Subconscious Self-destructive Urges?

[kyounge1956]

An odd thought struck me today, perhaps prompted by the debt ceiling impasse and the massacre in Norway. I wonder if there is some kind of self-destructive urge behind these and similar events. Intransigent politicians, of whatever party, who would rather precipitate a default than try to find a workable compromise, must know that a default will only make our country's financial problems worse. People who commit mass murder in the name of some cause or other must, unless they have completely lost contact with reality, realize that they are creating enemies for their cause. Such events seem to be becoming more frequent, or maybe we just hear about them more in this age of instantaneous communication.

What brings people to take such counterproductive actions? In my bleaker moments, I could even suspect that humankind as a species is in the grip of a self-destructive urge.

 

[toofrugalformycat]

I think you may be giving too much credit to the politicians. In the case of my representative at least, it is a genuinely a combination of ignorance and stupidity, not willful destruction.
Don't worry, things will look better in the cold gray light of dawn.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Ignorance and stupidity are a good substitute for self-destructive urges.

 

[arebelspy]

I've been thing increasingly of the standoffish refusal to compromise I feel like we're seeing more and more of.

Case in point: debt ceiling, NFL lockout, NBA lockout, etc. Etc.

Opposing sides seem to be more stubborn than ever and re unwilling to compromise than ever.

But maybe it's just the way I'm seeing things.

 

[easysurfer]

Id, Ego, Superego...each of them can be self-destructive

 

[ERD50]

Intransigent politicians, of whatever party, who would rather precipitate a default than try to find a workable compromise, must know that a default will only make our country's financial problems worse.

I think we could redefine the self destructive nature of that comment. We could say something like "Who would pass a spending bill early this year, knowing full well that it would exceed the debt ceiling, and not address that debt ceiling issue as part of passing the spending bill? That strikes me as 'self-destructive' ". It's like if I put far too much on my credit card, and then complained that the CC company wouldn't raise my credit limit after the fact, and then I claimed that they were destroying my credit rating. Who's really to blame?

Maybe the ones refusing to raise the debt ceiling are the ones who are promoting real, positive long-term constructive change?

-ERD50

 

[Nemo2]

Maybe the ones refusing to raise the debt ceiling are the ones who are promoting real, positive long-term constructive change?

+1

Do you 'compromise' with someone who wants to torch your house by allowing him to burn your car instead?

 

[rescueme]

Maybe the ones refusing to raise the debt ceiling are the ones who are promoting real, positive long-term constructive change?

-ERD50

+1

It's tough to make a sacrifice (to correct the problem) rather than to just go on, as it has always been.