>It is a fact which can be observed again and again that people can enjoy
>situations that would appear hellish to other people. Regrettably, human
>beings can get adjusted to almost any situation and derive some pleasure
>from it (I believe that there are accounts from Nazi concentration camps,
>for example, which illustrate this.) This fact goes far to explain why,
>for example, U.S. workers so seldom revolt against their conditions.
Here's an excerpt from the chuckle-a-minute Critique of the Gotha Programme!
The old man takes up this statement in the programme: " 4. "The emancipation of labor must be the work of the working class, relative to which all other classes are only one reactionary mass." <...>
He replies: "Has one proclaimed to the artisan, small manufacturers, etc., and peasants during the last elections: Relative to us, you, together with the bourgeoisie and feudal lords, form one reactionary mass?"
I would take a more feminist freudian view and say, thank dog we are capable of surviving hellish experiences.
Kelley