[lit-ideas] Re: The Soldier as Sacrificial Victim

  • From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 23:03:11 -0400

Eric, I know you have something against this guy.  I hate to tell you,
though, that family systems theory does exactly what he's suggesting. 
Dysfunctional families will unconsciously assign roles to different family
members.  For example, scapegoat, hero, forgotten child and so on.  Marlena
often talks about the victim role.  I can't tell you who the originator is.
Eric Berne possibly.  I just googled Berne.  I think it is him but there
may be others.  A quick quote from him: 

"Eric Berne proposed that dysfunctional behavior is the result of
self-limiting decisions made in childhood in the interest of survival. Such
decisions culminate in what Berne called the "life script," the
pre-conscious life plan that governs the way life is lived out." 

http://www.itaa-net.org/ta/keyideas.htm

I had suggested that Terri Schiavo was the rallying point for her mother
and father, who, instead of facing the problems in their relationship,
focused on her.  It's well known that children will take on the sick child
role so that parents don't separate, essentially they sacrifice themselves
for their own survival, with, of course, the family's unconscious consent.
It may even be why Terri developed the eating disorder in the first place,
i.e., it may have been her job in the family to be the problem child, but
that is pure speculation on my part.  Speculation aside, I don't think it's
extremely far fetched to think that a variation on this is going on in a
global sense.  The alternative is to say we are just animals, which in fact
we are, and our violence is as symbolic as that of any primate.  I like to
think our big brain adds a dimension, but maybe it doesn't.  Any
suggestions as to why the soldier is historically so attractive?  


Andy Amago




> [Original Message]
> From: Eric Yost <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 8/10/2005 5:57:06 PM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: The Soldier as Sacrificial Victim
>
> "Hypocrisy lies at the heart of the institution of warfare."
>
>
> Hypocrisy also lies at the heart of spamming every conceivable 
> mailing list with this "psychological interpretation of warfare" 
> cottage industry marketing. These guys even spam lists that are 
> technically defunct, such as the old phil-lit-crit or nietzsche 
> lists on jeffersonvillage.
>
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