Joan Tollifson on the relation of addiction to capitalism-consumerism

Ajay0 · Jul 19, 2022

An insightful article by Joan Tollifson on the nature of addiction, on how capitalism focusses on creating desires and addressing them rather than needs, creating an artificial psychological sense of lack in the process and thereby pleasure addictions...

Addiction and Compulsion

It should be noted that seeking pleasure and avoiding pain are survival mechanisms that make perfect sense in a purely biological context, but no other animal smokes and drinks itself to death. Obviously, what begins as a natural survival mechanism can get in some way displaced, misdirected or exaggerated in human beings with our complex capacity for imagination and conceptual abstraction.

Capitalist-consumer society, which is a creation of the human mind, actually cultivates addiction. Paul Mazer, a Wall Street banker working for Lehman Brothers in the 1930s, was quoted in a documentary as having said: "We must shift America from a needs – to a desires – culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed…Man's desires must overshadow his needs." And I believe it was the current CEO of Apple whom I heard in an interview describe their mission as "creating something you didn't know you wanted that once you have it, you can't imagine living without."

Capitalism and the advertising industry have devoted themselves to creating a sense of lack in virtually every aspect of modern life from politics to spirituality, and then offering to fill it with things we don't really need that won't really make us happy. It’s no surprise that addiction is a major problem. - Joan Tollifson
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BlackBillBlake · Sep 18, 2018

Doctor Gabor Mate is a renowned expert on addiction. He too is critical of capitalism, and sees the stress it engenders in people as a primary cause of addiction and a wide range of physical illnesses. 'We live in a toxic culture.....'

Ajay0 · Jul 19, 2022

A similar theme stated by Samdhong Rinpoche ...

Foreword

Industrialization has enabled humanity to produce more commodities than people really need, which has necessitated the creation of markets and the exploitation of greed through indoctrination and brainwashing.

People are taught to compare and compete, so that ignorance and greed escalate endlessly, reducing individuals to mere consuming machines. We have lost the power of discernment and cannot differentiate between need and greed.

The disparity between unlimited desires and limited resources has not only made the economic infrastructure unsustainable but has also damaged our environment and ecosystems almost beyond repair. ~ Samdhong Rinpoche
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"Comparison and competition breed acquisitiveness, so much so that people forget what it is that they really need.”

“When a (modern) human being attempts to get over the suffering, he starts considering physical inconveniences as the main cause of suffering. In modern society people mostly do not realize that lack of mental peace and equanimity could also be the source or cause of suffering.”

“The modern civilization emphasizes physical conveniences and pleasures and it ignores the role of mental processes in attaining happiness as tradition does.” ~ Samdhong Rinpoche
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I would say that a certain knowledge and understanding of the mind should be imparted in modern secular education so that children will not be conditioned to associate material success and gratifications with happiness solely while growing up, which can be a recipe for discontentment,depression and addictive behaviors later on.

A happy, equanimious mind independent of circumstances and situations is also more productive in work and personal relations compared to an unhappy mind filled with cravings that prevent contentment and consequently peace and happiness for himself or herself.

Ajay0 · Nov 11, 2023

An article with a similar theme...

Peeling Away the Promise of Desire

If you examine your own life, as the Buddha examined his, what is the gratification? What experiences of body and mind do you become enamored of? What do you desire? When we look within ourselves and at the world around us, it’s evident that cravings and gratifications vary widely in intensity and frequency. At one end of the spectrum are obsessive cravings that can become all-consuming: addiction to food or sex or alcohol or drugs or success or power or fame or wealth or possessions or comfort—even to love.

These are strong, universal, driving forces in our lives, and in many ways our culture feeds them. I once saw in a store window in New York a sign that said: “Don’t let desire pass you by.” And back in the day when magazines carried cigarette advertisements I saw an ad showing a handsome man and a beautiful woman with cigarettes in their hands. The slogan read: “I don’t let anything stand in the way of my pleasure.” We’ve been getting messages like these all our lives.
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