People feel ambivalent about their jobs but they also feel ashamed of their ambivalence.
Freud had something to say about this and Marcuse dwelt on it in Eros and Civilization. I especially like Marcuse's line that, "Civilization has to defend itself against the spectre of a world which could be free." That is to say free in the sense of working time becoming marginal and free time becoming central but also free time in the sense of non-working time being rid of its manipulative, domination-enforcing character.
The consequences of this desperate "defense of civilization" are immense. "Concentration camps, mass exterminations, world wars, and atom bombs are no 'relapse into barbarism,' but the unrepressed implementation of the achievements of modern science, technology, and domination." It is well to pay close attention to the word 'unrepressed' in the previous sentence. Freedom can't consist of merely throwing off
restraints. Rather, humanity faces the more difficult task of finding or inventing new forms of sublimation to replace the repressive ones that prevail in industrial society. It is no accident that a profligate gets 'born again' in the guise of stern enforcer of the traditional morality.
Totalitarianism has a masterful grasp of the shame about ambivalence. *******************************************************
I agree, Tom. And this is why people can tend to vote against their own interests or to support a sitting president, especially during a war : because they don't want to undermine his authority by allowing the more reasonable bourgeois democrat to take office. IMO,the key to this kind of cognitive dissonance lies within the psychological structure of the authoritarian character, a character which is nurtured in class society i.e. not genetically programmed. Obviously, the more severely damaged casualities in this psy-war tend to vote Republican.
Regards, Mike B)
More wealth and jobs created by Democratic administrations
>From Harding In 1921 to Bush in 2003, Democrats held
White House for 40 years, and Republicans for 42.5
years, during which time,
1. Democrats created 75,820,000 net new jobs and Republicans 36,440,000. 2. Per Year Average : Democrats = 1,825,200 vs. Republicans = 856,400. 3. There was either a depression or a recession during the administrations of 6 of the 9 Republican presidents. 4. The DOW grew by 52% more under Democrats, and 5. The GDP grew by 26.4% more under Democrats. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Democrat President Bill Clinton versus Republican President Ron Reagan
----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. 24% more jobs under Clinton 2. 64% greater GDP under Clinton 3. 500% higher growth in the DOW under Clinton 4. Clinton increased national spending by 28%,
while Reagan increased it by 80% 5. Clinton increased national debt by 28% ,
while Reagan increased it by 187% 6. Clinton produced a huge surplus,
while Reagan increased deficits by 112%
Sources :
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS.Gov)
-- Economic Policy Institute (EPI.org)
Global & World Almanacs from 1980 to 2003
www.the-hamster.com chart taken from NY Times
National Archives History on Presidents. www.nara.gov
===== "Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world; it is the last limit of experience and the last effort of genius."
George Sand
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