#aftg really is the series that says stop judging people by societal standards and have some consideration for people's individual needs

[afurtivecake]

The point of the Foxes isn't to make them better people. I mean, the point of the Foxes isn't to make junkies and rejects into contributing members of society. It's not about rehabilitation. And I think Wymack understands and practices this, even if he doesn't know it himself.

He doesn't see his role as one of guidance. He's not there to help them be the best version of themselves. What Wymack is offering his players is a way out and a way forward. He's giving them another chance to keep living. Whether or not they make it is largely up to them. It's not that Wymack doesn't care, it's that he understands that there are some things that others cannot fix. There are some things that can't be fixed. What he's looking for when he looks for recruits are people who want to be better, who just need an opportunity.

The story in general doesn't seem to support harm reduction approaches (you have to ignore a lot of how addiction is portrayed) but Wymack certainly does. Harm reduction is about accepting that harmful behaviours are going to happen during the process of getting better, and mitigating the worst of the risks. He doesn't try to get anyone clean, he doesn't tell them to abstain and he hands over alcohol like it's a sports drink. But he knows where his kids are when they're drinking and doing drugs, he knows they're not doing anything risky to get the alcohol/drugs because he's provided some of them, he knows they're not alone when they're drinking or using and he's always on call should any of them need him. There is always going to be some risk, but he understands that for some of his kids, drugs and addiction are literally the least of their problems.

And I think that's what a lot of society doesn't understand. Society likes to think that if people gave up drink and drugs, they'll automatically be in a better place. But for a lot of people, drink and drugs are the only way they have of keeping themselves normal enough to want to continue to exist. People have mental health issues, trauma, poverty, homelessness, (the fucking yakuza on your heels) that take precedence over their addictions. In fact, their addiction is the only thing keeping them on their feet long enough for them to be able to start dealing with some of those issues. The choice is between making them swear off the things that make living bearable for the sake of their "future health" and letting them do whatever they need to feel like they can make it to tomorrow. And Wymack chooses letting them live through tomorrow every time.