British history channel vs Japanese history channel
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I disagree. For adults that may be true but many addicts start down on that path during childhood. Doesn't change the fact that they need to take responsibility for their bad habits as adults to change though. Only you yourself can fix your shit. Nobody else can do it for you. No matter the reasons why you fell down that hole. But it is of vital importance to understand WHY you fell down that hole otherwise you'll inevitably fall down again. Maybe it won't be another addiction but some other equally destructive behavior.
Making mistakes is unavoidable in life. Taking responsibility and fixing them is to be lauded as it shows that you have grown as a person. Obviously there are exceptions.
Now I'm not saying getting addicted to drugs is unavoidable but depending on your situation it can get very easy to make that mistake. If you grow up in a fucked up household in a fucked up city with a fucked up community and you manage to avoid to become a fucked up invidividual yourself that is actually an exceptional achievement that you should be proud of. Escaping the cycle isn't easy.
Not saying you should be nice. Not saying you should go on a quest to save junkies either. Most of the time junkies need a hard slap in the face to change anyway. And someone who isn't willing to fix their shit isn't deserving of your sympathy or help anway. It is a waste of time and effort. Sometimes you have no other choice but to cut people out of your life, even family and that is nothing to feel bad about. I've done so myself multiple times although (thankfully) not for drug addiction. So I won't blame you for cutting ties with your mother instead of wasting your life trying to fix her.
But to understand the reasons why they went down that path is extremely important and beneficial. Especially for a society but also for individuals. And most of the time it isn't as simple as "they didn't have enough self-control". Obviously it's irrelevant why a random stranger went down a bad path to me as an individual but understanding why my parents made certain mistakes was very important and beneficial to me as I was able to fix some of my own problems because of it.
Well that was the original point I was responding to. If your child starts doing drugs, then you forfeit any "poor me" or claim to being a "good person" as a parent because you have failed horribly. While Susan's son was 19 and an adult, you also don't immediately go for the cocktail he had without a failed upbringing just recently before.
I didn't cut the tie, I was there with her until she died with only a pretty normal distance growing due to regular adulthood independence.
Except it is. That's the core of it no matter what. You can dress it up with dozens of factors and mitigations and be absolutely correct that they influenced and pushed one towards it, and should be worked on removing those as a society and on a personal level.
But at the end of the day, all of that culminates to a single moment where they lacked enough control to not do something. And in doing so, all those factors no longer matter going forward. Sin is sin, even if the whole world was pushing you to it and by indulging yourself in it you no longer have anyone to blame but yourself.
It was never about "ignore all factors to put all blame on the person." You can in fact do both. See how and why they fell into the pit, while also reminding them that they jumped into it on their own and are owed nothing but the derision that brings. Doing both is how we grow as a society. We see the multiplicative factors and work to minimize them, and not tempt people further into sin, while also condemning those who do as a staunch fear lesson that they will not be granted mercy in doing so.
Its not an "or" situation. Its like researching serial killers. You can equally discuss the environments and genetics that created them to prevent further creation, while also treating them as the boot scum they are.
Those factors are what leads to the lack of self control. They're the underlying issues that need to be fixed in order for the individual not to indulge in that destructive behavior. It's not always the case, some have just a stupid lapse in judgement, yes but in general it's a culmination of these factors.
We humans are a product of our genetics, upbringing, surroundings and life experience. Self control is a learned skill not something innate.
That's how I see it anyway.
And what is that going to achieve?
You don't tempt people into sin by helping people who've lost their way. You don't stop people from getting addicted by condemning the already condemned. Nobody looks up to a homeless junkies whose flesh is rotting away. Their very existence condemns them.
They do, but at the end of it all, the self-control is the final decision. Its where all those tragedies cease to evoke sympathy and you make the choice to be the harm-er instead of the harmed.
Getting molested or abused is a major factor in being a pedo, abuser, child hurter of some form. The same applies to them, whatever background they have is tragic but they still made the choice themselves at the end of the day.
By teaching someone that their actions are forgivable, you take away from the evil of said action by giving them hope that they can come back on the other end clean and absolved.
Every developing junkie thinks they will still be loved, or able to control it, or this or that. That's why they can be tempted to "try it." The consequences have been brushed aside with a lackadaisical attitude of unconditional positive regard and forgiveness that tempts people into that sin.
There are millions of people who've lost their way through no fault of their own more deserving of our time, sympathy, and help. Junkies of any form are not that and hardly deserve not to just be put down like the rabid dogs they are.
Equating drug addicts with child molesters or serial killers is a tad extreme, don't you think?
Yes, you have drug addicts who aren't just addicts but also are horrible people who commit heinous or even unforgivable acts. But to lump every addict together with those people is definitely uncalled for.
Being addicted is not evil. Being addicted is an affliction. Committing evil acts to fuel the addiction is evil but far from every addict is guilty of that. The addiction can be an explanation or at least help to explain these acts but they're never an excuse for it.
I will never absolve anyone of their sins because of 'mitigating' factors. Doesn't matter if its an addiction or anything else. No normal human being will come back from an addiction feeling 'clean' and 'absolved'. Your past actions will always haunt you for the rest of your life even if you manage to 'forgive' yourself for it. Only if you're a psychopath can you just go on living your life and not giving a shit about what you've done in the past.
What's your definition of junkie?