Excellent point about the locus of control. I had a personal story I shared in my own recent piece where once I realized I was making myself feel powerless like you said, my outlook completely turned around
It’s interesting how our culture is so focused on people being able to change, but doesn’t always think that about themselves
You're definitely right that lack of agency has a social origin, but I think it also has to do with people being cut off from their own internal motivations?
Like, Zizek says this thing about old-school vs. modern parenting. If you want your kid to go to grandma's house, you can be old-school and say, "you're going to grandma's house, and you don't have to like it, but you will go and you will behave." And then your kid will hate you, which is probably good for their individuation. Or you can be modern and say, "I won't force you, but just remember how much grandma loves you." And your kid understands that this also means "you're going to grandma's house," but that they not only have to go - they have to *want* to go.
Basically, we're living in "just remember how much grandma loves you" societies. Because the locus of social control is internal, it undermines our individuation and cuts us off from our own internal motivations, which makes it very difficult to act with agency.
Take control of your environment or it will take control of you.
Excellent point about the locus of control. I had a personal story I shared in my own recent piece where once I realized I was making myself feel powerless like you said, my outlook completely turned around
It’s interesting how our culture is so focused on people being able to change, but doesn’t always think that about themselves
Power isn't zero sum though. People can coordinate to multiply power.
I think this is right wrt power writ large and not right wrt social-power for any given time slice.
So who are the gaslighters? Name & shame em!
7/100! But also see previous post :D
You're definitely right that lack of agency has a social origin, but I think it also has to do with people being cut off from their own internal motivations?
Like, Zizek says this thing about old-school vs. modern parenting. If you want your kid to go to grandma's house, you can be old-school and say, "you're going to grandma's house, and you don't have to like it, but you will go and you will behave." And then your kid will hate you, which is probably good for their individuation. Or you can be modern and say, "I won't force you, but just remember how much grandma loves you." And your kid understands that this also means "you're going to grandma's house," but that they not only have to go - they have to *want* to go.
Basically, we're living in "just remember how much grandma loves you" societies. Because the locus of social control is internal, it undermines our individuation and cuts us off from our own internal motivations, which makes it very difficult to act with agency.
Excellent essay but a false dichotomy. Having been and continuing to be under attack is the trauma.