (Hill 35). Those who tried to resist this move had their unions dismantles as their children were being forced to apprenticeship.  This dislocation became very widespread towards the end of the sixteenth century and the early seventeenth century. Notably, the relationship between dislocation and addiction is quite strong in most recent societies. Although people used to consume alcohol long ago even during festive seasons, massive alcoholism was unheard of. The problem began spreading when free markets were introduced after 1500. It then became a huge problem when the free market society dominated after the 1800.

Moreover, the relationship between dislocation, free market society and addiction is brought out clearly when studying the history of Native Canadians. Although the Aborigine community had murder, insanity, and adultery within their community, it was not widespread as compared to the introduction of free market (Hughes 34). Alcohol has become an addiction among the Aborigines due to their racial inability to deal with the issue. It is important to note that this was not the case before they went through extreme dislocation by assimilation.

On the other hand, a new trend has come up that deals mostly with the fashion industry. The covers of numerous fashion magazines display skinny models who look like they are about to starve. More and more teens have taken up this as the way to go, hence they engage in numerous despicable ways of staying slim. It is evident that most girls in the current society throw up a lot and hate food so as to avoid gaining wait. Notably, they begin this habit slowly not knowing that it would soon affect their lives. They soon become addicted to eat and actually throw up a couple of times a day. This habit has become rampant in our current society to the point that it is being seen as normal by the family. it seems that there is no space foe those who are overweight in the free market society. Family and friends alike ridicule those who are fat and want to associate with them less. Facing this rejection, teens prefer to throw up so as to please their family. However, they end up being harmed by addiction to the exercise as the get blinded into an illusion.

In conclusion, the trend always gets worse if these family members turn into critics and constantly pinpoint what is wrong with youngsters. However, this does not help in any way as it only worsens they already worse situation. Notably, these problems of addiction have only started recently as the world becomes globalized. Native cultures are fading away slowly as most individual embrace the industrial revolution and the lifestyle that comes along. Therefore, the society needs to do a lot if addiction is to be wiped out in any way. For both drug and non-drug addiction, it is important to note that, addictions are a product of social dislocation and family stress (Trebach 56).