Prensa Libre, Guatemala
Sigmund Freud and
the Global Financial Meltdown
"Freud said that the instinct
for self-preservation and narcissism implacably governs us all … he also
realized that if human beings give in to these primitive and selfish instincts,
civilization itself is endangered. ... And he wrote of the immense evil that
festers in society when impunity operates so effectively that justice
disappears."
By Margarita Carrera
Translated By Paula van de Werken
October 16, 2008
Prensa Libre - Guatemala -
Original Article (Spanish)
During the last century and up
to today, the erroneous idea has persisted that Sigmund Freud 
devoted himself uniquely and exclusively to research
into the sexual life of the individual - from the moment of his birth until
death. While it's true that all humans are governed by the "libido,"
that doesn't mean that Freud focused his research exclusively on that subject.
He also worked in the world of economics and politics, to the point of making
severe criticisms of the capitalist system.
In his analysis of dreams, he
discovered that all - absolutely everyone - are "colossal egoists."
That is, egoism, deeply tied to the instinct for self-preservation and
narcissism which implacably governs us all. But he also realized that if human beings
give in to these primitive and selfish instincts, civilization itself is
endangered. As amazing as it may seem, he spoke of the immense evil that
festers in society when impunity operates so effectively that justice
disappears. His actual words were:
"… where the community
refrains from all punishment … men commit acts of cruelty, malice, the
treachery and brutality of which had been believed to be incompatible with
their cultural standards …" So, he adds, "the first cultural
requirement is that of Justice, or said another way, the assurance that the
legal system, once established, will not be violated in favor of any
individual." Thus if you want to live in society, one cannot escape the
sacrifice of the primitive instincts. "Cultural development imposes
restrictions on the individual and justice demands that no one escape
them."
One cannot deny the following
Freudian principle: "Civilization has been achieved thanks to the
relinquishment of the satisfaction of the instincts, and it demands that every
individual repeat that renunciation to himself again and again."
Education must be based,
then, on the "transformation of the selfish instincts into social
instincts." This ethical-psychological principal is frequently forgotten.
Now we are seeing, with the failure of neo-liberalism and the collapse of the
United States, the impact of this around the world.
[Editor's note: On the
Latin-American left, the word neo-liberalism is synonymous with capitalism run
amuck, and control of the economy by a few well-connected individuals with ties
to the United States. In essence, the term implies a reliance on free-markets
and free-trade rather than government intervention ].
Vida Amor de Paz, in his Prensa Libre column of September 28, 2008, writes a quite straight-forward account
about what's happening at the moment: "Crisis in the United States."
He refers to the greed of the all-powerful North American millionaires:
"Over the years in the United States, financiers loaned money to many
costumers who wanted to buy homes, knowing that they couldn’t repay their
debts. These financiers charged them interest rates that were much higher, and
when their clients went "broke," the banks simply took their homes
and put them up for sale. On top of all this, the financiers could defer the
financial risk of the mortgage onto insurers or rearrange them in some other
way. Lots of good people who relied on the advice of these
"financiers" are now in bankruptcy. … Should such avarice be permitted?
But there's an instinctive
need that could save us: the need to be loved. So there's a solution in sight
that could save civilization. The individual learns to value being loved, and
that helps him renounce his selfish, egotistical instincts. The task of
civilization is to overcome the voracity of the individual and put limits on
his or her boundless ambition. Civilization’s purpose is to subject the
policies of neo-liberalism to an exhaustive review, so that the powerful
individuals and those who deny the need for a State regulator not be fortified
against the bankrupt majority - and so they have a place to turn in order to
save themselves.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
As with all fundamentalists,
neo-liberal fundamentalists must be fought; individuals must not be permitted
to grow fat at the cost of society. If the politicians could understand Freud's
"sickness within the culture," they would learn to be more prudent.
The "free market" has resulted in a complete disaster, just as the war
against Iraq has done. Going deeper into the psychology of the individual and
the masses is as indispensable today as it has always been. What Freud articulated
remains implacably true: People are much more likely to give in to their
passions and interests than to their social conscience.
CLICK HERE FOR SPANISH
VERSION
[Posted by
WORLDMEETS.US October 19, 10:30pm]
