Vote Sizing Institute Real change from within.

The isolation, apathy, and disconnect that corruption hourglasses foster encourage a turn from human connections as a means of daily fulfillment to other, more selfish means. When brutality is directed inwards it becomes abuse. Because it fails to provide a lack of understanding or satisfaction, this activity quickly becomes addictive. Brutality cultivates abuse, which cultivates self-abuse, which cultivates addiction. We then have a hard time getting over our addiction because they are by nature simultaneously painful and rewarding. Because the period of temporary relief grows shorter over time, it drives a need for more and stronger doses to achieve the same high; and a growing acceptance of the situation.

Self-Inflicted Trauma Quiz The following list describes some of the most common - and most problematic addictions. See how many you recognize in yourself, and think about how much better off we’d all be if the same energy could be channeled into expressing yourself pro-actively:
	Alcohol: Plentiful, cheap, accessible and most often legal - alcohol is the primary escape for millions upon millions of people around the world.
	Marijuana: The world’s reigning illegal drug is cannabis. It is grown all across the globe – from fields in Latin America to backyards in California to attics in British Columbia, with the the highest concentrated use being in Africa. Cannabis is a highly addictive weed that it often promoted as innocently recreational. The effects of long term use are...
	Tobacco: The most often overlooked drug is also the most lethal. Tobacco is not only legal (for the most part) but it is also very heavily pushed by advertising companies. Even as the world’s population becomes more aware of its dangers, 1.3 billion people still smoke, dip, or chew tobacco.
	Opiates: Heroin, morphine, and opium are all made from poppy seeds; and all wreak havoc not only where they’re consumed, by also leave a bloody trail where they’re produced and where they’re transported through. Today, Afghanistan and Myanmar – two impoverished, war-torn rural countries - lead the world in opiate production.
	Methamphetamines: AKA ‘speed’, this drug readily turns it’s users into paranoid freaks. Production of these stimulators was once headquartered in Europe, but as the market for them (including ecstasy) has recently migrated to Southeast Asia; so have the labs. Caffeine, a natural ingredient in coffee and soda pop, doesn’t require vats of explosive and toxic chemicals to manufacture; and is a much more commonly acceptable form of getting a fix.
	Other Drugs: Dangerous, addictive drugs can be found in much less sinister places than the street corner or in the alley behind the bar. Millions of kids across the globe have found that ‘huffing’ - inhaling vapors of household products like air-conditioning Freon, spray paint, paint thinner, gasoline, butane, nail polish remover, room deodorizers, shoe polish, correction fluid, glue and markers – makes for an easy out.
	Food: Once considered an American epidemic, obesity now affects men, women, and children worldwide – in developed and developing countries alike. Often caused by an unnatural relationship with food, obesity leads to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. Another way that addiction to food manifests is itself is in a compulsive equating of body image with self worth. Anorexia and bulimia are two debilitating addictions that cause bone loss, extreme tiredness, heart attack, and ultimately death.
Note, with all of the above addictions, it’s not assured that the user gets the high that they want. Much of the time the drugs they buy are diluted with all kinds of dangerous residual material in order to increase the dealer’s profit. If the market shows signs of drying up, then levels of intoxicating substances are jacked up in order to increase the user’s tolerance levels and with it their need for larger and larger doses than usual each time around.
	Gambling: Though it is most often portrayed as a wholesome fun-loving activity; gambling has proven highly addictive and destructive. Gambling addictions can lead to domestic abuse, divorce, financial ruin, depression, and other addictions such as alcoholism and drug abuse.
	Sex: Addicts need their drug of choice to feel normal. Sexual addicts are no different, becoming dependent on sexual highs just to get them through a dull day. Of course, sexual addiction often has devastating consequences, including family break-up, disease, financial ruin, and imprisonment. More so than most addicts, sex addicts are rejected by society, which perpetuates the cycle of addiction.
	Shopping: Compulsive shopping is one of the most insidious and prevalent addictions we face. Indeed, it would be hard to go through one day without facing the temptation to buy something to make us feel ‘worthwhile’. Compulsive shoppers equate purchasing things with feeling good – buying something gives a compulsive shopper the same kind of high that a drug addict gets when he uses. Of course, once that high wears off, the addict is left to pick up the pieces, in this case ruined credit, depleted savings, and an excessive, wasteful accumulation of needless items.
	Technology: It seems that most activities in our lives can be turned into means of escape and, therefore, addiction. That is certainly true for Internet use. Internet addicts find an interaction-free solace in the Internet – a place in which they can feel connectivity but are very isolated.
	Violence: Let’s not forget good ol’ fashioned violence. Whether against a spouse, child, dog, self-mutilation, wall, fellow driver or just some poor sucker outside the bar - punch-ups and threats are a common form of addictive behavior which has devastating consequences.

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