Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Politics of Desire

"Acquisitiveness - the wish to possess as much as possible of goods, or the title to goods - is a motive which, I suppose, has its origin in a combination of fear with the desire for necessaries."-Bertrand Russell

The desire to acquire material possessions is in all of us. We want either a car, or a flat, or an investment, and preferably all of it!

We are not greedy! We have a desire! What’s so wrong in desiring? As long as, the means by which we attempt to fulfill our desires is ‘just’.

‘Just’ is a legally defined term, legality comes in with society. Laws are man-made.

So, essentially, what we are saying is that, we can fulfill our desires, as long as the means by which we do so is accepted by society. What is acceptable to one in such a case may not be to another – that’s where the complexity of our cultures comes in. Culture brings in different ideas to a certain point, and different views bring in politics.

Politics can also imply conflicts. Conflicts can be internal or external. Internal conflicts are tougher to manage. External can be categorized, while internal is driven by a set of values.

Values stem desire. Desire is manifested as greed. Greed is Acquisitiveness re-defined.

The politics of desire is a vicious loop.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Greed breeds sin, sin brings death. That's from the old value system.
With society (including all of us) prostrating before the money-power the value system has changed. Present value system says - it's fine as long as you don't get caught.

APUGONNAB said...

@ candid - I dont agree with you.. money-power is one of the drivers in life for a few ,but surely not the only one!

If money was the only one to drive us, we wouldnt have a self-realization stage in maslow's theory - which I think is quite true!

Anonymous said...

"‘Just’ is a legally defined term, legality comes in with society. Laws are man-made.

So, essentially, what we are saying is that, we can fulfill our desires, as long as the means by which we do so is accepted by society. What is acceptable to one in such a case may not be to another"

The article takes magnanimous proportions after this point of time, with assumption being its key !
And by commenting on it, is only adding to the assumptions.
Bring out the facts lady. Life is a much more statistical and factual experience than just hazy words...

APUGONNAB said...

@ Ajax - its all about words! Words convey meaning to a sentence!! Hazy - hell no! Explain yourself - how hazy? Make sense out of this, and tell me.. then, I'll know what U r talking about!

Anonymous said...

Well, for starters, it feels as if the author has figured out the beginning and end of his story, and tried patching things up in between to ensure the beginning meets the end. Well, i'm giving you frank, candid and uncensored first impressions!
So well, in that sense, it looks to me more of a "Politics of convincing" rather than anything else. Which is also why, i find a lotta loose ends in the whole thing.For ex, "Values stem desire. Desire is manifested as greed. Greed is Acquisitiveness re-defined". For starters, pls give me factual explanations where values stem desire !!! What are values and how remotely are they attached to your desires ! Ethics, values, principles are an entirely different ball game as far as I'm concerned.

Anonymous said...

great information you write it very clean. I am very lucky to get this tips from you.