Been reading Herbert Marcuse, my favorite Marxist philosopher, again. I was especially struck last night by his "Agressiveness in Advanced Instrustrial Society," which appears in <i>Negations</i> (Boston: Beacon, 1968). Marcuse's hypothesis that, in an "affluent" society, our humanity is continually denied appears terrifically apt forty years later--and I wonder what Marcuse would make of the present day United States. The "healthy" individual, so considered, Marcuse reminds us, is one who is "equipped with all the qualities which enable him to get along with others in society, and these very same qualities are the marks of repression, the marks of a mutilated human being, who collaborates in his own repression" (254). In other words, the more we try to function normally in our society the more we deny our chances for genuine health. That is, if the society itself is sick (planned obselescence, manufactured needs, the gap between rich and poor, environmental havoc, etc.) and the individual <i>must</i> function in it, the individual comes to regard the sick society as a condition of normalcy.
I suppose this is comforting for those of us who find society discomforting. One might say that depression is an apt response to life in the early 21st century.
As for "agressive tendencies," Marcuse relies on Freud's notion of the battle between the Logos and the Eros (to some degree, in Nietzschian terms, Dionysian versus Apollonian), but I was more intrigued by Marcuse's mention of Freud's notion that mass society "achieves an 'oversocialization' to which the individual reacts 'with all sorts of frustrations, repressions, agressions, and fears which soon develop into genuine neuroses'" (259). Oversocialization! What to make of MySpace, Facebook, cell phones, text-messaging, Twitter, and even the SuicideGirl blog? It's quite possible that we have entered a period of <enforced</i> socialization and that to seek "quiet, privacy, independence, initiative, and some open space" (Rene Dubos) runs counter to societial goals. It's no wonder individuals are made to feel guilty, to feel apart from society or left behind, if they choose not to participate in such things as Facebook and Twitter or, gasp!, refuse to own a cell phone.
I'll maintain that depression is a natural response to life in our society, but the problem becomes that we've develop neuroses whether we participate in society or not. Those who reject society, in part or completely, risk becoming overwhelmed by their own alienation from it. Ah, so many questions!
I suppose this is comforting for those of us who find society discomforting. One might say that depression is an apt response to life in the early 21st century.
As for "agressive tendencies," Marcuse relies on Freud's notion of the battle between the Logos and the Eros (to some degree, in Nietzschian terms, Dionysian versus Apollonian), but I was more intrigued by Marcuse's mention of Freud's notion that mass society "achieves an 'oversocialization' to which the individual reacts 'with all sorts of frustrations, repressions, agressions, and fears which soon develop into genuine neuroses'" (259). Oversocialization! What to make of MySpace, Facebook, cell phones, text-messaging, Twitter, and even the SuicideGirl blog? It's quite possible that we have entered a period of <enforced</i> socialization and that to seek "quiet, privacy, independence, initiative, and some open space" (Rene Dubos) runs counter to societial goals. It's no wonder individuals are made to feel guilty, to feel apart from society or left behind, if they choose not to participate in such things as Facebook and Twitter or, gasp!, refuse to own a cell phone.
I'll maintain that depression is a natural response to life in our society, but the problem becomes that we've develop neuroses whether we participate in society or not. Those who reject society, in part or completely, risk becoming overwhelmed by their own alienation from it. Ah, so many questions!