Addictions in Free Markets Essay

Articles: Critique

Article 1

1. The article under analysis explores the issue of addiction. Particularly, its development in the people that are disconnected from their community is rendered. The authors explore the threats that people face in an alien environment.
2. Alexander and Shaler address the issue of addiction in a new community, studying the effects that a free market has on it. The exposure of vulnerable audiences to numerous threats is scrutinized. The authors consider the disadvantages of free markets.
3. When being forced to move to a different place, people tend to experience a range of negative feelings. The latter range from being disconnected from their traditional environment to experiencing difficulties getting accustomed to the new social standards, rules, and norms. As a result, people may succumb to using drugs, becoming gang members, etc.
4. The authors deliberately avoid discussing the advantages of free markets. However, they make an important point about the threats that free markets pose to people changing their location. Nevertheless, the benefits of free markets could be explored better.
5. As a result of the lack of communication with the rest of the community members, people that experience stress as a result of dislocation may try to fill the void with developing an addiction. The latter may include a specific substance, elements of a lifestyle, etc., or acquisition of a new behavioral pattern that can be deemed as negative. However, everyone can be involved in economic relationships, which leads to the vulnerable population being affected.
6. Still, I believe that fighting addictions are linked to self-control rather than the availability of products in the free market. Therefore, there is a need to develop a program for addressing the needs of people that have been relocated. Otherwise, removing the threats of free markets will not have any effect.
7. The uninhibited process of free trade implies that the people participating in it should have a general sense of responsibility. It is crucial to promote a responsible attitude among the target audiences. As a result, the addiction issue is likely to be reduced.
8. Therefore, a coherent approach to managing the problem of addictions must be designed. A program aimed at addressing the target people’s needs must be designed. Furthermore, psychological assistance will be necessary.

Article 2

1. The paper sheds light on the issue of substance abuse that relocation may trigger by providing an example from her personal life. The story touches upon the issue of bulimia. The author addresses the problem of binge eating.
2. To make her point, Evelyn Lau describes the problem from a first-person perspective. She provides a sketch of a typical environment in which a person with addiction lives. The story about a bulimic woman is graphic and detailed.
3. Lau’s article shows that free markets could provide people with an opportunity to get rid of the identified problem. The process can be carried out by introducing new options for an enhanced communication process. Instead, free markets cater to the poor choices of the people that need to manage their stress levels.
4. Lau’s work can be considered somewhat subjective. However, it provides deep insight into the issue of addiction as a result of relocation. Therefore, it suggests that extensive support from the community is required to handle it.
5. Free markets may create the breeding ground for an unhealthy addiction, from smoking to drugs to destructive behavior is created. Moreover, economic relationships that ignore the issues which customers may experience are unhealthy. Thus, it is unfair to expose people with relocation issues to the lifestyle options that may affect them negatively.
6. However, I think that more emphasis must be placed on personal responsibility. The latter is bound to help manage the addiction issue. Rationalizing their choices, people will make fewer mistakes.
7. People must be aware of the consequences of their actions. Otherwise, creating a healthy society will not be a possibility. Thus, awareness must be raised.
8. Moreover, the significance of personal responsibility must not be underrated when shaping the strategy for managing the addiction-related problems. Furthermore, the means of promoting it in the context of the global economy must be found. Otherwise, people that have moved to a different place will face severe issues.

Introduction: Where Addictions Stem from and What Threats They Pose

The phenomenon of addictions is quite common in the modern environment. Because of the increasingly rapid pace of globalization and the rise in diversity that it entails, people often have to face the need of adapting toward the standards and traditions of an entirely new community. Severe stress is often a result: “Grief, love, rage, pain – it all came pouring out” (Lau 496). Attempting to managing their emotional issues, people resort to developing addictions, be it a habit related to social interactions, daily routine, or leisure.

Thesis Statement

The addictions that people develop in a hostile environment and the context of the free market not only fail to resolve the emotional issues but also often turn out to be downright harmful. Therefore, there is a need to design the strategy that will help address the identified issue through the enhancement of communication between the newcomer and the community members so that the process of accommodation could be successful.

Addictions and the Environment That Enhances Their Development

Although addictions developed by the people suffering from the stress of being in a new environment are not always harmful in an obvious way, they tend to substitute the actual solution of a problem with escapism. Unfortunately, substance abuse tops the charts of the most common addictions that people develop when moving to a new area and having to build new social connections (Puthenpeedikayil 477).

Furthermore, the specifics of the free market environment make the target demographics even more vulnerable to the threat of developing an addiction. The principles of the free market negotiations and relationships allow for tricking customers into purchasing the items that not only fail to help but also aggravate the situation. Thus, the realm of the free economy can be viewed as detrimental to the wellbeing of immigrants and other people changing their location. Instead of helping people with a relocation issue to develop healthy habits, the free market often offers cheap substitutes for communication (Akerlof and Schiller 86).

More importantly, the popular media that influences people and shapes their buying behavior only makes the situation worse. Instead of helping the identified members of the population face their problems and handle them efficiently, the free market lures them with the promises of a miraculous treatment: ‘Members of free-market societies generally still cherish the hope that free markets will create universal wellbeing” (Alexander & Shaler 231).

Means of Addressing Additions in the Context of an Alien Community

It would be a mistake to consider free markets the epitome of evil, though. Instead, the solutions to the problem need to be sought in the social constraints that prevent immigrants and other people from changing their location from accommodating in the new environment and striving to become a part of the community. Inviting the people that feel alienated from the members of the community to participate in social, economic, and political events can be viewed as the main strategy of assisting the target audience in accommodating a new environment.

Indeed, according to a recent study, “The key to controlling addiction is maintaining a society in which every member is included in a larger community with a sense of meaning and belonging” (Alexander & Shaler 231). Therefore, a very strong emphasis must be placed on providing immigrants and the people that move to other communities with an opportunity to communicate with each other.

It should be noted, though that the identified approach has its problems. First and most obvious, while establishing a connection with people having the same issue might be viewed as somewhat therapeutic in that the members will be able to relate to each other, it will not provide opportunities for integrating into the target community. Therefore, instead of being socially active, the participants will feel even more ostracized (Richer and Levy 401).

Thus, immigrants must consider studying the specifics of the local culture. It is also necessary to help them maintain connections with the representatives of the same culture. Participation in the social activities that all members of the neighborhood will engage in activities will prevent one from going down the slippery slope of substance abuse or becoming a member of a gang (Galenianos and Gavazza 3).

Conclusion: Addictions as a Contemporary Issue That Needs to Be Resolved

When being forced to move to a new environment, people often face the temptation of succumbing to a specific addiction, which means that the issue must be addressed by involving immigrants into the community activities and convincing them to take an active part in them. As a result, the people that were made to move will be able to develop strong connections with their new neighbors. The social interactions, which will become an integral part of the newcomers’ lives, will prevent them from being addicted to substances or undesirable activities, which, in their turn, can be viewed as a cheap substitute for regular social interactions.

It would be wrong to dismiss the positive effect that free markets produce. The subject matter allows for rapid economic growth and, therefore, an increase in the wellbeing of the population. Furthermore, the cooperation between several states involved in free-market relationships deserves to be mentioned among the essential outcomes. Thus, the prerequisites for a cross-cultural conversation are created.

Nevertheless, the fact that free markets contribute to the development of addictions needs to be brought up among the crucial points of concern. Unless a healthy alternative to the free market phenomenon or, at the very least, the strategy that may inhibit its negative effects is identified, the propensity for addictions will become an indispensable characteristic of the global community.

In other words, free markets are not to be viewed as the evil that must be avoided at all costs, especially by the people that move to a new location. Instead, a careful analysis of the benefits that free markets have to offer and the threats that they pose must be carried out. Thus, the threat of getting consumed by addiction will be reduced significantly, and the free market environment will provide a plethora of opportunities for successful communication, particularly, a conversation with the members of the new community.

Works Cited

Akerlof, George A., and Robert J. Schiller. “Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception.” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 19.1 (2016): 85-100.

Alexander, Bruce K., and Stefa Shaler. “Addictions in Free Markets.” Essay Writing for Canadian Students with Readings. Ed. Kay L. Stewart. 6^th ed. Toronto, Canada: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. 229-233.

Galenianos, Manolis, and Alessandro Gavazza. “A Structural Model of the Retail Market for Illicit Drugs.” American Economic Review 1.1 (2016): 1-12.

Lau, Evelyn. “An Insatiable Emptiness.” Reading and Writing Different Kinds of Paragraphs and Essays. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014. 495-500.

Puthenpeedikayil, Sajid. “Notions of Free Market and Social Welfare in Islamic Economics.” Journal of Modern Accounting and Auditing 11.9 (2015): 476-486. Web.

Richer, Kimber P., and Sharon Levy. “Big Marijuana — Lessons from Big Tobacco.” The New England Journal of Medicine 37.13 (2014): 399-401.