Theres The Rub

IT TAKES AN ADDICT

GLORIA Macapagal-Arroyo's decision to don the robes of anti-drugs
czar is an inspired one. At least in one respect, which is that she
is in the best position to spot an addict, even if she is not in the
best position to do something about it. The logic is simple, and
brilliant. It takes a thief to catch a thief; it takes an addict to
catch an addict.

GMA is an addict as much as the addicts she proposes to hunt down because:

An addict is someone who is hooked on drugs like shabu, cocaine,
Ecstasy and the like. Forget marijuana, or doobie or jute as it's
referred to these days, that shouldn't be in the list of dangerous
drugs. Its inclusion merely replicates the banning of alcohol during
the days of Prohibition in the United States, which succeeded only in
producing moonshine and the Mafia. Alcohol and cigarettes are
arguably far more dangerous, for the health of both the user and
those around him, alcohol in particular having been known to induce
violence and mayhem among barkadas. But I'll leave the groups
proposing that marijuana be legalized to argue for it.

To go back: An addict is someone who is hooked on mind-altering
substances and can't get rid of them. The drugs have consumed them,
and they cannot live without them. When they cannot get their fix,
they shake and convulse violently, and look as though they are going
to die, which they probably will without it.

GMA is someone who is hooked on the drugs called Power and Pillage.
They are the most mind-altering substances of all, and the most
dangerous as testified to by all the oppressed peoples of the world.

The addiction to Pillage is easy to see, the World Bank itself saying
the Philippines has become one of the most corrupt countries in Asia,
if not the most corrupt, under her watch. Truly, you have to wonder
at the enslaving effects of addiction. How much money do you really
need to be happy? Or how much of that loot can she and her family use
in 10 lifetimes? While a nation grovels in hunger: I still remember
the street kids that looked at the display window of a tailoring shop
and dreamt of owning the basketball T-shirts displayed there. The one
is to other as cause is to effect. Yet it is in the nature of
addiction to want more because of the sheer pleasure­no, the sheer
ecstasy­of having more.

The addiction to Power is even easier to see. After having ruled the
longest among those who came after Marcos, and without once having
been voted to power­at least Marcos was voted twice before he became
dictator­she wants to rule some more. Shabu only lasts a day or so
after sending its user on a power trip. This drug has lasted for
eight years now, going on nine, without any trace of wearing off. It
isn't just remarkable for its long-term effects, it is remarkable for
its intense ones. Shabu makes the user think he is the devil's spawn,
Power makes the user think she was sent here by God. Shabu makes the
user think he can do everything, Power makes the user think she can
do anything.

When GMA cannot get her fix, she shakes and convulses violently as
though she is about to die, which she probably will without it.

An addict will go to any lengths to get his fix. He will lie, cheat
and steal to get it.

He will lie about his addiction, swearing before others he does not
take drugs and will never take drugs. Sometimes, he can get away with
it because he is able to look normal and go about his daily functions
routinely while getting the daily fix. Most other times, he doesn't
particularly care whether he is believed or not, the level of his
indifference or contempt for other people's opinion of him reaching
stratospheric heights. That is particularly true of the latter stages
of the addiction, when the user becomes a little more crazed and
desperate and all veneer of normality and respectability disappears.

An addict will cheat his partner in life and partners in business,
taking money from the family's budget for food, ripping off friends,
reneging on contracts. And he will steal anything and everything to
get the money to get the fix. Nothing is too low to stoop down to,
nothing is too high a price to pay. It's a life of the damned, but
one that makes everybody else miserable.

GMA will go to any lengths to get her fix. She will lie, cheat and
steal to get it.

She has lied about her addiction, swearing before the world she is
not taking Power and will never take Power. To prove that she said
she would not run in 2004, and says she will not extend her term with
Charter change. She did not do the first and will not do the second.
Sometimes she is able to look normal and able to go about her daily
routine, which is not hard if you are constantly away trying to look
like a global statesperson. Most other times, she doesn't
particularly care whether she is believed or not, the level or her
contempt for her people's contempt of her reaching stratospheric
heights. That was true from the very start but has gotten so much
worse today, when she has become more crazed and desperate. Truly,
Power is the most brain-addling substance of all.

Feel free to supply the cheating and stealing. My column is limited
to only a thousand words.

An addict will not only deny his addiction, he will go on to accuse
other people of it. GMA does not just deny she is addicted to Power,
she accuses everybody else of it. Specifically, she accuses the
"presidentiables" and the opposition of it, charging them with being
power-mad and politicking while Rome burns or this country goes to
hell. She has even appointed herself anti-drugs czar, pointing to
others as the addicts she will obliterate from the face of this earth.

An addict will let the world crumble to dust first before he goes
without a fix.

You think she won't?