Some recent events:
1. Two wealthy white men flew 50 miles or so upward and then floated down just
like- trickle-down economics. Just kidding, of course. 2.The majority of
funding behind Arizona’s election lie recount was from a private foundation,
with John Birch roots. 3. Congress is dealing with an infrastructure bill that
includes climate change. They are suggesting that billionaires and corporations
pay taxes to fund this bill. That sounds radical. 4. One Congresswoman, in a
sleeping bag, slept on the steps of the Capitol in an attempt to gather support
for legislation restricting people from being thrown out of the residences. 5.
Lt. Col. Adam Vindman, former director for European Affairs for the United
States, overheard Trump’s attempt to shake down the Ukrainian president. The
Lt. Col. was influential in the impeachment trial and then fired for his
patriotism. By the way, his twin military brother, was also fired. Buy his book
“Here, Right Matters: An American Story”; he is employed by a think tank and is
working on a doctorate. 6. In the 1800s, prior to Lincoln’s Emancipation
Proclamation, blacks in Ohio had to show proof of being free; were subjected to
white violence in Cincinnati; and whites said the blacks were not interested in work, if free. Also, whites accused
blacks of being violent and antisocial among other mythologies. 7. Florida,
Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi are breaking records with Covid-19
hospitalizations.18. Afghanistan withdrawal 19. FDA Pfizer approval and booster
shot.
The movie
“Anne of 1000 Days” portrayed Henry VIII as ruthless, egocentric and exploitive
in his pursuit of sex and a son to continue his legacy. According to the movie,
Henry said that God listens to him; he was religious; he would kill others; he
would risk excommunication from the church with a marriage annulment; he
allowed Anne Boleyn to be beheaded, falsely for adultery, in order to pursue Jane
Seymour. Anne Boleyn was portrayed as cunning, provocative, manipulative and naïve
in thinking what happened to Catherine would not happen to her. However, even
though she was called a whore, she wanted her daughter to become a legitimate
Queen. Anne died for that devotion. This essay suggests the following hypothesis:
With civilization, technically and
scientifically we are blossoming by leaps and bounds but emotionally we’re
archaically stuck.
Over 1
million years ago, the Hunter-gatherers roamed the earth and roughly 200,000
years ago the species of Homo sapiens evolved. Over the centuries, the new
brain or the cortex [with functions of higher cognition, abstract thought, use
of tools, formation and comprehension of language, social behavior, creativity,
problem-solving] evolved separating us
from the world of animals and nature.
It was
believed that these Hunter-gatherers were mobile, gathered nuts, berries, hunted
etc. They were not confined to one place. The earth and nature was their home.
They developed hooks, nets, harpoons and other tools. They didn’t have to attack,
hoard, or defend against others. The food source was for them. If they captured,
they had to feed, control and dominate. Yuk. Procuring food, actually left them
much time to engage in sex, play, exploring, creating, and doing what they
wanted .They could just watch the clouds go by. They didn’t have to worry about
defending, dominating, exploiting, manipulating, taking advantage, seeking power,
possessing, procuring or being greedy. Yes, man could die from infection. But
their physiological and psychological needs were well met.
About 8 to
10,000 B.C.E., man changed his history with the creation of pottery containers,
and the development of agriculture with domestication. The transition from
Hunter-gatherer to dweller became dominant. With that process, followed
religion, rulers, rules, regulations, commandments and consequences. People
were now controlled and could no longer do exactly what they wanted to satisfy
needs, when they wanted. They had to delay gratification and with delay resulted
in frustration, aggression and repression. With repression, the desire remains
in the unconscious and may or may not surface. If surfaced, desire becomes
distorted and not easily acknowledged. Additional rationalizations and
illusions become necessary.
The 10
Commandments are references to man’s inhumane behavior. Without possession,
individuals at times, become hungry, envious, desire and want what they don’t
have- lying, adultery, coveting, stealing, and killing. The commandments were
attempts to control man’s passions. Later, in Babylon, the Code of Hammurabi
identified more laws that covered a wide array of areas such as criminal,
family, property and commercial for dominance and control. The Code was based
on an eye for an eye, but did not place everybody equal before the law. With
law, there are rules and consequences.
With “civilization”
came additional rules, regulations and consequences of behavior dictated by
those that acquired power. In essence, external control affected man’s ability
to gratify drives and passions. Man had to repress his undesirable, according
to the religious mores, man’s desire to kill, steal, lie and have sex with
whomever. Additional psychological needs became paramount during the transition
from being a Hunter- gather to a worker in a particular society. Possession,
acquiring, achieving, autonomy, dominance, defendance, deference, order,
autonomy and other needs became prominent examples.
With these
additional needs, the industrial complex, facilitated a devotion to the money Idol
God, consumption and possessions. Socioeconomic classifications followed. The lower
or working class, middle class and upper class became the three main
classifications in an industrial society. Thus, frustration of need
gratification, development of socioeconomic class with the alienation for many
in the industrial, military, and political structure became the norm. These
components established and helped mold man’s character and impact his identity
-the ability of man to love or not love self and others.
Alienation
is also expressed by the “desire idol “money, we also have drives for
consumption and possession. This means that the primary goal is to make and
accumulate money, pure and simple. Being born in the right family; residing in
a certain ZIP Code; attending the prestigious University; joining the high
status club; pursuing the high paying major and degree; procuring the perfect
job in order to climb the corporate ladder becomes the path. The ladder goes
where? With this intense and desire of focus, the psychic energy expended
becomes engulfing. Unfortunately, energy for relationships becomes unavailable.
Therefore, relationships along the way become transactional, superficial and
are based on quid pro quo. If I do this for you, what will you do for me? It’s
difficult to care and be concerned about others when egoism, greed and
acquiring possessions raise their ugly head. Material success becomes the gold
standard. Self-esteem and worth become dependent on the superficiality of
acquiring things that are actually disposable, replaceable and dead. One’s
sense of identity becomes diffused, inauthentic, crippled or alienated in the
pursuit.
Another
example of alienation pertains to manual or office bureaucratic workers. Often,
work becomes routine and not stimulating nor satisfying. When performing the
same or similar tasks repeatedly, satiation occurs. With satiation, imagination
in one’s mind takes over. The individual begins to dream about other things and
other situations as opposed to focusing, with great intensity, on the task at
hand. With satiation, we also find leaving the field physically as in breaks,
absenteeism or even disability. Another way to psychologically leave the field
is associated with pornography, sex, alcohol, drugs or antisocial media. In
other words, psychological satiation requires a diversion or escape from that
reality. Being alienated in the workplace, is a terrible foundation as it
interferes with man’s ability to grow, and develop a satisfactory sense of self
and identity. With alienation, one has both an impaired self and troubled
interpersonal relationships. This means more helplessness, insecurity,
inferiority and aloneness.
It must be obvious that with the development
of civilization, man has created and accomplished the unimaginable. With
philosophy, music, art, and the natural and social sciences, man understands
more about nature, the universe and himself. The industrial and atomic
development has created much along with technical achievements resulting in
making life easier, enjoyable and meaningful.
However,
with the occurrence of sublimation (psychic energy directed away from
irrational drives), we have exceedingly more intellectual achievements but also
increased emotional anxiety, depression, substance abuse, suicide, obesity,
cancer, cardiac and respiratory illness. Other emotional negatives: 1. We have
too many alienated working class; difficulty returning to work in low-paying
employment; absenteeism and workman comp claims citizens 2. We have exceedingly
more hate crimes, prejudice and murder 3. We have exploited nature, pollution
of air, water, land and natural resources with mining and fracking placing the
climate crisis with weather extremes of hot and cold, fires, flooding and
hurricanes at the center of our survival 4.We have created socioeconomic class
warfare billionaires becoming more wealthy, income disparities and high poverty
levels 5. We have political issues with the filibuster and congressional
gridlock 6. We have a moving toward authoritarianism exemplified with Trump’s Republican
election fraud lies and anti-public health illusions of the Covid-19 debacle. Moreover,
within the history of civilization, frustration, repression, stress and
conflict becomes exacerbated and the citizenship becomes exceedingly unhappy
despite man’s magnificent productive achievements. However, according to Ralph Waldo
Emerson “The first wealth is health”, but’s hard to find.
