The Globalization of Addiction: A Study in Poverty of the Spirit [Paperback]

Canadian academic, psychologist Bruce K. Alexander has, in my opinion, written the definitive description of our present era, its problems, their cause, and, most significantly, their solution. The introduction sets the scene and whets the appetite, but I was truly gripped from the opening pages of Part 1 ("Roots of Addiction in Free-market Society"), a chapter anatomising a modern city (in this case, Vancouver), with all its tensions, "communities" (a key word) and problems, not least drug addiction. His description of the local particulars of colonisation, business interests, wealth, poverty and the impact of various developments, projects and schemes will resonate with any unblinkered city-dweller. It will most definitely ring loud bells with city planners, drugs workers, social workers, community arts workers, health workers and law enforcers. Convinced by his description and analysis, you are likely to read on...

Eureka!

While much of what Alexander says will be familiar to those who have heard of Major General Smedley Butler, and readers of Viviane Forrester, Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, John Pilger, Joseph Stiglitz and, in particular, Richard Layard, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, Alexander joins more current and historical dots than anyone else I am aware of, and does so to produce a picture of such simplicity and elegance that I felt like shouting "Eureka!" (I use that word advisedly, as Alexander goes as far back as ancient Greece to build his thesis, in particular extensively quoting and analysing Socrates' wisdom, as relayed by Plato.) Indeed, his theory has the beauty that mathematicians and scientists seek in their explanations of the universe, instinctively associating it with truth.

The various forms of addiction

Fundamental to the book is Alexander's definition of addiction. He identifies four varieties: addiction(1) is overwhelming involvement with alcohol or drugs that is harmful to the individual, to society or both; addiction(2) encompasses addiction(1) and includes non-overwhelming involvement with drugs or alcohol that are harmful to the individual, to society or both; addiction(3) is overwhelming involvement with any pursuit whatsoever (including, but not limited to, drugs or alcohol) that is harmful to the addicted person, society or both; addiction(4) is overwhelming involvement with any pursuit whatsoever that is not harmful to the addicted person or to society.

Hypercapitalism causes psychosocial dislocation

Alexander deals mainly with the third form of addiction, and he makes the point that, to a large extent, addictions are interchangeable. Indeed, his central thesis is that there is no such thing as an inherently addictive drug or behaviour, but that addiction is due to a phenomenon he calls "psychosocial dislocation" and that this, in turn, is largely attributable to the devastating effects of what he calls "hypercapitalism" on communities and thereby on individuals. Every element of this argument is backed up by an impressive body of evidence, summarised in the highly readable text and expanded on in the copious endnotes. This includes detailed analyses of ancient works, the thoughts of scientific luminaries such as Charles Darwin, historical events (his analysis of China is particularly fascinating), scientific experiments, contemporary first-hand accounts of those suffering from psychosocial dislocation and Alexander's own observations.

The demon drug myth demolished

I am ashamed to admit that I had believed that heroin was an inherently addictive drug. Well, Alexander certainly demolished the "demon drug myth" planted in my head by the mass media (a major target of his, which he effectively condemns as a tool of hypercapitalism - see what I mean about Chomsky?) Not only did non-psychosocially dislocated researchers fail to get themselves addicted, despite weeks of taking the drug, but addicts persisted in their addictive patterns even at a time when heroin supplies were disrupted to the extent that the cut substance they were using effectively had no active ingredient. Equally in Alexander's sights is "the black sheep" myth - the idea that addicts are inherently to blame for their own addictions. That his book comes as a massive relief to those vilified and scapegoated (yes, I am aware of the mixed ovine/caprine metaphor!) by the popular press is evidenced by testimony from readers on his website.

Addictive complex: Christian moralism, Market God and American Power

Part 2, "The Interaction of Addiction and Society", includes the brilliant chapter, "The Role of Addiction in the Civilised Madness of the 21st Century". In this, Alexander expatiates on "fanatical addiction to socially destructive ideas", analysing the case of Adolf Eichmann; he discusses the mindset of an "academic bureaucrat", a professor at an American university (compulsory reading for all teachers and lecturers feeling themselves morally compromised in our increasingly narrow and money-minded "educational" institutions); he asks "how is environmental madness possible?", dissecting the causes and effects of excess consumption ("shopaholism", "compulsive shopping", "credit card addiction"...), and he explains religious zealotry, especially Christian and Muslim varieties. My favourite part of this chapter, however, is the section titled "Political and economic fanaticism". In what is a contender for the most cogent and powerful section of the book, Alexander goes on to discuss communism, the "Market God", fanatical nationalism (addiction to "American Power") and, in particular, the "addictive complex" of "Christian moralism", "Market God" and "American Power", stating of this appalling triad, "the demands of the three doctrines, Christian, Market and American, are so internally inconsistent that they defy all rational analysis [and this] requires United States policy makers to invoke holy mysteries such as the necessity of torture to prevent terror, the need to support dictatorships in order to spread democracy, the precise geographical localisation of `evil' in the nations that resist United States geopolitical ambitions, the American prerogative of disregarding binding international agreements that other nations must follow, and Christian leaders who advocate assassinating uncooperative foreign officials and who apparently ignore the suffering of the poor". All this is, of course, scrupulously referenced.

The tragically cool

You may well find yourself described in another fascinating chapter, "Getting by", which considers the ways most of us cope in the psychosocially disruptive world that hypercapitalism has produced. Alexander classes these into seven categories: "resolute conventionality", "resolute unconventionality", "participating in a concocted community", "political activism", the "tragically cool", the "spiritually sufficient" and the "ex-addict". He analyses the pros and cons of each, concluding convincingly that "the lives that are described can hardly be described as joyful" and asks, "if such descriptions fit many or most people who are getting by in free-market society, where will society turn to find the kind of inspired, fully functioning leaders and workers who will be necessary to pull the world out of its current crises?"

Eclectic spirituality not enough

A thoughtful chapter is devoted to "Spiritual Treatment for Addiction". While Alexander is by no means scathing, he convinced me that this falls far short of panacea. The section titled "Why eclectic spirituality cannot control addiction in free-market society" was particularly interesting to me.

Practicable, effective and spiritually uplifting

As I approached the end of the book, I found myself champing ever more frantically at the bit to know what Alexander sees as "the solution". In "From Blindness and Paralysis to Action", he professes faith that "human beings, reasoning together in a rigorous way, are capable of reaching understandings that are not merely intelligent, but also practicable, effective, and spiritually uplifting". He summarises the stultifying effect of free-market society's obscuring of "the connections between free markets mass dislocation, and addictive misery because seeing them would undermine its foundational belief in the magnanimity of free markets". The "misbegotten War on Drugs", you will not be surprised to learn, gets short shrift, being dismissed as a "bizarre spectacle of sightless, murderous flailing", providing "justification for American political and military incursions in Latin America". "Even failure on an enormous scale," writes Alexander, "did not open most people's eyes to the futility of a war that so perfectly shielded free-market society from painful self-examination".

Impoverishment of middle class relative to executives

Then Alexander really lets rip, in a section in which most readers will recognise at least something that has affected them. He talks of "eye-opening disasters": what happened in Russia after the collapse of the USSR, the East Asian currency collapse of 1997, the bursting of the stock market bubble in 2002, the exposure of "devastating corruption in superstar transnational corporations" and the "ruthless behaviour of the worldwide pharmaceutical industry", the "impoverishment of the middle- and working-class people in the richest countries relative to their compatriots in the boardrooms and executive offices", "famine and epidemics in [...] countries that have accepted the free-market reforms of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank" and "the increasingly apparent slaughter of Third-World people by corporate as well as national armies spreading free-market society". Read more ›

I do not easily give superlatives in my praise of books but this one is truly exceptional. It presents a very valuable and well-written account and I can only recommend it most strongly. I think that the study could prove of momentous importance in how we view the world in the 21st century. If only its message were to be taken to heart, we could spare an immense amount of human suffering. Professor Alexander delivers a convincing case that we are manufacturing addiction by the process of economic globalization and the social dislocation that inevitably goes with it. As is made clear, addiction is not something confined to chemicals but spans a whole range from sex, through gambling to the quest for material possessions. The argument takes the author far and wide (to Adolph Eichmann, St Augustine and Socrates amongst others) and occasionally the reader might wonder quite where the argument is going but just in time the author brings it back to a sharp focus and relevance.

Given the monumental task that Professor Alexander sets himself and accomplishes, it would be churlish to point to omissions. Rather, I would call these `points that might be considered for further theorizing'. The reader looking for an integrative biopsychosocial perspective on addiction will not find it here since the book justifiably concentrates on the social dimension. One can only wonder why it is that the drugs and other activities that become addictive are ones that trigger dopaminergic neurotransmission. How is it that such neurotransmission seems to lock into a dynamic interaction with the external objects of addiction? Does a dopamine-opioid link necessarily underlie each addiction? Why, for example, do magic mushrooms, ecstasy or LSD not seem to lead to addiction? What might the neurobiology of bonding and attachment, as described by Jaak Panksepp, say about the objects of addiction? Why do some people with Parkinson's disease develop addictions after taking medication that boosts dopaminergic neurotransmission? One might argue that they were already showing mild dislocation but then the argument would become circular.

These are points for further reflection and research and they in no way detract from the power and insightfulness of this book. Every politician, town planner, police chief and lawyer should be required to read it before being allowed to take office.

Frederick Toates
Professor of Biological Psychology
Open University