The word addiction is hard to define. It is often used in casual situations, “I’m so addicted to chocolate,” or “I’m so hooked on that soap opera.”
As stated in the book I’m currently reading;

“the DSM_IV defines substance dependence as a pattern of continued use of any substance despite the fact that it has become harmful to the person using it. This means that even though a “drug” causes problems in a person’s health, daily function, or other important aspects of life, the addict is unable to stop using it.”

As in, there is no more control.

So, when a person loses sight of consequences due to risky behaviors there is an indication of addiction. The need for something overcomes rationality.

Does consumerism fall into this category? Aside from the economic travesties on U.S. shoulders, due in part to living outside of one’s means–what about this past Black Friday?

What about the 34 year old employee who lost his life this Friday during a stampede of people so obsessively driven to get material goods that they reverted into primitive animals? Or the pregnant woman who miscarried her baby due to the same stampede?

Doesn’t shopping also trigger the primitive brain-reward circuitry? Of course, consumerism is good for the country, at least it was until the credit bubble popped.

Compulsive shopping can create massive financial, marital, legal and family problems. These consequences are identical in nature to the consequences created from drug addiction or alcoholism.

However, the end product is beneficial not just for country, but also for the wealthy billionaires who influence (I daresay control) our political and economic systems. I don’t see much consumerism or financial education at the college preparatory or collegiate level. In fact, a majority of Americans, when polled, could make no sense of the mortgage loans they signed.

In short, we have a culture that glorifies consumerism; the latest popular acquisitions elevate ones status. Isn’t it too an addiction?

On compulsive shopping:

Behaviors that may indicate a compulsive shopping problem:

* Shopping or spending money as a result of feeling angry, depressed , anxious, or lonely
* Having arguments with others about your shopping habits
* Feeling lost without credit cards - actually going into withdrawal without them
* Buying items on credit, rather than with cash
* Describing a rush or a feeling of euphoria with spending
* Feeling guilty, ashamed, or embarrassed after a spending spree
* Lying about how much money was spent or owning up to buying something, but lying about how much it actually cost
* Thinking obsessively about money
* Spending a lot of time juggling accounts or bills to accommodate spending

While reading about the man who unfortunately passed away this Thanksgiving weekend, I stumbled upon other related material. Sadly, addicts fall under criticism for their pursuit of a buzz, from a drug that often holds them in a grip. But it seems as though a majority of people in our world seek entertainment, release, a quick thrill–at the expense of another, or without consideration of the ultimate cost.

Like this fellow who was arrested for peeing on a woman in her final moments; unconscious on the ground and dying from pancreatic failure. Anderson and onlookers laughed as they filmed the lewd actions, saying, “this will make a good youtube video.”

In short, drugs and drug users are easy to pinpoint and persecute.  But aside from those witchtrials–what about the rest of the people in our so called developed societies–who are in constant pursuit of an escape or temporary consumer fix? Is not the need for power and status as dangerous, if not more so, as use of a substance? The widespread quantification of oppressive, cruel, unkind, megalomaniac, and excessive consumeristic actions worldwide would be greater than that of substance abusers.

I’m all in. I’m all in to make myself better, and the world within my reach. I’m all in to free myself from instant gratification and help those in need when I can.

I found a beautiful passage to share with you in closing, written about the above action by Anderson.

I make a difference in this world, for good or ill. There is no neutral. There is no Switzerland. There is only saying no to the indignities one human visits upon another—prejudice, hatred, humiliation and pain—or saying yes. And silence, the craven averting of one’s gaze so the offense may take place out of view, is not a no. It is not ambiguous. It is a yes. Yes, go ahead, just don’t do it to me. It is a permission, and a plea. I’ll sacrifice her if you’ll let me on my merry way. We routinely cede our expectations of goodness for guarantees of safety, but only our own, and we can no longer fool ourselves that men like Anthony Anderson are aberrations; they are, in the void of unyielding solidarity our self-interest has left, inevitabilities.

There is no neutral. You’re in or you’re fucking out.

I’m all in.