Post by jenkins on Apr 26, 2007 14:39:52 GMT -5
The chair creaked as he shifted for additional comfort on the thinly-padded seat in his hotel room outside of Los Angeles. Although it was a four-star hotel, very little changed between rooms where lay out and décor were concerned. The first thing he had done after securing the room was to post the sign asking not to be disturbed on the outside of the door, it would keep housekeeping away long enough for him to get a better idea of where he was going from here.
A tape recorder sat in the center of the table, illuminated by the harsh fluorescent lamp. Its metallic surface gleamed under the light, the glimmer a sheen of nervous sweat, the device compelled by a sinister and shadowy figure to reveal its secret, to purge its shame. The inquisitor leans forward from the darkness, his scholar’s fingers depressing the play and record buttons simultaneously.
If anyone listened to the hundreds of tapes incarcerated along with this one, they would hear a voice that was clear and concise without being mellifluous, and spoke from the pulpit of intellect, “The basic needs of life – safety and security, acceptance and affection, the respect of others and a respect for ourselves, are on face value neutral or positively ‘good’.”
“Whereas destructiveness, sadism, cruelty, malice, et cetera, seem to be intrinsic to our nature as well. But they are not. They are violent reactions out of frustration at the lack of attainment of our basic needs, emotions, and capacities. Anger, for instance, is not in itself evil; nor is fear, laziness, and ignorance, though they often lead to ‘evil’ behavior. But there is no true or elemental force of evil – our undesirable impulses and instincts are simply natural reactions to the strictures that society has set upon us.”
“Our inner nature is not strong and overpowering like animal instinct. It is weak, delicate, and easily overcome by habit, cultural pressure, and societal values. Like all things, our inner nature can only grow stronger through success against adversity – therefore, the necessity of pain, discipline, deprivation, frustration, and tragedy are essential in the positive development of inner nature. These ‘negative’ experiences can and should be used to reveal, foster, and fulfill our inner nature to the extent that they are desirable experiences, for it is clear these experiences are the breeding ground of our sense of achievement, ego strength, healthy self-esteem, and self-confidence. The person who hasn’t conquered, withstood, and overcome continues to doubt that they ever could. They fear for their ability to control and delay their own impulses, and therefore, continue to live in fear of them. If this is true, and it is, can we truly say with confidence that those who deviate from ‘acceptable’ societal values are not in fact stronger and better adjusted for survival?”
“Criminals, although by nature’s standards the strongest of their species, are led to believe the opposite of themselves. They are often repentant of their exploration for evolution, falling back on the age-old safety net as the rest of ‘adjusted’ society – religion. Why attempt or coerce them to seek absolution from both their victims and a higher power? Does the wolf, or any predator for that matter, ask forgiveness of nature or the caribou they fed upon an hour past? No they do not, for the simple reason that they do not have the Moral Sense decried by Mark Twain’s Satan in The Mysterious Stranger. The criminal or maladjusted kook is taught that they have transgressed against species-virtue, and that every crime against one’s own perceived nature, should record itself in the unconscious and make the human predator despise itself.”
“In summation, out of self-punishment may come neurosis and criminal behavior, but there is an equal chance that there will come renewed courage, righteous indignation, and increased self-respect. The truth that is being almost universally ignored is that growth and improvement are best achieved by conflict and pain. As a species, we must stop coddling ourselves, we must stop being afraid of facing adversity, and we must stop denying our truest instincts and impulses. Denying our impulses is the surest path to neurosis and negative development.”
Christopher leaned forward slowly to click off the recorder, his faint smile transcending the threshold of the shadows for the light. He stands and circles the table to peer out of the window of his sixth floor hotel room, down at the red and yellow-white lights of cars traveling the veins and arteries of the great city two miles to the west. With a soft chuckle he whispers to the darkness-draped reflection of himself in the glass of the window, “Welcome to Los Angeles.”
A tape recorder sat in the center of the table, illuminated by the harsh fluorescent lamp. Its metallic surface gleamed under the light, the glimmer a sheen of nervous sweat, the device compelled by a sinister and shadowy figure to reveal its secret, to purge its shame. The inquisitor leans forward from the darkness, his scholar’s fingers depressing the play and record buttons simultaneously.
If anyone listened to the hundreds of tapes incarcerated along with this one, they would hear a voice that was clear and concise without being mellifluous, and spoke from the pulpit of intellect, “The basic needs of life – safety and security, acceptance and affection, the respect of others and a respect for ourselves, are on face value neutral or positively ‘good’.”
“Whereas destructiveness, sadism, cruelty, malice, et cetera, seem to be intrinsic to our nature as well. But they are not. They are violent reactions out of frustration at the lack of attainment of our basic needs, emotions, and capacities. Anger, for instance, is not in itself evil; nor is fear, laziness, and ignorance, though they often lead to ‘evil’ behavior. But there is no true or elemental force of evil – our undesirable impulses and instincts are simply natural reactions to the strictures that society has set upon us.”
“Our inner nature is not strong and overpowering like animal instinct. It is weak, delicate, and easily overcome by habit, cultural pressure, and societal values. Like all things, our inner nature can only grow stronger through success against adversity – therefore, the necessity of pain, discipline, deprivation, frustration, and tragedy are essential in the positive development of inner nature. These ‘negative’ experiences can and should be used to reveal, foster, and fulfill our inner nature to the extent that they are desirable experiences, for it is clear these experiences are the breeding ground of our sense of achievement, ego strength, healthy self-esteem, and self-confidence. The person who hasn’t conquered, withstood, and overcome continues to doubt that they ever could. They fear for their ability to control and delay their own impulses, and therefore, continue to live in fear of them. If this is true, and it is, can we truly say with confidence that those who deviate from ‘acceptable’ societal values are not in fact stronger and better adjusted for survival?”
“Criminals, although by nature’s standards the strongest of their species, are led to believe the opposite of themselves. They are often repentant of their exploration for evolution, falling back on the age-old safety net as the rest of ‘adjusted’ society – religion. Why attempt or coerce them to seek absolution from both their victims and a higher power? Does the wolf, or any predator for that matter, ask forgiveness of nature or the caribou they fed upon an hour past? No they do not, for the simple reason that they do not have the Moral Sense decried by Mark Twain’s Satan in The Mysterious Stranger. The criminal or maladjusted kook is taught that they have transgressed against species-virtue, and that every crime against one’s own perceived nature, should record itself in the unconscious and make the human predator despise itself.”
“In summation, out of self-punishment may come neurosis and criminal behavior, but there is an equal chance that there will come renewed courage, righteous indignation, and increased self-respect. The truth that is being almost universally ignored is that growth and improvement are best achieved by conflict and pain. As a species, we must stop coddling ourselves, we must stop being afraid of facing adversity, and we must stop denying our truest instincts and impulses. Denying our impulses is the surest path to neurosis and negative development.”
Christopher leaned forward slowly to click off the recorder, his faint smile transcending the threshold of the shadows for the light. He stands and circles the table to peer out of the window of his sixth floor hotel room, down at the red and yellow-white lights of cars traveling the veins and arteries of the great city two miles to the west. With a soft chuckle he whispers to the darkness-draped reflection of himself in the glass of the window, “Welcome to Los Angeles.”