The American Dream is an addiction. Here's how:
- If threatened to take the Dream away, people fight
- The more one dives into the Dream, the harder it is to quit
- People create laws to support their addiction
The dream is a satisfying myth driving the soul towards the fulfillment of a “happy” heart. The dream makes one comfortable by residing within a safe place of goals and purpose; a safe place of opportunity, heroes, happy endings, blue birds, and sunny skies. The dream makes one’s life have meaning. The dream gives warmth to ones inside. It’s a dream no one wants to give up, and a dream in which no one wants to leave.
Attempting to take one’s drug away results in a backlash of childish responses. Pointing out the Dream addiction is often answered with, “You’re a downer”. “You’re a party pooper.” Or statements of denial, “Just let me have it this one time.” Or defending it with parts of its own rules, “We all have a right to the pursuit of happiness.”
The drug is distributed to each other by each other. It’s very existence is ingrained within the fabric of society. That it continues to be communicated means people want to believe it and people want to say it. It is resonant within all beings. “The United States is the greatest country in the world,” they say. “Everyone should have equal opportunity to the American Dream,” they say. If any progress is made towards sobriety, however small, the dream lies there with a silent draw calling the user’s name.
The drug is a shared narrative used innocently to support one another. The support is one of warmth and encouragement. It’s sedative qualities usually go unknown and unspoken.
The further down the hole one goes, the harder it is to quit. It’s easy to recognize at first. People will say things like, “I won’t get sucked into that. I’m just doing it for a little bit right now.” But soon, there are objects invented to maintain their place within the addiction. The dream addicts invent metrics of success that show what they’re doing is working. Growth occurs in the American sense: high GDP, happy families, equality among sex and race. It’s the same call to arms other users are known to use, “I only shoot up recreationally now”. “I just take micro doses to increase my creativity during work. I’m sober on weekends.”
A society of addicts have created incredible games to allow the continuation of their usage. “I only use the drug when I’m sad. It helps me sleep at night.” “I’m not an addict, I just like it’s smell.” “I’m pretty independent and on my own, I just use the government for food stamps sometimes.” Law enforcement arrests you for not attending their schools. Speeding tickets are issued for using your own-judgement on the highways. Welfare and unemployment feed you if you are not feeding yourself.
The addictive thinking digs deep rationalizing answers to problems, “The drug use has prevented me from supporting myself. Why don’t we create a rule that helps support me while I continue my drug usage.” Lawmaking is a scapegoat allowing the addict to set rules prolonging the dependency of their own behavior.
The Dream addicts allude to mystery by asking simple questions as if the question gives reason to their usage. If I give it up, how will life go on? Will I ever experience happiness again? Exaggerated thoughts arise reinforcing the idea of sobriety being a bad thing. An addict under the Dream influence asks, “How will we build roads?”, as if nothing greater than roads has been created nor invented outside of the realm of the American Dream.
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