Monday, March 14, 2005
- DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA: THE PRIVATE AND THE PUBLIC
Lecturer: Eduard van de Bilt
Sigmund Freud. Civilization and Its Discontents. London: Penguin [1930].
Reviewed by Ieva, Sabrina and Wiebke.
Comments by Agustin: Sigmund Freud & Viagra.
Today, I will venture to defend a risky and surprising proposition. My point is that, thanks to the wonders of both Judeo-Christian morals and capitalism, there has never been --in terms of overall sexual satisfaction-- a happier time than today. Indeed, Dr. Freud would be very surprised!
In his remarks on "American civilization" in chapter 5, Freud mentions "the psychological misery of the mass" and --in the very next sentence-- the role played by "individuals of leadership." All in all, and making due allowance for the confusion that permeates the whole chapter, the outlook is pretty grim.
My point is that Freud's therapeutic methodolgy enabled him to see the trees, but not the forest. His focus on the individual, coupled with his lack of knowledge about the inherent vitality of the capitalist system, is at the root of a massive error of interpretation.
Bill Gates' Women -- or Woman?
Let me mention here a well-known American "individual of leadership". In its recently published ranking of billionaires, Forbes Magazine (once again) puts Bill Gates, Microsoft's founder, at the top. Now let me ask the following question: how many women does Mr. Gates have?
The answer is: one -- his wife. In terms of overall sexual gratification, this is a truly extraordinary fact. Here's my point: that an individual of Mr. Gates' standing, prestige, power and wealth should have only one woman is a remarkable accomplishment. Only our (much maligned) Western civilization makes it possible.
Thanks to Judeo-Christian morality, even very powerful men can accept the principle of monogamy. This acceptance has a massive consequence: it means that "non-alpha males" can have sex! Our civilization has democratized sex like no other! Let's very briefly review what happens in other civilizations. In his biography of Chairman Mao, Philipp Short acknowledges the positive role played by the Chinese Revolution in terms of the situation of women, especially in the countryside (*).
But if you read on, you will find that Chairman Mao did indeed have dozens and dozens of women at his disposal. Comrades would make sure that, even during his tournées out of the capital, the Chairman would spend a pleasant night in the company of at least one beautiful girl.
Or take the case of Saudi Arabia -- now. There are about five thousand princes of the royal family. Each of these (very wealthy) men has the legal right to marry four women. Given the equal proportion of girls and boys that are born every year, the consequence of such polygamy is impossible to hide: it means sexual starvation for the masses.
Now, the Christian paradise is a fairly spiritual affair: Samuel Johnson described it to his biographer James Boswell as a place where souls are "floating" somewhere in Heaven. The Muslim paradise, on the other hand, is a very sensual place. There's water, wine, food and --above all-- virgins. Lots of them. In other words: the price to pay for a place full of virgins in heaven is sexual starvation ... on earth (**).
ED, EE and DD
The other day, while watching CNBC, I was surprised by the sheer size of the market for the so-called "Life-Style Drugs" created to deal with symptoms such as ED (Erectile Dysfunction), EE (Early Ejaculation) and DD (Desire Dysfunction, for women with "persistent loss of libido".) Billions of dollars change hands annually for these products. That necessarily means that a sexual revolution is going on!
Here's a safe bet: the availabity of cheap medical treatments for ED, EE and DD (among a handfull of sex-related conditions) is putting psychoanalysts out of business ... by the thousands! (***). What a surprise, Dr. Freud! The unending vitality of the capitalist system, with its premium on innovation and risk-taking, is making a sizeable (no pun intended) contribution to the solution of humankind's sexual problems.
My conclusion is thus the following: Judeo-Christian morals and capitalism are creating --right here, right now-- the best period ever, in the history of civilization, in terms of overall sexual satisfaction. True, many individuals still suffer from ED, EE and DD. Presumably, that has always been the case, and that will forever be the case.
But, unlike Dr. Freud, let us not lose sight of the forest! This is indeed a very happy time. And the good news may not be over yet. One the one hand, the democratic tsunami that is currently engulfing much of the world can only bring good news for non-alpha males, especially in the Middle East. On the other hand, the process of business innovation continues unabated. What a wonderful world!
(*) Philipp Short. Mao. A Life. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2000.
(**) Lev Navrozov. "Islamic Suicidal Terrorism", NewsMax.com, April 29, 2004.
(***) During the discussion, Prof. van de Bilt agreed with me on this point. He mentioned the case of US insurance companies, which have sharply curtailed expenses on pyschoanalytical treatments in favor of ... the pills!
Lecturer: Eduard van de Bilt
Sigmund Freud. Civilization and Its Discontents. London: Penguin [1930].
Reviewed by Ieva, Sabrina and Wiebke.
Comments by Agustin: Sigmund Freud & Viagra.
Today, I will venture to defend a risky and surprising proposition. My point is that, thanks to the wonders of both Judeo-Christian morals and capitalism, there has never been --in terms of overall sexual satisfaction-- a happier time than today. Indeed, Dr. Freud would be very surprised!
In his remarks on "American civilization" in chapter 5, Freud mentions "the psychological misery of the mass" and --in the very next sentence-- the role played by "individuals of leadership." All in all, and making due allowance for the confusion that permeates the whole chapter, the outlook is pretty grim.
My point is that Freud's therapeutic methodolgy enabled him to see the trees, but not the forest. His focus on the individual, coupled with his lack of knowledge about the inherent vitality of the capitalist system, is at the root of a massive error of interpretation.
Bill Gates' Women -- or Woman?
Let me mention here a well-known American "individual of leadership". In its recently published ranking of billionaires, Forbes Magazine (once again) puts Bill Gates, Microsoft's founder, at the top. Now let me ask the following question: how many women does Mr. Gates have?
The answer is: one -- his wife. In terms of overall sexual gratification, this is a truly extraordinary fact. Here's my point: that an individual of Mr. Gates' standing, prestige, power and wealth should have only one woman is a remarkable accomplishment. Only our (much maligned) Western civilization makes it possible.
Thanks to Judeo-Christian morality, even very powerful men can accept the principle of monogamy. This acceptance has a massive consequence: it means that "non-alpha males" can have sex! Our civilization has democratized sex like no other! Let's very briefly review what happens in other civilizations. In his biography of Chairman Mao, Philipp Short acknowledges the positive role played by the Chinese Revolution in terms of the situation of women, especially in the countryside (*).
But if you read on, you will find that Chairman Mao did indeed have dozens and dozens of women at his disposal. Comrades would make sure that, even during his tournées out of the capital, the Chairman would spend a pleasant night in the company of at least one beautiful girl.
Or take the case of Saudi Arabia -- now. There are about five thousand princes of the royal family. Each of these (very wealthy) men has the legal right to marry four women. Given the equal proportion of girls and boys that are born every year, the consequence of such polygamy is impossible to hide: it means sexual starvation for the masses.
Now, the Christian paradise is a fairly spiritual affair: Samuel Johnson described it to his biographer James Boswell as a place where souls are "floating" somewhere in Heaven. The Muslim paradise, on the other hand, is a very sensual place. There's water, wine, food and --above all-- virgins. Lots of them. In other words: the price to pay for a place full of virgins in heaven is sexual starvation ... on earth (**).
ED, EE and DD
The other day, while watching CNBC, I was surprised by the sheer size of the market for the so-called "Life-Style Drugs" created to deal with symptoms such as ED (Erectile Dysfunction), EE (Early Ejaculation) and DD (Desire Dysfunction, for women with "persistent loss of libido".) Billions of dollars change hands annually for these products. That necessarily means that a sexual revolution is going on!
Here's a safe bet: the availabity of cheap medical treatments for ED, EE and DD (among a handfull of sex-related conditions) is putting psychoanalysts out of business ... by the thousands! (***). What a surprise, Dr. Freud! The unending vitality of the capitalist system, with its premium on innovation and risk-taking, is making a sizeable (no pun intended) contribution to the solution of humankind's sexual problems.
My conclusion is thus the following: Judeo-Christian morals and capitalism are creating --right here, right now-- the best period ever, in the history of civilization, in terms of overall sexual satisfaction. True, many individuals still suffer from ED, EE and DD. Presumably, that has always been the case, and that will forever be the case.
But, unlike Dr. Freud, let us not lose sight of the forest! This is indeed a very happy time. And the good news may not be over yet. One the one hand, the democratic tsunami that is currently engulfing much of the world can only bring good news for non-alpha males, especially in the Middle East. On the other hand, the process of business innovation continues unabated. What a wonderful world!
(*) Philipp Short. Mao. A Life. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2000.
(**) Lev Navrozov. "Islamic Suicidal Terrorism", NewsMax.com, April 29, 2004.
(***) During the discussion, Prof. van de Bilt agreed with me on this point. He mentioned the case of US insurance companies, which have sharply curtailed expenses on pyschoanalytical treatments in favor of ... the pills!
# posted by Agustin @ 8:33 PM 
