Human fetishes can often appear bizarre. They don't even have to be of a sexual complexion. Stamp collecting is just as good an example as those strange beings who are obsessed with women's feet.
There is an important thing going on in such behavior. This human endeavor is often motivated by individuals who seek out an area of control in their lives. Expertise can be developed, interests are refined constantly until an unique expression is formed.
To understand this manifestation of conduct one should always look beyond the object of concern. Stamp collecting is not just about stamps. Foot fetishes are not just about feet. Yet, It is easy to think so when one concedes to the bizarreness of any given fetish.
The stamp collector might find herself further ingrained in the world by her collection and knowledge of stamps. The foot fetishist may feel himself to be closer to women, in his habit of treating women as goddesses. The interest always lies beyond the object of concern.
Probably all important human trends started off as fetishes. The first humans to create an alphabet and to write about their world were probably motivated in a similar way. Those paintings we find in caves of animals and warriors expresses a particular concern with the environment and societies involvement with it. Such activity would have only started off in small groups until it caught on more generally.
We should not then, be overly concerned with the strange behavior of human beings, when they become obsessive- as long as people are not being harmed by these activities. Strangeness should be celebrated. Once we have then understood the strangeness of human fetishes, we will find that they become part of normal realm of our experiences; that is until other manifestations morph our perceptions.
Art- what for?
Showing posts with label Freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freedom. Show all posts
Saturday, 8 August 2009
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Freedom
In the west, the concept of freedom is held up as an ultimate ideal. Moreover, as a population, we generally understand ourselves to be free. What duplicity!
Most of us are wage slaves. We work in jobs that are tedious, tiring and soul destroying. Such jobs take up most of our energies. This in part explains our love affair with the concept of freedom.
Freedom is a negative value. It deals with lack of constraint, lack of domination etc.
Of course, there are different types of freedom. We may have 'freedom of expression', 'economic freedom' or 'physical freedom'. When each kind of freedom plays out, there can be consequences that seem contrary to the very notion of freedom.
For instance, the freedom one acquires through great wealth can have untold consequences that is not always apparent. It is a fallacy to maintain that anyone can be rich because everyone can not be. If everyone was rich, this would mean that there would no service industry to speak off. Only volunteers would work in care homes, drain sewage systems and generally do the dirty jobs.
The idea of freedom of expression is normally contained with a specified sphere. Equal opportunity laws, while in general a good thing, curtail political expression within the work place. It is a nonsense to say that in the west we enjoy such a freedom, without noticing that political space is already well defined.
While we are said to have physical freedom, this too needs further consideration. It is true that with a passport, we can enjoy international travel etc. In most cases, however, due to economic necessity, most of our weeks are spent in jobs. Our ability to travel and explore the globe is constrained heavily by economic considerations.
As a negative value, freedom does not normally prescribe what one should do. We hanker after what we think we have already obtained.
Most of us are wage slaves. We work in jobs that are tedious, tiring and soul destroying. Such jobs take up most of our energies. This in part explains our love affair with the concept of freedom.
Freedom is a negative value. It deals with lack of constraint, lack of domination etc.
Of course, there are different types of freedom. We may have 'freedom of expression', 'economic freedom' or 'physical freedom'. When each kind of freedom plays out, there can be consequences that seem contrary to the very notion of freedom.
For instance, the freedom one acquires through great wealth can have untold consequences that is not always apparent. It is a fallacy to maintain that anyone can be rich because everyone can not be. If everyone was rich, this would mean that there would no service industry to speak off. Only volunteers would work in care homes, drain sewage systems and generally do the dirty jobs.
The idea of freedom of expression is normally contained with a specified sphere. Equal opportunity laws, while in general a good thing, curtail political expression within the work place. It is a nonsense to say that in the west we enjoy such a freedom, without noticing that political space is already well defined.
While we are said to have physical freedom, this too needs further consideration. It is true that with a passport, we can enjoy international travel etc. In most cases, however, due to economic necessity, most of our weeks are spent in jobs. Our ability to travel and explore the globe is constrained heavily by economic considerations.
As a negative value, freedom does not normally prescribe what one should do. We hanker after what we think we have already obtained.
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