In the same way it takes will power to beat cancer or heart disease or glaucoma.
So what is so unreasonable about saying that will power is lacking in people who can’t quit an addiction?
Is it unreasonable to say will power is lacking in people who aren't cured of a disease yet? If they'd just get some will power they'd cure it.
Hitchens is not saying addiction dies does not exist, he is objecting to the idea of calling it physical disease or “allergy of the body”.
I disagree on both parts. He is implying that addiction does not exist, that addicts lack the will power to stop and that said lack of will power is the sole source of the problem. Luckily, he is not an addict [neither am I but I have known a number of them closely.]
I stand by my assertion - Hitchens is ignorant. The fundamental problem in discussing the issue is that those who have not had experience with the issue or lived through a loved one suffering from addiction are simply ignorant. They're not being intentionally vicious, they just don't understand.
I finally quit smoking in 2007, after being addicted for 40 plus years. I tried to quit many times and finally quit cold turkey.
It sounds simple, but what I did was put a blank 30 day calendar up on my refrigerator and crossed off each day without smoking - trying to get to 30 days. Once I got to about 20 I was home free - ever had another cigarette.
I am very proud of myself. and yes, it took a lot of will power to quit. I still have occasional nightmares of smoking a cigarette and ruining everything, but misfit I just don’t identify as a smoker any more. .
I also drink too much and have tried to quit that too many times. I think the reason it’s harder than cigarettes is because I feel like I should be able to have a beer or two watching the game with friends, or a glass of wine with my wife at dinner. So it’s not as cut and dry - I don’t want to quit completely, I just want to quit drinking excessively. But one drink turns into two, then three….
So, I do have some experience with addiction, and for me it’s all about will power and lack thereof.
There is no cure for alcoholism. There is only recovery. Expecting a "cure" is part of the disease. Recovery takes humility and it takes hard work; that's why some people don't want to stop indulging.