How does man escape from the anxiousness of being alone in an alienated,stressful, hostile world of war, famine, health insurance ,fire, Covid, global warming,inflation, the bomb,income inequality,unemployment, Depression,Housing Bubble, racism etc.? Some strategies include chemical and alcohol addictions, medications, intoxications, suicide, other self punishments and identification with some perceived power. This disquisition is brief and describes man's attempts to deal with his dilemma.
For a long time, man remains as one of the most helpless and impotent of all mammals. Thus, man is motivated by his strivings caused by anxiety which results in irrational self harming. Irrational behaviors that only mask neurosis.In other words, man attempts to escape from his discomfort.
Man would perish if it wasn't for his caretaker being his helper as he is totally dependent upon such. The family, especially his mother and father, are significant for that survival. His initial dependency physiologically and psychologically is on his mother. While proceeding from primary to secondary narcissism, that infant begins to individuate.This forms a psychological division between self and other.Before separation, is called primary narcissism He's totally dependent and subservient for his security,satisfaction and survival based on her activity. Then he proceeds from dependency to individuation or to secondary narcissism ( separation). This has been described by Freud within the Oedipal drama At first, mother is the helper, the giver of assistance and most important for his survival. Then, through individuation, separation, and growth results in him becoming psychologically alone and insecure.
Developmentally, psychologically alone, the anxiety of separation motivates him to seek assistance from others .Later others become significant helpers like teachers, coaches, peers, peer groups, lovers, etc.The motivation is to avoid the dreaded anxiety of separateness of being alone. Self esteem can become inflated as well in this process. Within the dynamic of dependency- separation, the necessity for a helper is repeated throughout lifetime. Man is essentially figuring out how to cope with his anxiety through this interpersonal dynamic which unfortunately becomes conflictual. For example, In certain character structures, the dependency results in a masochistic dependency.
Roughly 6,000 years ago, give or take, man created the 10 Commandments. These commandments characterize man as being sadistically amoral with submission. These rules demonstrate power over man’s weaknesses. Is man's conscience or moral arbiter missing ? Do only some men have a moral conscience? Later, these behaviors were labeled sinful with the idea that man was essentially sinful. One could've labeled these behaviors as victims dominated by power or just man being man.
In the Middle Ages, there was a religious war, caused by Luther and Calvin. Also, during that time ,there were non competitive guilds that regulated commerce, work,cooperation, wages and so forth. There was a sense of togetherness and solidarity. Man was not alone.However, with the development of a Protestant way of thinking, man was characterized as sinful, wicked,unworthy,useless, despicable and could only be saved by submitting to a God that neither represented justice nor love. The helper in this case was God. God was worshiped because only him could alleviate the misery that resulted from living in an unjust world. Sen. Rafael Warnock said his dad told him: "God walks beside you through life's dark moments and dangerous valleys.One who never abandons us, especially those who feel forgotten, discarded and lost in a mean, cold world." Man required all the help he could receive because of life’s conditions. One had to humble himself before God.Then Calvin’s idea of predestination prevailed. Mysteriously, some men were chosen to be saved, while others not. It didn't matter how you lived your life. God somehow decided if you were going to heaven or going to hell. Of course this was all according to Calvin.
At the same time , the Guild system was being supplanted by capitalism. In essence, Protestant religion’s teachings included the idea that man is now able to face the greatness of God alone( Church not required). The purpose of man's life was God's glory and nothing of his own. Man's activity had no further aim outside of himself and man is insignificant, subordinate and now alone. Man is now prepared to become a servant to the capitalistic economic machine.
Under the Guild system ,labor was more or less regulated and generally the product was sold irrespective of supply and demand. Capitalism grew and the notion of activity, efficiency and time mattered. Work is good as long as it doesn't interfere ( interests) with being in God’s grace . Now with capitalism, similar to Protestant thinking, a set of character dynamics began to be developed as a result of the different socioeconomic activities that surfaced. There is competition to sell products for profit.Monopoly’s are just fine. With rivalry , profit, and accumulation of capital, exploitation surfaced with character tendencies for egotism, greed, selfishness and control. The pursuit of profit was supreme. In essence, with capitalism, economic gains were the result of man's intelligence, diligence, courage, thrift, or luck . His own merits and actions creates a potential to rise above previous economic obstacles such as caste.Self interests of egotism become powerful motivators with the rise of capitalism .Capitalism has become the master of man. However, today’s worker bee is likely to be enslaved with a Sisyphean pointlessness of individual labor. His activity provides wealth for the already incredibly wealthy at the expense of well-being, dignity, and happiness.
Dependency, inequality, wealth and being prosperous was good because it’s worthy. It was your effort alone . it was your fault if you were poor.With competition, rivalry, and monopoly ,man became controlling, exploitative, domineering, greedy , selfish and irrational in his pursuit of masking the anxiety of being alone.Thus, sadomasochistic character qualities were developed of owner with his pursuit and dependency on money and accumulation of capital. Money became his helper.It was survival of the fittest and/or to destroy or be destroyed.
Currently, there are CEO rankings for salaries, for sports, for happiness, for health outcomes etc. It appears that we have rankings for just about everything that we do.Being first is terrific and the “prize.” If you're second , you are the first loser. Just think of the time difference between winners of gold versus silver medals in Olympic swimming events. Yes, they can be measured electronically. There is a rivalry between the University of Michigan and Ohio State .Both are two superb educational institutions with sport programs to match. We start talking about who's the best. In fact, a football coach can be fired ,based on his record, if his team of teens and young adults don't win the big game. How rational is that fact? If you listen to NBA players that have been traded, they are always talking about winning the championship for their new team. This talk is supposed to justify the outlandish salaries they received in compensation. The typical person can't tell you who won the NBA championship 10 years ago, let alone five, or even care. With competition and rivalry we have established as fact : good- bad,strong, weak, winners- losers etc. all these words have moral and derogatory meanings. According to Vince Lombardi "sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can."
The helper becomes a magic helper just as mother .She was “ replaced “ by God;by capitalism and now the mighty dollar. The mighty dollar is worshiped because it can buy things for consumption. More is better,big is better etc. for consumption. Doesn't matter if the products or items are insignificant. It's about buying and consuming. The individual with his anxiety as a base is driven to consume. Ask Bezos or Musk about their worship ,their idol- fame,the power of money. They accumulate more and more and have to be number one. During the process, they exploit,lie, steal, manipulate and are "sinful" with their sadistic interactions with man while submitting and being dependent at the same time. Yes they are extreme examples and are only used to illustrate. However, do these authoritarians favor unions, paying workers more, increasing benefits,allowing a 4 day work week?
These character tendencies for pursuing, dominance, power ,control and submission are sadomasochistic. Certainly Musk and Bazos interactions have sadomasochistic tendencies regardless of who's on the other end. It’s not a matter of their emotional strength but their insecurity about possession. For masochism, the impulse driven by anxiety to submit ,to follow ,to desire .It is unconscious and likely beyond awareness. But we do see that dynamic of submitting to some power or force. Psychologically, that's a result of anxiety that's triggered by powerlessness ,insecurity and helplessness of being alone.Security can’t be bought regardless of all the possessions or trips in space. One doesn't do well being alone,for long, in this world. As a consequence, being alone results in a tendency to interact or wanting to be associated or identified with someone or something that has been perceived as omnipotent, and powerful.That someone or something is supposed to reduce the individuals anxiety of being powerless ,not in control, low self esteem by magically taking care of, boosting self esteem, and assisting that individual by making things better. It's not rational, it’s the pursuit of illusion and make believe.The degree of anxiety plays a dominant role. It's a magic quest that sits in the unconscious.and drives the irrational behavior in an attempt to rid the anxiety.
If the individual has difficulty functioning in this hostile world,the escape from anxiety that was once supported by mother, father, God is now directed with an identification with another .Our country has a plethora of socioeconomic, physical and mental health issues.These external forces drive the anxiety of the insecurity, of powerlessness impotency and loneliness in the quest for security.The identification with the source or magic helper is psychologically enacted to establish consistency and the” necessary” power to remove the awful dread, doubt and adequacy to cope.
.The psychological factors are now established for a tendency to develop an authoritarian character. The authoritarian character's insecurity and inadequacy drives him toward some “powerful” figure to magically provide and regain some form of security, safety and esteem. Therefore, is not surprising that a political party, comprised primarily of evangelical whites, facing existential threats to power, are motivated to find a powerful individual ,seemingly strong, that favors eliminating abortion, packing the Supreme Court, giving tax advantages for the top 1%, continuing war, disparaging and taking away previously established rights and benefits of nonwhites with slogans of going back to old times when the white individuals ruled without competition. White is pure, beautiful ,good, clean while black is dirty ,evil and bad. It's about the past, not at all about the future.The past brings God into the picture in order to persecute all the heathens.
The current authoritarianism character tendencies of many white evangelicals has been fostered by Protesant ideas and capitalism with its sadomasochistic tendencies of amorality which divides individuals into rich- poor , good - bad, pure -evil, love-hate, religious-heathen etc.categories of division and not human solidarity. Today, we have too much alienation with attacks on American culture. A society expressed by those that are looking to the past of an America that was discriminatory and racist. Sen. Warnock told the story of his father, a World War II veteran returning home to Georgia on a bus. Even though dressed in uniform, the white bus driver told him to move to the back so that he could give his seat to a young white lad. Sadomasochism characteristics are similar to authoritarian characteristics and used in describing the Republican Party with its white evangelical nationalist followers.
References
Conservatism's Uncertain Future and My Dad Walked with God. The New York Times, June 19, 2022.
Fromm, Erich. Escape from Freedom
It's Time To Stop Living the American Scam. The New York Times July 10, 2022.
PS
in the July 24, 2022 edition of the New York Times, David Brooks article.” I Was Wrong about Capitalism” is relevant. He stated that over the years, special interest groups have clogged up the economy with overly burdensome regulations, work rules, and perverse tax structures. He also added that some of the fundamental flaws of capitalism are that the most educated Americans were amassing more wealth, dominating the best living areas, pouring advantages for their kids. And a highly unequal caste system was forming. He added that the government would have to get much more active for every child to have an open field and a fair chance. And, that he was wrong to oppose Obama's stimulus recovery as well as Obama's auto bailout on free-market grounds.
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