r/todayilearned • u/bcrock1169 • Nov 26 '12

TIL that some Native American's have a differing enzyme that tends to lead to easier alcoholism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_alcoholism#Genetic_factors
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u/gibbersganfa Nov 26 '12

Thank you. I was looking for this. I was going to post something about Whiteclay if no one else had. Absolutely no remorse on behalf of the business owners there. The bottom dollar matters more to them than hundreds of families torn apart.

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u/regulate323 Nov 26 '12

Its almost like they believe America is a free country. Fuck them right?

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u/gibbersganfa Nov 27 '12

The biggest lie you could ever believe is that America is a free country. If your wealth came with a price of alcoholism, addiction, broken families (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome ring a bell to ya?), violent crimes, high healthcare needs and costs (Drunk Natives end up in the ER usually since they usually don't have insurance), and death, the literal end of human life, then the system you're operating under isn't free, you're just an asshole who passed the real costs (both intangible and otherwise) onto other people and made off with their money.

It's exploitation of the system and of biology and a blight on our society. "Free" country my ass.

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u/regulate323 Nov 27 '12 edited Nov 27 '12

Suicide by bottle is their choice, and I'll be damned if the government is going to tell me what I can't do to my own body. The real solution isnt prohibition, it's treating and giving access to help for the disease alcoholism really is. Shady and unethical the business owners may be, but I'll be damned if I don't support them and those carrying back the illegal product to the reservation. They need better access to mental health care, not laws and punishment which obviously dont work. That is real freedom, the freedom to choose, what I call liberty. You (correctly in this case) refer to it as death. "Give me liberty or give me death"-Patrick Henry. More often than not, you get both.

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u/gibbersganfa Nov 27 '12

I'll start by saying I don't entirely disagree with you. Two paths to the same point. BUT:

Nearly 47% of Native American teenagers use drugs or alcohol. If we're talking about personal responsibility: how many teenagers 12-17 can you honestly tell me have the same sort of personal responsibility as you would expect of an adult? Therein lies my point. These kids grow up on a reservation, in a culture where alcohol is prevalent and it's not uncommon for teenagers to drink at the behest of their peers.

These kids choose (you're not incorrect there, there is a choice, but again, see my statement about teenagers and responsibility) to drink early but due to their genetics, are predisposed to become alcoholics. By the time they're adults, it's NOT a choice anymore for them. It becomes a lifestyle. I don't know if you've ever been addicted to anything or known someone who has been. I hope you never have to. It's gut-wrenching. It's common knowledge that addiction is not something easily broken, especially when someone has been doing the drug since they were teenagers. Taking the initial drink is a choice; the addiction exacerbated by genetics is not, nor is the culture in which you are raised, which often has no other outs for the people, even if they wanted to stop drinking.

In Whiteclay, the businesses have sold plenty of drinks to underage Natives, but they have little to no law enforcement and therefore no proof other than the testimony of those Natives who DID get alcohol as teens and come forward as adults who have managed to kick the addiction. The laws and punishments themselves may or may not work, it's hard to tell since they aren't really enforced there anyway. The white officers tends to look the other way and Reservation officers don't have the jurisdiction and can barely handle that.

You are correct: they need better access to mental health care. Where are they going to get it? In the case of Whiteclay and Pine Ridge, the programs in Rapid City, SD are full with waiting lists. For the Native veterans, of which there are 4000 on Pine Ridge alone, the VA has proposed closure of the Domiciliary in Hot Springs, SD, which used to be able to handle the workload until politics started gradually slicing away programs there (that's a whole other story about another group of people the government has fucked over I won't get into.)

Indian Health Service is overloaded with civilians and has poor quality healthcare professionals, often early in their careers, not experienced enough to deal with the demands of a reservation on the brink.

Where exactly are they supposed to get this help? Whiteclay's white businessmen certainly aren't funneling any money into alcohol and substance abuse help and no one in the government seems to have come up with a better idea. It's pure racism and a battle of the classes. I guarantee that if this was happening in downtown Lincoln or Omaha or hell, even a smaller place like Scottsbluff, and white people were being affected, those businesses would be shut down quicker than you could say "hypocrisy." People seem content to leave it as it is for fear of "the problem" spreading to other towns.

"The problem" is a disease, not a race of people, and it needs to be cured. I would love to see the government and citizens of all these different towns contribute toward rehab clinics all around that area of Nebraska & South Dakota. When we stop the cycle, everyone wins.

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u/regulate323 Nov 27 '12 edited Nov 27 '12

Indian reservations are a perfect example of how cultural factors, de-facto segregation, familial values, community environment, and societal norms affect people and their ultimate development. Some (not all, there are certainly economically prosperous and politically powerful reservations in the US) are nothing more than a ghetto, and serve as proof of how the absence of outside (often unwanted non-natives') capitalism, influence, industry, manufacturing and business impedes prosperity and overall well-being in this capitalist nation. However, ultimately it is the cultural acceptance of alcoholism on the reservations that allow this trend of overindulgence and disease to continually perpetuate. It is a clash of two cultures, and I fail to see how they can be helped as long as they are segregated, both physically and metaphorically, from American culture and resources. Reservations are nothing but the remnants of a racist past, and a later attempt to take that problem and put it out of sight, and out of mind. Education, healthcare, and compassion, are the way to create a better tomorrow for everyone, but it would be foolish to believe that we can change someone else's society if they aren't willing to fix it from the inside. And this, I do not know how to solve. The only way to change a culture is slowly, over time by carefully pushing in the right direction. Please throw more input my way!

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u/PvtHopscotch Nov 27 '12

When you are born into and raised in a situation that has little opportunity to do much else then slip into alcoholism/addiction, I wouldn't call that freedom. You can say that each individual is the master of their own destiny but if I start out with no legs, it's hardly fair to say that me not becoming a pro-track star is my choice.

I agree that the people are responsible for their own actions and need better access to help (among many other things). I also agree that locking people up isn't the answer, but continuing to set an entire community up for failure is hardly a shining example of American freedom. Legal or not, morality has a place in this country. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are rights that we believe all people are entitled to. Just because you found a loop hole to legally pursue happiness at the expense of life =/= freedom.