This is Jamie.
*As an American I can only speak for American culture so that is what I am referring to when I say “we” as in Americans. *
Freud can be a very interesting writer. He can also be a whiny pessimist. In Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud sounds like he is whining.
Civilization is the cause of cultural unhappiness? Social institutions limit our so-called rights or freedoms by controlling everything that puts society together. Wouldn’t the opposite of this be chaos? Freud says that civilization takes away from human instincts of egocentrism and desires. Civilized social order and authority are necessary to tame human beings. Human desire should be limited to a certain degree because at our very core we are animals and wild animals kill each other and eat each other’s children. If we would like to avoid this we should have a society where there are rules and organization and social laws that say one cannot have sex with everyone simply because their desires tell them to do so.
With time and modernity, personal desires have been freed a little at a time. The Susie Homemaker is now working a 9 to 5, raising a child on her own, and teaching Yoga on the weekends. Through her cheesy tough-girl pop song lyrics, Christina Aguilera stood up about embracing female sexuality despite stereotypes. Freedom of speech has made major marks in history. Human desire might be altered but it is not completely limited by society.
We have not always had it right, and a society that has been run by the Catholic Church is not something humans should be proud of, but overall things are not too bad the way they are. We have passed the times of repressing a culture terribly (i.e. The White Ribbon) and I believe history has taught us when a social institution like a government becomes too powerful, it should be balanced with societal intervention and fair rules to live by. I believe it is Kanye West who said, “No one man should have all that power”. Humans have shown their dedication to personal freedoms and rights enough so that when something feels too limited, people get up and do something about it. Woodstock of 1969 is a fabulous example of this because the people decided that the rigid rules of their time were not going to stop them from doing drugs, having sex and listening to some rock n roll.
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