Addiction Economy
Audio Recording by George Hahn, Illustration and Charts by Shira Seri Levi
Hair of the Dawg
It’s the final day of Dry January. I tried it, didn’t last. I’m now drinking (again) like a Pan Am pilot in the seventies. Anyway, the 22% of U.S. adults who abstained from alcohol this month will get a personality upgrade just in time for the Super Bowl. Ostensibly, the Super Bowl is a contest between the two best football teams, but really it’s a platform for the real economy: the addiction economy. As Matthew McConaughey says in the latest ad from Uber Eats, “the whole game is basically an elaborate scheme to make you buy more food.”
Super Bowl ads are a proxy for the addiction economy, as advertisers for the food industrial complex, beer and alcohol brands, online gambling, crypto, and social media platforms offer you dopa on demand. But there’s a downside to gorging, no? Not to worry, there will also be ads from the medical-pharma industrial complex for products that manage (some of) the damage. Pundits claim we live in an “attention economy.” We don’t. Attention is just a metric for addiction. The addiction economy is broader, encompassing media, technology, alcohol, tobacco, gaming, pharma, and health care.
The Spice
The world’s most valuable resource isn’t data, compute, oil, or rare earth metals; it’s dopa, i.e., the fuel of the addiction economy, which runs the most valuable companies in history. Addiction has always been a component of capitalism — nothing rivals the power of craving to manufacture demand and support irrational margins. Sugar and rum were the dopa-delivery systems and currency of the Triangle Trade. Later, the British East India Company was the Sinaloa Cartel of the 19th century, producing and distributing a product China became addicted to: opium. At its peak in the last century, Big Tobacco acquired customers with TV ads and endorsements from doctors, but the addictive ingredient, nicotine, is how the industry extracts $86k to $195k per customer — and costs those customers $1 million to $2 million in expenditures, opportunity costs, and health-care expenses.
Historically, the most valuable companies turn dopa into consumption. Over the last 100 years, 15 of the top 30 companies by cumulative compound return have been pillars of the addiction economy. The compounders cluster in tobacco (Altria +265,528,900%), the food industrial complex (Coca-Cola +12,372,265%), pharma (Wyeth +5,702,341%), and retailers (Kroger +2,834,362%) that sell both substances and treatments. To predict which companies will be the top compounders over the next century, consider this: Eight of the world’s 10 most valuable businesses turn dopa into attention, or make picks and shovels for these dopa merchants.
A Higher Love
Given a choice, most lab rats will pick sugar over cocaine. They’ll even self-administer electric shocks for a sweet boost. Sugar stimulates our reward system 20x faster than cigarettes. Food companies engineer processed foods, not to maximize nutrition, but to hit the so-called “bliss point” — the exact combination of saltiness, sweetness, and other tastes that makes their product delicious, but not so delicious that consumers feel sated after a small serving. In other words, their food is engineered for more, not nutrition.
The industry profits at the expense of its customers’ health. According to a 2022 meta-analysis, 20% of American adults are addicted to food. Consumption of processed foods raises your mortality rate by 25%. The U.S. has a diabetes epidemic and an adult obesity rate of 40%. Compounding this public health crisis, food companies have a history of purchasing their competitors: diet companies. In 1978, Heinz bought Weight Watchers for $72 million. Unilever paid $2.3 billion for SlimFast in 2000. Nestlé purchased Jenny Craig in 2006 for $600 million. In 2010 the private equity firm that owns Cinnabon and Carvel ice cream purchased Atkins Nutritionals. (Most of these diet brands were later sold.) These acquisitions are akin to Pablo Escobar buying the Betty Ford Center.
Breaking Bad
McDonald’s used to brag, “one billion served.” Considering the history of weight loss and diabetes drugs — desoxyephedrine, fen-phen, metformin, etc. — pharma might just as easily brag, “billions prescribed.” After the food industrial complex makes people sick, we hand them over to the health-care industrial complex to treat the chronic conditions of these lifelong customers.
GLP-1 drugs are the most effective weight loss drugs to date, as they make us feel fuller for longer and suppress hunger cravings by modulating dopa levels. About 12% of U.S. adults have now taken a GLP-1, and the average GLP-1 user spends 11% less on food and beverages. But it’s early days for GLP-1s. Cost remains a barrier, and only one-third of employer health-care plans cover GLP-1s for nondiabetic patients looking to lose weight. Anecdotally, a Bloomberg Businessweek profile of Bowling Green, Kentucky, where 4% of the residents take GLP-1s, tells us that restaurants, grocery stores, health-care providers, gyms, and clothing retailers are all feeling the GLP-1 impact. If 60 million of the roughly 100 million U.S. adults who are obese took the drugs, Goldman Sachs estimates GDP could grow by more than 1%. As their full impact and second-order effects play out, GLP-1s will likely transform the economy.
Smart (Phones) Needles
Some people (smokers) used to reach for a cigarette immediately after finishing a meal; in the movies they’d reach for a cigarette after sex. Today most restaurants are smoke-free, but phones are ubiquitous before, during, and after every meal. We used to pick up a landline (Google it) to “reach out and touch someone.” Now that everyone has a cellphone, we spend 70% less time with our friends than we did a decade ago. We’re addicted to our phones, and even when we’re not seeking our fix, our phones seek us out — notifying us on average 46 times per day for adults and 237 times per day for teens. In college, I spent too much time smoking pot and watching Planet of the Apes, but when I decided to venture on campus, my bong and Cornelius didn’t send me notifications.
The compounders here are in your pocket. Sales of iPhones have made up roughly half of Apple’s revenue since 2009. Of late, the company has rolled out screen time tracking and other anti-addiction tools. Apple’s brand positioning is a bartender opening an AA chapter. Alphabet is incentivized to maximize screen time, as 76% of its revenue comes from targeting eyeballs with advertising. Alphabet is a niche player in the device market, but its Android OS (73% market share) is the perfect gateway drug, as it’s open-source and free.
It took us 20 years to wake up to the danger of opiates, and about the same for the phone. But it is happening. Eighteen states have passed laws restricting the use of phones in school, and roughly three-quarters of schools have policies restricting their use in the classroom. Yondr, a firm that makes locking pouches for phones, has increased sales to schools by 10x since 2021, to $2.1 million.
Anxious & Depressed
When Mark Zuckerberg released a video announcing the end of Facebook’s fact-checking program, Jimmy Kimmel joked that Zuck was “dressed like a molly dealer from Chechnya.” The shoe fits. The difference: MDMA makes you euphoric, while social media makes you anxious and depressed. As my NYU colleague Jonathan Haidt put it, the unconstrained combination of phones and social media has been “the largest uncontrolled experiment humanity has ever performed on its own children.” So far, the results are a mental health crisis: Eight percent of teens are addicted to alcohol or drugs; 24% are addicted to social media.
Fentanyl
Unlike other platforms, TikTok is built around affinities, not the social graph. If chasing likes from our friends is digital heroin, TikTok’s AI is fentanyl. The algorithm rapidly calibrates what triggers a user’s dopa response by feeding them hundreds of videos every hour, turning the user into a blissed-out zombie. According to a lawsuit filed by the Kentucky attorney general, users can become addicted to TikTok within 35 minutes. The same lawsuit cited TikTok’s own research, which stated that “compulsive usage interferes with essential personal responsibilities including sufficient sleep, work/school, and connecting with loved ones.”
Weapons of Mass Addiction
We’re hard-wired for addiction. We’re also wired for conflict, as competing for scarce resources has shaped our neurological system to swiftly detect, assess, and respond to threats — often before we’re aware of them. As technology advances, our wiring makes us more powerful and more vulnerable. We produce dopa monsters at internet speed. We can wage war at a velocity and scale that risks extinction in the blink of an eye.
Our Worst Instincts
Human beings evolved in small, cooperative groups, where loyalty meant survival. This instinct makes us naturally favor in-groups (our people, our nation, our ethnicity) and distrust out-groups (foreigners, outsiders, “the other”). Genocide exploits this instinct by amplifying group identity and dehumanizing outsiders, making mass killing seem justified or even necessary. Violence, repeated, becomes routine. What was unthinkable on Monday becomes “standard procedure” by Friday. Removing the security details of our political adversaries, who are under real threat from foreign enemies, is simply repackaged violence. In sum, it’s Tuesday in America.
80
This week marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviet Army. Our proudest moment, in my view, was America’s role in arresting this genocide, which represents the very worst perversion of human instincts. Now the U.S. risks becoming the font of this abomination. The president has repeatedly said that “immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country.” The world’s richest man is making Nazi gestures and told a far-right group in Germany, “It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything.” Our (worst) instincts remain static — it’s our technology that’s evolving.
Instinct morphing into fear and demonization, coupled with propaganda, rail transport, and Zyklon B gave rise to the largest murder site in history. What might happen if these same instincts take root in a nation with unprecedented industrial might, armed with social media and AI? We need to cauterize this hate. People/bots in the comments section will accuse me of TDS. Have. At. It. The road to fascism is littered with accusations of overreacting. So … color me overreacting. It’s both the correct response, and impossible to overreact.
Never forget,
P.S. This week on Prof G Markets, my co-host Ed Elson and I discussed the Stargate Project, the rise of Oracle, and my stake in La Equidad Football Club. Listen and follow here on Apple or here on Spotify.
P.P.S. This is the last day to get 30% off AI Academy membership with Section, using the code GALLOWAY30. Sign up here.
Smart post Scott- you continue to raise your own very high bar. Keep up the great (and compelling) work.
Thanks for your amazing analysis.
I enjoy so much reading you.
smoking was less bad than phones and social media
Dr Galloway , Highly perceptive and accurate analysis of our rapidly developing culture . Somewhere , I’ve forgotten where , I have suggested that with Chomsky dyeing , whats-his -name buying the LA times, Zuck moving to Trump, Bezos owning the Wash. Post, Musk owning Twitter and talking of buying CBS, and with the NY times and others hiring right wing mouthpieces to “balance” their ” bias” ….that people like your self, Mark Cuban, Jimmy Wales , Nicholas Kristof , Richar Reich , and some of the many journalists who have resigned or been fired by the movement of the media to accommodate the MAGA wave , should link together to found a media organization dedicated to pursuing and sharing truth, and educating the population , and which would be not for sale , funded by possibly Soros , B. Gates , M Gates, Powel Jobs , maybe even Buffet , etc.
How much of this content that we are addicted to is driving a wage between us and our neighbors? Polarizing left-leaning content for some and polarizing right-leaning content for others. The content is so compelling that many in the comments here on this page are simply parroting what their favorite “news” source is telling them. Yikes. It’s pretty ugly. I hope we can figure a way past it.
Here’s to some adult conversation moving forward.
I could get addicted to the Prof. G. dopa. Whenever I read or listen to the well informed, straight-from-the-hip, tell-it-like-it-is content… I want more. I need more!
Kidding aside, I do enjoy your content and perspective.
How do I sign up for this newsletter?
Great to see !!!!
“This week on Prof G Markets, my stake in La Equidad Football Club.”
TDS people have 100% hate & vitriol for Trump 24/7 but 0% hate for people that have lied to them.
It’s the weirdest thing.
The media straight up lied about Biden’s mental condition for 4+ years.
Biden was a mess from Day One. Can’t talk, can’t get names right, falling asleep at funerals, falling down stairs, falling off bikes, sniffing children, defecating in his pants in public.
And the media all insisted Biden was sharp as a tact.
4+ years of the media punking us with this Weekend at Bernie’s scam.
And when they get caught lying to us nothing happens.
Liberals aren’t even mad about it.
And that was Your Media, Your People, Your Team lying to you.
Doesn’t that bother you people?
“Exposure to true information does not matter anymore. A person who is demoralized is unable to assess true information. The facts tell him nothing, even if I shower him with information, with authentic proof, with documents and pictures … he will refuse to believe it … That’s the tragedy of the situation of demoralization.” Yuri Bezmenov
Facinating that you’re worried about us being lied to when Trump is virtually INCAPABLE of telling the truth.
You hate Trump. That’s your Prime Directive. I get it.
Your job was to make sure Trump lost the election.
And you failed.
Miserably.
And a HUGE part of that defeat was because the media lied to you for 4+ years about Biden’s mental capacity.
Don’t you feel angry at the media for massively gaslighting you for 4+ years and sabotaging your efforts to defeat Trump?
Aren’t you mad at yourselves for being so gullible for believing them all this time?
We’ve been saying for years that there is something CLEARLY WRONG with Biden.
We were right.
You were wrong.
Don’t you feel like a gullible fool that believes everything the media tells you?
“Biden is sharp as a tact!”
“Biden got 81M votes!”
“The entire planet needs to go under house arrest because someone ate a bat in a wet market in China!”
You people keep getting punked over and over again, you’re made fools on the world stage over and over again, YOUR OWN TEAM is lying to you and laughing at you and your only response is “Yeah, well Trump ….”
This is the tragedy of demoralization.
Normally you end with “life is so rich”. Why not in this case?
NEVER FORGET, enough said
Obviously, because of the immediate importance and relevance of the subject…
I read your column every week and respect your perspective on many issues.
Your partisanship blurs your objectivity on Trump. I agree – Trump is a bad guy. His instincts are confounding. But – (everything important comes after the “but”) there was a binary decision that had to be made.
Harris was such an incompetent, poor candidate it was rumored insiders were evaluating if she could be dropped from the ticket in early 2024. Let’s all stop pretending – Biden was showing signs of cognitive decline in 2020 – and of course, it accelerated. Harris not only helped cover up her boss’s increasing dementia – she signed up to do a repeat! Sure – I get the personal ambition element for her – but participating in this charade is inexcusable.
Two really bad candidates to choose from. The choice was not between the lesser of two evils – but whom you believed to be the most destructive.
We can only hope we get through Trump’s worst inclinations in the next four years – along with some good ideas. In the end – sure Trump is no bargain – but advocacy for Harris was not the answer and had the potential to be much worse.
I agree the 2024 POTUS election gave us terrible choices. And we all know how much the Democrats shot themselves in the foot.
I profoundly disagree, however, that Harris “had the potential to be much worse” than DJT.
Harris was/is a politician’s politician right down to her toenails. DJT is a fascist. Comparing the two, and somehow deciding she would be the worse choice, is a feat of mental gymnastics that requires ignoring nearly everything Trump said during the campaign.
None of what has happened since the inauguration should be the least little bit surprising. Trump may be a congenital liar, but when someone shows you, repeatedly, exactly who they are, believe them.
Well said , when it comes to the orange asshole, nearly anyone standing upright and breathing would have done less damage that this pos wanna be dictator will do
Hi Scott. Huge fan of yours. I reference you all the time, and encourage others to seek out your writings and books. Having said that, I was saddened to read your last couple of paragraphs. I agree with you in general that Trump is a piece. I have never liked him since the ’80’s. How he got to where he is will always be an embarrassment for our country. And I’m no fan of Elon, either.
However, hasn’t Elon’s photo of the Nazi Salute been widely panned as a photo-shop type situation meant to elicit clicks, to which the hardcore left has captured it as “truth”? Obviously, I don’t know you personally, but I kind of thought you were above getting caught up in something so easy to see through.
And, the constant comparison’s to Hitler and Nazi’s is so tired by now. Maybe come up with something more apt, like McCarthyism. Do you really think we are on a pathway to concentration camps and death for millions? I am the first to say we are a country of immigrants, and continued immigration from our Southern border is incredibly important for our future, but some sort of control needs to be created and put in place, don’t you agree? I’m sure I will get blasted for my comments, but I wrote this in the slim hopes that you read these notes. I remain a big fan, but I also hope you can see through the media B.S. that has succeeded in making a wide swath of our country crazy in the name of creating clicks.
Trump announced this past week his plans to turn Gitmo into a 30,000-vacancy “camp” for detainees. You might call it a “holiday” camp. I call it a concentration camp.
Charlie,
I know It’s hard to admit you’ve been swindled, but it was on video man . It’s not Photoshop.
Don’t reject the evidence that your eyes are telling you.
Scott – I think your warning is spot on. If you look at Germany after WW1 (I’m sure you have), people were split into many groups – catholic, protestant- city, country – rich, poor…and nobody was happy with the existing government. The one big difference is that they had just had their national pride badly hurt by losing the war. And many were upset by the reparations. But your warning is well taken
As always, clear, insightful and this time even more frightening than usual.
How do we break out of this addiction? Get more eyeballs on what’s happening instead of creating alternative realities as outlets from IRL.
YES. Keep talking and writing Scott. No one is talking about these real threats as clearly as you. Dopa is driving the train of media addiction, otherwise no one would have voted for the 78 year old unhinged rapist.
thanks to you for having the courage to sound the alarms – on all fronts!!
Prof G I have wanted to learn from you so badly, but I can’t take the pompous, sanctimonious TDS anymore. I’m unsubscribing as of today.
Debbie,
Maybe it’s time to admit that you’ve been swindled. When the entire world is telling you that this man is a danger to humanity, believe them. They’ve seen people like him before. Ask yourself: why do only our enemies support him?
The US Chamber of Commerce website says there are 8.1 million vacant jobs in this country, and even if the 6 million residents on unemployment suddenly all started working, that still leaves more than 2 million vacant. We need immigrants to fill jobs in the USA and those who consider themselves the losers in the digital economy and blame immigrants don’t want to do those jobs either.
My great-grandfather was a highly educated Latin teacher in Ireland, but came to Chicago and was glad to get a job in a plumbing factory where he raised his family, who moved ahead by generation with birthright citizenship. The American system for integrating immigrants and turning them into Americans works — and Trump is trashing it.
Long time reader/listener. Spot On . The comments section reflects the election results of putting a convicted felon and insurrectionist in charge. My only hope is our Institutions survive this “grabbing em ( America) by the pussy because I’m rich( Trump and President Musk) and famous!
Thanks Scott. New reader, discovery addict and presynaptic thinker in a postsynaptic quandary.
Eeyore might agree to drink and be happy especially if the sky is falling, right?
limbic capitalism
When Ozempic is in the water supply– soon hopefully– then addiction will be fueled and fed but by less quantity. EAT more SLOWLY. Think caviar– a perfect dish for the game. EAT it fast and you need lots of dough ( a pun). .
Scott, longtime fan here. Your article is too important to ruin with your dishonest Nazi comment.
How is it dishonest? Lay your arguments Ross.
Ross, Do you know what the AFD is ?
I’ve had it. Used to enjoy your writing but getting sick of the leftist propaganda. I thought businesses had finally realized that alienating half/any of your customer base is not a wise move. I’m out. Unsubscribe me.
Thanks for your great addition to the conversation, Mike. Kthxbye
Why do MAGAs feel the need to proclaim they’re leaving an audience? It’s like going to the airport, getting on the PA, and yelling that you’re not gonna fly to Chicago. Who cares?
Mike, Didn”t you know the truth has a leftist bias ?
Would love to see the outrage displayed about our kids with social media turned on the adults in the room. If it’s bad for them, isn’t it bad for us too? Shouldn’t the adults be leading the way in practicing how to consume information and engage in our communities? Instead we’ve elected a person who excels in utilizing media and social platforms to manipulate and anger Americans. Would’ve been great if Haidt focused on that, but I guess money talks for him too.
“The world’s richest man is making Nazi gestures . . . .”
What an incredibly ignorant thing to say.
If it walks like a duck, and it talks like a duck, and it salutes like a Nazi, and it praises the far right party in Germany … methinks your ignorance arrow needs to turn 180 degrees.
Scott, I’m a years long subscriber who loves your work and reads it religiously, despite the fact that I often disagree with your political views. It’s your column, and supporting particular candidates or legislation is your right. Alienating a certain percentage of readers is inevitable in opinion writing, and with your popularity, doing so bears little cost. When I disagree with something you’ve written I just look past it. However, this week there is something egregiously dishonest. Despite how much some people hate him, there is literally no one, including yourself, that truly believes that Elon Musk made a Nazi gesture. The entire controversy has been fabricated as rage bait. The fact that you are deliberately fueling the fire when you regularly rail against others who do so is disappointing, especially to those of us that view you as honest and sincere. You devote much of this column and many others to the harms of phones and invented outrage, and then intentionally stoke the outrage in a piece that will largely be read on phones. We all make mistakes, but this is a striking lack of self awareness, if not outright malice. No indignant threat to cancel my subscription here, just a simple request to do better (see above about bearing little cost). No Mercy/No Malice.
We shouldn’t believe our lying eyes? This is utterly preposterous. Neo-Nazis believe this was a Nazi gesture, which is a pretty solid litmus test for Nazi gestures. It’s very easy to not do things that are easily mistaken for Nazi gestures, most of us do it all day. It’s truly saddening to hear someone excuse this as anything but utterly disqualifying behavior for a person that has been given effectively unlimited access and oversight to the executive branch of the government.
Ridiculous. The fact that neo-Nazis or anyone else would co-opt a clearly innocent gesture to support their cause says nothing about Musk or his intentions. By this measure you’re equating Scott with neo-Nazis; both are intentionally misinterpreting the gesture. Because I’m a long time reader of Scott and I respect his overall body of work, I choose to view this piece as careless rather than nefarious. He’s a smart guy and he can do better. No Mercy/No Malice.
On, COME ON. A “clearly innocent gesture”? Not even you believe that hype. Musk is an Afrikaans. Believe me when I tell you he knew exactly what that gesture was, and did it TWICE so no one would miss the point. Except you.
Jon, Do you know what the AFD is ? Read about it on Wikipedia…Not Breitbart.
Well said. Elon has gone to the dark side. We need to resist and oppose anything and everything he and his cohort of goons stand for. In the name of all those patriots who gave their lives so that we could binge and doom-scroll our way to oblivion. Wake up world. The 1930s are back and we have another job to do.
Prof Galloway is a TDS addicted half wit. Trump boldly appoints RFK jr to begin the battle against addictive and deadly substances in the US food and pharma supply, and theTDS addicted Galloway likens Trump And Musk to Nazis embarking on the next extermination horror. Galloway, you’re a fraud and jackass.
Look in the mirror if looking for a fraud and jackass.
The author certainly has severe TDS.
The gesture was projected onto the Tesla building in Berlin and distributed through social media. It is a criminal offence to distribute physical and/or verbal references to Nazi ideology in Germany and the German justice department is pursuing the projection under that law. I would think the Germans would recognise a Nazi salute when they see one. Maybe you should think what it is that you are addicted to.
Hey, Adolf, nobody asked you to drop by. And yet, here you are. If Mr. Galloway is a “fraud and a jackass”, why are you wasting your time here? Go play in traffic.
Excellent article, as usual.
All good until the last paragraph. We may want to like our neighbours but not of they insist on barging into our homes and demanding to be fed and clothed. Its their problem in their own home and they need deal with it.
It’s not that simply my friend. Please read a little history to understand how we are connected, and see who barged into who’s home first. Walls are for the weak. Kindness comes from strength.
Another great read but it does leave me feeling more than a little helpless. All the addictions mentioned seem just to be another step in our increasingly technological world. I do not live in the US and fortunately here some of those addictions are less powerful, although the cellphone, Meta and TikTok are killing it worldwide. Don’t see any rational fixes for these complex issues – too much money at stake.
I realize that conservatives demonize where I live: Seattle. However, despite our many urban problems, the “multiculturalism horse” has already left the barn here. I attend events at the public high schools where my grandkids attend. I see every shade of skin color and features that often show multiple racial and ethnic backgrounds. I also see the typical teen styles in everything from hair to shoes. Some are shy while others are loud and bodacious. They also tease and flirt and “hang” with their buds. But these social interactions have nothing to do with their racial or ethnic backgrounds. They are just kids trying on roles and preparing for adulthood. It gives me hope.
Thought provoking article as always Scott. My only real complaint: can we stop saying “dopa”? Dopamine is a perfectly good word and shortening it to dopa feels like trying too hard.
Fistbump to you, amigo. I don’t know what you’re smoking but … keep sparking ’em. You only forgot to call out the zombie industry – advertising – that greases the wheels of addiction.
For a moment there, I thought you’d come to your senses and finally found empathy for the genocide of Palestinian people… next time (maybe).
I had the same hope and disappointment. That conflict hurts me so much, I become nauseous and I have nightmares. I feel totally powerless.
Jon, Don’t worry, Trump is going to deport all Palestinians from Gaza to new lands , funded by Saudi Arabia , etc, where they can live in peace.
Be careful about rat studies. Rats are social creatures, and most drug studies test rats locked in metal cages – think solitary confinement in the worst prisons! Of course they drug themselves to death.
Google “rat park drug study” (there’s a wikipedia page) to learn what happens when rats are offered drugs in a natural, social environment – they don’t want them!
Great read, but……
Let’s us not forget that liberals have killed far more than zyklon B with abortion. And you/they still vote for, and support that culture of death. It makes no sense to me how one can talk about the possibility of another nazi Germany all while currently supporting one.
Let’s not forget that right wingers are dishonest trash.
Spot on.
Gee, thanks for volunteering to take in all the children born to unwed mothers across the U.S.A. You must have a real big house!
Fantastic as always Scott but don’t invest in R*ngers ffs, invest in a club in Scotland that have supporters love the club with all their being, go 6 miles west of Govan, love Paisley and buy the glorious Paisley Brazillians aka St Mirren FC!
As always-a thought provoking article. Alarming-but great!. Scott- you’re the Wayne Gretzky of trend observation (as you see the Ice differently than most) John Hyman’s reader comments on the Drug Industry are spot on! Watching CNN commercial breaks on the weekend is often like watching a king-sized Drug infomercial these days…Keep making us Think–that’s your Special Purpose.
A great way to avoid constantly thinking about food, is to plan ahead what you are going to eat, and have it on hand ready for when you need the meal. That’s an Arthur Brooks one.
If you do something for 30 days, you create a habit and can likely keep doing it for life. That’s why fast food campaigns want you to come back and buy on many occasions to enter their competition. They want you to create a habit where they are the fix.
Young adult (22) here. Yes, we do read Scott’s newsletter. These statistics are harrowing if not horrifying. As if the obesity crisis wasn’t bad enough when I was born. Unrestricted internet and social media access makes you stupid (or, to use the medical term, tired and depleted). When you are made stupid, you consume more overprocessed products (“eat more food”) almost sounds like a misnomer. This makes your health worse and the cycle kicks off. It’s terrible, and they know exactly what they’re doing, a great and unprecedented abuse of human faculties and biology. But I have faith. Please keep spreading the word.
Technology is a drug but we don’t have to let it be that way. Read a book, go for a walk, talk to a friend. Kill your phone. Resist. Sit and think. Lead by example. It doesn’t have to be this way and we all know it.
You sir are the dopa. Just can’t quit you.
Amen to that brother!
Too many are whistling past the grave yard. I heard it from Mr. Reed this morning.
Powerful stuff, Scott. When you’re defending humanity with truth there is no overreaction.
Scott you are a gifted writer. I do enjoy most of your stuff. The phone and social media you are spot on. But the sheer hatred that you have for Trump and Musk colors your opinions and makes you look like a beaten, sore loser that needs a therapist. I’m sure you already have one of those though. America is on the right path…give them a chance and quit the nazi BS! I thought you were smarter than that.
Steve, Scott is vastly smarter than you, with your utterly dishonest comment.
I do not always agree with Scott. However, he provides context that signals where we are headed if we do not push back and speak out.
People are addicted to crucifying Trump.
There are deeply psychological reasons for this that you will never ever be able to address or fix in a post.
Hating on Trump is a drug for some people and you can spot the junkies that can’t let it go from a mile away.
“Raging against Trump is a powerful (and fun) drug” – Tarlov
Galloway writing a post about addiction and has to take a few moments to do a few lines / take a few shots at Trump, Musk, and whomever else he’s been programed to hate on this week.
Watch.
These people can not stop.
This is their crack cocaine.
It used to be a very fashionable drug, everyone was doing it, but as time goes on it’s not going to remain trendy and people are going to start acting with disgust towards all these Faces of Meth losers.
Just watch.
No, Numbers, that’s grossly stupid and dishonest, as always with right wingers.
You just keep telling yourself that it’s the liberals who are the problem. In the meantime, in DJT’s first three weeks he’s tossed the Billl of Rights under the bus (14 amendment), tried (quite illegally) to stop grants and other payments voted for in Congress, gone through the FBI looking for there poor saps who were assigned to investigate him, blamed Biden for an air tragedy that happened on his watch, treated our two closest allies like shit, and thrown immigrants guaranteed asylum from Venezuela back to suffer persecution that 2nd time around. What a fine, outstanding statesman Donald Trump is.
You have to admit it’s stupid of Musk to use the Nazi gesture so blatantly. He could easily have devised something ”fresh” – like extending his left arm instead of his right. But then, he never had to. He knows most Trump voters can’t see the pattern anyway.
The Nazis can see it and they’ve been very vocal about how it pleases them.
True. It’s nothing I ever wished for, but now that nazism is taking over the White House we get a chance to live through a similar development to what put them in power in Germany in the 1930s = why didn’t everybody just say ”stop”!?
In the case of USA 2025, I would say capitalism has come to a point where it is biting its own ass: 53% of the population now believe that people exist to serve money rather than vice versa – and at any cost.
We invented money and government to serve the people.
@Trump & @Musk: Your serve.
I am hugely glad to hear Scott comment on Trump because he is a serious risk and danger to America’s economy, security and future.
America cannot achieve anything by itself, it can only do it with partners who believe that America’s government is making decisions based on sound judgement. There is nothing remotely sound or intelligent about Trump, he is a ignorant, belligerent corrupt fool. The other day Trump said Spain was part of the BRICS. It’s not, it’s in the EU and a US ally. Spain is a member of NATO, which is America’s most important security partnership.
I am thinking US security services will give Trump six months in office, long enough for MAGA voters to realise his decisions are causing inflation, and then find a way to take him out.
I do not make this comment lightly!
And how many of your kin were murdered at Auschwitz?
Another phenomenal post, Scott, thank you!
You are a personal hero of my Scott. So proud you have taken your talents to making the world a more informed and decent place. You are brutally honest and brave. Thank you.
Nailed it.
The subject could be “Better techniques for Rose Pruning” and I am confident you would wind up warning about the dangers of Trump and the US “right”’ (i.e. people against genital mutilation and chemical castration of their children, rampant antisemitism on campuses, weaponized legal processes, media interference by the executive branch(the latter 2 being hallmarks of Stalinism/fascism you choose) and attempted assassinations). The biggest lesson from WW2 was that the German people were driven into Hitler’s arms because of the humiliating and unworkable Treaty of Versailles and even more by then threat of Stalinism, which was taking place just a few hundred miles away, which at the time did seem like the worst ideology ever to be adopted by man. Your fears of Trump are pretty overblown dare I say hysterical, but make no mistake there is no Trump with Obama and Biden and Harris et al. Fail to understand and address that at your peril.
I’m pretty sure that the biggest lesson from WWII (not that it was entirely new news) is that human beings can be led to do terrible things to other human beings under the right circumstances, and that sociopathic, narcissistic leaders can take advantage of this to create those circumstances leading to the slaughter of millions of innocent people. Nothing that “came before” excused the atrocities of WWII Nazi Germany, and nothing his predecessors did or did not do will excuse any of Trump’s abuses and those of his followers.
I certainly hope that Trump evolves into a more empathetic, informed and thoughtful leader in his second term – but none of the chaos, cruelty or mindboggling flip-flopping I’ve seen in these first 2 weeks makes me optimistic on that front.
All right wingers are fundamentally dishonest, you especially George.
Yes, you were “driven into Trump’s arms” by Joe Biden, Oh, how you suffered under the Biden administration. Poor MAGA.
My grey matter is in sync with your postings yet my budget isn’t. A donation works for me. At this time I just can’t afford you yet I can’t afford not to follow you.
I’ve been screaming for years now “History is repeating” and now trump/musk Migrants are just the new Jews, gays and Catholics
So, as a Jew, I find comparing Jewish Europeans, living legally in Europe for at least a thousand years, with cartel-smuggled gangbangers, terrorists and otherwise illegal immigrants to be extremely offensive. So, as a Jew, comparing Jewish Europeans, living legally in Europe for at least a thousand years, with cartel-smuggled gangbangers, terrorists and otherwise illegal immigrants is offensive. Keep my people’s name out of your stupid mouth. my people’s name out of your stupid mouth.So, as a Jew, I find comparing Jewish Europeans, living legally in Europe for at least a thousand years, with cartel-smuggled gangbangers, terrorists and otherwise illegal immigrants to be extremely offensive. It is like saying if you abhor the murder of my 4 year old twin uncle and aunt on Mengele’s table, you should also abhor the execution of John Wayne Gacy. Keep my people’s name out of your stupid mouth.
Edited: So, as a Jew, I find comparing Jewish Europeans, living legally in Europe for at least a thousand years, with cartel-smuggled gangbangers, terrorists and otherwise illegal immigrants to be extremely offensive. It is like saying if you abhor the murder of my 4 year old twin uncle and aunt on Mengele’s table, you should also abhor the execution of John Wayne Gacy. Keep my people’s name out of your stupid mouth.
George, as an ethical Jew I find you and your extraordinary dishonesty to be extremely offensive.
Yeah, George is the kind of asshole who always, ALWAYS has to get in the last word. He”l be up at 3 a.m. this morning making sure of it.
George, you translated “migrants” into “cartel-smuggled gangbangers, terrorists and otherwise illegal immigrants”. You are pathetic racist scum and an insult to all ethical Jews.
I thought the value of something was based on scarcity. Dopa, or the means to bring it on, are abundant. I agree that it is powerful, and we are addicted to anything that leads to a hit, but I question its actual value.
All that said, or written, thank you for what you do. I appreciate your honesty and insight. People who are so open and give so freely are in short supply.
99% of the time, when someone says “I thought …”, it amounts to a profession of ignorance uttered with a sense of superiority.
Even in pure market terms, *cost* is based on the intersection of supply and demand, and demand is based on value. (e.g., pictures created by children smearing feces on paper are uncommon but don’t fetch a lot)
Wonderful insights Scott. While we are at the us/them continuum we shouldn’t ever forget the two Bombs that were dropped on Japan. Although not the scale of Auschwitz, it was horror non the less. Looking in the mirror is always more difficult but helps us deepen our distrust of our present political environment. After visiting Auschwitz this summer I am happy to report that thousands of people a day visit there to bear witness. Lastly, Hitler rose to power with 43% of the vote in Germany. He was appointed in January 1933, by March 1933 the German Congress passed the Enabling Act giving him the ability to do whatever he deemed necessary to the country, even if it violated the German Constitution. The US Supreme Court came very close to that this past summer and our Congress is ready to support Trump to the end.
“Hitler rose to power with 43% of the vote in Germany.”
This is mistaken. Members of the Nazi Party running for the Bundestag received a total of 37% of the popular vote, but Hitler never received such a number.
This commentary is so “right on,” to use the slang of the ‘60’s. The worst thing in my opinion is the time suck that these addictions take. With more time I can hope that more people would take that time to understand some aspects of our very complex world and even more importantly take action to explore remedies to the myriad problems. Here’s an example. Last night I listened to presenters to my very local environmental group that works to preserve and improve an urban creek watershed. They have had many small successes despite every government agency putting up road blocks. I can guarantee the members do not put their time into social media, podcasts and streaming even though I suspect some will watch the Super Bowl with family and friends and maybe imbibe a bit. For them that is a unique time to indulge because the rest of their precious non work time is spent on things that affect our community and our world.
I am a guy in my 7th decade. I suffer from more than one of these addictions (sugar, attention). My shame comes from having lived a majority of my decades without these things. I had others of course. I smoked tobacco for 14 years and I made my high school varsity bong team. Those I put away more than 3 decades ago. So I know how to drop a habit. IDK – confession over.
Scott, you rant about the addiction economy, but let’s be real—you sell attention for a living. Your entire brand thrives on the same principles you criticize. You run a media business, pump out viral rants, and optimize engagement just like the platforms you call out.
The irony? If you were truly against this system, you’d log off, kill the algorithm, and walk away from the dopamine factory. No social media, no engagement hacks, no corporate gigs. But you don’t. Instead, you weaponize the same tactics you condemn—outrage, virality, and attention economics—to sell your books, newsletters, and NYU classes.
All that said, I enjoy reading your rants, so I guess I’m just as “addicted” as you.
Be careful not to confuse “attention” with “addiction.” Scott doesn’t sell addiction. He sells information, thought leadership and an informed point of view, all expressed in his own unique and penetrating style. If the quality of what he does encourages his readers to develop a habit — which is different from an addiction — of listening to what he has to say, then he’s doing his job well, not to mention serving the greater good.
The worst thing Scott could do would be to pack up shop and say “I won’t participate, I won’t contribute.” Engagement is honorable and takes courage. The converse is also true.
BQS4, you rant about Scott, but let’s be real–you’re a wretched dishonest hypocritical git.
I am not a bot!
Mostly I think you are bang on – as usual – but I think you could have gone a big step further. Man has always been susceptible to pleasure/addictions. Until WWII self-control was considered a virtue essential for survival. Now we have been trained to ignore/avoid responsibility for our own actions. How can it possibly be virtuous to create a drug that will cure a disease that your pals created? Oh yes, the shareholders will love it – they can afford it – are you one? This gets back to primary school education, parents driving kids to school who need that exercise because they live in a suburb that makes them car dependent – a drug in itself. You get my drift. Thank you.
Hey Scott,
I like the post but disliked the ending. It seems much to do about nothing. It seems like it’s not even your words, just what you feel like needs to be said because of your in-group identity. Very phony and inauthentic vibes.
Life is so rich. Thanks for the meat or the article, but not the conclusion.
It’s impossible for Scott to write a column without his terminal TDS surfacing.
George, it’s impossible for you to write anything without demonstrating that you’re a stupid ignorant lying fascistic fecal stain on humanity.
I absolutely agree with you I think his comments about Elon Musk are ridiculous and unlike him and I think his fear pedaling suggests that he does in fact have TDS please look in the mirror Scott you’re brilliant you’re rich but it seems like you have a little bit of TDS my friend
Any American who is not scared shitless right now is an absolute fool.
Since are talking about addiction and Rats, your readers may be interested in knowing about “Rat Park”, a series of experiments conducted on Rats and Addiction where the Rats were not kept in cages, and in fact, were studied in a ‘spacious park’ replete with plentiful resources. Tl;dr .. the experiment results claim that Rats were able to wean themselves off morphine when placed in Rat Park after being force-addicted in a cage. When given the choice of morphine laced water or water, Rats in Rat Park chose water and not water laced with morphine (the choice of caged Rats). Cortisol, DHEA, Serotonin, and Dopamine. As individuals if we’re able to understand the interplay then there’s the ability to break free from the cycle, or else, we’re just another statistic.
Nice piece. A suggestion: don’t be like other people. Ever. The first time I tried this was in Vietnam when I determined in advance not to drink or have other bad substances so as to be fully aware every minute. I was lucky to be with a handful of great companions who had the same view. From time to time in following years I drank too much and didn’t always eat properly but periods of no bad habits became more frequent and longer, helped by a wonderful woman (a famous feminist) who encouraged me. Good habits give you a huge edge and it has brought me to age 80 with none of the health problems that shorten lives. Think of it as a personal war against bad stuff and the boring annoying people who tempt you to dull yourself against them. I don’t use gadgets much either, and have learned that it takes only a one minute perusal to get all there is to know from the NY Times and Wapo. Have to say I read your work all the way through.
Fantastic comment and perspective. At 61, I agree wholeheartedly. And thank you for your service and sacrifice.
Great article but I find it odd you overlooked the pharmaceutical industry. Between January and August 2024, the true MVP of TV spending, Big Pharma, dished out a casual $3.4 billion on ads. That’s an 8 percent increase from last year—because why waste money curing diseases when you can funnel it into 15-second clips of smiling actors enjoying imaginary side-effect-free lives?
Take this shocking revelation: in 2022 alone, the top ten drug companies shelled out $10 billion on advertising—a jaw-dropping figure designed not to save lives, but to shove smiling actors and sunsets into your living room. Meanwhile, they insist sky-high prescription costs are mandatory to fund their groundbreaking discoveries (spoiler alert: it seems “groundbreaking” includes cutesy jingles and talking puppies in their commercials).
Lastly, were you aware that the United States is one of only two countries (shoutout to New Zealand!) where direct-to-consumer drug advertising is even allowed? Lucky us! Because who doesn’t love being guilted into demanding a medication they can’t afford thanks to what amounts to pharmaceutical propaganda?
Eh? He mentioned pharma throughout the piece … did you actually read it?
Excellent piece, Scott.
Thank you…..I needed that!
Good one this week! I almost always learn a little. These posts are becoming… habit-forming. 😉
True dat, boss. Still, if Capitalism is addiction based, then please write about the 12 step program to get us clean and sober.
Good newsletter I just feel like Scott needs to push himself a bit to go out and experience some Blue Collar connections. Go have coffee with some truckers, go hang out at his Mechanics shop, there is more to the world the companies that advertise at the super bowl.