i just read such a beautiful interview on NPR about opioids
the guy FUCKING laid it out
in an era where machines are threatening the dignity of the "working man"
he loses an aspect of meaning, but also religion is gone now too, so he can't fill the void with that either
oxycontin actually serves as an instant replacement for oxytocin, which is the neurotrans. released when you get social acknowledgement like sex, being rewarded for work, or partaking in communal spirituality
furthermore, technological age of screens encourages us to get "lost in our own worlds" at the screen rather than going out and interacting
so staying home in ur own world using oxycontin is a natural consequence of undignified labor + expired religions + screens
a couple of other things, 1. you can trace this correlation starting from the AIDS movement where patient autonomy was encouraged, aka fight for your treatment as a patient regardless of what doctor says, to now. This patient autonomy is part of why patients are so adamantly demanding these drugs.
2. this is hitting men much harder than women. part of this is because men have been traditionally getting their prestige and meaning from manual work, which is now gone, and also that being a man is sort of irrelevant in this social progressive period where the woman is being redefined in a fruitful way.
so all of this together just leads to people demanding drugs to ease pain, but then sinking into this world of meaninglessness and loneliness that can only be nurtured by oxycontin.
tldr: opoid epidemic is less of a physical/economic issue and much more of a spiritual, psychological, and existential issue.
you can also see this in the surge in weed and meditation in culture
people are desperately trying to fill this void
you can't just view humans as economic agents, they will lose meaning and destroy themselves
you need a system which views them as complex, psychological, emotional etc beings
we need a new religion etc
it was such a good interview, best one ive heard in a while, here is the original article:
