Another gray day in the Fox River Valley. My day began around 6:30 AM at Starbucks in downtown Geneva. Baristas there are old acquaintances, and it was good to see everyone again. Then several friends came in. The better part of the morning was dedicated to pleasant conversation. Is there a more congenial, satisfying mode of being than to have a meeting of minds in a pleasant room dedicated to conviviality? A portion of my time though was dedicated to understand better the thought of Jacques Lacan.

Lacan theorized that homo sapien species of mammal is energized, motivated by desire. Paradoxically “what” I really, truly desire is concealed from me, and if and when the object of desire is possessed, the desire evaporates because a “what” now under possession, proves to be less than I imagined it to be. Such is the case whether I entertain an additional specimen to my collection of minerals, or the possession of a C8 z06 Corvette supercar. Yep, the anticipation of something, the imagination’s longing is more delectable than is the object in the hand…

These times in the developed world is one of unleashed desire. Media advertising, even the dynamic of capitalism depends upon the intensification of desire. There is almost nothing that can’t be possessed at the right price, — very little is prohibited. Our times stand in marked contrast to almost every other past age, which emphasized interior character development and control of one’s desires.  This quotation from Lacan captured my attention:

If God does not exist
then everything is prohibited
means the more
you perceive yourself
to be an atheist –
the more your unconscious
is dominated
by prohibitions that
sabotage your enjoyment.

And its opposite:
if God exists
then everything is permitted
as the fundamentalist perceives himself
as His instrument.

He can do whatever he wants.
He is agent of divine will
and his acts are redeemed
In advance.

Sadly for many of us, myself included, we are tormented secular hedonists. Citizens born to an affluent first world society are marinated in all manner of advertising. To be a secular man or woman by no means removes long standing prohibitions, – they go underground. Prohibitions are the ‘fly in the ointment’ of our unconscious — that spoil our good fortune.

And the comment about its opposite, the scripture-quoting Evangelical religionist is even more troubling. He/she convinced of divine approval, will speak and act as a divine representative. Any word or deed is “redeemed in advance.”

Have you ever disagreed with anyone who spoke with God’s authority?