An it Harm none...
I've been thinking more about my recent post on Addiction. Specifically, I've been really thinking about the meme of "harm," because that seems to be a common factor in labeling someone as an addict. The title of this post brings this meme back a few paces, and points out not only the bastardization of Crowley's dictum that "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be the Whole of the Law," but the misconceptions that people have about the meme of Harm in general. Repeat after me:
"My Life requires the Death of others."
If you eat food, you kill other things (or at least "Harm them significantly"). I want to murder people who cry about "meat is murder." Well, so is eating all those damn vegetables, people. Does protein deficiency affect your ability to reason? Even the fruity "fruitarians" are harming others--they are basically living (if you can call it that) off the aborted fetuses of plants by eating the fruit of plants. They're killing potential lives, as the anti-abortionists would say.
We also harm microorganisms every time we wash, and every time we get a fever, we are killing microorganisms by the millions. Damn you, white blood cells! Take a step... oops, there goes that ant! And prolly a few dozen blades of grass (maybe not on the first step, but you're certainly harming it).
I realize I'm taking things a bit extremely, but my point is to remind you that it is impossible for you to exist without harming--let alone killing--others. It's impossible. You would be sequestered into a perpetual state of actionlessness, motionlessness, because heaven forbid you step on one of god's smallest creatures. And you couldn't eat. Or breathe in microorganisms.
"But Addiction harms the Self!"
People do things everyday that harm themselves. Not even counting work-related physical traumas, what about repetitive stress injuries from doing the same task day after day at your job? How many times have you pulled your back, twisted your ankle, or had some other non-major injury that has nonetheless caused you harm? How many people are harmed in relationships? Have you ever been harmed from your parents, from your siblings (ever harm yourself or your little brother growing up?), from your husband or wife? How many people have been in relationships that don't regularly hurt them? I'm not talking about domestic violence, I'm talking about hurt feelings, emotional and mental hurts that can (and do) add up over time.
The same is true of things that people rail against under the meme of "Addiction." Drugs are a favorite target, but like relationships, jobs, and every single other aspect of living, they do some harm, although hopefully more good than harm. Things in life that do more harm than good should be discarded IMNSHO. People who do things to themselves that cause them much more harm than good--be they jobs, relationships, religions, drugs, or anything else--should have this mental imbalance examined. I don't say that "all relationships are bad" just because a certain percentage of the population is unhappily married, not do I say that "people shouldn't work" because of the damage it can wreak on one's body/emotions/mind/spirit. Similarly, people shouldn't say such things about drug "addiction," "computer addiction," or anything else. Personally, I think the key is Balance, but people should be free to live their lives as they see fit, even when we don't agree with those decisions.
Things are what they are, and applying negative labels to them (particularly using such vague and misunderstood memes as "harm" or "Addiction") merely ceases thinking about it and starts the pigeonholing.
"Know Thy Selves"
"My Life requires the Death of others."
If you eat food, you kill other things (or at least "Harm them significantly"). I want to murder people who cry about "meat is murder." Well, so is eating all those damn vegetables, people. Does protein deficiency affect your ability to reason? Even the fruity "fruitarians" are harming others--they are basically living (if you can call it that) off the aborted fetuses of plants by eating the fruit of plants. They're killing potential lives, as the anti-abortionists would say.
We also harm microorganisms every time we wash, and every time we get a fever, we are killing microorganisms by the millions. Damn you, white blood cells! Take a step... oops, there goes that ant! And prolly a few dozen blades of grass (maybe not on the first step, but you're certainly harming it).
I realize I'm taking things a bit extremely, but my point is to remind you that it is impossible for you to exist without harming--let alone killing--others. It's impossible. You would be sequestered into a perpetual state of actionlessness, motionlessness, because heaven forbid you step on one of god's smallest creatures. And you couldn't eat. Or breathe in microorganisms.
"But Addiction harms the Self!"
People do things everyday that harm themselves. Not even counting work-related physical traumas, what about repetitive stress injuries from doing the same task day after day at your job? How many times have you pulled your back, twisted your ankle, or had some other non-major injury that has nonetheless caused you harm? How many people are harmed in relationships? Have you ever been harmed from your parents, from your siblings (ever harm yourself or your little brother growing up?), from your husband or wife? How many people have been in relationships that don't regularly hurt them? I'm not talking about domestic violence, I'm talking about hurt feelings, emotional and mental hurts that can (and do) add up over time.
The same is true of things that people rail against under the meme of "Addiction." Drugs are a favorite target, but like relationships, jobs, and every single other aspect of living, they do some harm, although hopefully more good than harm. Things in life that do more harm than good should be discarded IMNSHO. People who do things to themselves that cause them much more harm than good--be they jobs, relationships, religions, drugs, or anything else--should have this mental imbalance examined. I don't say that "all relationships are bad" just because a certain percentage of the population is unhappily married, not do I say that "people shouldn't work" because of the damage it can wreak on one's body/emotions/mind/spirit. Similarly, people shouldn't say such things about drug "addiction," "computer addiction," or anything else. Personally, I think the key is Balance, but people should be free to live their lives as they see fit, even when we don't agree with those decisions.
Things are what they are, and applying negative labels to them (particularly using such vague and misunderstood memes as "harm" or "Addiction") merely ceases thinking about it and starts the pigeonholing.
"Know Thy Selves"