tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22918248.post1284871062568001175..comments2024-03-26T15:30:39.733-07:00Comments on Rainy Day Thoughts: BoogeymenRain Trueaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994628226501093880noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22918248.post-28262699201435833352008-07-14T13:00:00.000-07:002008-07-14T13:00:00.000-07:00Interesting comments from everyone. My feeling has...Interesting comments from everyone. My feeling has been that there are real dangers in the world, genuine enemies, and the problem cultures have is discerning when something is a risk and when it's just different. <BR/><BR/>The irony is that when monsters are used this way, the culture itself can become the danger to the individuals within. Selfishly if for no other reason, we should work to make sure we're dealing with real dangers and not being manipulated. Recognizing real dangers and taking proactive steps to deal with them is part of safe living.<BR/><BR/>One of the magazines put on its cover an illustration of Obama and his wife that has had a lot of people (including the Obama campaign) in a tizzy. She is portrayed as a guerrilla warrior and he as a Muslim. The magazine might say it's done for satire but I have been reading right wing sites today and they say yeah, this is what those two are. People are ready to believe that anything different is dangerous.<BR/><BR/>The use of monster stories is not inherent to modern cultures. Tribal societies have them also using masks and elaborate plays to illustrate the stories for entertainment but also warnings. <BR/><BR/>There are real dangers in the world. The problem of the far left has often been not wanting to see the world as it is but rather as they wish it would be. But getting afraid and allowing ourselves to be manipulated into doing things that are against our own best interest and even unethical (torture for instance), is how governments and religious leaders (and those aren't inherent to modern culture either)keep power.Rain Trueaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07994628226501093880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22918248.post-35705276831950709862008-07-14T12:03:00.000-07:002008-07-14T12:03:00.000-07:00Fear of the outsider and the desire to identify wi...Fear of the outsider and the desire to identify with your inside group is instinctive. Fear of the outsider is easily set in motion by weak leaders. We also have the capacity to be objective and reason. To learn and progress and change is a human ability that true strong leaders can inspire.Diane Widler Wenzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05270246393901276648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22918248.post-9878853542102372432008-07-14T08:58:00.000-07:002008-07-14T08:58:00.000-07:00Great post, Rain. I firmly believe that it is so ...Great post, Rain. I firmly believe that it is so easy to control the masses with fear that it has been done to one degree or another by all bad administrations. <BR/><BR/>Certainly, Hitler had this perfected and used it to take a docile public to a misbegotten war. Does that sound familiar?Darlenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18373134676852496647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22918248.post-56047527654509810972008-07-13T23:27:00.000-07:002008-07-13T23:27:00.000-07:00The enemy or the opposite of good is an archetype ...The enemy or the opposite of good is an archetype cross-culturally. It comes to us from the collective unconscious, or at least that's how I believe. <BR/><BR/>But, I do believe that sometimes fear is instilled in us by our governments, religions and hallowed institutions to keep us in line. <BR/><BR/>You always take on these "hard" topics that I have a tendency to run away from, but I'm glad that you do because I learn from you.Fran aka Redondowriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10603407790426583209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22918248.post-69480188324724858872008-07-13T19:17:00.000-07:002008-07-13T19:17:00.000-07:00Both essays - "Boogeymen" and "The Parable of the ...Both essays - "Boogeymen" and "The Parable of the Tribes" support a cosmic view close to mine. Thank you robin for the link. A quote that really says what I have been thinking is " Though we must see history as a drama inwhich main actors are powerful and agressive, we should not slip into seeing them as villains, for it is not the actors who set the stage or who govern the thrust of the plot.Diane Widler Wenzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05270246393901276648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22918248.post-11460435496298256772008-07-13T09:32:00.000-07:002008-07-13T09:32:00.000-07:00Such an interesting and thought-provoking post, ra...Such an interesting and thought-provoking post, rain. I have no answers, only a link to an article I read this morning. I think <A HREF="http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC07/Schmoklr.htm" REL="nofollow">The Parable of the Tribes</A> presents a way of looking at our social evolution, that may explain the rise of the boogeymen.robin andreahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13390482190562312928noreply@blogger.com