A TEST OF TIME 09/07/22
It's a season of economic downturn during winter of heightened struggles. That's when the saying; 'trying to make ends meet' comes to being. It is experienced in real life.
The experience is expressed in a shared feeling, we are all in this together. It's the spirit, no matter who you are, we are comrades, we are survivors. We try to find work; we are hungry and there's the children and whanau.
Lying in bed trying to sleep, I was listening to a child probably suffering from hyperactive syndrome. You can hear him at the top of his voice next door. I feel sorry for the kid but I'm concerned about the parent or parents.
It reminded me of this baby on video who was born with withdrawal symptoms of a drug addict. A few hours into the world and new born was given a drug dose in trying to sooth his/her pain.
Baby would grow up with special needs parents endure, but there is a chance he/she could turn out to be a drug addict. It's in the gene. That's what we know how inheritance is passed down the generations.
If you reread from the top down to here, it started from the economy. During periods of economic downturn, folks lose their jobs and struggle on a low income. During their struggle, they need community and neighbourhood support.
Some parents resort to alcohol and drugs trying to cope, others find creative ways of making ends meet. And they create the environment to bring up their children. And there you have it, nature is inherited gene from parents or grandparents; nurture is how the children learn from the environment.
Children grow up to have their own children continue the static cycle of deterioration. I'm saying deterioration because of the progressive nature of addiction from moderation to extremes and hence the social consequences.
Ever since the corporate linear monetary economy, the cause of this cycle is concreted on a dichotomy where the economy booms for the rich and busts for the poor at the same time. So the static cycle is now a permanent landmark for all seasons.
We are not labelling or blaming anyone for the trend as it was due to circumstances beyond their control. But the possible offsets of the cause are crime, violence and addictions.
The gene plus the environment or nature plus nurture right from mental developmental stages is building blocks of the static cycle. Unemployment and low-income may lead to crime and addiction. It's possible that crime could be prevented if frustrations are relieved from drugs, or it could worsen when drugs are not met. It's also possible that drugs and alcohol leads to extreme violence.
Anyway, the links are established from the state of the economy to nature and nurture, crime, drugs and violence.
So, the social consequences are inherited from the previous generation resulting from their economic cycle. And authorities including governments have argued how to deal with the symptoms that are crime, drugs and violence.
When new born baby struggled through his/her pain, he/she demonstrates violent behaviour of screaming, scratching and kicking.
The kid next door also demonstrates loudness against his relatives or carers. I'm sure the behaviour is a natural coping mechanism. New born had demonstrated this behaviour without knowledge or habits of the environment.
The right-wing parties argue to impose harsh punishments including arming the police and locking up addicts. If so, then society would have to lock up new born babies and kids in prison. Locking them up is supposed to deal with the behaviour.
We all know how absurd that is. Locking up babies and kids, hello what kind of world have arrived at? Besides, people have been locked up for years but the rate of crime and violence if anything continues to rise.
The social democratic approach started when the baby was given a drug dose to ease his/her pain. This therapy in a controlled environment can work. Nature or the gene is present but a different environment means the therapy is a ground up approach. The addict has to unlearn old behaviour and learn new ones.
The therapy can also include in its program an aspect of learning a new skill leading to independence.
However, the cycle turned by the linear material economy continues to distribute genetic inheritance, it's only a matter of time before the consumer population starts all over again.
So, to nip it in the bud, is to transform the economy from the linear material to a holistic social. This should also socialise thinking over memorising to help change old habits.
I think hard core addicts may change by understanding in a holistic approach more than the linear material of punishments.
Can you understand a baby born suffering someone else's making, or the kid who tries to cope by yelling out the symptoms of developments beyond his control? Locking them up or separation from their loved ones don't work.