Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism. Carl Jung, Psychiatrist

Addiction is not a disease, it is an attitude. Addiction, in the end, is a behavior that we choose to indulge.

Addiction is something that you act on without thought of consequence. Addiction is something you want so much that nothing at the moment compares. Addiction is all about fulfilling one’s desires. It has absolutely nothing to do with fulfilling one’s needs. Addiction is selfishness, pure and simple.

All addiction is bad, regardless of what the point of focus is. Addiction means a loss of thinking ability and a total surrender to desire. This is why all addiction is bad. Anything that closes the mind and allows the individual to act without thinking, lessens one’s humanity. Indeed, this is the way of animals, which lack discretionary thinking. Addiction therefore is the height of inhumanity.

Addiction to physically harmful items is clearly destructive. However, addiction to items not so clearly harmful is not always recognized as addiction, even when it still is so.

Idealism, religion and even the concept of God, good things in and of themselves, can still become objects of addiction, turning one’s relationship with these things into something harmful and bad.

Whenever we fail to think clearly, whenever we refuse to entertain ideas, whenever we close off and just do what we want to do, for no other reason than we want to, this is addiction and this is very bad.

Even in areas sacred to me, in the realms that I hold in the highest esteem, I am still open to discussion. Discussion, however does not lead me to doubt what I believe. On the contrary, by forcing me into discussion, I reexamine my beliefs, and often find reinforcements that make my beliefs even stronger. Therefore, the challenge is a good thing.

Idealism is an absolute. Absolutes are easy to see because of their simplicity. However, life is not simple. Therefore, absolutes can exist only in the mind of the believer, but absolutes can play almost no role whatsoever in real life.

Real life flows and fluctuates, Absolutes stay as still as stone. Water always breaks down stone. Rational thinking and real life breaks down absolutes. Therefore, those who cling to them do so as an addiction, without thought, without regards to consequences. This is foolishness and this is dangerous.

Addiction must be recognized for what it is. Addiction is a choice, a choice of a weak mind to perform a weak task. This is a criminal offense against morality. This offends one’s humanity at its very core.

The only rational answer to addiction is hard labor. An entire reorientation of mind must be achieved, similar to that which is achieved in military boot camp training.

We only contribute to harming the already harmed whenever we are sympathetic to those addicted. We must root out of ourselves such weakness and treat the addicted with a serious dose of harshness. We must learn to impose discipline and severe, painful penalties for selfish weakness. This is the way we actually help one another and the way we can successfully end addictions.

We must push people to think and to act properly. No more, “Mr. Nice Guy,” he is too busy indulging himself, taking drugs, getting drunk and feeling sorry for himself, wishing the world was an absolute ideal place of hippie-dippy love.

You want to make this world better, then follow the role model of discipline set by a military drill sergeant. Live by it, expect others to as well and have little to no sympathy for those who will disagree.