American Sneetches

In the conversation about addiction, there are many preconceived notions and strong opinions, yet many fail to realize the reasons for addiction and what factors are involved. The studies and research of Bruce Alexander and his theory of dislocation can provide clarity on the factors of addiction as well as shine light on our modern struggles with addiction within our culture. The theory of dislocation, through the research from Rat Park, demonstrates the necessity of connection and how modern American society is spiraling into isolation due to its consumerist society that includes the purchasing of products to fill our inner void and our addiction to our cell phones.

Scientific studies using rats to draw conclusions about drugs and their addictive hooks have been used to form our general knowledge of addiction and drugs. Historically, these ideas of ‘chemical hooks’ have come from research that led to conclusions stating that “[cocaine] is so addictive, nine out of ten laboratory rats will use it. And use it. And use it. Until dead”(Hari 171). However, a different scientist saw this research as confirmation bias to preconceived ideas on drugs and noticed a flaw in the method conducted. Bruce Alexander noticed that the rats used to test the powers of cocaine “had been put in an empty cage…there was nothing for them to do but to take the drug”( Hari 171). This factor led to a counter-experiment in which Bruce Alexander provided distractions galore, a paradise, called Rat Park. After conducting this research, Alexander found “that the rats in isolated cages used up to 25 milligrams of morphine a day…but the rats in the happy cages used hardly any morphine at all - less than 5 milligrams”(Hari 172). Alexander noticed how the rats “[chose] to spend their lives doing other things”(Hari 172) while “an isolated rat will almost always become a junkie”(Hari 172). This research led to Bruce Alexander having the radical idea that addiction is not simply solvable with a pill or the study of chemistry but instead is a social science problem that demands changes to the environment we live in. From this research, Alexander concluded that “addiction is neither a disease nor a moral failure”(Alexander 61) but rather “it’s the cage you live in”(Hari 172).

What started as a rat being content in its environment compared to previous experiments led to Bruce Alexander formulating a powerful theory on dislocation and the role isolation and detachment from relationships and our environment play in our addictions. In Johann Hari’s book Chasing the Scream, Bruce Alexander is quoted to have said,“‘Human beings only become addicted when they cannot find anything better to live for and when they desperately need to fill the emptiness that threatens to destroy them’”(180). Through this central idea of filling this emptiness comes his further exploration into dislocation, which is the idea of a void created when we feel disconnected from the world we live in. Bruce Alexander is also quoted as saying, “The need to fill an inner void… afflicts the vast majority of people of the late modern era”(180). Addiction comes into play when discussing dislocation theory because “addiction…help[s] fill that void”(Donovan). Just like the rats, our human environment matters, and when we are disconnected from it, there becomes nothing else to do but try to fill this void with something such as addiction. 

If we look further into our own reality and the cage we live in, we can begin to notice the rising sense of dislocation in our modern society. If we are to blame our environment and society, one must point to the powerful culture of consumerism in the United States as a catalyst for dislocation. Consumerism is best exemplified in the story from Dr. Suess about the Sneetches. In this story, there were two groups, one with stars on their bellies and the other without. The story makes commentary on elitism and capitalist society by having each group purchase from a salesman a trip through a machine which would grant the group elite status by either adding or removing stars. In the end, when everyone has run out of money, the salesman packs up his things and then leaves. This story is a perfect microcosm of our modern society because it demonstrates how in our haste to pursue purchases to make ourselves feel fulfilled, we end up never reaching a state of satisfaction, but rather we only further drive ourselves into dislocation and isolation. 

Former President of the United States Calvin Coolidge is quoted saying, “Advertising is the most potent influence in adapting and changing the habits and modes of life.” Advertising has gained major importance in modern society because “we are told…by a vast advertising-shopping machine - to invest our hopes and dreams in a very different direction: buying and consuming objects”(Hari 180). Our modern world is one that turned to consumption as a means of personal value. As human beings, we are consistently “trying to find satisfaction and fulfillment in products”(Hari 181) to fill the void dislocation creates. In our culture of consumption in Western civilization, one can make the conclusion that “dislocation is not the pathological state of a few but the general condition”(Alexander 61). As our addiction to objects rises our lack of communication with those around us plummets downward. The deterioration of connection that leads to loneliness funnels directly towards the addiction of “buying and consuming stuff we don’t need and don’t really want”(Hari 182). While one can point to the pile of products to justify the lifestyles we are living, it has become evident that “we are increasingly alone, so we are increasingly addicted”(Hari 180). This consumerist society demonstrates the conclusions from Rat Park about the necessity of community and how commodities cannot sustain the human’s appetite for connection with others. Connection is necessary because addiction can be formed due to isolation which “allows [addicts] to escape their feelings, to deaden their senses - and to experience an addictive lifestyle as a substitute for a full life”(Hari 175).

A major byproduct of consumerism is the necessity of cell phones in everyday life. With a singular device, one can purchase a good and snap a picture with that product to brag to all of their followers. While consumerism is a cage with shiny objects inside that perpetuates dislocation, smartphones are a new uncharted horizon of the addictive power that we are only beginning to understand.

As a whole, smartphones have weaseled their way into almost every pocket in America. It has become almost mandatory to have a phone if you want to contribute to society, by using this technology for work, recreation, games, calls, texts, social media, ordering food, buying products, and more. Since it is such a major aspect of life in the modern United States, it is reasonable to assume that our connections to these devices can be harmful if overused. Cell phone addiction is real, yet many do not realize they are addicted since “phones have become an integral part of life”(Parasuraman et al.). Signs of addiction to a cell phone include “constantly checking the phone for no reason, feeling anxious or restless without the phone, waking up in the middle of the night to check the mobile and communication updates, delay in professional performance as a result of prolonged phone activities, and distracted with smartphone applications”(Parasuraman et al.). 

While in theory smartphones and social media should bridge us together creating connectivity no matter the distance, research shows that social media and cell phone addiction are only creating loneliness. Phones can be used as a form of escape. For example, I continually picked up my phone to procrastinate writing this essay every time I reached a difficult point. Research agrees that people use their phones for escapism and that “some people turn to their phones in an effort to relieve stress”(Blue). Even though phones are used as a tool to fill our dislocation void, addiction to these devices does not satisfy our longing for connection, but rather results in higher levels of loneliness. Addiction to a cell phone “often brings about a sense of isolation from reality and provides a virtual, yet superficially satisfying, experience”(Su and He). Research shows “that a higher level of smartphone addiction corresponds to a stronger sense of loneliness”(Su and He) and that “loneliness is positively associated with longer screen time and social media app use”(MacDonald and Schermer). 

Cell phones are a product of our consumerism that acts as a glue for the cage many people in our modern society are imprisoned in. Bruce Alexander’s theory of dislocation clearly demonstrates the importance of connection which has been failing in our consumer-centric environment. Within this modern environment, individuals have begun to fill the void of dislocation by purchasing products and using cell phones as distractions. While this is our modern environment, Alexander’s research highlights the necessity of environmental change within the culture of the United States. As those looking at this situation, we must remember the story of the Sneetches and how they only realized they did not need to make purchases to feel fulfilled once they were penniless. We must acknowledge that we need an environmental change to eradicate the addiction to consumerism before Americans are bankrupt in connections, left only to drown in our loneliness that stems from the products we tried to fill the dislocation void with.

Works Cited

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Styles: A Systematic Literature Review. Int J Ment Health Addiction 17, 1094–1118 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-019-00082-5 

Donovan, Moira. “Addicted to destruction: broken societies, dislocation, and finding purpose in 

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Hari, Johann. Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs. Bloomsbury 

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