Man Murder and Culture

To no one’s surprise, there occurred two mass shootings last weekend.  This essay has to do with man’s aggressive nature within the context of his life space. Let’s initially take a look, at current aspects of an amoral culture in our country. We have inept, hateful and sadistic political divide; numerous white nationalist groups and associations; videogames with realistic violence; a plethora of heroic murder, lying, stealing and other amoral transgressions portrayed on TV and in the movies; superficial reporting with excessive amounts of hate, prejudice and racism expressed on radio, TV and social media; enormous greed and the easy availability and unnecessary amounts of automatic rifles. It’s no surprise that our country is number one when it comes to the number of mass murders. Let’s address man’s developmental history and his potentiality for aggressive behavior.

 There’s no argument that man is aggressive. Aggressiveness has been explained as either a result of a drive, instinct, or a need.  Man being aggressive is not surprising based on the anxiety, insecurity, helplessness and, dependency surrounding birth. I will use a baseball description of balls and strikes instead of good or bad as an analogy for potential aggressive behavior. Balls and strikes have a different connotation than good or bad.

Man essentially has two directions to express or exhibit aggression. Man can direct his aggression outward toward others. A need for aggression which has been defined by Henry Murray as: To fight. To revenge as injury. To attack, injure or kill another. Aggression can also be expressed verbally as in sadism or sadistic expression which is meant to hurt, or humiliate another’s feelings.

Men can also direct his aggression inward toward self. Aggression turned inward has been called by Murray the need for abasement which is: To accept injury, blame, criticism, punishment. To blame, belittle or mutilate the self. To seek and enjoy pain, punishment, illness, and misfortune. Depression and suicide are commonly understood as aggression toward self-turned inward.

We also know that aside from his inherited or physiological qualities, man expresses his aggression as a result and is often related to frustration when his goal behavior is thwarted. Moreover, learning and history have a lot to do with how, why, to whom and when the expression of aggressive behavior is exhibited

Within this background of aggression, let’s direct attention to the baseball analogy of balls and strikes and their ratio to depict potential conflicts with resulting potential for aggressive tendencies. Initially, we all start out life differently, not equally .Employing balls and strikes to the following: the wellness and wellbeing of the caretaker during pregnancy; the caretaker’s socioeconomic status; the caretaker’s physical and mental health; the caretaker’s ability to nurse; and with the caretaker’s marital status etc.  , we come up with a number or a ratio.  Next, let’s look at the newborn’s physiological health, at birth; and the newborns skin color which can be called either a ball or strike; the newborns ZIP Code or country of origin can be called a ball or strike; the nursing, doctor and hospital care can be called a ball or strike; the impact of the marital relationship etc. all affect this newborn. At this point, what is the ratio of balls to strikes? Hopefully, the baby can get to first base.

Within the baby’s development, he’s going to attend possibly preschool and then some K-12 educational program. Once again, zip code of the school results in either a ball or strike. Any learning disability or special needs of the student results in either a ball or strike. The quality of education and the quality of the sports, music and other school programs also results in either a ball or a strike. Additionally, the quality of his peer group relationships, experimentation with drugs, alcohol or cigarettes also can be evaluated in terms of balls or strikes. This important time of development, of acquiring an attitude toward academic skills, the beginning development of identity along with the capacity for intimacy are all affected by the number of balls and the number of strikes. Once again, the ratio of balls to strikes are important. Was this youngster able to get to second base, is he stuck on first base or is he still struggling at home plate?

Now perhaps on to college. If he’s a five-star athlete or has some extraordinary talent, colleges come running; if he is a Phi Beta Kappa with wealthy parents, then he has plenty of options. Maybe with these individuals, they have just hit a home run. However, for the rest, maybe there’s college accompanied by enormous school debt.  The college dropout rate is staggering. The non-college bound can join the military; receive minimum wage; have limited career employment opportunity; have questionable health care and social security –retirement etc. for their future. Once again, balls and strikes and the ratio are key components.

It’s clear that the history of balls and strikes affect degree of frustration regarding goal attainment. A heavy degree of frustration results in more aggression turned outward toward others and/or inward toward self. One’s history or batting average can be very low. If low, that equals lots of aggression.

A few words about the frustration in the environment created by the ruling class. The ruling class consists of the top 1% economically, with Wall Street and the large corporations. One politician said that corporations are people. Yes, but what kind of people? In our capitalistic-socioeconomic system, money is power or power is money. In any event, money and power are considered positives for those that have it and are considered negatives for those that don’t.

Based upon someone’s detailed history, they are going to have limited or unlimited opportunities. Sorry Jefferson, not everyone was created equal nor do they have equal socioeconomic and educational opportunities. Unfortunately, based on who we are, aggression is turned inward or outward. However, one word of optimism. Freud believed that we can partially limit aggression turned inward and outward through sublimation. Sublimation will not totally resolve and prohibit the release of aggression. However, with sublimation, we have numerous individuals that have excelled in all forms of the performing, literary, fine and creative arts; in scientific and philosophical achievement; in establishing foundations; and in sports. A home run is better than a ball and a ball is better than a strike both in baseball and in dealing with frustration and aggression.

The frequency and the manner in which aggression is expressed gives clues to the character and need structure of the individual. Likewise, the character and need structure of the individual gives clues to the manner in which aggression is going to be expressed. Of course, the number of balls and the number of strikes affect the development of character. Reducing the number of strikes will result in less violence than we have today.

Personally, I know about aggression turned inward and outward. I have engaged in fistfights, played high school and college football.  I ran the 100 mile one day Western States endurance run at age 62 and completed the 100 mile one day Swanton Pacific Ride and Tie at age 68. I also have participated in oral sadistic exchanges with Linda. Believe me, sublimation behavior is less stressful.

In essence, when a young male, at his peak or with higher levels of testosterone [promotes aggressiveness and sexual desire]; has an unconscious feeling of powerlessness [buying guns and affiliating with nationalistic hate clubs]; has a diffuse identity [ hateful exclusion of those different ,allegiance, pledging and proving loyalty  , stereotyping of enemies, readiness,  openness, attractiveness,  a needy desire to belong, an identification with  authoritarian  doctrines and ideas};  limited to irrational , prejudicial thinking; coupled with a doom and gloom outlook; having a   sadomasochistic character, we have, as a result , a serious prognosis. Rear this person in an environment with an amoral culture coupled with the greedy manufacturing of military weapons, and to no one’s surprise we have a preponderance of murder.