What is a drug?

 

Google Search "a medicine or other substance which has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body"

I take drugs when my doctor prescribes. I take Vitamins, drink coffee, wine, eat meals regularly, and I would suffer pain if I didn't.

I sleep when tired and eat even though I am never hungry except first thing in the morning when I wake.

There is a lot of suffering in our world and there are pain-killers you can take if you can afford them.

I was fortunate that my relatives did not attend a residential school where systemic cruelty and torture was part of the curriculum. Yet there were cruelties acted toward me based on social beliefs and trauma acted on those who hurt others.

Hurt people hurt people!

How can anyone believe that those who are addicted to substances deserve to suffer but not our help and kindness?

I hear comments such as "they brought it on themselves"!

So to extend that sentiment I say our world, our suffering, has been brought on by our kin, other humans.

Gabor Mate has been helping us understand trauma and how it affects our behaviour even if we have no memory of the original trigger.

So what is evil then? Or more precisely who is evil?

Anyone who knowingly promotes suffering by withholding needs. Nutritious food, safe spaces, respect, a place to belong, not only helps those in need, but all of us who live in human spaces.

When we divide the world into good and evil we are primarily looking for security - staying away from danger.

Social assistance is not letting some people off the hook. Education is not babysitting. Living wages is not pandering to lazy people. Society by definition includes everyone. All these areas are ways that have enabled us to make the world a better place by looking at the sad, the dangerous, our own ignorance, and our own worth.

Everything that helps ease suffering and injustice, makes my life safer. The joy of music, art, celebration, adds meaning to life and challenges the idea that people must serve those who have more power, turns life into a resource and while resources are necessary, turning all of life into something that must be useful to justify its existence leads to fascism.

Allowing ignorance to rule is not just "reality". It's the engine of organized contempt. We have a duty to heal what we have harmed, and to focus on how we treat others.

Naivety is not believing we can change the world, its being okay with structural violence.