The Good, he Bad and the Ugly

 

 

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.