ADAM-Bomb

* See also ADAM
* See also ADAM Addled
* See also ADAM_Medical_Uses
* See also Bioshock Illogic
* See also Splicers
* See also Fontaine_The_Pusher
* See also ADAM_Bootlegging
What the Game Writers CLUMSILY 'Dropped' on Rapture to Assure it being a Dystopia.
--- --- ---
It was NOT Ryan's Philosophy which brought ruination to Rapture ( NOT the lack of Welfare-State, nor 'Freedom to Leave Rapture', nor that supposed 'Seizing' of Fontaine's criminal enterprises. )
It was ADAM that "SHOCKED" and Wrecked Rapture's Society. A new element, which was a 'Perfect Storm' of calamity which overwhelmed the Society's normal coping mechanisms.
--- --- --- 
A SHOCK : 
In the game's story, ADAM was a violence/insanity producing 'Bio' genetic drug, which then 'Shock'ed Rapture's Society -- Empowering the Anarchists/Terrorists when pushed by the sociopathic villain Atlas for his own agenda ( His goal to loot Rapture and head for The Surface ). It MASS-deranged people and produced Sociopathy in numerous inhabitants. It gave them Super-Powers, which were difficult to combat with normal weaponry. The game story was contrived to have Ryan and his Libertarian 'Hands Off' permissive Philosophy be blamed for everything bad, even though 'The ADAM-Bomb' was largely 'sprung like a surprise' (un-recognized), and it being so suddenly destructive. This was ACTIVELY INSTIGATED to be so by the game's villain Fontaine. 
Imagine what something like the ADAM addiction and those plasmid-powers effects would do to OUR allegedly enlightened/advanced/progressive Society ??? 
Our 'brittle' overly-complicated Society could fall apart far faster. This is one of the interesting reflections this Rapture Tale should evoke. 
--- --- ---
==Timeline==
* Discovery of ADAM
* Discovery of ADAM as a recreational drug 
* Pusher Fontaine business 
* Genetic mods possible - greater damage to users
* Expanding ADAM use - Children Hosts
* Some calls for GOVERNMENT ADAM restrictions
* Criminal Fontaine's minions attack authorities with Combat Plasmids ( and Fontaines 'Death' )
* ADAM Supply Crisis ( Fontaine Futuristics disrupted and Seized )
* Atlas's Terrorist attacks (New Years)
* Maniac Splicers menacing the population - Society Disrupted - Survival Threatened
* Mass Use of Combat Plasmids by population ( Greater ADAM supply Crisis )
* Gatherers and Protectors
* Pheromone Control and stabilization
* Time of BS1
--- --- ---
ADAM Addiction
In its early days, ADAM was Expensive (like Cocaine) and in short supply. Mostly only rich people using it for its recreational effects could afford to abuse it enough so to become addicted.
For 'Working Class' or 'Poor' people's common use, ADAM would need to be far cheaper ( like Meth or Heroine ), and would have to be mass produced - with large amounts being available ( presumably after Fontaine started to abuse children as Sea Slug Hosts ).
Some Cost Mitigation may be : the effects which were 'addictive' could be got by taking sub-dosages ( less than Tonics/Plasmids ) to still get the effect. 
There is a mechanism of ADAM 'Boosting' that is kept Vague in the Story details. Required frequency of use/reuse is not specified. It IS made plain, that eventually Use is impelled, and with motivation for that Use to be continued ( as in classic addiction/dependency ).
The Amount required to be used to generate addiction is not specified - other than stronger applications like Combat Plasmids which were needed for the so-called %27civil war%27 greatly accelerated the negative effects of usage. Earlier use as Medical Therapy Tonics did NOT seem to manifest the later magnitude of negative effects, OR it would have been recognized (and likely countered) much earlier.
It is not definite there is a physiological ADDICTION. Degradation is implied (mental and physical) when Use is discontinued. Psychological addiction usually follows upon that. Long-Term/extreme use seems to bring general degradation. 
There could be various Plasmids/Tonic/combinations having differences of effect ( ie- Sander Cohen's Cocktails which did not appear to affect him physically )_
Different people would be affected differently by their usages. 
To get their 'High', ADAM might have been mixed with other available Drugs/Booze. ( Many possible combinations )
Bootleggers selling sub-quality product may have brought additional effects.
Fontaine, with his desire to disrupt society ( and to maximize profits) may have 'spiked' his ADAM products with other substances.
--- --- ---
fix and add too vvv 
Enabling the ADAM-Bomb :
Magically ADAM's nasty side-effect effects were largely hidden until everything and everyone so quickly went violently crazy in Rapture. 
Fontaine, the big magnate/mogul so conveniently in the backstory had all his crimes kept hidden - When Rapture was really such a small place to make keeping such secrets very difficultKeeping Secrets in Small Place : Like keeping secrets in a 'small town', it is so true that it is a cliche - "Everyone Knows Everyone Elses Business" ... . 
The writers saw to it that so many elements of Rapture's Objectivist society were NOT allowed to exist to counter ADAM/Fontaine's criminal abuses - and thus facilitated his rise in power. 
* A Free Press, which SHOULD have denounced Fontaine's crimes and ADAM's poisoning people almost immediately. 
* An organized Citizens Militia of the sane majority activated to counter/eradicate the ADAM-swilling terrorists. ( Even just local people banding together - the vast majority of Citizens believing in order and acting for their own safety/survival ).
* A supposedly lawless society - which is NOT what Objectivism is, and neither how Rapture could ever exist as.
--- --- ---
CONSIDER : ADAM-Caused Poverty :
ADAM's side effects being debilitating for its chronic Users/Abusers, which might more logically account for many of the 'out of work' and 'poor' people, who start 'protesting', and soon become pawns of Fontaine/Atlas in his plans to disrupt and takeover Rapture.
ADAM-Addled People were shown to become violently insane, and likely have a whole spectrum of defective mentalities short of that. That may explain why some people who came to Rapture ( trying to get away from Parasitism in the Rest of the World ) might reverse their thinking so drastically.
SO, You cannot work properly, and you quickly fall behind and into destitution. Maybe your other problematical behaviors (irrationality) then cause additional ostracizing by normal people.
--- --- ---
Societal Disruptions :
Protests BY the Poor (unemployed) ??? 
'Evil' Ryan's mean society with no 'safety net' ? 
THEY WANT TO GET OUT !!!! TO LEAVE !!!!
Rapture has become a bad place to live. A hellhole !!!!!
People are Trapped there by mean ole Ryan.
We really do not know exactly WHEN this Protest occurred.
What else could explain that 'protesting' behavior we were marched past ??? 
Perhaps did the writers hide the point that it may have been some handfulls of people 'paid off' by Fontaine to stir up trouble. ( Those signs at the Welcome Center dock seem way too neatly lettered for spontaneous/unorganized ProtestToo neatly lettered Protest Signs - That could just be limitations of the games art staff or design specification. ). A case of [Fontaine]]/Atlas using the people they have poisoned to disrupt Rapture.
-
Was it AFTER the violence of Post Kashmir Incident Rapture ??? ( Caused by Fontaine ... )
That 'Protest' incident was fairly recent ( luggage and signs are not going to lay around for very long ) to be from the time of the earlier economic disruption ("Crash" which we hear about in BS2 - including Grace's whinings ). That happened 1951/1952 (many years earlier), following the Cessation of City Construction - which BTW Rapture evidently largely recovered from by the date the story Chaos began. 
That crisis happened too early (1951-1952) for ADAM Use to be a factor.
--- --- ---
The Novel Did Not Explain :
The Novel writer has some content with ADAM's nasty side-effects manifesting themselves Earlier than the game implies in its backstory ( The Novel Author placed ADAM violence scenes fairly Early likely because most of the Book's Story is set BEFORE the Kashmir Incident ( detailed in BS1 ) started explosively escalating ADAM use ( to fight Atlas's terrorism) thus bringing the mass violent craziness.
--- --- ---
My Modified Rapture Map ( shows how small Rapture is )
--- --- ---
--- --- --- --- ---
.
.