Sunday, June 10, 2012

Laura Branigan - Self Control


http://youtu.be/p8-pP4VboBk
Download MP3

Oh, the night is my world
City light painted girl
In the day nothing matters
It's the night time that flatters
In the night, no control
Through the wall something's breaking
Wearing white as you're walkin'
Down the street of my soul

You take my self, you take my self control
You got me livin' only for the night
Before the morning comes, the story's told
You take my self, you take my self control

Another night, another day goes by
I never stop myself to wonder why
You help me to forget to play my role
You take my self, you take my self control

I, I live among the creatures of the night
I haven't got the will to try and fight
Against a new tomorrow, so I guess I'll just believe it
That tomorrow never comes

A safe night, I'm living in the forest of my dream
I know the night is not as it would seem
I must believe in something, so I'll make myself
believe it
That this night will never go

Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh

Oh, the night is my world
City light painted girl
In the day nothing matters
It's the night time that flatters

I, I live among the creatures of the night
I haven't got the will to try and fight
Against a new tomorrow, so I guess I'll just believe
it
That tomorrow never knows

A safe night, I'm living in the forest of a dream
I know the night is not as it would seem
I must believe in something, so I'll make myself
believe it
That this night will never go

Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
You take my self, you take my self control
You take my self, you take my self control
You take my self, you take my self control
You take my self, you take my self control
You take my self, you take my self control
You take my self, you take my self control
You take my self, you take my self control
You take my self, you take my self control
You take my self, you take my self control
You take my self, you take my self control ... [fade out]

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Enrique Iglesias - Heartbeat ft. Nicole Scherzinger




Enrique:
I saw you talking on the phone
I know that you are not alone
But you stealing my heart away
Yeah you stealing my heart away

Nicole:

You're acting like you are on your own
But I saw you standing with a girl, oh
Stop tryn' to steal my heart away
Stop tryn' to steal my heart away

I don't know where we going

I don't know who we are

I can feel your heartbeat

I can feel your heartbeat
(He said to me)
I can feel your heartbeat
(Running through me)
Feel your heartbeat
She said

I can feel your heartbeat

(She said to me)
I can feel your heartbeat
(She said to me)
I can feel your heartbeat
(Running through me)
Heartbeat, feel your heartbeat

Enrique:

Maybe it's the way you move
You got me dreaming like a fool
That I can steal your heart away
I can steal your heart away

Nicole:

No matter what it is your think
I'm not the kind of girl to blink
And give my heart away
Stop tryin' steal my heart away

I don't know where we going

I don't know who we are

I can feel your heartbeat

(He said to me)
I can feel your heartbeat
(He said to me)
I can feel your heartbeat
(Running through me)
Heartbeat, feel your heartbeat
She said

I can feel your heartbeat

(She said to me)
I can feel your heartbeat
(She said to me)
I can feel your heartbeat
(Running through me)

Both:

Stop stealing my heart away
Stop stealing my heart away
Stop stealing my heart away
You're stealing my heart away
I don't know where we going
I don't know who we are
It feels like we are floating
Right upon the stars

Enrique:

I can feel it, I can feel it, I can feel it
I can feel it, I can..

I can feel your heartbeat

(He said to me)
I can feel your heartbeat
(He said to me)
I can feel your heartbeat
(Running through me)
Your heartbeat, feel your heartbeat
She said

I can feel your heartbeat

(She said to me)
I can feel your heartbeat
(She said to me)
I can feel your heartbeat
(Running through me)
Heartbeat, feel your heart beat

Stop stealing my heart away

(Tell it to me girl)
Stop stealing my heart away
(Give it to me boy)
Stop stealing my heart away
(Say it to me girl)
You're stealing my heart away

Stop stealing my heart away

(I can feel your heartbeat)
Stop stealing my heart away
(I can feel your heartbeat)
Stop stealing my heart away
(I can feel your heartbeat)
Your heartbeat, your heartbeat

Monday, May 21, 2012

Erich Fromm Archive

Erich Fromm Archive

1900-1980

The most important misunderstanding seems to me to lie in a confusion between the human necessities which I consider part of human nature, and the human necessities as they appear as drives, needs, passions, etc., in any given historical period. This division is not very different from Marx’s concept of “human nature in general”, to be distinguished from “human nature as modified in each historical period.” The same distinction exists in Marx when he distinguishes between “constant” or “fixed” drives and “relative” drives. The constant drives “exist under all circumstances and ... can be changed by social conditions only as far as form and direction are concerned.” The relative drives “owe their origin only to a certain type of social organization.” Human Nature and Social Theory, 1969

Works:

Further reading:
Archive maintained by Andy Blunden.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Ten Ways to Wow Your Audience

Win over any audience with these 10 simple public speaking tips
Do you hate public speaking? Are you afraid that no one will pay attention? Are you nervous about getting up and talking in front of strangers, or even family? Social phobia, also called social anxiety disorder, is the most common psychological disorder and can be a serious impairment in daily life. Even if you don't have social phobia, however, you may be intimidated by the idea of public speaking. Luckily there are ways to overcome your anxiety and then some. Before I explain these, let me give some background.
In the academic world, people give talks all the time. Professors lecture to their students and students give presentations for their professors. Deans talk to their faculty, college presidents to parents, and recruiters to prospective students. Candidates for jobs come to campus and give the famous, infamous "job talk" where they put their entire careers on the line in the space of 1 hour. Conference speakers share their research to national, if not international, audiences, in the hopes of educating their colleagues about their scholarly insights. Given the importance of the well-delivered speech in academia, it might surprise you to learn that many of the speeches academics hear (or give) may just not be all that good. Some of these speeches are great, but some are flat-out terrible.

You know you're at a bad talk when the audience members are either more glued to their watches, phones or laptops than to the speaker. Coughing, yawning, and uncomfortable rustling add further to the image of an inattentive if not resentful audience.
Hearing boring speeches is not a phenomenon limited to the world of education. Staff presentations, sales meetings, and management seminars in the business world can be plenty mind-numbing. Sermons, speeches at weddings, funerals, and family reunions can also be notoriously sleep-inducing. Speeches are the bread and butter for politicians, but a candidate who says the wrong thing is in for a downfall.
Now let's flip the scenario to talks that are interesting if not enthralling and speakers whose charisma fills the room as much as do their words. What makes the great ones great and the bad ones dreadful? Is it intelligence, personality, experience, lack of social anxiety, or some combination? Perhaps. Even more so, however, are the guidelines that great speakers follow that rely on simple application of these principles derived from social, educational, and applied psychology:
1.Know your audience. Be sure to check before giving any type of talk to find out the level of your audience's previous knowledge, their familiarity with the topic, and their likely interests.  If you do your homework ahead of time, you'll have a few insights that will help you prepare your talk. But you won't rely only on the background work because you will---
2.Check in with your audience. Start by asking audience members a few simple questions that require them to raise their hands. First, this gets their blood flowing into their limbs, but second and more important, this allows you to find out whether you need to adjust what you were going to say to accommodate their interests.  If you're asked to speak to a high school class on career day, for example, ascertain how many of them might actually be interested in the career you're there to talk about.
3. Keep your eyes focused on your audience. Charismatic speakers make liberal use of eye contact. They pick people out of the audience (more than one, so as not to appear creepy) and look right in their eyes. "I'm talking to you!" is the message you communicate when you take this approach. Audience members feel immediately connected to you because they believe that you value their attention. It's especially important for you to look at people in the back of the audience as well, or at least seem to be looking at them even if you can't see them.  Draw everyone in the room into your circle. They won't want to look away because they feel drawn in by the connection you're making to them.
4. Use PowerPoint wisely. Like any tool, PowerPoint can be used or abused. The best PowerPoint slides are crisp, clean, and short. As a bonus, they also have good graphics that illustrate the concepts on the slide without being overly cluttered or cute. The biggest mistake that people make when using PowerPoint is to cram too much information in one slide. The second biggest mistake they make is reading the information directly off the slide. Bullet points should be three to four words, and there shouldn't be more than three to four per slide. If you put a quote on a slide, don't read it out loud. It's on the slide for your audience, not you, to read.
5. Don't just read your speech. Some speakers feel a tremendous need to read every word they have carefully crafted on the page. The biggest problem with this approach is that audience members are bound to think to themselves that they could be a lot more comfortable and save a lot of time if you just sent them your talk and they didn't have to go to hear you give it. They are there to hear you give your own unique spin on the topic and they are there to hear you give it in person. Make it worth their time and effort. As an example, think of the Academy Award acceptance speeches that truly moved you. Chances are those speeches were spoken, not read.  You can't look your audience in the eye when your eye is glued to your written speech.
6. Allow any humorous remarks to flow organically from your talk rather than forcing them. Many people are at their funniest not when they read or rattle off a well-worn joke but instead when they react to the situation as it is happening in the moment. For example, self-deprecating remarks about slips of the tongue or typos are bound to draw snickers as long as they are not pre-scripted. You can also elicit smiles from your audience if you react to a situation in the room such as a noise in the hallway or a comment by someone in the audience that is truly funny. Never, though, NEVER draw a laugh at the expense of someone in the audience who you treat sarcastically or with disrespect. You're not a stand-up comic and so heckling isn't appropriate (unless you are a stand-up comic, in which case you better be good at this part of your act).
7. Stay focused on what is happening in the moment. Humorous situations are much more humorous when they evolve. Similarly, you will be a much better speaker if you truly focus on what you are saying and how your audience is reacting. You will also be less nervous if you dig down into the content of what you're presenting rather than thinking about how nervous you are or how much you'd like to get out of there. Experts advise people with performance anxiety in music or sports to get into the "flow" and the same is true of public speaking. It's also helpful to find your maximum level of arousal so that you're not too scared, but not too laid-back either. Similarly, don't allow yourself to suffer from "imposter syndrome" in which you convince yourself that you don't know enough to be up there talking. No one would have asked you to speak if they didn't think you had something worthwhile to say.
8. Decide how much you can fit into the time allowed, and then cut your talk by half. How many times have you listened to speakers who announce that they'd have more to say but they've run out of time? How many times have you committed this error yourself? (don't tell me, I've done it too). The only cure for not going over the time you have is to cut way back into your prepared remarks (notes, not a written speech, as above). Then, you can have a few "disposable" topics to add back in should you have some bonus time at the end. However, the chances are that your audience will appreciate your ending a little early, especially if they want to ask you questions. Don't feel that you're short-changing them if you do so. I promise you that they would much rather have that extra time at the end. One way to build in a safety net for yourself is to use the so-called "Presenter" mode in PowerPoint. I won't go into details here, but there are ways for you to see all your slides, including those you're skipping, so that your audience can't. In fact, you can even have your email open while you're giving a talk using this mode, though obviously I wouldn't advise it.

9.  Give yourself some time points to hit during your talk. If you know you have 30 minutes for your presentation, decide where you need to be at 15, 20, and 25 minutes into it.  Work backward, if you like, from the ending, and then see when you want to be at the midpoint. Whatever your method, it's important for you to construct a detailed timeline that allows you to pace yourself. If someone shoves a card under your nose signaling 5 minutes left (which is what happens in many conference settings), you won't panic if you already planned where you wanted to be at that point. By pacing yourself out you gain the additional value of being able to slow down your rate of speech enough so that you can add emphasis instead of racing through. You want to avoid motor mouth, one of the occupational hazards in speakers who don't learn how to use their time wisely.
10. Practice, practice, practice. If you're not a natural entertainer and feel overwhelmed at the thought of public speaking, you can buy yourself a great deal of extra confidence by going over your talk in front of a sympathetic audience of people who you trust.  Allow yourself to accept their feedback, which I'm sure they will do very gently if they truly care about you. If you want to go the extra distance, make a video of yourself, and then force yourself to watch the video. If you don't like the first attempt, do it over. You don't want to make yourself too self-conscious, so I wouldn't advise obsessing over every imperfection. However, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised when you realize you did a pretty darn good job.

Public speaking isn't so much an art as a science, yet there is some art to being able to win over an audience. Following these rules is a great start to becoming a great speaker in any situation, but it's your unique personal qualities that will ultimately make it all come together and have your audience coming back for more!
Follow me on Twitter @swhitbo for daily updates on psychology, health, and aging. Feel free to join my Facebook group, "Fulfillment at Any Age," to discuss today's blog, or to ask further questions about this posting.
Copyright Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D. 2012


Saturday, February 25, 2012

Rumi - Come to me without a sound

Come my Beloved
come don’t turn away from me
come my deceitful Moon!

Look at this forlorn and thirsty lover
come my drunken Sweetheart!

You are my life, my senses
you are everything!

Be the rising Moon in my dark nights
I am thirsty for your light.

Use my hands, look through my eyes
 listen with my ears.

You are the soul of every living thing.
Come, 
come back dancing like the rays of the Sun
and chase away the shadows.

You are the banner of the New World
and the mind is at your feet.

Come back my love
My broken heart cannot bear more passion
no more promises


I've had enough of sleepless nights
of my unspoken grief
of my tired wisdom

Come my treasure
my breath of life
Come and dress my wounds and be my cure.
Enough of words
Come to me without a sound

Rumi

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Alice in Wonderland - The Cat




Alice : But I don’t want to go among mad people


The Cat : Oh, you can’t help that
we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.

Alice : How do you know I’m mad?

The Cat : You must be or you wouldn’t have come here

(from "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll)

Bluebird by Charles Bukowski


Bluebird animation based on Charle's Bukowski's poem


There's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too clever, I only let him out
At night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.

Bluebird by Charles Bukowski

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I'm not going
to let anybody see you.

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks never know that
he's
in there.

there's a bluebird in my heart that

wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess me up?
you want to screw up the works?
you want to blow my book sales in Europe?

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.
 

 I say, I know that you're there,
so don't be sad.
then I put him back,
but he's singing a little
in there, I haven't quite let him die
and we sleep together like that
with our secret pact
and it's nice enough to make a man
weep, but I don't weep, do
you?

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Maroon 5 - Misery


!!! Adam Levine Rocks !!!

Misery
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
So scared of breaking it
But you won't let it bend
And I wrote two hundred letters
I will never send
Sometimes these cuts are so much deeper than they seem
You'd rather cover up
I'd rather let them bleed
So let me be
And I'll set you free

[Chorus:]
I am in misery
There ain't nobody who can comfort me
(Oh yeah)
Why won't you answer me
The silence is slowly killing me
Girl you really got me bad
You really got me bad
I'm gonna get you back
Gonna get you back

Your salty skin and how
It mixes in with mine
The way it feels to be
Completely intertwined
Not that I didn't care
It's that I didn't know
It's not what I didn't feel,
It's what I didn't show
So let me be
And I'll set you free

I am in misery
There ain't nobody who can comfort me (Oh yeah)
Why won't you answer me
The silence is slowly killing me

Girl you really got me bad
You really got me bad
I'm gonna get you back
I'm gonna get you back

Say your faith is shaken
You may be mistaken
You keep me wide awake and
Waiting for the sun
I'm desperate and confused
So far away from you
I'm getting there
I don't care where I have to go

Why do you do what you do to me, yeah
Why won't you answer me, answer me, yeah
Why do you do what you do to me, yeah
Why won't you answer me, answer me, yeah

I am in misery
There ain't nobody who can comfort me (Oh yeah)
Why won't you answer me
The silence is slowly killing me (Oh yeah)

[x3]
Girl you really got me bad
You really got me bad
I'm gonna get you back
Gonna get you back

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Quotes From The Art Of Loving by Erich Fromm


The Art of Loving (1956)



  • What most people in our culture mean by being lovable is essentially a mixture between being popular and having sex appeal.
    • Ch. 1

  • Envy, jealousy, ambition, any kind of greed are passions; love is an action, the practice of human power, which can be practiced only in freedom and never as a result of compulsion.
    Love is an activity, not a passive affect; it is a "standing in," not a "falling for." In the most general way, the active character of love can be described by stating that love is primarily giving, not receiving.

  • Immature love says: "I love you because I need you." Mature love says: "I need you because I love you."
    • Ch. 2

  • In spite of the universalistic spirit of the monotheistic Western religions and of the progressive political concepts that are expressed in the idea "that all men are created equal," love for mankind has not become a common experience. Love for mankind is looked upon as an achievement which, at best, follows love for an individual or as an abstract concept to be realized only in the future. But love for man cannot be separated from love for one individual. To love one person productively means to be related to his human core, to him as representing mankind. Love for one individual, in so far as it is divorced from love for man, can refer only to the superficial and to the accidental; of necessity it remains shallow.
    • Ch. 2

  • All men are in need of help and depend on one another. Human solidarity is the necessary condition for the unfolding of any one individual.
    • Ch. 2

  • The same polarity of the male and female principle exists in nature; not only, as is obvious in animals and plants, but in the polarity of the two fundamental functions, that of receiving and penetrating. It is the polarity of earth and rain, of the river and the ocean, of night and day, of darkness and light, of matter and spirit.
    • Ch. 2

  • In erotic love, two people who were separate become one. In motherly love, two people who were one become separate. The mother must not only tolerate, she must wish and support the child’s separation.
    • Ch. 2

  • The narcissistic, the domineering, the possessive woman can succeed in being a "loving” mother as long as the child is small. Only the really loving woman, the woman who is happier in giving than in taking, who is firmly rooted in her own existence, can be a loving mother when the child is in the process of separation.
    • Ch. 2

  • The sadistic person is as dependent on the submissive person as the latter is on the former; neither can live without the other. The difference is only that the sadistic person commands, exploits, hurts, humiliates, and that the masochistic person is commanded, exploited, hurt, humiliated. This is a considerable difference in a realistic sense; in a deeper emotional sense, the difference is not so great as that which they both have in common: fusion without integrity.
    • Ch. 2

  • In the dominant Western religious system, the love of God is essentially the same as the belief in God, in God’s existence, God’s justice, God’s love. The love of God is essentially a thought experience. In the Eastern religions and in mysticism, the love of God is an intense feeling experience of oneness, inseparably linked with the expression of this love in every act of living.
    • Ch. 2

  • Just as modern mass production requires the standardization of commodities, so the social process requires standardization of man, and this standardization is called equality.
    • Ch. 2

  • If a person loves only one other person and is indifferent to all others, his love is not love but a symbiotic attachment, or an enlarged egotism.

  • The lack of objectivity, as far as foreign nations are concerned, is notorious. From one day to another, another nation is made out to be utterly depraved and fiendish, while one’s own nation stands for everything that is good and noble. Every action of the enemy is judged by one standard — every action of oneself by another. Even good deeds by the enemy are considered a sign of particular devilishness, meant to deceive us and the world, while our bad deeds are necessary and justified by our noble goals which they serve.

  • Fairness means not to use fraud and trickery in the exchange of commodities and services and the exchange of feelings.

  • The spirit of a production-centered, commodity-greedy society is such that only the non-conformist can defend himself sufficiently against it. Those who are seriously concerned with love as the only rational answer to the problem of human existence must, then, arrive at the conclusion that important and radical changes in our social structure are necessary, if love is to become a social and not a highly individualistic, marginal phenomenon.

  • Our society is run by a managerial bureaucracy, by professional politicians; people are motivated by mass suggestion, their aim is producing more and consuming more, as purposes in themselves. All activities are subordinated to economic goals, means have become ends; man is an automaton — well fed, well clad, but without any ultimate concern for that which is his peculiarly human quality and function. If man is to be able to love, he must be put in his supreme place. The economic machine must serve him, rather than he serve it. He must be enabled to share experience, to share work, rather than, at best, share in profits. Society must be organized in such a way that man's social, loving nature is not separated from his social existence, but becomes one with it. If it is true, as I have tried to show, that love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence, then any society which excludes, relatively, the development of love, must in the long run perish of its own contradiction with the basic necessities of human nature.
    • The portion of this statement, "Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence" has been widely quoted alone, resulting in a less reserved expression, and sometimes the portion following it has been as well: "Any society which excludes, relatively, the development of love, must in the long run perish of its own contradiction with the basic necessities of human nature."

  • To speak of love is not "preaching," for the simple reason that it means to speak of the ultimate and real need of every human being. That this need has been obscured does not mean it does not exist. To analyze the nature of love is to discover its general absence today and to criticize the social conditions which are responsible for this absence. To have faith in the possibility of love as a social and not only exceptional-individual phenomenon, is a rational faith based on the insight into the very nature of man.



Immature love says: "I love you because I need you." Mature love says: "I need you because I love you."

Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.

I believe that love is the main key to open the doors to the "growth" of man. Love and union with someone or something outside of oneself, union that allows one to put oneself into relationship with others, to feel one with others, without limiting the sense of integrity and independence. Love is a productive orientation for which it is essential that there be present at the same time: concern, responsibility, and respect for and knowledge of the object of the union.

If a person loves only one other person and is indifferent to all others, his love is not love but a symbiotic attachment, or an enlarged egotism.

To have faith in the possibility of love as a social and not only exceptional-individual phenomenon, is a rational faith based on the insight into the very nature of man.

Erich Fromm - About Idolatry


The essence of what the prophets call "idolatry"
is not that man worships many gods instead of only one.
It is that the idols are the work of man's own hands -- 

they are things,
and man bows down and worships things

worships that which he has created himself.
In doing so he transforms himself into a thing.
He transfers to the things of his creation the attributes of his own life
and instead of experiencing himself as the creating person
he is in touch with himself only by the worship of the idol.
He has become estranged from his own life forces

from the wealth of his own potentialties and is in touch with himself 
only in the indirect way of submission to life frozen in the idols.

" معظم أولئك الذين هم في قرارة نفوسهم شخصيات تسلطية
سيعبرون عن آراء ديموقراطية ما دامت الغالبية العظمى تفعل ذلك "
- ايريك فروم

هل لدينا " طوطمية "-"وثنية" في حضارتنا ؟
يسأل ايريك فروم , ثم يجيب :

" لدينا منها حظ كبير –
وإن كان من يكابدون منها لا يعتبرون أنفسهم في حاجة إلى معونة الطب النفسي
 والشخص الذي يكرس نفسه تكريسا تاما للدولة أو لحزبه السياسي
والذي يكون معياره الوحيد للقيمة والحقيقة هو مصلحة الدولة أو الحزب
والذي يجعل من العلم بوصفه رمزا لجماعته موضوعا مقدسا
مثل هذا الشخص يعتنق دينا قبليا , ويتعبد عبادة طوطمية
وإن اعتقد أنه يعتنق مذهبا عقليا لا غبار عليه
( وهذا ما يعتقده بالطبع كل المؤمنين بأي نوع من الدين البدائي ) .

فإذا أردنا أن نفهم كيف تمتلك بعض النظم كالفاشية أو الستالينية ملايين من البشر
على استعداد للتضحية وعقلهم للمبدأ القائل : " وطني , مخطئا أو مصيبا "
فلا مناص لنا من أن ننظر في نزعتهم الطوطمية
 والصبغة الدينية التي يتسم بها توجيههم .

والعنصر الجوهري في الدين التسلطي وفي التجربة الدينية التسلطية
هو الاستسلام لقوة تعلو على الإنسان .
والفضيلة الأساسية في هذا النمط من الدين هي الطاعة
 والخطيئة الكبرى هي العصيان
وكما يُتصور الإله على أنه شامل القدرة , محيط علما بكل شيء
فكذلك يتصور الإنسان على أنه عاجز , تافه الشأن .
ولا يشعر بالقوة إلا بمقدار ما يكتسب من فضل الإله ومعونته عن طريق الاستسلام التام . والإذعان لسلطة قوية
هو أحد السبل التي يستطيع بها الإنسان أن يهرب من شعوره بالوحدة والمحدودية
وفي فعل الاستسلام يفقد استقلاله وتكامله بوصفه فردا
ولكنه يكتسب الشعور بأن قوة مهيبة تحميه , بحيث يصبح جزءا منها .

التجربة التي يصفها كالفن, اعني احتقار كل شيء في الإنسان , وخضوع العقل الذي ينوء بفقره , هذه التجربة هي جوهر الأديان التسلطية كلها , سواء صيغت بلغة علمانية أو لاهوتية
. والإله في الدين التسلطي رمز للقوة والجبروت , وهو الأعلى لأن له القوة الأعلى , والإنسان إلى جواره لا حول له ولا قوة .

والدين التسلطي العلماني ( أو الدنيوي ) يتبع هذا المبدأ نفسه . فهنا يصبح الفوهرر أو " أبو الشعب " المحبوب , أو الدولة , أو الجنس / العرق Race أو الوطن الاشتراكي – موضوعا للعبادة , وتصبح حياة الفرد تافهة , وتتألف قيمة الإنسان من إنكاره لقيمته وقوته . وكثيرا ما يسلم الدين التسلطي بمثل أعلى يصل درجة عالية من التجريد والبعد بحيث لا يمت بصلة تقريبا بالحياة الواقعية للشعب الحقيقي . ولمثل هذه المثل العليا " كالحياة بعد الموت " أو " مستقبل الإنسانية " يمكن أن يضحى بحياة وسعادة الأشخاص الذين يعيشون هنا والآن , وهذه الغايات المزعومة تبرر كل الوسائل , وتصبح رموزا تتحكم باسمها " الصفوة " الدينية أو الدنيوية في حياة إخوانهم من البشر . "

أصنام معاصرة :
هل لا نزال معنيين بمشكلة الوثنية ؟

يقول فروم : " نحن لا نبدي مثل هذا الاهتمام إلا إذا وجدنا بعض " البدائيين " عاكفين على عبادة أصنام من الخشب والحجارة . فنحن نتصور أنفسنا أسمى كثيرا عن مثل هذه العبادة , وأننا حللنا مشكلة الوثنية لأننا لا نرى أنفسنا عابدين لأي رمز تقليدي من رموز الوثنية , وننسى أن جوهر الوثنية لا يكون في عبادة هذا الصنم أو ذاك ولكنه موقف إنساني معين . ويمكن أن يوصف هذا الموقف بأنه تأليه للأشياء , أو لمظاهر جزئية من العالم , وبأنه خضوع الإنسان لمثل هذه الأشياء . فليست التماثيل المصنوعة من الخشب والحجارة هي وحدها الأصنام . الكلمات يمكن أن تصبح أصناما , والآلات يمكن أن تصبح أصناما , والزعماء , والدولة , والسلطان , والجماعات السياسية , بل أن العلم ورأي الناس يمكن أن يصبحا أصناما , والإله نفسه أصبح وثنا بالنسبة للكثيرين .

ألم يحن الوقت للكف عن الجدل حول الإله , والاتحاد – بدلا من ذلك – في إماطة اللثام عن أشكال الوثنية المعاصرة . فاليوم لم يعد " بعل " و " عشتروت " هما اللذان يهددان أثمن ممتلكات الإنسان الروحية , وإنما تأليه الدولة والقوة في البلاد التسلطية , وتأليه الآلة والنجاح في حضارتنا . وسواء كنا متدينين أم لم نكن , وسواء اعتقدنا في ضرورة قيام دين جديد , أم في دين بغير دين , فإننا بقدر اهتمامنا بالجوهر لا بالأصداف الخارجية , وبالتجربة لا بالكلمة , وبالإنسان لا بالكنيسة , نستطيع أن نتحد في استنكار حازم للوثنية , وربما وجدنا في هذا الاستنكار من الإيمان المشترك ما يزيد على أية أقوال إيجابية عن الإله . ولكننا سنجد بالتأكيد مزيدا من التواضع والحب الأخوي . "

التبرير أو تزييف العقل :

" لقد برهن التحليل النفسي على الطبيعة المبهمة لعملياتنا الفكرية , والحق أن قوة التبرير , أو هذا التزييف للعقل , هو إحدى الظواهر الإنسانية المحيرة أشد الحيرة . ولو لم نكن معتادين عليها هذا الاعتياد , لبدا لنا مجهود الإنسان في التبرير مماثلا لمذهب شخص مصاب بجنون الاضطهاد paranoid فالشخص المصاب بهذا الجنون يمكن أن يكون غاية في الذكاء , ومن الممكن أن يستخدم عقله استخداما ممتازا في جميع مجالات الحياة اللهم إلا في الجزء المنعزل الذي يتعلق به جنون الاضطهاد . والشخص الذي يقوم بالتبرير يفعل هذا تماما . فنحن نتحدث إلى شخص ذكي من المؤمنين بستالين , وهذا الشخص يُظهر مقدرة عظيمة في كثير من مجالات الفكر , ولكنه , ما أن نناقش الستالينية معه حتى يواجهنا فجأة مذهب فكري مغلق , وظيفته الوحيدة هي إثبات أن ولاءه للستالينية متفق مع العقل ولا يناقضه . ولهذا فسوف يُنكر بعض الوقائع الواضحة , ويشوه بعضها الآخر , أو تراه حين يوافق على بعض الوقائع والأقوال , يشرح موقفه بأنه منطقي متسق , وسيعلن في الوقت نفسه أن العبادة الفاشية للزعيم هي إحدى السمات البغيضة جدا للنزعة التسلطية , وأن العبادة الستالينية للزعيم شيء مختلف تماما , وأنها التعبير الحقيقي عن حب الشعب لستالين – فإذا قلت له أن هذا ما يدعيه النازيون أيضا , ابتسم متسامحا لافتقارك إلى الإدراك , أو اتهمك بأنك صنيعة الرأسمالية . وسيجد ألف سبب وسبب ليثبت لماذا كانت القومية الروسية ليست قومية , ولماذا كانت النزعة التسلطية نزعة ديموقراطية , ولماذا كانت السخرة مدبرة لتربية العناصر المعادية للمجتمع وإصلاحها . والحجج المستخدمة للدفاع عن أفعال محاكم التفتيش وتفسيرها , أو المستخدمة في تفسير التحيزات العنصرية أو الجنسية – هذه الحجج أمثلة واضحة على هذه القدرة نفسها في التبرير .

وتبين الدرجة التي يبلغها الإنسان في استخدامه تفكيره لتبرير العواطف اللامعقولة , وأفعال طائفته – تبين عظم المسافة التي ما زال على الإنسان أن يقطعها لكي يصبح " إنسانا عاقلا Homo sapiens . ولكن ينبغي علينا أن نتجاوز مثل هذا الوعي , يجب علينا أن نحاول فهم أسباب هذه الظاهرة وإلا وقعنا في خطأ الاعتقاد بأن استعداد الإنسان للتبرير جزء من " الطبيعة الإنسانية " لا سبيل إلى تغييره . "

بين توجيه العقل وتوجيه القطيع :

" والإنسان في أصله حيوان يحيي في قطيع , وتتحدد أفعاله بدافع غريزي لإتباع الزعيم , وبأن تكون له صلة وثيقة بالحيوانات الأخرى من حوله . وبقدر ما نكون قطيعا , لا يهدد وجودنا خطر أعظم من فقدان هذه الصلة بالقطيع , فنصبح معزولين . والصواب والخطأ والحق والباطل أمور يحددها القطيع . ولكننا لسنا قطيعا فحسب . بل نحن إنسانيون أيضا . نملك الوعي بأنفسنا , ونملك العقل الذي هو بطبيعته ذاتها مستقل عن القطيع . ومن الممكن أن تتحدد أفعالنا بنتائج تفكيرنا بغض النظر عما إذا كانت الحقيقة يشارك فيها الآخرون أو لا يشاركون .
والصدع الحادث بين طبيعتنا القطيعية وطبيعتنا الإنسانية هو أساس نوعين من التوجيه : توجيه بواسطة قربنا من القطيع , وتوجيه بواسطة العقل . والتبرير مصالحة بين طبيعتنا القطيعية وقدرتنا البشرية على التفكير . وهذه القدرة الأخيرة تدفعنا إلى الاعتقاد بأن كل ما نفعله يمكن أن يصمد لاختبار العقل . وهذا ما يحدونا إلى أن نضفي طابع المعقولية على آرائنا وقراراتنا اللامعقولة . ولكن من حيث انتمائنا إلى قطيع , ليس العقل هو مرشدنا الحقيقي , وإنما يقودنا مبدأ مختلف تمام الاختلاف , وهو ولاؤنا للقطيع .

وازدواجية الفكر , والثنائية القائمة بين العقل وبين الذهن الذي يهدف إلى التبرير , هذان هما التعبير عن الثنائية الأساسية في الإنسان , وعن الحاجة إلى تعايش القيد والحرية , وتفتح العقل وظهوره الكامل يعتمدان على بلوغ الحرية الكاملة والاستقلال . وحتى يتحقق هذا , يميل الإنسان إلى قبول الحقيقة التي تقررها الغالبية العظمى من الجماعة , وما يصدره من أحكام تحدده حاجته إلى الاتصال بالقطيع , وخوفه من الانعزال , وقليل من الأفراد هم الذين يستطيعون احتمال هذا الانعزال , وقول الحق على ما فيه من خطر فقدان الصلة بالقطيع . وهؤلاء هم الأبطال الحقيقيون للجنس البشري , ولولاهم لكنا الآن مازلنا نعيش في الكهوف ... ويلزم عن هذا أن الإنسان لن يبلغ القدرة التامة على الموضوعية والتعقل إلا إذا قام مجتمع للإنسان يعلو فوق كل الانقسامات الجزئية بين الجنس البشري , وإلا إذا أصبح الولاء للجنس البشري ومُثلُه العليا هو الولاء الأول في الوجود .

لا يستطيع المرء الحكم على جماعته حكما نقديا إلا إذا تجاوز مرحلة الوشائج المحرمة , وقبل هذا لا يستطيع المرء أن يحكم على الإطلاق . ومعظم الجماعات – سواء أكانت قبائل بدائية , أو أمما أو ديانات – لا تهتم إلا ببقائها , والتمسك بسلطان زعمائها , فهي تستغل الحس الأخلاقي المتأصل في نفوس أعضائها لتستفزهم ضد الأعداء الخارجيين الذين تحاربهم . بيد أنها تستخدم الوشائج المحرمة لتجعل الشخص مقيدا بالأغلال الأخلاقية إلى جماعته , لتخفق هذا الحس الأخلاقي والحكم , وذلك حتى لا ينتقد جماعته على ما ترتكبه من انتهاك للمبادئ الأخلاقية , بينما تدفعه إلى المعارضة العنيفة إذا اقترف غيرها هذا الانتهاك . "

بين دينين :

" ما قلته عن نزعة الإنسان المثالية يصدق أيضاً على حاجته الدينية . فلا وجود لإنسان بغير حاجة دينية , حاجة إلى أن يكون له إطار للتوجيه وموضوع للعبادة , بيد أن هذا القول لا يخبرنا بشيء عن سياق خاص تتجلى فيه هذه الحاجة الدينية , فقد يعبد الإنسان الحيوانات , أو الأشجار , أو الأصنام من الذهب أو الحجارة , أو إلها غير منظور , أ, إنسانا مقدسا , أو زعماء شيطانيين , أو ربما عبد أسلافه , أو أمته , أو طبقته أو حزبه , أو المال , أ, النجاح , وقد يؤدي به دينه إلى تطوير روح الدمار أو الحب , إلى التسلط أو الإخاء , أو ربما ضاعف من قوة عقله أو أصابه بالشلل , وقد يدرك أن مذهبه مذهب ديني , يختلف عن المذاهب الدنيوية , أو قد يظن أنه لا يملك دينا , وأن تكريس نفسه لأهداف دنيوية مزعومة كالقوة أو المال أو النجاح – ليس شيئا آخر سوى اهتمامه بالعملي والنافع , والمسألة ليست " دين أو لا دين " بل " أي نوع من الدين " , هل هو من النوع الذي يساعد على تطور الإنسان وعلى الكشف عن قواه الإنسانية الخاصة به كانسان , أم من النوع الذي يصيب هذه القوى بالشلل ؟ "

الحقيقة ستحررك :

" على الإنسان أن يكافح لمعرفة الحقيقة , ولا يمكن أن يصل إلى إنسانيته إلا بمقدار ما ينجح في هذه المهمة . ولابد أن يكون مستقلا وحرا , وغاية في ذاته , لا وسيلة لأغراض أي شخص آخر . وينبغي عليه أن يربط نفسه بإخوانه البشر مدفوعا بالحب , فإذا لم يشعر بالحب , كان قوقعة خاوية حتى لو امتلك القوة كلها , والثروة كلها , والذكاء كله . يجب على الإنسان أن يعرف الفرق بين الخير والشر , وعليه أن يتعلم كيف يستمع إلى صوت ضميره , وأن يكون قادرا على إتباعه . فمن المؤكد أن مساعدة الإنسان على تمييز الحق من الباطل في نفسه هو الهدف الأساسي للتحليل النفسي , وهو منهج علاجي يعد تطبيقا لهذه العبارة : " ستجعلك الحقيقة حرا " . وفي كل من التفكير الديني الإنساني , والتحليل النفسي , تؤخذ قدرة البحث عن الحقيقة على أنها مرتبطة ارتباطا لا انفصام له بالوصول إلى الحرية والاستقلال . "
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هامش :
(*) هذه اقتبسات من كتاب ايريك فروم " الدين والتحليل النفسي " وهو كتاب ممتع يسهب في تحليل العلاقة بين الدين والتحليل النفسي , أكتفي هنا باقتباس تلك المقاطع التي تشير إلى العلاقة بين التحليل النفسي والسياسة أو الدولة . وقد تركت النصوص تتحدث عن نفسها ولم أتدخل إلا في ترتيب هذه النصوص وإضافة العناوين . أخيراً هذه الاقتباسات لا تغني عن قراءة الكتاب .

المصدر :http://www.ahewar.org/debat/show.art.asp?aid=319261