THE OEDIPUS COMPULSION

   A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, I heard someone comment on the ancient Greeks.  It was to the effect that their culture had dealt with pretty much all human problems.  Maybe they did not solve every problem, but they described and identified a lot.  One ancient play is Oedipus the King, by Sophocles.  His name, of course, has become associated with a psychological disorder.  I want to use another aspect as a starting point for another observation and conclusion. 

    Oedipus commits some horrible “crimes.”  He is “innocent” because he is ignorant.  The gods punish his kingdom.  He discovers that he is the guilty party.  In an act of self-punishment he blinds himself, giving plot conceits to two more plays.  This self-mutilation is the interesting “in-sight” (pun!).  Oedipus, apparently representing a generalized reaction, is compelled to punish himself.  There is a type of justice that forces man to satisfy it, even at the cost of his own sight.  I hold that Sophocles had discovered and described this aspect of the human condition.  And it may be quite relevant to the history and the future of the USA.

    I was watching C-SPAN the other day and saw some Keynesian “economist” named Robert Frank.  He was advancing the idiotic policies of the John Keynes, which would continue to impel America towards additional economic disaster(s).  He commented on the estate tax, that is a tax on inheritances.  He favored a “robust” tax.  He said that “anyone who thinks about it” would agree with him.  The negative effect on some young person who inherits a lot of money is self-evident.  So all intelligent parents are all on his side. 

    Several pretty bad jokes use the conceit of the serial killer, namely the kind who writes the police to arrest him “before I kill again.”  In a sense such people are demanding punishment, Oedipus like.  They are crying “Help me by punishing me; I am out of control.”  They could, of course, simply surrender to the police.  But this would lack the disgrace and significant pain of arrest.  Oedipus inflicted pain upon himself, perhaps because no one else would.  Being king he was also the chief executive. 

     The parents who want to deny their wealth to their children could simply not leave it to them.  Andrew Carnegie did this, and his children obtained none of his wealth.  I would imagine that “stiffing” one’s children must cause a father pain.  As Oedipus showed, internal and perhaps inchoate justice requires painful punishment.  So, assuming that Robert Frank offers some truth, these rich people, guilty because of their sinful greed, are seeking to punish themselves by means of the painful government policy that they support.  They are, metaphorically, blinding themselves by choosing a government that they hope will punish them. 

    So what?  If you hold, as I do, that America in general is evil (consider legalized abortion, homosexual unions, idolatry of materialism, common place profanity, etc), then perhaps a section of the populace is acting under a compulsion similar to Oedipus.  They have elected, and will reelect, the current president because of their guilt. They are in state of (im)moral masochism. 

    It would explain why he was elected.  I do not know what else can.  

    P.S.  All this supports the existence of Purgatory.  

 

Comments

[Chris Perry]

Thanks again for yet another insightful posting. Yes, like you I believe this Country is headed for disaster, but I believe It was wrong from the beginning, destined for it.