What's more absurd to me is how can people smile, nod and go about their everyday business as their colleagues, friends, and neighbors die early in shallow graves. As if they don't feel disturbed, moved or be affected by killings, social bonds collapsing or having to numb the pain of it all away.

I think this is because this life is all we know. And after years of school shootings, typhoons, earthquakes and the like, sadly, we come to accept that this is part of our world. The shock is less and less with each new disaster...

So why do people in poorer nations are not prone to drug abuse? Because these people are secured. They have preserved their community and cultural values. People in the modern nations who are in dire need of self-medication is just a strong indication of how troubled, traumatic and desperate their lives are, which is just the result of the destructive modern system to its own people.

This is a big topic, but here's my theory. In rich nations, we expect that having will make us happy. And it does, but only briefly. The emptiness that ensures, the desperation for something more real and enduring, is the driver towards abuse and dereliction.