All around the world, there are people struggling to get rid of problems in
their lives. Many of these are problems beyond their control, but there are
also far too many people with deeply life-impacting problems which they bring
upon themselves. A classic and obvious example, which seems worth using here
since its effects are so obvious and its prevalence so widespread, is drug
abuse. Drugs, of course, extend beyond illegal substances such as cocaine;
tobacco, alcohol, and even caffeine are also widely misused by people to
degrade themselves. The effects of all these substances are well-documented
and there can scarcely be many users of these chemicals who are not aware of
what they do, yet people continue to use them. Some people fight epic battles
with addiction. Some other people simply don't care, and gladly use drugs in
spite of knowing the harm they do. Why are drugs such an important part of
these people's lives? Beyond the obvious physical addictions, there are key
psychological addictions as well that go beyond the mere physicality of a
"buzz".
  It is commonly thought that drugs are used to help people escape their
problems. In many cases, this is true: People are driven to drugs because of
feelings of unsettlement. However, I've come to understand that in a great
many people--perhaps a majority of drug users, even--the underlying motive to
use drugs is not the presence of something to be avoided, but rather the lack
of anything at all. There are far, far too many people in this world who live
empty, lonely lives which lack any serious problems, but which also suffer
for lack of "good" things. Many people are driven to drink because they were
abused by their parents, or because they broke up with their partner, or
because of some other such problem, but many people also use alcohol to help
them ignore the deep void that fills their soul.
  This, I believe, is a big part of why so many people seem to live for their
habits, not only using drugs, but getting shirts, blankets, and curtains with
marijuana-leaf patterns and the like. It's not just that they are drawn to
the objects of their addiction; the real problem is that they have nothing
else to replace the drugs with. To a non-addict, living for a chemical might
seem like a pretty strange thing to do, yet this is precisely the case for so
many addicts. I have lost count of how many times I have seen or heard people
say "If you don't drink or smoke, then what else is there to live for?"
Sometimes this apparently-rhetorical question is passed off as a joke, but it
becomes apparent that there is a certain truth to it beneath the surface.
  This is part of why many anti-drug groups encourage parents to get their
children into some kind of athletic program or other "wholesome" social
activity in order to keep children off drugs. It's not that athletes are
somehow precluded from taking drugs; indeed, many athletes become notorious
for it. There's simply a hope that if children are given something exciting
like sports to fill their lives with, this will distract them sufficiently
that they will be steered away from drug use. To a certain extent, this
probably works, but it merely trades the problem for another: People who live
for athletics, which may admittedly be a physically healthier pursuit. The
point, however, becomes obvious: If you're going to really get someone off
their addiction and keep them off it, you can't just fight the addiction; you
need to find something to replace it with so they can feel like their lives
have meaning.
  Drugs provide a convenient metaphor, but this rant is not really about
drugs; it's about the tendency of people to fill the emptiness in their lives
with things just because they have nothing else.
  The analogy can be applied to any number of other things. Most popular
entertainment today propagates itself on the same principle; countless music
groups, television shows, and other cultural memes become serious
fascinations for people. It may seem silly to become obsessed with a
television sitcom, but ask yourself for a moment: If a sitcom addict stopped
watching their television, what would they do instead? Knit a sweater?
  This can also be applied to religion. I consider myself a Christian and
have my own faith, but there are too many so-called Christians--again, I
believe, a majority--who hold on to their faith for no reason other than that
it gives them something to live for, something to make them feel as though
their lives are going in some direction, when they really aren't.
  It is a great failure of modern humanity that so many people seem to
dedicate their lives to taking down what they perceive as an enemy, rather
than trying to construct something better. This is a common--and entirely
relevant--point made in politics these days: Rather than trying to create a
vision for the future, most political positioning seems to be based on taking
down opposing candidates. The rhetoric is mostly based on "We're better than
they are," and there's precious little "Here's what we're going to do to fix
the problems." Determining the future leader of a nation by basing the voting
process on who is the least terrible candidate is hardly a sound process with
which to guide any election. Politics, again, is just a metaphor for a much
larger human tendency: Everywhere, there are people who complain, but nobody
seems able to come up with something better. Perhaps frustrated by their
inability to create workable solutions, too many people from all walks of
life give up on actually trying to find solutions, and simply complain,
complain, complain about everything that's wrong, as if merely pointing out
the problems could somehow shame them into disappearing. To be sure,
identification of problems is the first step in solving them, but it is,
indeed, only the first step.
  I have come to realize that this is a significant part of why meaningful
social change has been such a difficult thing to enact. Everywhere, we see
people fighting problems: There are political activists waging tirades
against politicians they hate. There are social activists who fight against
social ills. There are economic reformers who try to help people manage money
more effectively by saving it instead of spending it on senseless frills. But
all of these causes, though worthy, have a hard time gaining any traction
because they face a single fundamental question: If you take away those
things, what are you going to replace them with? The classic movie line
"Well, do you have any better ideas?" comes to mind.
  The world is sleeping. Everywhere, people walk through life in a haze,
going to work to make their money, then stumbling off somewhere to find some
entertainment to make them feel like that money was worth earning. Some have
tried to wake the world from its stupor, but if anyone is ever going to
achieve this, it's not enough just to agitate the people. It will do no good
to shout at someone to wake them up; they'll just turn around and go back to
sleep. If these people are to be led into real lives, they cannot just fight
against their problems. People need to be given something worth living for.