I won't disagree or agree.

My point is addiction isn't something people can just rationalize themselves out of by sitting down and thinking of a "greater good".

"That point" is a nebulous term that has a very wide range of potential definitions.

Also 'non-productive' is one of those terms that get bandied about by the worst of us as excuses to commit the worst acts against the other humans.

I mean, in your idea, we should give up democracy and follow some kind of authoritarian system that perfectly optimizes our choices for 'the greater good'. We've seen this doesn't work out so well in practice as even "good upstanding citizens" are still greedy pieces of shit that will screw over their fellow human for another dollar.

I think a more charitable way to look at this is that whatever "good" is being pushed, hasn't really been sold effectively, or its being meted out unfairly or in a way that negates the "good". People are not greedy in a vacuum, they are greedy because they believe that failing to be so puts them at risk of losing resources they need. People in general don't horde toilet paper, but they definitely did when they thought their ability to get more toilet paper later was in danger.