Many, many people have a proclivity toward dependencies or even at some point get a bit powerless or at least self-indulgent. But they either abstain or are able to keep it to healthy indulgence. Others might spend some time going a little too far, but either pull up before any consequences, or push further, testing the boundaries...but then snap to sanity after some hand-slaps or losses, maybe big losses. But they can get their head straight, or at least reduce the damage to non-devastation levels.
But people like Nick - the ones who fetishize their charm and cleverness and perceived superhuman powers and specialness, the ones laughing in glee at what they can get away with, the ones who lie and shade and hide as a matter of course and as a way they have gotten by in life, their literal stock-in-trade - those are the ones who never become a good and healthy person. Never.
This is 100% true and facts. Nick believes he's above it all, thus he tells the world to get fucked and drinks. Normal people in his situation might have a rough spell of it, when they take a bite off the forbidden fruit but that's it.
And people like Nick don't even try. The 8th (iirc) step of AA is the biggest crock of shit. As employed, anyway. Yes, absolutely, facing those you harmed and "making amends" is absolutely critical. Problem #1: for people like this, that step is about themselves, unburdening themselves, crossing off a step. Problem #2 (and this is where AA, sponsors, addicts, everyone who supports the program or others like it FAIL): making amends is not words. It's not an apology and some idea about how a destroyer's real or fake humbling or that they are mindful of the pain they caused or that they're sober now or they feel really, really bad about it all. Making amends means making it right. It means paying money stolen or wasted or owed with 5000% interest; it means going out of your way to make those people's lives better in every way you have power to do; it means being forever on your metaphorical fucking knees toward everyone you severely harmed, and doing that in a way that tangibly and constantly benefits the people you tornadoed through and left in rubble. Even if they've recovered on their own, put shit back together before you came so bravely and dutifully apologizing. Because you can never make up for their time or life wasted by you.
But whoa, slow it down a bit. Not everyone who fucked up massively due to alcohol or any other drug is Nick-tier. Many actually hid their problems, did their best to not let them harm anyone else, and even in the case that they did lead to some shit like poverty, career failure it's not that hard to forgive the person.
Many people in those programs are taught self-love, how to forgive themselves,
not having to live on their knees, etc. because, in addition to shit genes, that's what led them to addiction a whole lot of the time. Picture in your mind the typical wigger. They grew up with substance abuse being normal but men showing emotion being deemed a weakness. They probably also got traumatised early in life. At some point it becomes
expected that they'll repeat the cycle, and we shouldn't beat them over the head with an anvil in the event that they get clean and stop. Not only because that'll just lead them to relapse, and relapse harder because they think they have no place anywhere but also because morally it just makes no sense when you think about it.
This kind of thinking is dangerous because it leads people to never really forgive addicts, and if they do say fuck it and relapse because of that they can physically harm their brains beyond recoverability. I agree that consequences should exist, but treating the average dopehead like a pariah has never led to any positive result.
In short, some people have a real reason to have become addicted. That isn't Nick. Nick just chooses this life every single day he wakes up, and
THAT is what makes him contemptible.
