Episode 2532: Mattea Kramer on how Addiction has replaced Apple Pie as the most American of things

Keen On America

Rather than apple pie, addiction might be defining quality of 21st century American life. That, at least, is the view of Mattea Kramer, author of Untended, a contemporary novel about addiction in small town America. She argues that individualistic American capitalism has caused an plague of addiction - in everything from drugs and alcohol to technology and egoism. Kramer sees community as the only real antidote to this addiction epidemic. She connects addiction to broader social issues like economic exploitation and discusses how small-town America has been ravaged by this epidemic and by what she calls “late-stage capitalism”. So how to address this epidemic of addiction in contemporary America? Kramer has no simple fix, but emphasizes the importance of recognizing the humanity in those struggling with addiction and suggests that moral agency and human connection offer hope amid these challenges.

Five Key Takeaways

* American individualism and capitalism create fertile ground for addiction by fostering isolation and disconnection, leading people to seek substances or behaviors that fill this void.

* Addiction extends beyond substances to include work, devices, shopping, and even the pursuit of feeling "special and successful," which Kramer identifies as her family's particular "quintessentially American" addiction.

* The opioid crisis has created intergenerational trauma as children are left "untended" when parents struggle with addiction, perpetuating cycles of harm.

* Stigma surrounding addiction makes recovery more difficult, especially for parents who face amplified shame that prevents them from seeking help.

* Kramer believes reconnecting with our shared humanity and exercising moral agency through compassion offer the best path forward amid societal challenges, rather than focusing solely on individual willpower.

Mattea Kramer is an American writer. She writes about drugs, power and powerlessness, and the voice in your head. She's been published in The Guardian, The Nation, Mother Jones, Guernica, and The Washington Post, and she has appeared on MSNBC and on radio stations across the country. Her first novel The Untended has just been published.

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

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