[dECLAN]

Thanks for that Lotus.

My intention wasn't to have a go at you personally but to just to send out a general message that stereotyping (which was starting to creep in) would not go unchallenged.

I was born in Ireland and have lived in the United States, England, Holland and Australia for most of my adult life. I have encountered a fair degree of prejudice towards towards Irish people and the usual misconception that the Irish people are a nation of alcoholics. Sure there is a definite problem with alcohol in Ireland. You only need to walk down a city street in Dublin on a Friday or Saturday night to see this.

I have also met a lot of Irish people (who hasn't!) who DO drink in huge quantities and actually boast about this fact. BUT maybe behind all this bar-room bravado there is something missing. Some people have suggested that it could be the result of colonialism whose aftermath is often addiction, violence and alcoholism in those affected. Even though those people suffering from this are in denial it does not make this any the less of an insidious problem with far reaching affects. This phenomenon can also be seen the United States and Australia amongst the indigenous populations who have a higher rate of alcoholism and addiction to the rest of the community.

The theory I go along with most is by a transpersonal psychologist by the name of Christina Grof, who argues in her book The Thirst for Wholeness that addiction is a manifestation of profound spiritual yearning--the "thirst for wholeness" which Jung defined as a fundamental dilemma of being human. To escape the pain of this craving and fill the emptiness it implies, Grof suggests, many people adopt addictive behaviors, which only further parch the soul. The thirst can be quelled, she advises, only by moving through the emptiness to spiritual understanding.

Thoughts?