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..:: Control ::..
By
Alan Schneider
Human consciousness often
appears to be a “work in progress” – a mosaic of many influences and
trends that do not always work well together. The outcome of behavior in
either the literal sense of physicality, or the implicit sense of
deliberation, is frequently the result of habit or proxy as much as
informed decision, and a severe enough internal conflict can all but
immobilize us. This essay considers the coefficients of
what is in many ways the primary human motive of existence – control
– over each other, the environment, the personal mind, and ultimately
the collective social mind. And we must also consider here the
limitations of the human consciousness that seeks to exert that
control. However extended our conscious presence may have become on the
higher planes, the affect on the outcomes of our control-oriented
efforts here on this Physical Plane of turbulent manifestation remain
transitory.
If we begin with the unenlightened, base mind typical of
most individuals existing in many of the world’s contemporary cultures,
the organizing principle of psychological hedonism must be
considered first. In its simplest construction, this principle states
that the biological organism will tend to seek out pleasurable
experiences, and avoid uncomfortable ones. This can easily be observed
in lower zoological life forms such as domestic cats and dogs, and
behaviorists have repeatedly demonstrated the effect of conditioning as
a control modality on these creatures, and others such as horses,
parrots, whales, sea lions, and dolphins, to name a few of the “highly
malleable” species on the planet. There can be no contesting that human
beings also seem to conform to this principle of behavior, at least in
general terms. But we humans also possess the capability for highly
complex, abstract thought and concept manipulation that can generate
conflict on many perceptual levels, including those which are
specifically spiritual in their form and expression. It is the role of
acculturation to resolve the potential conflict and confusion inherent
in human perception by offering behavioral maps of agreed upon
definitions and prescriptions for action that are learned during
maturation, and will result in the eventual formation of that integrated
sense of self mentioned so often in these articles – the ego. And
although this mechanism cannot eliminate conflict entirely, it can and
does tell us what to do when it occurs, at least within the boundaries
of a specific culture, and this is highly useful by itself – an
effective medication to an admittedly incurable condition – the
condition of life.
Cultures themselves exhibit a wide range of what are
generally called control orientations in psychological
science. At one extreme are the more technological societies that have
used their command of science to develop many internal and external
strategies and methods of determining outcomes – the root
meaning of control – in the human arena, with the United States
unquestionably leading the pack. At the other are fairly technologically
primitive cultures that often seem to have little or no use for
controlling behavior at all – natural Australian Aborigines come to mind
as a good example in this case. It is most interesting that personal
control is such a focal condition in America, and most other Western
societies, while collective control is much more stressed in Eastern and
so-called Third World cultures. Communication theory refers to these two
poles of the control spectrum as individualist and
collectivist, respectively. The individualist culture tends to
emphasize personal responsibility and achievement as the means of
control, while the collectivist society emphasizes kinship and social
bond relationships as the means of control – a personal verses group
approach to the accumulation and use of available resources.
Consequences are usually very clearly defined on the basis of personal
action and responsibility in individualist cultures, and are also
clearly defined on the basis of conformity to group norms and social
expectations in collectivist ones.
Control is about something – it is focused on some
external or internal object of achievement – garnering and developing
physical resources, learning new intellectual skills, gaining a greater
degree of understanding regarding processes at work in the world. In the
individualist paradigm, the maximum degree of personal empowerment is
created and subsequently channeled into decision making that can take
place as quickly as possible to produce a desired outcome as rapidly as
possible. If mistakes are made, these can be learned from with great
rapidity, and the personal effort modified quickly to make additional
attempts. The net outcome across history of this orientation is that
individualist cultures have tended to monopolize resources, and emerge
in dominance in intercultural conflicts with the more collectivist
cultures that process transition and information less efficiently. The
price paid by the individual for this level of achievement in
individualist cultures is that of the automation of perception –
one becomes a fundamentally insensitive robot bent on acquisition, and
supremely uncomfortable with most levels of feeling or emotion,
particularly those which arise in consequence of the moral implications
of the acquisition(s) in question. Lower animals are instinctually
driven to perform the behaviors they exhibit – they have little or no
choice in the matter – and represent behavioral mechanisms for
that reason. Human beings have at least the capability for
introspection, emotion, and compassion – if these qualities have been
encouraged and allowed to develop by their cultures. Sadly, the
emphasis on materialism and material acquisition in many Post-Modern
cultures has produced a lop-sided mental process unaware of any other
motive for existence.
Objects, and the use and possession of objects, is perfectly
acceptable as long as the clear distinction is made that those objects
are only the accessories of existence, not the end goals.
If human beings are ever to attain real happiness in this life, they
must learn the additional side of the equation – people are not
objects however finite and discreet they may appear to be, and we
must treat each other with love, compassion, and positive regard to
experience true depth of meaning and purpose in our condition. Objects
are to be used, other people are to be loved. It is the
primary symptom of Post-Modern decay all over the world that we have
learned to love objects and use other human beings to
obtain those objects, as we blindly stumble forward in the existential
vacuum of dead-end materialism.
The logical outcome of the woeful misperception of another
person as an object of manipulation is the inevitable attempt to exert
control over that person. This may take the form of the
aforementioned manipulation – a very common social scenario in many
cultures today – or may take the forms of outright coercion, domination,
or extermination in the more extreme cases where the insulation
of social grace has worn thin, as it does under conditions of extreme
intolerance or scarcity of resources. In many such cases, a virtual
culture of control will develop, one characterized by ingroup
recognition mechanisms including uniforms (and other conventions of
appearance), verbal cues, gestures, and specific behavioral norms. Once
a sufficient level of ingroup recognition has been achieved, the
oppression of all other persons and groups is inevitable, as they become
dehumanized objects of discrimination and repression. This is the
modality of fascism and exploitation that is becoming predominant around
the world today, as the dwindling resource base brings out the absolute
worst in everyone, and sets us all at each others throats. We can
attempt to deny or ignore this ugly situation if we please, but I would
wager that we will not succeed in the attempt indefinitely. We have
reached the eleventh hour of the human condition – we have practiced
blind consumption with the utmost efficiently, without regard to
the affect of that practice on this planet, and are standing on the
absolute verge of a global catastrophe of unparalleled proportions. We
must find a better way to live together amid what remains of this
plundered Post-Modern world!
A beginning is to make the personal decision to struggle to
find and acknowledge the worth of the other people around us, no matter
how worthless they may appear to be. Because we are all lodged in our
personal organisms, and the selfish perspectives on life that accompany
that condition, it is always easy to find fault with others. It
is the mark of someone who has made significant strides in
self-development to recognize that the tendency to criticize others is a
direct reflection of one’s inner criticism of oneself. We tend
to most disparage in others what we secretly despise in ourselves. This
is the core concept at work in the human control obsession – a deep
inner sense of frustration, impotence, and helplessness that generates a
frantic opposing reaction in our consciousness. What the control fanatic
most disparages in others is overt or covert displays of weakness and
vulnerability – the primary unforgivable sins of fascist ideology.
Well, my friends, the truth is that we are all weak, flawed,
vulnerable, mortal creatures who were created in the Karma of human
flesh to be challenged by those conditions, and succumbing to the
control obsession really constitutes the greatest human failure of all!
The truly powerful individual is the one who confronts the
inevitable fear and loneliness of the human condition with love,
acceptance, and compassionate understanding – not violence and
condemnation.
The human challenge – of consciousness subtended by a mortal
body of flesh – certainly appears to be the ultimate challenge
conceivable. Our stress-ridden condition always seems to militate
against the formation of any state of spiritual grace that could
transcend our inherent weaknesses and vulnerabilities. The ego is a
wonderful but flawed coping and survival mechanism that will first
attempt to reject the inevitable wounds of Karma, either by repressing
them into the subconscious realm, or by developing mental scar tissue
around the traumatized regions. A sufficient bulk of traumatic
experience that is not treated with effective therapy will eventually
produce an obsession with control as a standing defense mechanism
present in personal psychology, ultimately resulting in all manner of
fascist atrocities when the condition becomes socially collectivized, as
it so often does.
It
is quite possible that the appearance and development of human beings on
this planet was a cosmic experiment in consciousness – an attempt to see
how much turbulence was required to create awareness from otherwise
inert matter on one hand, and subsequently destroy it on the other. And
the experiment may have an automatic failsafe mechanism built in to
terminate it when the needed data has been acquired, possibly whether
or not the needed data has been acquired. Even if it is our
unavoidable fate to finally pass into chaos and extinction, we can at
least try to live lives defined by grace and compassion while still
present in the flesh. This is our greatest challenge, and
opportunity, as sentient creatures. Ultimately, we are spiritual
beings having the physical experience of Karma in this continuum of
turbulent expression called life!
- With Love, Alan -
(CR2008, Alan Schneider)
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