Wrap It Up and Call it Big Pharma

Why do we take such joy in wrapping “evil” up in a neatly labeled huge boxes?

We point to pharmaceutical companies, to the government, to big corporations. We feel so very righteous doing so. I hear it being done almost daily.

There are certainly many greedy business people who have done unscrupulous things for money. There are many examples. Here is one from the pharmaceutical industry. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/patients-suffer-from-drug-industrys-chronic-greed-2013-08-07

Greed is a horrible and dangerous addiction to power and money.

You will find many of the greediest and addicted people in places of power. They have lost their empathy, their humanity and their ability to be altruistic. They have become cold hearted and will do anything to have more and more… and more money and power.

It would be easy if everyone who has power and money, across the board, were like this. We could stand in our righteousness then, pointing to pharmaceutical companies, the government and big corporations and be right. It’s just not that easy.

There is the other side of the coin. Many brilliant scientist have spent their lives searching for cures to the deadliest of diseases. Millions of people’s lives have been saves and much suffering has been avoided by those efforts. While we have learned much about chemistry and how the human body works, scientists are close to unlocking even more mysteries that will end suffering on many more fronts, especially thanks to the advancement of technology. The funding for that research often comes from pharmaceutical companies, the government and big corporations.

To stay up on the latest scientific advancements I like to read Kurzweilai.net. Here is an example from there, of scientific research which holds promise of a vaccine against cancer. http://www.kurzweilai.net/nanoparticles-reprogram-immune-cells-to-fight-cancer I have lost a number of loved ones to cancer.

A dear friend of mine, afflicted with cancer, is fighting for her life as I write this. I’m sure this is true of some of you reading this. So I, like you, look forward to any advancements in this area.

It is ludicrous to put this kind of scientific discovery in the evil box. How can we celebrate the great scientific work being done, while it is often paid for by those we love to point to as evil? Even though it is small minded, many otherwise intelligent people are quick to point and blame in ridiculously unreasonable ways. There is even a name for the conspiracy theory that wraps it all up, “Big Pharma”. To quote Wikipedia “According to the Big Pharma conspiracy theory the medical establishment in general, and pharmaceutical companies in particular, operate for sinister purposes and against the public good.” It is just not that simple!

It is the same with government. There are those who are motivated by altruism or a desire to be part of something greater than themselves who work tirelessly for issues such as civil rights, and… there are those motivated by an addiction to power. Big corporations are no different. Many big corporations have guiding principles that speak of the greater good and the leaders of those corporations do their best to serve those principles. Others are motivated solely by greed.

It is important to discern. We hate greedy monsters so much that we are willing to put everyone in the vicinity, even those who are doing great things for humanity, in the box with them. This practice of pointing and blaming shows a lack of complex thinking. We absolutely need to point to those who have lost their humanity, but pointing and blaming in the general direction is not enough. We need to look deeper. We need to deconstruct our anger and be more precise.

It is important to understand addiction to power and money for what it is. Only then can we can nip the real problem in the bud. Those people who climb toward the top in their addiction are being pulled by a very different mental condition than those who seek answers to the suffering in the world. Corporations, government and pharmaceutical companies are not the problem. They are microcosms of who we are as a species. We cannot point to them without pointing back at ourselves.

The more we can understand how addiction to power and money works the less power the addiction will have. This is not so different than trying to understand addiction to substance abuse. It is a mental and chemical condition.

When we understand and label addiction to power and money as a disease, then we as a society will be able to spot it more easily and will not feed it so often. This requires a deeper look in the mirror, as a species, than many would like to do. It is, however, where this thing we call evil lives. It is in the human brain. It falls under the heading of addiction. We are all susceptible to it. Power and wealth are addicting. The more we understand addiction the easier it will be to solve the problem of greed.