"The Worst Addiction of Them All" is an article first published in The Nation on December 31, 1983 and reprinted in the collection Vonnegut By The Dozen in 2013. In 1984, it was printed with "Fates Worse Than Death" as the collection Nothing Is Lost Save Honor: Two Essays by Nouveau Press for the Mississippi Civil Liberties Union and later included in chapter 14 of Fates Worse Than Death, published in 1991.
Summary[]
Although a lover of jazz, Vonnegut would argue that Alcoholics Anonymous is America's "most nurturing contribution to the culture of this planet so far". This scheme has helped other groups in society who are also susceptible to chemicals, both produced externally, like drugs, and internally, like gambling addiction. However, it requires that the addicts regularly admit that this chemical is dangerous to them. Most addicts need to hit bottom before they can admit that this addiction has ruined their lives and those of their loved ones. A current dangerous addiction is to be "tragically hooked on preparations for war". Such addicts are suffering from illness and we as a society must recognize this, especially since it is an addiction that is expensive and dangerous not only to the sufferers, but to nations and the species as a whole.
If Western Civilization, which has come to dominate the globe, were a person, it would need to attend War-Preparers Anonymous, having already hit bottom in World War I. Despite this, we continue to give power to people we have failed to recognize as suffering from this addiction. Until we do, we cannot begin the long, hard journey to sobriety. We have practiced appeasement toward addicts to war preparation. Like most addictions, we are all exposed to the same stimuli—such as patriotic and militaristic displays—but only a fraction of us become addicts. It is also not to be confused with an addiction to war itself, since the war preparer no more wants war than "an alcoholic stockbroker wants to pass out with his head in a toilet in the Port Authority bus terminal". Just as we would not entrust a nation to an alcoholic, we should not entrust them to addicts to war preparation.[1]
See Also[]
- "The Scientific Goblins Are Gonna Git Us", review of Unless Peace Comes, a book of essays on weapons development
- ↑ "The Worst Addiction of Them All", Fates Worse Than Death, pp. 132-137.