Hacker News Reader

Comment by devoply | Hacker News Reader

It's the economy stupid. Americans have nothing in their lives but their jobs. Take those away and they start self-medicating. Well that's my pet theory any way. Also have to consider the demographic most affected by job loss.

Why not weed or alcohol? Because opiates produce a high and make you feel good. Much like work might, if you had it.

View on HN

Agreed.

I think the second big problem after feeling safe is identity. A lot of people see their work as there identity.

This is not going to play out well with automation and the removal of jobs.

As for why opiates? They produce a much cleaner high probably.

Jobs are just a manifestation of a deeper problem. The truth is, the pace of change is too fast for society at large. It has eroded our traditions and ideas about life, and we have yet to rebuild them.

I agree with this statement. Especially if you look over a few thousand year timeline. Of course, the rate of technology has accelerated but also some of the earlier changes have been normalized though we still reel from them. Even the sense of community has been completely redefined (or minimized) by technology today, or the concept of society being focus on nuclear family only. Some are a direct result of technology, but some changes, like the concept of leisure time, come indirectly as we restructure our lives around this technology (capitalism and the industrial revolution).

Compare this to where we were 2,000 years ago or 10,000 years ago.

Late stage capitalism is a bitch, isn't it?

Is there any correlation between the rate of alcoholism and the economy?

Probably. I suspect it is not a simple one but look at alcohol consumption patterns in Russia. On the other hand there are plenty of poor people in other countries who do not drink so there are probably cultural and climate influences too.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com