Cross-Posting: Distance Disconnect

I originally posted this, on another log of mine, here. This copy has been slightly edited.

*****

I came up with this concept while contemplating a passage in Katharine  Kerr’s Deverry (fantasy) series novel “Darkspell”. The passage, on pp. * 103 – 104 of my copy (Grafton [Harper], 1989, ISBN 0 586 20079 7; Amazon), describes, in essence, the existence of a group-mind / soul for each group in physical reality. **

That led me to thinking on one of the major problems I have on my list:

why are so many bad aspects of humanity showing, at the moment?

It is easy to focus on the selfish, mean-spirited, immature, aggressive 45^th President of the USA as an example of this, but I’m more concerned about the person who, in their everyday life, does things that result in harm for others.

A perfect example of that is the TV character Sam Seaborn, in the series “The West Wing”, who, in a flashback in the second season two-part episode “In the Shadow of Two Gunmen”, is arranging an “insurance shield” for a company that is knowingly buying an oil tanker (ship) that is in poor condition.

As another example, some where I recently read of advice on a jury selection to a lawyer which was along the lines of “since this is about standing up for principles, don’t select middle aged men, as they will have sacrificed their principles along the way as part of their career” (this was possibly something I read about the trial of Daniel Ellsberg after he leaked the Pentagon Papers).

My ultimate example, of course, is Edward Bernays, who, when he wasn’t helping the CIA overthrow democratically elected governments, twisted the work of Sigmund Freud to invent the emotionally-aligned “commercial / business propaganda” ***, which is better known as “advertising” (previously, this had largely been either factually based, or of limited effectiveness [although, as with the modern version, those less able to think clearly and objectively were more susceptible] – see here), and has caused such massive problems as consumerism, commodification, materialism, greed, a change in the nature of society that has cost us our soul and heart, and the environmental destruction of this planet in the course of feeding said consumerism etc.

(Economic wellbeing and prosperity are completely separate – as is exemplified by the fact that such topics have been considered, written about, and have played a key role in governance for millennia.)

In my words, these people haven’t thought about the consequences of their actions. As an example of this, the decision to create fashion trends in cars has led to mining of iron and other resources, the generation of greenhouse gases in the manufacture of cars (and recycling of steel also consumers considerable amounts of energy in the melting down of steel [although less than mining and refining]), the creation of mass manufacturing  which has subsequently been twisted away from its original form (where the skills of workers was respected) to something which reduces workers to disposable (replaceable) cogs, and, of greatest concern to me, a change in social attitudes away from gratitude for possessions to rampant consumerism/ commodification and viewing things (including, ultimately, people) as disposable(replaceable).

Why?

Well, the answer to that is multifaceted (it’s not necessarily what I would term complex, but there are lots of aspects), but the one facet I wish to consider is the person who is asked “how do we make more money?”, and comes up with an approach – like the example of the fictitious character Sam Seaborn.

Why is it that no-one challenges that idea because of the harm it will cause either down the track (i.e., in the future), or to people’s wellbeing (I am particularly thinking of the tobacco and gambling industries at this point), or to the environment (e.g., the wars over conflict minerals, as well as massive environmental damage, in third world nations which are curse with resources that consumerism in the West seeks)?

Fear of losing their job, perhaps, and other issues (facets).

One of those other issues is the difficulty that so many people seem to have of getting beyond what is directly in front of them.

As examples, consider the person who is struggling to make ends meet and criticises foreign aid, not realising (or perhaps not able to realise) that there are people in desperate poverty. I sometimes wonder if what is described as “compassion fatigue” is actually either a lack of imagination on the part of the potential donor, or a lack of effective communication on the part of governments and aid agencies.

This issue is not the same as evil. I’ve written about that recently (see here, here, here, and for a spiritual [Pagan] opinion of mine, here), and that largely comes down to lack of empathy. If someone is in suffering right in front of someone who can be descried as “evil”, it is quite possible that they either will not recognise the pain, or they will take pleasure in it (i.e., be sadistic, as was the case with one of the bullies I had to put with in primary school, which is why I think some approaches to managing bullying in schools, until recently, have been dangerously and stupidly naïve).

This issue is about people not being able to get beyond what is obvious and right in front of them. They are unable to consider (comprehend?) aspects that are at some sort of distance – whether that distance is time (what will this do in the future?), emotional (“they’re not related to me, so why should I care?”, or physical distance (“why should I care happens in X?”).

I don’t have a solution (yet :) ) , but at least I now have this tool to add to all the other tools I can use when analysing problems.

 * pp. is an abbreviation for “pages”

 ** I am always a bit wary of quoting directly (in this instance, I can’t say that quote would be for be review or study), but I also know Katharine Kerr is seeking financial help through sales as a result of a family illness, so I’ll suggest you buy the book if you want to read the passage.

 *** From the linked article, which is about a documentary series examining this: "This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy"