I do not grasp your point. In 1840 China began a long trek to massive addiction by 1900. I do not see where addiction has anything to do with freedom or Judge Roy Bean.
Addiction is part of the human condition, no? Whether that be sex, pornography, drugs, alcohol, money, power, prestige, knowledge, or a myriad of other things, it is still that little hollowness screaming to be filled, in the delusion that ‘that’, will make you whole. I can tell you, it does not.
The yearning of human spirit/soul to be free, is also part of the human condition, and there comes a moment of clarity, in that addiction, that that spirit/soul screams, enough is enough, and stgruggles to find a way clear.
It’s described best as, that moment that you, I or anybody else stops and realizes, ‘There’s got to be more than just this.”
I did not see ‘1840’ mentioned.