OF THE
TIMES
From time immemorial, man has dreamed of a life in which his efforts to accumulate benefits can be punctuated by rest during which time he enjoys those benefits. He learned how to domesticate animals in order to accumulate more benefits, and when that no longer met his needs, he learned to enslave other human beings simply because he was more powerful and could do it.In such a situation as described above, in 'good times' where the majority of people lose the ability or caring to correctly weigh situations and the psychology of others objectively, the stage is set for psychopaths to infiltrate and degrade society. When this is allowed to happen, society degrades until a crisis point where normal people are then forced to learn the hard way a correct psychological world view. With this new psychological world view, the stage is set for drastic changes to be made, psychopaths to be removed from power and for the cycle as described with generational theory to start anew.
Dreams of a happy life of 'more accumulated benefits' to be enjoyed, and more leisure time in which to enjoy them, thus gave rise to force over others, a force which depraves the mind of its user. That is why man's dreams of happiness have not come true throughout history: the hedonistic view of 'happiness' contains the seeds of misery. Hedonism, the pursuit of the accumulation of benefits for the sole purpose of self-enjoyment, feeds the eternal cycle where good times lead to bad times.
During good times, people lose sight of the need for thinking, introspection, knowledge of others, and an understanding of life. When things are 'good,' people ask themselves whether it is worth it to ponder human nature and flaws in the personality (one's own, or that of another). In good times, entire generations can grow up with no understanding of the creative meaning of suffering since they have never experienced it themselves. When all the joys of life are there for the taking, mental effort to understand science and the laws of nature - to acquire knowledge that may not be directly related to accumulating stuff - seems like pointless labor. Being 'healthy minded,' and positive - a good sport with never a discouraging word - is seen as a good thing, and anyone who predicts dire consequences as the result of such insouciance is labeled a wet-blanket or a killjoy.
Perception of the truth about reality, especially a real understanding of human nature in all its ranges and permutations, ceases to be a virtue to be acquired. Thoughtful doubters are 'meddlers' who can't leave well enough alone. 'Don't fix it if it ain't broke.' This attitude leads to an impoverishment of psychological knowledge including the capacity to differentiate the properties of human nature and personality, and the ability to mold healthy minds creatively.
The cult of power thus supplants the mental and moral values so essential for maintaining peace by peaceful means. A nation's enrichment or involution as regards its psychological world-view could be considered an indicator of whether its future be good or bad.
During good times, the search for the meaning of life, the truth of our reality, becomes uncomfortable because it reveals inconvenient factors. Unconscious elimination of data which are, or appear to be, inexpedient, begins to be habitual, a custom accepted by entire societies. The result is that any thought processes based on such truncated information cannot bring correct conclusions. This then leads to substitution of convenient lies to the self to replace uncomfortable truths thereby approaching the boundaries of phenomena which should be viewed as psychopathological.
Air France executives, shirts ripped from their backs, flee angry employees protesting plan that would cut 2,900 jobs pic.twitter.com/tIqefyHZB3
— AFP Photo Department (@AFPphoto) October 5, 2015
Comment: Authoritarian bureaucratic types seem to have a penchant for over-reacting - but little ability to exercise foresight and wisdom before problems get escalated.
For more on the event itself see:
Catastrophic flash flooding forecast for South Carolina, National Guard deployed
At least eight dead in 'historic' flash flooding in South Carolina, US