I remember reading somewhere that in our early settler days, the merchants provided whiskey to the Native Americans so that the merchants could cheat them out of land, pottery, and other items. Native Americans became addicted to the whiskey and that ensured a high trade volume for the merchants. The merchants took the Native American artifacts back to the homeland and sold them for a high price. So, the fact is that the merchants took advantage of the Native Americans for the sake of money. The Native Americans sold themselves out just to get some whiskey.
We hear a lot
these days about biological and chemical warfare. A lot of money goes into
creating ways for one side to do another in by means of a silent killer such as
a virus or a non-distinguishable gas. I wonder what would happen if one side
started spiking the drinking water supply with small amounts of alcohol and
then increasing the amount slowly. I imagine that eventually there would be a
whole nation of alcoholics or at least a whole segment of alcohol damaged
populace. In time, the alcohol would render the population with the inability
to think or reason clearly. Just like the Native Americans, they would be easy
pickin’s.
OK. So maybe it
would not be as quick acting as the opponent would like. But, it would be far
cheaper than hiring a bunch of scientists to re-invent the horse. And it wouldn’t
be creating a new malady for the entire world to worry about getting into the
wrong hands. I’m sure someone somewhere
sometime along the way, has thought of this scenario. Maybe Hitler was working
on a plan like this.
Of course, I
hate the plan and the scenario. I hate it that people have been duped by others
to believe that just a little couldn’t hurt. I believe that if two factions
want to war it out, they should each have a certain number of warriors send to
a far off place. They should fight it out in hand-to-hand combat and the last
warrior standing wins. Quick, clean and to the point. No injured children. No
raped or pillaged villages. No collateral damage.
It’ll never
happen. The reality is that war is good for the economy. It creates jobs
building war machines and hiring soldiers. It is profitable. Just like alcohol
is profitable. Our government recognizes the value of the alcohol industry. In
some states the liquor industry is controlled by the state government. Alcohol
is only available in state regulated stores manned by government employees.
I know that
alcoholics wage a war inside themselves. It’s a war between the desire for the
alcohol and reality of common sense. I’m not an alcoholic, so I can only
imagine what kind of war that would be. Losing that war and becoming a victim
of substance abuse results in the ultimate loss – loss of life. And the effects
are far-reaching. The collateral damage is overwhelming. Children, families,
homes are all included in the circle of devastation. There are so many people
waging this war right here and now, that I wonder if the water has, in fact,
been spiked with the awful juice.
Riley has lost
that war inside himself. Although for him, he never considered it to be a war.
He made a decision. His choice was to die an alcoholic death. Now that our
country home is a buzz with hospice workers, bath aides, and others who simply
want to make Riley’s last days as comfortable as possible, he is losing his
ability to hold onto his life and he just doesn’t care. He enjoys the company,
but denies why they are all here.
I’m told over
and over that there still may be hope. Riley could still get through all his
bodily devastation and return to sobriety. I’m a realist and I follow Dr. Phil’s
theory that the best indication of future behavior is past behavior. I know that
long-term sobriety will never be something that Riley will ever have or
appreciate.
Even if Riley
manages to survive detox and achieves sobriety. The alcohol has so damaged his
brain function that he will most likely suffer from permanent dementia. If that
is so, I most likely would have to place him in a nursing facility. I don’t
believe I could physically care for his needs. So, what kind of sobriety is
that?? It’s like saying, you can be sober and live, but your life will be
contained within this specific space – much like a prisoner. The alcohol still
wins.
I believe I
predicted somewhere that it would take about a year for Riley to get to this
place – the end of his life. Sometimes I hate it when I’m right.