I ran across this cartoon [Link]
yesterday, and was struck by how the second frame captured our natural disposaphobia. Or in this case, consumaphobia.
Ignoring for a moment the implications for the causation of survivalists, a somewhat larger idea advanced is that most forms of mental whackedness are matters of quantity and not quality. That is, taking this example as an archetype, we are all hoarders to some extent, tucking away food (e.g.,) for those days when the roads are closed due to weather, natural disaster, or government stupidity and incompetence. In moderation, this is considered normal and even prudent; in absence, foolish, stupid, or risky; in excess, madness.
Further, it becomes rather clear that the distinction between moderation and excess is almost entirely arbitrary, so what becomes intriguing and cognitive is the means by which they are distinguished. Two methods seem self-obvious: mob decision – democracy; and expert decision – autarky. Both have equally evil dark faces, the one witch burnings and expulsions, the other torture and perversion. Mental whackedness has come to be more the latter than the former in the years since Sigmund Freud except possibly in the realm of justicers. This ambiguity is undoubtedly the result of innate competition between ‘those who would direct all’ and ‘those who would rule all’. While this grinding uncertainty may be temporarily good for society, it is clearly not for the individual who will always suffer at the hands of either group.
