How psychiatry and other social science keep you "under wraps"
Submitted by Chas on Fri, 10/31/2008 - 3:49pmI'll make this short, hopefully.
The main, underlying way in which all institutions of social control (whether they be known popularly as religious or scientific) keep those they wish to keep "under wraps" (i.e. "secure" as "clients") is that they provide a few basic human things which the larger culture "needs" (that is, has already become largely devoid of via the intrigues of politics and war society as usual).
One of these things, and probably the most important, is community, or a curious lack of such. That is, while maintaining outward appearances of actually promoting community, the reality is very much unlike the more natural, non-professionally mediated kind.
In the context of an absense of truly meaningful community (and memory shared of how such was lost) in the larger society, it is quite easy, if you have the resources and legitimation (of governing bodies), to create something that appears to fill the artificial gaps of people lacking community. I say "artitificial gaps" because the bigger meta/political picture exposes the reality that informal community has largely been warred against, and turned against itself.
If we can see at all anymore, we may see this perhaps most clearly in the Nuclear family. If we're what passes for "normal" today, though, we've already forgotten that the ancient family was an actual village-like entity of biological- and friendship- solidarity which brought out the most inspiring gifts of humanity.
The Nuclear family, on the other hand, though still founded on ideals (i.e. young parents greatly wanting to avoid the problems of their own up-bringing), quickly falls back, when pressured by the wildness of children (or the pressures of authority), onto what it has known "best". There is no longer any serious trust between the Nuclear parents and their parents and grandparents. Talking about the weather and reports of travels is about "par for the course"; and even though these things are a meta in and of themselves, the solutions presented by the older generation today usually consists of nothing more than getting more professional intervention of whatever sort.
That basically means that there is no solidarity. Others have discussed the Nuclear family at length and if you would like to educate yourself more I can suggest various authors including R.D. Laing (a good starting point if the title below doesn't interest you)
Another way to see more clearly is to look from the vantage point of the indigenous. In the indigenous world, such as that gone through quite deeply in _Secrets of the Talking Jaguar: Memoirs from the living heart of a mayan village_ (by Martin Prechtel), we get glimpses of the true meaning of wealth and the richness of meaning in human community. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to make a clean break from the world of coercive science (i.e. psychiatry)!