The great philosopher describes the right, not the left, as the side of prohibition. As I write this, earlier today this post was on the rec list, comparing Wiener's sending of photos as an act of rape. Seriously, we describe this as an act of rape. What does it mean to describe the left as the party of prohibition and the right as the party of permissiveness?
Somehow, on the left it's always a matter of denouncing what we shouldn't do. We're always talking about how people have been wronged. Don't smoke, we say, you're polluting the air of others. This or that use of language offends others. Don't make an advance against this man or women, you might offend someone else. Don't, don't, don't, don't! It's always about how someone has been wronged or how someone might potentially be offended or how someone might be hurt or, or, or, or. Don't! Don't! Don't! Don't! We're like a bunch of scolds wagging our fingers at everyone else like a hall monitor.
According to the leftwing scolds, we would have to completely wrap ourselves in [eco-friendly] wrap, consult with our lawyers, and write up agreements before ever making any advances on one another... All of this in the context of a species that's one step removed from bonobos. Is it any wonder that people get exhausted with us? We're always offended and we treat everything as an offense.
Meanwhile, the right is the party of permissiveness. Want to be a sexist prick? Go right ahead! Want to be a racist asshole? Go for it! Want to own a big ass gun? More power to you! Hey, why not kill those animals or dig up that land or smoke that big ass cigar in public! It's your right!
Am I saying these things are good? NO!!! Am I saying there's something to empowering people? YES!!! How are we, on the left, empowering people? Like the worst of the worst Christian fundamentalists, we seem to enjoy telling people that they're always in a state of sin. We tell them that they're guilty of how they enjoy, what they consume, how they differentiate themselves, how they play with one another, how they flirt with one another. We perpetually tell people No! No! No! No! We're like the worst Pharisees, telling everyone how bad they are. And it's all too evident that we do this, like a fashion statement, to say how superior we are.
What do we offer in telling people how bad they are? We're like Flagellants, suggesting that everyone should flog themselves for being so very, very bad. Am I suggesting that we should be a bunch of pricks like the rightwing? Am I suggesting that we should defend sexist groping of women in the office? Am I suggesting that we should embrace smoking cigars in the middle of IHOP on a Sunday morning? Am I suggesting that we should shoot animals with assault rifles? NO!!!!!!!!! I am suggesting, however, that it couldn't hurt for us to empower people, that it couldn't hurt for us to defend what's great, active, and affirmative in life, that it couldn't hurt for us to act a little less like the Church Lady and to stop waving fingers in people's faces. Every group is wronged. Everyone is wrong or offended in some way. While we get a lot of narcissistic gratification from pointing out they moral failings of others, perhaps it would hurt from us affirming what is strong, great, and affirmative in human life. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt from us to stop affirming the pleasurable position of the victim or finding victimization in everything and start finding out what a life of human greatness and strength might be.
As I look at the young children about me I find that they take joy in their ability to run faster, grow taller, paint and draw better, swim closer to fish, and love one another. They take joy in their strength and affirmation. Yet we seem to always emphasize weakness and guilt. Perhaps we should take a cue from children and recognize that there's something of a primate imperative, a deep primate need, to be strong, beautiful, and affirmative. Perhaps the seeding of guilt and debt in all people is not the best political strategy. Perhaps we'd do better to affirm what is great in life and what is vital and living. Perhaps we'd do better to overcome the spirit of revenge.