Thursday, June 13, 2013

considering violence yet again

today someone introduced me to philosopher rene girard, who wrote about the violence of the sacred.  he suggests that humans imitate, and we want what the other has.  when two individuals want the same thing, it leads to violence.  the violence can be reduced by sacrificing a scapegoat.

i wonder when we started believing in scarcity.  i wonder when we became conformists.  i remember reading erich fromm when i was a teenager.  we say that we think we are unique, one-of-a-kind nonconformists, but in reality we are most comfortable when we are like our peers, obviously one of them, obviously accepted.  fromm says we believe it is simple coincidence that we are all dressed the same, or watching the same show.

i'm not sure where i am going with this.  i know it has something to do with us.  i immediately thought of b#3 as family scapegoat.  dad targeted him with his violence.  why?

we were raised in scarcity.  i still believe in it.  so how do we pass this cultural conditioning?

thoughtfully, and with love...

clare

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