It’s (not so) Cool by the Pool (Column)

The Greed Drug

I am a recovering drug user. It’s true. When I was put on flu medicine two weeks ago the doctor prescribed a plethora of pills and before I knew it I was good to go. Great job doc except I suffered a bit of relapse, and so I went back to the doctor and as it turned out the super double dose of antibiotics had wiped out all the biota in my stomach. This led to an incredible fever and you don’t want to know the rest. So he gave me dope to get my innards functioning again. Dope to get well, dope that makes you sick, dope that makes you well again.

A few terrible days later I was back on my feet, and then on Sunday, after my first 2 hour cycle in a week, I arrived home feeling a build up of slag in my throat. I couldn’t bear the thought of swallowing it. When I spat it out in the basin there was this grey gunk; Johannesburg’s pollution nicely gathered up in a few globs of spit. If that disgusts you well I’m sorry. It should disgust you even more that this is what is going on in your body even if you don’t smoke. And it should worry you that if so much crap can accumulate in the body after cycling for two hours outdoors, what is going on outside your body?

It’s simple. Go and stand on any highway at peak hour and you’ll get the clues you need why the air, the environment is becoming so filthy.

Where am I going with this line of reasoning? Well, you see it is this grey gunk that is the first clue to why some of us are getting sick in the first place. I read an article recently saying that global warming is directly responsibly for increasing allergic reactions around the world, because more plants are throwing more pollen into the air. Other bugs (and I include the winged, viral and microbacterial kinds in that term) are having a field day. How do we treat the malady that we have created? By taking drugs. All these medicines do is mask the symptoms. The real problem is that the air is filling up with the sort of particulates and bacterials that make people itch, cough and scratch. It worsens sinusitis and the rest. But it doesn’t end there.

The Money Drug

Interestingly, the recent crash of Lehman’s brothers led to me to another fascinating article. The article states that some of the world’s biggest banks (if not all) are propped up with drug money. Drug money has to be laundered, and banks play a crucial role in this. One of the most effective is by laundering drug money into construction projects. Building skyscrapers and shopping malls sucks up billions of dollars, and from these complexes you get a revenue stream. At the same time, your drug money is laundered.

It’s been said that half of the city of Miami was financed using drug money, and almost the entire complex that is Dubai. Miami was the world laundering capital in the 80’s, Dubai holds that title currently. Someone commented cryptically that America losing the drug war in Afghanistan wasn’t about drugs but drug money. And isn’t it interesting that America has used all its drug money to build suburbia. To virtually give away houses to tens of thousands of Americans. The bank boyz eventually got caught up in a craze that Kunstler fondly refers to as ‘something for nothing’, where debt instruments create money essentially out of nothing, so that the Hampton crowd can go sailing on multimillion dollar yachts for another weekend. One of the ways the boyz kept themselves afloat was by speculating with oil futures.

And here we start to cover full circle. Because in the same way people in cities are addicted to oil, many of the same people are addicted to drugs. For God’s sake, the drug is called Speed – could the analogy be any more obvious.

The Performance Drug

When you take a closer look, dope has invaded every iota of our lives. Professional athletes use dope conventionally – legally – and many try to circumvent the controls and use the illegal substances. The point is, every professional athlete is using dope to do better. So do swathes of amateurs. I use fat burners occasionally, and I’m not ignorant of the fact that while they may work, they can’t be terribly good for you. They make one irritable, they give you heartburn and keep you hyped up when you need to be resting. They also shoot your heart rate up to rates that could possibly injure the heart.

The Mood Drug

Even people who don’t do sports seriously use dope in everyday life. I’m talking about those on antidepressants, and this is a substantial fraction of the population. These people drop pills just so they can live with themselves, endure their own moods, skip gently over the surface of life. These people are dependent on drugs to anaesthetize themselves from the pain and awareness of life. Other people are on dope to allow them to have sex without having children. Fine, except they begin to suffer headaches, their genitals dry up and their cancer risk increases.

The Food Drug

Just in terms of the food we eat, everyone is on dope. It’s in those preservatives and colorants, it’s in the simple chemical game we play with our bodies. We go to the movies and combine cola and popcorn for it’s exquisite sugary and salty contrast. We eat chocolates or soft drinks for a kick. Same with coffee. We drink alcohol for mood enhancing. Is there a more dangerous combination than alcohol and sex. To numb one’s brain whilst engaging in an activity that could change the rest of your life?

Which brings us to the question: Why? Why is there so much smoke in the air leading to more allergies, melting ice caps, hurricanes and all the rest? Why do banks use drug money when they could finance at 2% higher premiums? Why do athletes use illegal substances? Why do ordinary people living in suburbia need drugs to feel better about their lives? Why do ordinary people use sugary drinks to boost their energy levels on a daily basis?

The answer is greed. Greed. Gluttony, voraciousness, insatiability, hunger, self-indulgence, selfishness. Greed is the impatience to get as much as you can as soon as you can. Someone once said greed is good. Not from where I am standing.