Last week’s racist babies essay and the New York Times, November 21, 2022 titled '' Madison Saw Something We’ve Forgotten “ article spurred interest in morality. Yes, it’s true that immorality began in our country in 1619, and continued with the ⅗ black to white ratio in the South, for the ratification of our Constitution. In my eight decades, I’ve witnessed Hitler, the Bomb, McCarthy hearings, Korea and Vietnam. Additionally,I remembered the Freedom Riders, Little Rock, Arkansas, Selma, the assassination of the Kennedys , Martin Luther King and other atrocities. This disquisition addresses the rise in immorality.
A brief overview of conscience development follows. Conscience Is the moral functioning of personality and relates to approval or disapproval on grounds of rectitude.Conscience, early in life, is developed based on identification with parents .Good and bad are parental standards based on their approval or disapproval of behavior. In other words,a parent's conscience becomes the baby’s. A parent's presence generally determines whether or not a transgression occurs . Later,the internalization of right from wrong becomes more established regardless of a parent's presence. Developmentally, and importantly, a baby becomes critical of his behavior with an unconscious demand for self punishment or repartition. Remember,in the mind, a conscience keeps a record of good and bad thoughts and actions that continuously takes place irrespective of all the fictions told to self.
Actually, this unconscious process results in a much more severe moral demand and prohibition taking place regardless of the inflation of the belief that he’s so good. However,baby’s are able to praise themselves for virtuous and desirable thoughts and actions too. By age 5 or 6, the belief that wrongdoing must be punished becomes established. However, by age 9 or 10 ,this internalization of being punished begins to become more prominent as the conscience becomes modified subject to the many additions and modifications with identifications. Other identifications include babysitters, teachers,coaches, religious persons, dirt, flag,celebrities, sports teams, star players , political parties etc. The pursuit for identification continues as humans attempt to compensate for various deficits. Moreover, identification figures can actually exhibit victim behavior and other negatives too. And with group identifications, one actually internalizes the groups moral standards and ideals as well.
The superego and ego battle taking place in the mind becomes whether or not to gratify and act on irrational ,amoral ,hedonistic impulses and thoughts . Will there be prohibitions or will there be transgressions with opportunity or temptation? President Carter: “I’ve looked at a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” Pres. Carter has anatomy wrong. He thought about adultery in his mind and his ego and superego agreed. On another note, how would one explain the motivation of an educated individual that has a tendency and compulsion to make similar relationship mistakes more than once and that behavior not only interferes with well-being but causes anxiety, depression, heartache and a victim stance ? Would one expect that the person in question to be able to learn from his mistakes, have high self-esteem, have a sense of superiority and an absence of guilt regarding such repetitive behavior ? Guilt remains one powerful motivator with negative consequences like a sense of inferiority, lowered self-esteem, making it difficult to change with an absence of joy and happiness.For these individuals, feelings of guilt are more or less disguised but their presence is suggested by behavior, attitudes and ways of thinking and reacting.
Take Oedipus Rex. Oedipus with his incestuous, aggressive impulses, pursuing power, prestige, and possessions killed his father,the King, and married his mother,the Queen. Guilt and self-destructive behavior followed . Oedipus blinded himself so that he didn’t have to face his mother and others with shame, thus a victim.
A word about the New York Times article. This article addressed the power of the states,congress and the supreme court when it comes to voting. They all claimed that the Constitution was on their side. Currently Republican-controlled state houses are proposing gerrymandering districts in an effort to swing the upcoming 2022 election . Can Congress protect the right to vote? Does the federal government guarantee every state in the union a fair form of reprepublic government? James Madison wrote that the republic ought to clearly possess the authority to defend the system against aristocratic or monarchical innovations. The Supreme Court had opinions on this matter.One justice stated that Congress has a right to decide what government is established ; another ruling stated this subject was beyond the scope of the Supreme Court to enforce or guarantee a republic form of government; another ruling worried about sinister state legislation that might interfere with freedom and place a condition of legal inferiority upon a large body of American citizens and a state rights article stated that anything that impedes a states republican form is one step closer to eventually unraveling a states republican form of government. At this time, what can we expect from amoral state legislatures, Republicans in Congress or the conservative Supreme Court as far as fairness when it comes to protecting voting rights ?
Years ago, I remember an 8 ½ minute gap from Nixon’s tape; Watergate; Nixon’s corrupt VP Spiro Agnew;Reagan’s Iran-contra Contra Affair scandal; and Bush’s weapons of mass destruction debacle as some examples of immorality.
Moreover, the Freedom House is an American organization that has warned ,since World War II, against aristocracy and repression around the world. They stated, the United States has slid down its ranking of countries per political rights and civil liberties. Our country Is now 59th on their list, slightly below Argentina and Mongolia. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, a Stockholm based think tank, added for the first time the United States to its list of countries facing an acute crisis for democracy.
Within the last six years, we’ve had two impeachments; two Senate Votes with no convictions; a discreditable Atty. General,a dishonest chief of staff; unscrupulous attorneys; unprincipled advisors; disreputable secretaries of State; shameful Supreme Court justice; dishonorable senators and congressmen; and a corrupt, manipulative ,untrustworthy and corrupt president. Further, we had an attack on our governments transfer of power; Republican candidates are running for office on the platform that the 2020 election was stolen-the view held by three quarters of Republican voters; 25 state legislatures have tried to pass legislation directly targeting the election system; bills that would place election oversight for certification in the hands of partisan legislatures; and even bills for punishing officials who blocked attempts to overturn the 2020 election outcome in Trump's victim stance{ election stolen from him} favor. Furthermore, higher murder rates in Republican controlled states than Democratic controlled states{ the 25 states won by Trump in 2020 have 40% more murder rates}.
Some argue that this victim has gotten away with “murder” and continues his behavior without consequence. Yes and no, I take a different view. I see him as a troubled, unhappy, joyless, criminal unaware of his guilt returning to the scene of his crimes over and over again, as if he’s never learned and wanting to be punished.It’s his unconscious wish for punishment.The conscience has consequences for bad, inappropriate,Indecent, perverted , dishonest, vicious and corrupt thoughts and actions. This is guilt that’s accompanied by feeling inferior with lowered self esteem. The conscience has an established no nonsense mechanism for punishing amoral behavior. It manifests with self exhibited punishment that is directed with repeated acts and occurrences of physical injuries, and other negative transgressions against oneself. This man eats poorly,sits on a golf cart, had Covid-19 and is obese, thus affecting his cognitive and physical well-being. He is punishing himself. Anyone want to trade places with this victim right now? As a victim, he can place blame, for his failure, on external fictions.
His followers internalize his conscience and become prone to his will, his commands , precepts and his amoral laws. Identifying with this leader, results in a common immorality. With antisocial impulses, thoughts and behavior comes guilt and consequences with actions directed against self, aside from Indictments and criminal prosecutions. In other words, guilt becomes a powerful motivator contributing to the following rise: 1. Non rising life expectancy numbers despite our wonderful physicians and medical tools. 2.Obesity 3.Diabetes 4.Covid -19, 5. Heart disease 6.Lung disease,7. Stroke 8. Cancer 9.Suicide 10.Depression 11.Anxiety12.Alcohol 13. Drug addiction14. Accidents 15. Alzheimer’s. Guilt plays a major role in the irrational self-defeating amoral thoughts and choices for risky behaviors.
In essence, amoral behavior Is on the rise as evidenced by the poor physical and mental health in our country. Of course,DNA, needs , character, poverty, income , education inequality,crime ,and wars also contribute to illness. The battle between the id and superego seems to be tilting in favor of the id as the ego becomes handicapped in the process. Of course, politics is just one example of amoral behavior. I read recently of the Yale administrator stealing $400 million from that institution. Lying seems to be the norm, as evidenced by various individuals on TV, radio, and social media. Finding the truth has become more difficult. As moral or amoral standards pass from parents to children and become repeated when children become adults, I’m not optimistic. The transgressions of God’s commandments are in force with self punishment as moral masochism .
Reference
Freud, Sigmund .The Ego and the Id.
No comments:
Post a Comment