Mal-being

This is the title of Freud’s famous work (1929), which attempts to look around the problem. His analysis is remarkable for the time.

Although some question his “pansexual” approach to human psyche, the causes of ill-being that he sees in the Oedipian refoulement cannot be simply erased. Our society is clearly experiencing a sexual problem, and this aspect of things cannot be overlooked when it comes to an inventory of the causes of mental dysfunction.
Endemic neurosis can at least partially explain the widespread feelings of frustration that drive consumerism. The Freudian theory of sublimation gives an explanation of the exaggerated importance that individuals manifest for all kinds of material objects. A sports car can well compensate for a lack of love dating back to early childhood. An attraction for the consumption of animal milk could reflect the trauma of the baby at the time of withdrawal, or as a result of a lack of breastfeeding.

Other causes of frustration, explaining the general discomfort we experience in the “system” can also lead us to excessive materialism. For example the very thin place left to spiritual life, or a certain blind confidence in rationalism would call for compensation through possession of beautiful objects. Love boredom, as the spiritual emptiness of many individuals would explain the permanent flight to an idealized elsewhere, therefore the frantic tourism of our time…

All these alternative activities have a particularly high ecological cost. The typical evil of our Western society is therefore included in the list of likely psychological causes of ecological debacle. This is one of the points that must be deepened by human ecogenetics.