Step-by-step, we see looming in the Ibsenian revelation the
psychodynamics of fear, fear of dissent, on the conscious plane, fear of
disclosure, cowardice, but mostly, the participation in a lie, on the
unconscious plane, leading the individual, who is lacking the resources
of moral courage and the spirit of confrontation, to deliquescing into a
pool of lethargy, or more apt, passiveness. American political life
exalts compromise (the ideological dodge for enforcing the status quo),
which, in this discussion, refers to the attitude of going-along:
condoning war crimes—not even perceived as such—in the name of the
National- Security State, likewise the commission of assassination
authorized at the top levels of government, and of course the defense
budget, which dwarfs all social-welfare expenditures and leaves the
people to fend for themselves in a deteriorating state. The ruling
groups—political, economic, military, singly and conjoined—could not be
more pleased; for them, societal paralysis (on a continuum with
passiveness, but itself appearing more and more likely) is the new
end-game, an eschatological Nirvana devoutly to be wished by them so
that they can continue with their secrets, notably, enlarging the scope
and magnitude of abuse to the point that it becomes no longer
detectable, and rather, simply the new
normality. Yet, a
selective Nirvana, for while the masses sleep the sleep of oblivion to
reality, ruling groups remain as busy as ever, their appetites whetted
by the subservience and lack of opposition facing them—a happy hunting
ground of exploitation.
***Read article at RINF***
