When the System Is Sick
On a couple of occasions I have been involved in what are called "interventions," gatherings that are intended to force people to see the truth of their lives.
Often, interventions have been used to help people see the impact of their addictions on their lives and the lives of others. One of the things that sometimes makes interventions difficult is that they require the people who have often propped up addicts have to admit their role in a disease that clearly is systemic. It strikes me that we are living in a time when an intervention needs to take place, but those who prop up the sick people are finding it hard to get beyond their codependence. Sickness, addiction, dysfunction--they are not simply individual matters. They are systemic. Yes, individuals can create systemic problems, and they do. But generally, they are not alone. They are accompanied by others. Maybe today we need not just an individual intervention, but a systemic one.