This is the first of a number of posts introducing the concept of the cathartic imperative--a concept I first developed nearly ten years ago.
Most critiques of society view the individual primarily as a consumer, be it of food, products, fuel, or culture. We take much of our identity from what we consume—the books we read, the kind of food we prefer, the house we choose to live in, the car we drive, the clothes we wear, the places we travel to. Marketers constantly attempt to bond us emotionally to this or that product, selling not only what it does for us, but what it says about who we are and what we value.
But consumption accounts for only one side of our behavior and impact on the world. The other side, broadly defined here as catharsis, is in some ways more profound and urgent than consumption and more likely to determine our fate. If consumption involves a taking in, then catharsis at its most basic refers to getting what is inside out.
That something needing to get out could be physical--that which we purge from our bodies and our homes--but it could also be emotional or intellectual--a love song or a rant. It could be as simple as an exhale, or as elaborate as a symphony. It could be something beautiful a friend shares with you, or the blame someone tries to dump on you. It can be experienced in a car, theater, concert hall or stadium, in the bedroom or bathroom, at a political demonstration, or most tellingly for democracy, in the voting booth.
The duality of our being, as consumers and catharsers (or catharsians, if you wish), is most immediately apparent in our breathing. Each inhale (consumption) is necessarily followed by catharsis (exhale). Both are critical to our survival. Most people think the main purpose of breathing is to supply our bodies with oxygen, but equally important is the export of carbon dioxide with every exhale. Our bodies are constantly producing carbon dioxide as we metabolize our food. Being a powerful molecule within us--beneficial or lethal depending on its concentration--carbon dioxide's constant buildup poses an existential threat. Only through exhale can we rid our bodies of excess and maintain safe levels of carbon dioxide in our bloodstream.
Catharsis originally meant to cleanse oneself of unwanted emotions through theater, but medicine adopted the term, first to refer to a physical clearing of the bowels, then later to describe a therapeutic breakthrough in which long repressed emotions or memories are released.
These specialized uses of the term are insufficient for our times. Breathing shows how consumption and catharsis are equally important to our survival, and yet cultural bias has long kept awareness and discussion of our cathartic nature suppressed. Our gross national product is not as yet paired with our gross national biproduct.
That bias is built into our language. Though we have the word "catharsis" to pair with "consumption," we have no similar match for the word "consumer." I have had to invent the words "catharser" and "catharsian" to fill a void in our language. That void has long skewed how we view ourselves, and left us unaware of the powerful way in which the cathartic imperative can affect our behavior, and influence the trajectory of our relationships and our politics.
Catharsis is most satisfying if it is complete. Take a series of shallow breaths, and then take a deep breath, filling yourself with air and slowly letting it all out. That long, deep exhale can be profoundly satisfying. It's also more satisfying to be completely dismissive, to fully vent one's anger, to find nothing redeeming in a person one dislikes. The more odious the bowel movement, the more satisfying to get it out of one's body and flush it down and away. Action movies nurture hatred for the bad guy, then send him packing. Political campaigns seek to do the same.
One thing I do in life is teach people about plants. Oftentimes, someone who has just learned to recognize a new plant will be astonished to discover that it's growing all around them. It was there all along, in full view yet unnoticed. Once you understand the cathartic imperative in its many physical, emotional, linguistic, and political forms, you will begin to see it everywhere. It's in words like "all", "totally!", "completely", "nowhere" and "everywhere"--all those words that leave no room for exception. It's in our tendency to generalize, to stereotype, and to summarily reject. It's in projection, and the reflex to blame others. It's in the electorate's tendency to "throw the bums out" in mid-term elections. It's in the human need for enemies.
Better awareness of the cathartic side of our natures can lead to better understanding of the need to demonize others, the need for enemies, and why people can be so susceptible to lies that deepen their dislike of the "Other."
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