20) The Dealer and The Junkie

It has been said that Los Alamos is a one-horse town. People have no idea how apt that is. "Horse" is street language for heroin.

The Dealer is always happy to supply the Junkie -- until the Junkie no longer has anything to offer in exchange for the Horse. Then The Dealer drops The Junkie, because the Dealer doesn't need The Junkie and can always find a new customer. So The Dealer is always looking for ways to expand The Market and find new potential Junkies. The Junkie, however, needs The Dealer and believing he/she cannot live without The Dealer will do anything to keep The Dealer happy -- anything to stay on the Horse. The Junkie lives in constant fear of losing The Dealer. But to every Junkie there must come a time of Choice -- to either break with The Dealer, get off the Horse -- or Die. Because Dealer Dependency means certain Death.

Reality Check: Los Alamos must get off The Horse. The Lab and Science City are so pervasive as to invade every aspect of our personal, social, cultural, economic, and political lives. We absolutely must declare, and fight for, our economic independence. It will be damn difficult; it will take time; we will see more failures than successes and it will seem so much easier to just give up. But if Los Alamos is to survive there is no other alternative.