Addictive Culture in Politics

Addictive Culture in Politics

Introduction

Addictive culture takes place when persons favor their own needs over, and at the expense of the common good. In the political sphere, leaders favor their own interests. Through this, addictive syndromes are created within organic systems. These syndromes evolve through phases and reproduce themselves in a multiplier effect. Eventually, if allowed to continue, these addictive syndromes lead to the death of complex organic systems.
Addictive political culture often includes the use of rewards and punishments in any of their myriad forms: e.g. tax breaks, "encouragement," war, etc. Rewards and punishments are manipulation by means of any stimuli given to encourage certain actions as opposed to other actions.

As I see it, these rewards and punishments are often a basic part of addictive culture, which invades authentic organic cultures. Addictive cultures are not organic, because their activity is not derived naturally from reality but is contrived and derived from the manipulation of reality. Addictive culture is a syndrome made up of a geometric progression of activities, which eats away at organic culture, and if allowed, eventually devastates it.
Using a medical metaphor, we can diagnose this syndrome through recognition of symptoms. Some of them are: manipulation, imbalance, polarization, integration and disintegration, uniformity, misplaced priorities, exponential growth of the syndrome, evolving forms, escalation toward death, loss of freedom and equality, disrespect for most complex level, illusion, disconnected feedback, and denial.

Addictive Versus Organic Culture
In this paper, I will describe a phenomenon which can be noticed taking place in many different contexts including world politics. It follows a pattern much like one a biological phenomenon might follow, but this is a social and/or political phenomenon. I call it "addictive culture."
Addictive culture can be followed step-by-step. We can start with:
application of artificial incentives to organic systems, causing:
imbalances because parts receive new stimuli while other parts pay for it and so have less of what they need, causing: polarization, separation between parts of the systems which becomes:
disintegration of related parts of the systems and forced integration between unrelated parts.
Since there was an interdependence in 4relationships within the original system to get needs met, more imbalances in regard to needs now occur, causing: Compulsive tendencies by those with seriously unmet needs, to use manipulative means to gain false substitutes of the real satisfaction of them. If they use manipulative means (apply artificial incentives, step 1) the vicious circular phenomenon continues. The following example is meant to demonstrate the steps of an addictive culture:

Let’s say, a new country was created in the 1500s by process of buying off the leaders when feasible in order to get more land, and war against the inhabitants when the leaders were not accepting bribes (step 1); an imbalance in land would develop between the groups (step 2); a rift would be created between the new settlers and the original inhabitants (step 3). As the new inhabitants attained more and more land through artificial incentives and/or war, the original inhabitants’ order would disintegrate more and more while the new nation would become more and more integrated (step 4) Imbalances would increase as some had too much land and the riches it could bring, and the others not enough to sustain the barest of necessities (step 5). Those with too much land and riches would have an extreme need for trustworthy friends, rather than those who were jealous, angry, and/or violent, or who might use them for their riches, etc. And the original inhabitants would, of course, have an extreme need for land. These extreme needs on both sides would lead to a tendency for more use of manipulation in orfer to get quick fixes and the illusion of having their needs met (step 6). And so the addictive culture would continue in its repetitive cycle.

Symptoms
Addictive culture is a syndrome and, as in disease, there are stages in its development. When a syndrome is diagnosed by a doctor, he recognizes symptoms, whether they are in the beginning stages or in the later stages. Here also, a practitioner can recognize addictive culture by seeing one or two stages of it without necessarily seeing all the stages. He knows in theory what can happen without seeing every part of it played out. Also, there may be variations in symptoms depending upon the context and depending upon its evolution.

I will follow a stage-by-stage process to give a general overview of this phenomenon, and give examples to show more concretely the type of activity I am referring to. Each example given is meant to show a symptom of addictive culture. But some of the cases given may exemplify more than one addictive symptom.

PART I.
Manipulation
Rewards and punishments, in all their subtle and not so subtle forms, are basic to much of addictive culture. Manipulation or violence is used by individuals to gain ends, which are not their real needs but compulsions. Some of these means are: incentives, favoritism, artificial conditioning, stimuli, rewards, positive reinforcement, threats of violence, assassinations, or even war or torture. Depending upon the circumstances, more or less desperate means may be used.

Example of Manipulation in Addictive Culture 1: If U.S. oil interests want a pipeline built through Afghanistan, but those ruling Afghanistan refuse to agree to any kind of deal, U.S. leaders could force action through war. Afghan leaders would tend to be afraid of disobeying U.S. leaders’ requests due to threat of war. Other countries also might be threatened if the United States actually went to war because the United States could turn against them also if they did not acquiesce to American interests.

The first example involved negative manipulation (war) while the second displays positive manipulation, such as grants.

Manipulation Example 2: If a new product which has problems of its own, is developed and promoted through manipulative means such as: grants for its development, and tax breaks for both producers and consumers, when no grants or tax breaks are given for its competitors, the older products, or for most other products, in general; if funds are raised in city, state, and United States legislatures for only the new product’s use in public institutions such as schools, offices, etc; if schools that teach courses in its use are subsidized; and, if those who take courses in its use are given grants or loans. These means would be manipulative promotion of the new product.

Integration and Disintegration
Another phenomenon in this addictive culture is non-organic or forced integration and disintegration. Through the use of manipulation, new alliances are made and old ones disintegrate. In organic culture integration or disintegration is slow and can be planned for.

Integration and Disintegration Example 1: If the United States offers the Israelis and the Palestinians economic stimuli for their coming to an agreement of some kind, an agreement might be achieved. But, meanwhile, certain Israeli and Palestinian groups would become alienated from their own leadership. Disintegration would take place within, while closer unity would take place without. The stimuli for peace would not work, because real peace comes through real understanding and is given freely; it cannot be manipulated by economic stimuli.
One way toward peace between Israelis and Palestinians in a non-compulsive setting would be through communication between them about needs and how each can help the other without hurting themselves, or , where necessary, making certain less satisfying compromises. All this discussion would proceed without any threat of force.

The first example has to do with the disintegration which takes place within a country when integration between it and another country is forced on them by a third country by stimuli. People from certain groups become alienated from those making agreements with the enemy country for money. In the second example, the countries become disintegrated when the corporate world and those in it are divided from the poor who reap none of the economic benefits of integration and who, in fact, pay for it through unemployment, lost benefits, higher prices, and loss in natural resources.

Integration and Disintegration Example 2:
Forced integration can take place among countries in regard to trade. International financial institutions may offer loans with special low interest to those companies in the third world which sell products outside the borders of the countries in which their factories are located. Those that only sell locally would not be offered them; certain loans would be offered only to those companies that expanded outside their own borders; in certain areas, companies that enjoy favorable exchange rates would also be allowed special low tariffs or free entry of products into certain areas and local legal requirements could be specially lowered for international companies. Major dissention from within a country going through these changes could be handled by demotions, firings, disappearances, assassinations, etc.

The negative effects of this forced integration cannot be easily categorized. They follow convoluted paths in the exponential growth of addictive culture. Local companies may not be able to compete with all the favoritism and shut down, leaving many people unemployed, having little other choice but to seek employment at the new, favored, international companies. This could mean movement of populations from their family-based small towns, negatively affecting the community and society. Also, people may have little choice but to buy the products of international companies, now that other companies shut down. And funds, which were invested in large local companies, are likely to be transferred to international corporations. To facilitate trucks carrying merchandise, special modern expensive highways in third world nations leading to ports and international borders may be carved through mountains, deserts, forests, etc. This would affect the environment negatively, in addition to the probable irretrievable economic losses. The two or more countries would become progressively more integrated by these forceful artificial methods; but many organic, social, and environmental systems would disintegrate.

Uniformity
An increase in uniformity takes place in addictive culture. That which is rewarded increases, while diverse unrewarded forms gradually disappear.

Uniformity Example 1:
If business and housing development is stimulated by tax breaks, subsidization, loans, grants, or the like, leading to expanding development, other organic surroundings languish and disappear. Farmland becomes increasingly scarce and, with it, many diverse organic forms.
In the first example, development is artificially stimulated. In the next, computers are stimulated. In each case, there is a loss in other diverse forms which are crowded out within their respective systems. The first takes place in the countryside and the second, within the given business systems.

Uniformity Example 2:
If local, state, and federal government artificially stimulate the use of modern technologies in various and sundry ways, then soon all you would see and hear about would be modern technologies. Typewriter companies would go out of business; a person might not be hired, say, to work in an art museum with an M.A. in art history unless he knew computers. A junior college teacher who knew something about computers might not teach in his own M.A. field but might only be assigned computer classes. Many things would fall by the wayside because of modern technologies.

Polarization
Favoritism tends to artificially polarize and separate parts of systems. Favored parts go in one direction and disfavored, in another. In organic culture, systems maintain their organic integrity.
Polarization Example 1: If recent legal immigrants who are single and refugees, are favored with higher General Assistance checks, than the rest of single recipients. Say the immigrants receive $200 per month while the others receive $175. as these others become aware of the difference, resentment sets in toward the newcomers. The newcomers are also given first places on waiting lists for public housing. Resentment grows and is acted out toward the newcomers through unpleasant facial expressions, swearing, aggression, etc. So the newcomers tend to avoid the others. Eventually, the antagonism becomes a well-known fact within and outside the now polarized groups.

The first example takes place within an economically disadvantaged segment of the community. The next example takes place within the whole community.

Polarization Example 2:
A modern society could be artificially segregated according to ages, and therefore, companies could market to these convenient segments of the economy. The segregation would be advanced by favoring people in various ways according to their age, e.g. subsidizing elderly, favoring younger people in hiring, excluding people from social events because of their age, etc.

Syndromes within Systems
Addictive cultures are syndromes within organic systems. They feed off of the organic systems and grow within them, destroying them.

Syndromes within Systems Example 1:
Modern industries come into a traditional area, and they are favored with the best land, water, use of natural resources, and the best workers. They are alienated from the rest of the area and, at the same time, they depend on the resources of the rest of the area. Little by little, the modern way of life, the favored way, will increase and pervade much of the area. This is a syndrome pervading the organic systems.

In the first example, favoritism toward new industries starts syndromes which damage the overall system. In the next example, favoritism toward cars begins similar destructive syndromes.

Syndromes within Systems Example 2:
If cars are favored over mass transit by massive public spending for extra streets, roads, and highways with the latest technology and constant repairs, immense amounts of land are lost for agriculture. The funds used on road technology are lost for any of society’s pressing needs: health care, education, environmental protection, etc. If car use is favored with special up-to-the-minute reports on all media, radio, and TV stations about driving conditions, this expensive airtime would not be used for society’s need for serious information. Asphalt parking lot land would not be used for parks with trees providing needed shade and flood control. If parking structures where each individual space costs $10,000 to construct are approved, they would not be used for low cost housing for the homeless. Besides this, if cars are favored over mass transit, air is more polluted, cities are dirtier, and more warming of the earth takes place. Favoritism towards cars (and oil) contributes to the destruction of social and environmental systems.

Imbalance
Imbalance is another phenomenon in addictive culture. Needs of some persons are not satisfied but exacerbated because excessive resources are taken at accelerating rates by other persons without a need for them. These other persons have real needs which are not being satisfied because of their addictive intake of what they do not need.

Imbalance Example 1:
If companies are given incentives by government, there may be a disproportionate amount of their product produced. The company does not have to depend on real demand when subsidized. So there can be an overproduction, and imbalance between need (demand) and number of products (supply).
People do not always need that much of a given product. However, if more addictive culture continued to grow, advertising campaigns, for example, would convince consumers to purchase the product that they do not need. The government might also lend extra support for the use of the product. These forces would cause more imbalances.
In the first example, society does not address the community’s needs, and instead, resources are exhausted on unneeded products.
In the next example, farmers are encouraged to overuse water while the future need for water is being ignored.

Imbalance Example 2:
If a county generously subsidizes the price of water for farmers in order to get them to buy land and do farming in the area, many farmers may take up the offer; the area may become heavily agricultural; but water may be highly overused, adding to potential drought conditions. It may be difficult to withdraw the water subsidy later on, due to powerful lobbying of so many dependent farmers. As a result, drought conditions would probably increase. The real need of the county is not farming when it ruins the ecological balance. The real deeper need of the farmers is not water but, at a more complex level, ecological balance and the social wellbeing of the overall community. In holistic culture, a county’s overall balance would be maintained by equal treatment without any special favoritism for any particular sector.. Then one sector might still grow organically more than another. But adjustments could be made more easily because the growth would be limited by real needs in other sectors. For example, if a society demands more food, higher food prices in a fair economy would naturally encourage more production of food. And more food for the poor can be accomplished by redistribution rather than favoritism.


PART II.
Complexity of Organisms
An organism can be simple or made up of systems, each of which interacts with the other systems to make up the organism. A larger entity than an organism can be made up of organisms, some of which have systems within them. These larger entities are composed of organisms interacting with each other, just as the systems within the organisms do. Here we can see that the most complex entity is the one made up of organisms, some of which, in turn are made up of systems. Meeting the needs of this entity as a whole is more important than those of some organisms within it if there is a conflict, because the organisms within it are less important than the whole.

Misplaced Priority
If less complex organisms or systems are favored over the more complex of which they are a part by resources from the more complex, we have addictive culture.

Misplaced Priority Example 1:
If a company from Milwaukee, Wisconsin is given a big tax break by the city of Houston for relocating there, the company is participating with Houston leaders in addictive culture because the company is given priority over the more complex communities and environments in which it functions.

Misplaced Priority Example 2:
If manufacturers of computers are given local, state, and federal subsidies, incentives and tax breaks, the cost of computerization may be lowered. Companies and stores may computerize their functions, thereby saving money. But the public at large pays the price of their "savings" by the subsidization, and in the subsequent layoffs.
In the third example, cars are given priority over people, who are much more complex. Both function within the same overall community.

Misplaced Priority Example 3:
If parking spaces are sold for $45,000 in a community where there is not enough money to help homeless people, then cars are given priority over people.
In order to keep organic culture from being infested by addictive culture, use of violence and bribes should be avoided. For example, special loans would not be given to institutions or countries that did what big business wanted. Computer use would not be stimulated. Cities would not be favored over agriculture through subsidization, nor vice versa.

If there were no addictive culture, student loans would not be called for. If war, corporate tax breaks, etc. did not exist there would be much more money available for education, health care, and other basic necessities of the more complex community. College tuition could be much lower for everyone.

Exponential Growth of Problems
In the addictive syndrome, at first, unnoticeable chain reactions begin taking place. Eventually, through exponential growth, they arrive at enormous proportions. Organic culture develops more evenly, taking the whole unit into account, and so progress is slower but more satisfying and balanced than the "progress" of addictive culture.

Exponential Growth Example 1:
If a third world farmer would get a loan (stimulus) to buy a tractor from a U.S. corporation, he would have to start buying gasoline, which he did not need for his oxen. He would also have to buy parts when the tractor broke down. He would have to raise more produce in order to pay back his loan. Let’s say his high production exhausts the land too quickly. So he has to begin buying fertilizer, and eventually his soil becomes more and more depleted. He has to buy an expensive truck to get the produce to a larger, more distant market. The truck uses more gasoline. Grain or vegetable prices may have gone down since production would have risen when other farmers were given loans for tractors the same way he was. For more marketable vegetables he may also start buying seed, which cannot be gotten from last year’s crop. It must be bought each year. When the loan on the tractor comes due, he may not be able to pay it because of all the interconnected costs and obstacles along the way. Meanwhile, his old simple lifestyle, where costs were low, work load was low, worry was low, has disappeared. He has no choice now but to deal with the bankers in regard to his default, perhaps eventually losing his farm. A large international corporation may buy his farm and other farms around him, thereby introducing more sweeping changes, with corporate agriculture. This addictive culture is an outgrowth of the original impetus, (the loan, a stimulus), originating in the corporate governmental culture.

The first example had to do with favoritism for a certain product sold to farmers and the subsequent growing repercussions. When stimuli are offered, the laws of natural supply and demand are overruled. There’s no need for any particular demand for tractors. The fact that loans were being offered for them was enough to bring the farmers out.
The second example has to do with favoritism toward cities over countryside. In both cases, the results expanded out of control.

Exponential Growth Example 2:
If a third world nation with an agricultural base subsidizes industry and services in the city with funds from excess agricultural earnings, cities may seem to flourish at first; then they may grow enormously with the many problems associated with huge growing cities. As years go by, agricultural production may decrease; peasants may become more and more impoverished; and some may have to leave farms; many may go to the overcrowded cities. Eventually, this urbanization would lead to a huge imbalance between city and countryside causing massive damage to social and ecological systems.

Evolving Forms
Addictive culture infests one system at a time. When it has ruined one, it goes on to the next, changing techniques and forms according to the system in which it finds itself.

Evolving Forms Example 1:
The excessive interests of new settlers could motivate them to forcibly and/or through manipulation take over the areas they arrived in. As years go on and their populations grow, they may expand into new areas forcibly. When finally dominating the whole continent, they may begin to take other off-shore areas. Eventually they may find it convenient just to dominate in trade with, say, the backing of a domineering army, over other areas by buying raw materials at low prices and selling back, expensive finished products. Then, due to a changing context, they may change their methods, setting up factories in other nations, hiring cheap foreign labor, and sending finished products back home, with a special deal to avoid import taxes.

Escalation toward Death
Addictive culture involves syndromes within organic systems. These syndromes feed off the organic systems, causing eventual death to some. The syndromes, sometimes by using the latest technological advances, expand at an escalating rate toward new and healthy systems.
The last example illustrated how settlers’ forms of domination and destruction evolved over a period of years until finally their descendents’ domination and destruction was on a totally more massive scale and world-wide. The next example demonstrates how a lack of interest in the more complex system leads to even more destruction eventually up to the point where even the settlers’ descendents will finally also be threatened with death.

Escalation toward Death Example: If corporations, with their own profits as the motive, operate in northern U.S. areas until the areas no longer have resources: At this point, they are offered special treatment by a southwestern U.S. city or state and they accept and move south; eventually the resources in the southwestern area are used up and they move farther south where they are given special deals by Mexican officials; eventually when Mexican resources are used up, they go farther south to South America, each time leaving behind blighted inner cities with chemical spills, broken down or burned out buildings, asphalt covered parking lots; and , with advanced technologies, the destruction of natural resources, such as deforestation, which takes place each time at a faster pace.

Loss of Freedom and Equality
Favoritism, a phenomenon in conditional addictive culture, leads to loss of freedom and equality. A person does not feel as free to do what he wants if he is going to be rewarded, (i.e. favored), for certain actions and/or punished for others. And, those who are rewarded are not treated equally to those who are not. And so there is the loss of freedom and equality. On a large scale, this develops into class systems in societies where certain groups are looked down upon and treated accordingly.

Loss of Freedom and Equality Example 1:
Scientific and technological activity can be stimulated by paying scientific researchers and professors more than philosophy or history professors and researchers. This, in turn, would cause an inequality in status and affect the social interactions between the various levels. Students would feel more pressure and less freedom in deciding what to study. Favoritism here diminishes equality of status and freedom of choice.

We can see the lack of freedom in the first example for those trying to decide their careers. Also, we see the constant reward and punishment of those in their respective careers, leading to segmentation and class systems. In the next example, we see the loss of freedom even for those who are rewarded by extreme wealth.

Loss of Freedom and Equality Example 2:
Within circles made extremely wealthy by addictive culture, there could be a great lack of person security and so a constant use of security guards, etc. and therefore, a lack of freedom to come and go as they please. Someone with extreme wealth who felt fearful because of it could share some of the wealth with the poor and thereby become more secure. The more wealth he got rid of, the less fear he might feel.

Disrespect for Most Complex Level
As the addictive systems progress, real needs increase due to the destruction caused in the pursuit of obsessions rather than authentic needs. Needs are authentic only when the most complex organic systems involved are respected.

Disrespect for Most Complex Level Example:
If a new seed for robust crops is invented and favored, and everyone begins using it in India, seed companies may be very successful and scientists may earn a good living. But there may be a new need for fertilizer because the new products are so robust they use up more of the nutrients in the soil, perhaps a new need for irrigation because the plants take so much water, and perhaps a need for more money now if this new of seed cannot be salvaged from last year’s crops and must be purchased. Eventually, there may also be a need for a special, expensive seed repository for the old varieties of seed, that used to be used, which now are in danger of extinction. Those involved in the introduction of this new seed should have respected more complex natural and human cycles already in place.

In the example above, those involved in the invention of the new seed may be under the illusion that all is well—that negative repercussions in the more complex context, farming, are minor. The next example under "Illusion" involves more obvious mass delusion in situations where loans as incentives are being given out.

Loans are often a type of incentive or stimulus but not necessarily always. Some loans may just even out the playing field from the indirect effect of favoritism on the unfavored. Also, the question of favoritism may be how high the interest rate is or even whether the loans are to be paid back.


PART III.
Psychological factors play a role in the maintenance and growth of addictive culture.

Illusion
Illusion is another symptom of addictive culture. Early stages in addictive transactions involve the creation of illusions that needs are being satisfies. Because the real needs are not satisfied, the transactions are repeated addictively.

Illusion Example 1:
When companies receive big incentives in the form of loans, there is an illusion of well-being. In fact, the illusion could pervade whole business communities. Reality can actually grow worse because of the illusion, which misleads persons from taking remedial actions. When loans come due, companies may be bankrupt.

The next example is more subtle. People generally have an exaggerated respect for computerization.. Some may face reality, especially when negative aspects affect them personally.

Illusion Example 2:
If major incentives, such as tax breaks, loans, or grants, are built into both state and federal law for computers, at first, as companies get started with the added support, an illusion is created in which computers seem much better and less expensive than older forms of procedure and communication. The cost of development and of the huge changeover from older ways, including the cost of learning new operations and the cost in waste is not noticed. Also, computer repairs and the difficulty of always needing to be near a computer when working, for example, are not noticed. Nor do we realize the huge costs of viruses, identity theft, and other security and privacy issues.

In obsession-free culture, there would be more time for decision making about whether new inventions would satisfy real needs or not. There would be time to balance the cost to the whole system against the benefit to parts of the system. The security and other costs of computers would have been thoroughly analyzed before their massive imposition on society.

Illusion Example 3:
If people in the U.S. are brainwashed by politicians’ and the media’s illusion of finding security in a military build-up, there could be a huge increase in an already huge military budget, which was not was not working. Otherwise, there would already have been security; addictive military spending would place. Weapons’ manufacturers would gain economically, but real security would not be found.

Also, if third world nations’ leaders buy into the illusion of finding security in a military build-up, they may spend more on Lockheed weapons, for instance. However, it would be addictive and not address the real need for security. Regional arms races might begin. Other needs of society would be neglected due to lack of funds.

In non-addictive political culture, leaders would become aware of the needs of other countries and could try to help through good, open, non-threatening communication. They could communicate their own needs with hope of a mutual response. Their relationship would be as equals. Help would be given freely without conditions. ("Security" by violent means—war, or the threat of war—is an intrusion by addictive political culture.) As authentic cultures are developed, needs are really satisfied; illusions of satisfaction are not created unless addictive syndromes enter in.

The Addiction Analogy
Addictive culture takes place in many different contexts. (Many are interconnected.) A vivid illustration and analogy for addictive political culture is the process of drug addiction.
Persons with extreme unmet needs, ultimately for love, may accept and try drugs to satisfy them. The illusion that drugs satisfy their needs kicks in immediately. But then comes the hangover when it is clear that the needs have not been satisfied. An escalating amount of drugs is taken as the needs become more and more acute, not having been satisfied over time and as addicts’ weakened body systems are less and less able to respond to the drug. The addicts also use progressively more of their own time and attention for drugs, leaving aside other interests and also serious commitments. And they use more and more money, which they may steal from their families; since they cannot easily maintain a job while spending progressively more energy on maintaining their habit. This stealing tends to put a rift between them and their families. They become separated from their families, leaving their families with fewer of their needs met. More imbalance comes about to the intake of drugs because of the increased unmet needs. Disintegration of families takes place. But the addict is integrated in to the network of addicts, where the illusion exists that his needs are being met. Society at large pays for his habit in lost and stolen goods, lost lives through drug related murders, lost contributions of work, etc. of the addicts themselves. The addicts have a kind of single minded uni-dimentional way of living. They seek only drugs or what can lead them to drugs. The joys of life are wasted on them.
Addicts are integrated into hierarchy, so there is no equality. And there is no freedom because they are so enslaved to the pursuit of drugs. They also often would have no freedom to go against what they are told from above, (dealers), or to quit drugs, without fear of death.
As more and more needs are unmet in communities due to more intake of drugs, more and more people from them begin falling into the allure of drugs. There is a vicious circle and a chain reaction. The drug networks experience exponential growth. As they grow, the resources of society become more and more scarce. The drug networks experience use up resources in one community at a time, before going to a new one and repeating the pattern, but certain aspects change according to the new context. The change may be from cocaine to heroine, etc.
The drug networks; workings are secretive and so, cut off from the communities at large. They continue to create the illusion of meeting needs and thereby promote drug intake. Those whose authentic needs are met may not be tempted by them. Some who seeds are seriously unsatisfied may fall into other compulsions, such as over-eating.

Drug addicts do not take into account the holistic processes needed in order to get a feeling of well-being. The feeling from drugs is extrinsic to the needs of whole processes. The system is manipulated to get a feeling of well-being regardless of real needs.

These processes of addiction are analogous to certain processes within economic, political, and social systems and are based in the same root cause. Unmet real needs of the whole are ignored while illusionary needs of parts are addressed.

Disconnected Illusionary Feedback
Illusionary disconnected feedback is another dimension of addictive culture. The feedback which comes from artificial incentives is not organically connected. In organic culture, the only feedback would be that which organically results from the action itself. Authentic organically connected feedback could be given in non-manipulative exchanges or communication.

Disconnected Illusionary Feedback Example 1:
U.S. representatives may exchange votes for subsidies (artificial positive feedback) for certain private industries in each other’s areas, while ignoring authentic needs of the whole community, such as health care.
In organic culture, authentic feedback for private industry, etc. would depend on its own day-to-day production, sales, etc., not on special help from the government. Private industry would not be favored at the expense of the whole, unless its well-being served the needs of the whole.

In the first Disconnected Feedback Example, the subsidies have nothing to do with most of the needs of the country. And they make the industries look more successful than they really are. In the next example, the stadium makes the county look successful when actually many of its needs are not being met.

Disconnected Feedback Example 2:
If Milwaukee County officials okay a new "state of the arts" stadium for the Brewers to be paid for by county residents after being voted down in a referendum. This stadium could make the county look like a big success, (Illusionary feedback). At about the same time, the Milwaukee County Hospital was declared bankrupt and closed, thus revealing the county’s lack of success.
In non-addictive culture, the authentic negative feedback, i.e. the referendum, would be honored. Needs of the whole unit would be given priority over the illusionary "need" for a new, expensive stadium.

In non-addictive political culture, feedback is organically connected the the activity of the system. (For example, companies prosper when they really meet the demands of consumer, not because they are subsidized.)

Denial
Those involved in addictive political culture have many varied ways of denying there is any problem.
In the following examples, people respond to critical problems as if everything were normal and/or make excuses instead of admitting and confronting the systemic problem.

Denial Example 1:
If four soldiers come back from war in Afghanistan and kill their wives, and military leaders respond that maybe the couples had problems before the war, and the stress of combat just brought them to a head. And if other wives complain to military leaders about the macho killing mentality of their spouses, and the leaders respond that they do not know, and that they never heard of such a problem.

Denial Example 2:
If someone points out the connection between overuse of cars and global warming, and the person responds, "People must have cars to go to work. And if they have several children they cannot take the bus to shop for food."

Denial Example 3:
An article could be written pointing out the connection between the use of plutonium in weapons and subsequent high increases in cancer rates in the population of the country where the war took place. Such an article and information could be ignored, and if ever confronted with the information, "experts" could make excuses.

The alternative to addictive culture is organic culture. Organic culture is the system in which addictive culture takes place. Organic culture is what addictive culture takes advantage of. Without it, addictive culture cannot exist.

Organic culture is everything that is left when addictive culture is not present. Environments and communities throughout the world are all organic, expect for the invasion of addictive culture. A country’s leader who communicates without using threats or offers of gifts to get his way is practicing organic political culture. In general, the absence of non-organic (i.e. artificial), threats, violence, or bribes allows organic political culture to evolve.

Authentic communication, as opposed to manipulation takes place in organic culture; also, freedom, equality, organic integration and disintegration; authentic needs and not illusions are satisfied in organic culture. Authentic needs are those whose satisfaction does not outweigh the satisfaction of the needs of the whole.

In organic culture, supply and demand are balanced because real needs are respected; needs are not artificially created. And obsessions are not considered needs. Evolution in organic culture occurs naturally according to the survival of those systems which really meet needs.
An example of organic political culture would be two countries that would get together and simply discuss grievances without threats or bribes, and without interference from a third country’s bribes.

It is difficult to find examples of organic political culture on the international level since there is so much militarism and manipulation through loans on that level.

We can return to the analogy of addiction to explain organic political culture. Trying to describe what organic political culture is would be like trying to explain how a person who’s not addicted would act. There are so many possibilities of how a person who is not addicted would act that we would not know where to begin. So it is with organic political culture.

In non-addictive political culture, activity is done to meet equally the needs of all persons without anyone acting as if his needs are more important than anyone else’s.

In non-addictive political culture, trade would be conducted in such a way that it would be of benefit to the whole community or communities involved. Complicated manipulative schemes bringing economic gain to only certain parts of communities at the expense of the rest of the communities, would not exist.

In order to work toward an organic political culture to replace an addictive political culture there would have to be resistant non-cooperation with the addictive political culture. But the resistance would have to be done with goodwill toward those who practice addictive political culture. The reason they practice addictive political culture is that they have extreme unmet needs; addictive political culture is what gives them the illusion of having their needs met . For example, the feeling of power, giving the illusion of love, could be attained through controlling loans for the expansion of "free" trade.

Very addictive people are actively involved in promoting addictive political culture. These people have deep unmet needs.

There is a spiritual solution to the conundrum we are in. In organic political culture, when people seek the good of the whole community, it is love.. People exchange resources to meet needs within the community. This could be information, services, or goods depending upon what is needed.

If some people within a community start putting artificial conditions on meeting needs, addictive culture creeps in. It tends to grow and grow, causing contortions to develop within the community. The world community also needs the practice of organic culture.