could be the character in the comic books it is a good thing you use your power for good as owe pezopposed to evil. i know huh to gather a crowd if that is my goal. are talking, the televisions are all on at the white house, that's intoxicating. okay. fame is the most corrosive thing to a soul you can possibly ever introduce. it is awful. >> reporter: more than alcohol? >> yeah. >> reporter: more than drugs? >> yes. >> reporter: you know those well? >> i know them very well. >> reporter: vices he says were all around him growing up. a tough childhood that beck says in many ways shaped his personality. it or not? >> reporter: say what? you made your living on conflict. >> no, i didn't. i haven't. i have made about four years of my life out of conflict. but, and i don't want to be that guy. i grew up in an alcoholic family. lots of problems. >> reporter: you have thought about suicide, yes? >> uh-huh. yeah. >> reporter: how close did you come? >> this is back in the late '80s pretty darn close. >> reporter: his demons behind him. beck admits some portion of the bitter divide in america was f