The Russian writer Leo Tolstoy had an interesting " explanation " for alcoholism

The most interesting " explanation " for alcoholism , I think, was given by the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy . He said in so many literary paragraphs that people drink habitually because it dulls their conscience and enables them to continue leading foolish, miserable, " sinful " lives.

 Another Russian writer ( Dostoyevsky ) has a character say " If God does not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him ".

The experience of existential meaninglessness plays a role even in the lives of affluent alcoholics. Remember Albert Camus' " Judge Penitent " lawyer in his novel " The Fall " ? Often drunk, he would think : " I felt absent when I took up the most space ".

The woman alcoholic in the movie " Days of Wine and Roses " ( Lee Remick ) says she must drink because the world just looks too ugly when she is not drunk .

When drunk she can sing along with the happy song " It's A Wonderful World ! "

What role does pernicious boredom with work play in making alcoholics ?

[Why Do Men Stupefy Themselves? Leo Tolstoy on Why We Drink

“The seeing, spiritual being, whose manifestation we commonly call conscience, always points with one end towards right and with the other towards wrong, and we do not notice it while we follow the course it shows.”

The cause of the world-wide consumption of hashish, opium, wine, and tobacco, lies not in the taste, nor in any pleasure, recreation, or mirth they afford, but simply in man’s need to hide from himself the demands of conscience.]

The " skid row drunk " was better off before deinstitutionalization

In essence the good doctor is saying that patients- alcoholics or on the brink- without means-with or without " Obamacare "- are not getting the treatment they need . Dr. Elisabeth Poorman is not blaming the victim.

This addiction plague - alcohol and drugs -and even gambling - is part of the big picture of social decay in capitalist America.

If you are homeless in America, you probably feel the NEED for drugs or alcohol much more than people leading more " normal " lives. It would be futile to treat your addiction without offering you a decent place to live and adequate nutrition- and a measure of HOPE for the future.

This is not a problem of race, gender, or sexual orientation. It is fundamentally a problem of CLASS misery and oppression.

Here in Rhode Island our " liberal " Democrat governor is even slashing Medicaid funding and bragging about it. Check out the alcoholics and drugs addicts - like the living dead- still camping out on Kennedy Plaza.

If even mental health care is inadequate, how much help is available for the " skid row drunk " ? He was better off when that classic movie " Lost Weekend " ( with Ray Milland ) was made in the early 1950s.

There were places called mental institutions back then that offered even the poorest " drunks " long , therapeutic vacations.

Is Radical Ron giving Trump a pass ?

There are standards of decency and honesty and political integrity that apply to ANY human being - even a born enemy of the working class.

 A principled democratic socialist would indeed recognize that Donald Trump IS the legitimate president of the United States -by election laws that must be respected until a mass democratic political movement can replace them with a more profound " revolutionary " legitimacy.

Also, it is unprincipled to LIE even about political enemies. Trump is NOT the puppet of Vladimir Putin . The only possible " Russian connection " is a BUSINESS deal.

 Imperial America-with its New Colonialism in the Middle East- has no moral authority even to scold Russia for its own " self -defense " strategies. Or China for bold moves off its own coast.

President Trump is NOT A KKK racist or an anti-Semite or a woman hater or a gay hater or a hater of Mexican immigrants. Or even a hater of Muslims.

His latent " fascism " is a threat to ALL working class people as a CLASS. His " America First " nationalism is a threat to world peace.

The democratic socialist position is that democracy in America has been undermined for decades now by the two party system , by BOTH Democrats and Republicans.

Helping the Hillary Democrats hold on to power is no way to fight incipient American fascism.
 Vladimir Putin was right to see Hawk Hillary as threat to post communist Russia.

By the way, capitalism in Russia is just as rotten as capitalism in America.

CIA sabotage in the domestic affairs of hundreds of countries

There is no rational basis for present hostility between the United States -where there is definitely a crisis of " democracy " - and post communist Russia now led by an equally undemocratic wealthy oligarchy.

What can any Russian internet " troll " say to working class people in those Rust Belt States to make them more cynical about Hillary and Bill Clinton ?

Where was the enthusiasm in the streets for Hillary Clinton ? Compare it with the Bernie Sanders crowds and the Donald Trump crowds .

Did " we " not interfere with democracy in Chile when the CIA operation " removed" Marxist President Salvadore Allende ? There are hundreds of other examples of CIA sabotage of the domestic affairs of other countries.

So these " Russian connection " hearings are rather ludicrous.