HI All:

I found this article to be quite illuminative of our current condition.  I particularly found this quote to be very valuable:
As the American physician and psychotherapist Alexander Lowen acknowledged: “The modern individual is committed to being successful, not to being a person. He belongs rightly to the ‘action generation’ whose motto is ‘do more but feel less.”

I think that this really gets at the core of the issue — even more than the idea that we are acquisitive commodity seekers.  The idea that contemporary capitalist society is organized to foster a sense of acquisitiveness has always struck me as appropriate, but secondary to something else.  This is the something else that I think is more important.  

The most powerful of all human motives, I think, are identity motives.   We are motivated to uphold images of who we want to be and, morally, who we believe we should be.  In the current version of our capitalist culture, the images of “who we want to be” are defined by “success”.  And success is defined as status, wealth, attractiveness, capacity and means to act as one pleases, etc. This is not a fulfilling conception of personhood.  The goal, it seems to me, is to seek to change minds and societal structures that reflects our conceptions of what it means to be good persons, what it means to have good relationships, and what it means to cultivate a society that promotes human flourishing rather than merely human self-interest. This, I think, is what will make us feel whole, rather than empty.


My Very Best,

Mike

Michael F. Mascolo, Ph.D.
Academic Director, Compass Program
Professor, Department of Psychology
Merrimack College, North Andover, MA 01845
978.837.3503 (office)
978.979.8745 (cell)

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> On Feb 13, 2020, at 12:55 PM, Chance McDermott <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> This article seems to well-describe the frustrated situation that many experience.  It is an absurd and awkward situation. 
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, Feb 13, 2020 at 7:57 AM nysa71 <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
> 
> Gregg,
> 
> The article is simply  neoliberalism / late stage capitalism in a nutshell. We need to stop trying to adapt to such a system, and start shifting to a system that adapts to us. The current Democratic primary is a perfect reflection of those two competing sentiments, with most candidates (if not all but one of those candidates), a reflection (to varying degrees) of the former sentiment. That simply will not --- and cannot --- do. It's why I'm a Bernie guy, and couldn't care less about the rest of them.
> 
> ~ Jason  
> On Thursday, February 13, 2020, 07:04:07 AM EST, Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi TOK List,
> 
>  
>   Someone recently shared this article with me.
> 
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__medium.com_-40erikrittenberry_the-2Damerican-2Dlife-2Dis-2Dkilling-2Dyou-2D9e7e68135f4a&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=vuG1Ian-l09djamvwiHIvZ4jraX57BK5vTxdtQlIx5Q&s=Y26oNNiL8WX86Y9KSvXJozDDYr0ivuSUphmWUpyYmg0&e= <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__medium.com_-40erikrittenberry_the-2Damerican-2Dlife-2Dis-2Dkilling-2Dyou-2D9e7e68135f4a&d=DwMCaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=_KIZTjZEJQVB-0U7q_Wm-hCzh85Y7h-9yCO9Xb9L3e4&s=tBAMaCvdycHDEXbBjUV3IdHZrc5qzSqjtUxvR76PPOo&e=>
>  
> Would love to get reactions if folks have them.
> 
>  
> Best,
> 
> Gregg
> 
>  
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