Terry Karkabe looks at lust a little bit differently.
Lust. The insatiable urge to fu*k somebody … yeah—that.
Or is it? The topic at hand was lust—steamy, pulse accelerating, pupil dilating, breathless lust. So I googled it. And then I decided to write about lust in a slightly different way—you know, because you all will handle the sexy part and in spite of the fact that I, too, am a sexual creature and not immune to the less gentle urges of carnal lust, I really want to talk about a different kind of lust. One that has an equally, if not more profound effect on our life on planet crazy.
Lust. The insatiable urge to … dominate, to control, to be better than our fellow men and women. The insatiable urge to ever greater wealth. The love of money and power over the love of others and universal rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
♦◊♦
So I thought about it. Actually, I’ve been thinking about it for years. I clearly got the what but the why eluded me. Until now.
I always thought that there was some logic involved, but on reflection, that just didn’t wash. Logic says that paying people well and caring for their well-being as employees is a wise thing. When people are happy and prosperous, they can and will, buy what you sell. That makes you more wealthy which would seem a desirable outcome. So why is it that so many business owners exploit their workers? Why is health care unfunded? Why are pensions being slashed? Why are wages being reduced while prices rise? Why does Warren Buffet feel embarrassed at his tax rate being lower than his secretary’s but so many of his equals could care less?
There are two things that immediately come to mind. First, They are not Us. They don’t live with us, talk to us, drink with us, laugh with us, suffer with us, weep for our hungry children, or care for our old and our sick. They live in a different world where they and their friends are beyond lack. They have no experience with our daily sorrow and so simply don’t get that it’s more than just a picture in a magazine. To have empathy requires having experience, and that’s just not reality in “their” world.
Second, and perhaps more important, they are playing a totally different game. Their game is not surviving and sharing with their neighbor who struggles right alongside to break even or get just a little further ahead. Their game is LUST. Lust for power, lust for money, lust for an ever greater knowing that they are NOT us. They are better, more deserving, special in Gods eye, and so not subject to the rules that the rest of us must live by. Taking ever more money and power reinforces that daily. The political game they play for power is just part of that larger game.
♦◊♦
In a village of 100 people, it’s hard to be that kind of special. The food you eat and the wine you drink are grown or produced and prepared by folks you know and talk to and share with, even if you’re the big cheese in town. In a world of 6 billion, money lets you live in a place of disconnect. A world where food just appears, your laundry is magically folded and put away, and your children are cared for by hired professionals. Humanity is only the crowd scene in your movie. You and your supporting cast are what’s real and you’re disconnected from the rest.
This applies not only to the very wealthy but also to our political leaders. They, for similar reasons, are also disconnected from the rest of us and the further they go up that road, the more disconnected they get. I’m reminded of the NY judge who sentenced a slumlord who refused to make repairs on his buildings, to live in one of them under house arrest for thirty days. It seems that the experience was enough to change slumlord to compassionate neighbor. Remember where the bible says lust is one of the 7 deadly sins? Perhaps we should take notes.
Lust … The insatiable urge to fu*k somebody … yeah—that!!!
—Photo Flickr/neogabox
Hi Sofia (a lovely name BTW). What can i say but “nice to meet a kindred soul” I’ve been away from the project for a while but your comment brings me back to awareness of a need to communicate a need for awareness. 😉
Smiles for ya
T.
I think you got it Just Right Terry! Privilege from lots of $$ allows ‘them’ to disconnect from rest of humanity and not have to feel. In fact they might revel in the ability to be free of the ‘lower classes’. Easy not to feel, esp as you said, “food just appears,…” etc. Ours is a class society much like UK, India, and various other nations. Humans are very slow learners. But of course, that would mean you were using your head, id you were learning. I don’t think the head (in a rational thinking sense) is exactly the place… Read more »
Maybe you’re lumping too many distinct (albeit in some cases, overlapping) concepts under the heading of “lust.” You’ve got examples of egotism or megalomania, both normal and excessive ambition, OCD, competitive agression, and outright sociopathy all jammed in there.
Could be that you’re working poor little “lust” too hard.
And then again maybe lust is much larger than you give it credit for. Lust feeds megalomania, ambition, OCD, aggression of all kinds and all forms of socio pathic aberrations. Not for nothing is ‘Lust one of the seven deadly sins.