When I think of being depressed, I think of not having the energy to think or be productive or even wanting to concentrate on anything. I find myself in a circular motion of thought and inactivity. The question for this blog post is how does one get to a point where they are neither motivated to excel or interested in moving beyond the status quo. What keeps people locked in a seemingly endless cycle that perpetuates from generation to generation? Can this be explained by saying that people are psychologically depressed? And if so, how do we move the conversation from analysis to cure?
I have friends who look at life with a limited scope. Their immediate future is hopeless and filled with "what-I-wants". They are caught up in a swelling notion that life should be easy and that sacrifice or working to achieve one's objectives doesn't require extraordinary effort. I've noticed, recently, that most of us look at our lives and see the cracks in places we know should be filled with a material akin to plaster. This stone-like rock protects us from the barrage of issues confronting us daily. We are conditioned to protect ourselves from such an onslaught of natural forces much like fixing a leaking roof. We must look at the composition of our individual psychologies and figure out how best to repair and prevent further damage. How best to prevent further abuse at the hands of the careless and willfully ignorant? How to shield ourselves against people who are opportunistic and selfish careerist?
Currenlty, I'm reading Cornel West's Race Matters as well as I'm paying particular attention to West and Smiley's Poverty Tour of America. It makes me wonder about our psychological well-being as a nation. How we as a country have developed culture in a world that has consistently and systematically destroyed the ideas of self and culture. Every great empire has suffered a defeat of its prevailing way of life. Was this due to hubris on the part of the ruling class? That they didn't foresee the challenge to their authority and thus didn't respond or act accordingly to protect their interest. (Their constituency being their interest as well.)
We look at people who are placed (whether elected or selected) in power and charged with leading the masses from a place of darkness into the light as the saviors of our way of living. They will provide the needed answers to disarm any posing threat. They will ensure that our way of living continues as long as we do our part and that is to support their decisions. Here, we may want to take note of the shifts in people's perception of the world, and how that perception directly affects daily life. How our closes allies use our weaknesses against us as they attempt to gain control or a foothold in a conversation that concerns us but doesn't include us. By "us" I'm speaking about people of color and people who have been marginalized since the founding of this country. People who have fought tooth and nail to establish themselves as equal and worthy of similar opportunities provided to others.
So far I'm learning from various sources that the individual must learn to protect not only himself physically but his intellectual property as well. I can remember receiving a great piece of advice from the late E. Lynn Harris when I attended a luncheon held in his honor. I decided to attend because a friend of mine was a huge fan of his work. Admittedly, as a creative writing student I too was an admirer of his work. But during this conversation, Mr. Harris told me that as a creative writing student I should be careful sharing my ideas with other writers. His point was that you never know who will co-opt, or blatantly steal your work. I didn't think much of it since I thought I was in a safe space at NYU. We all believe that on some level we are in a safe space when we create, especially in an environment where you have been assured that by participating in the development of your work you will receive protection from any threat to your work (classmates included). This may be a dream. However, I believe this speaks to America's created culture and how "we" are a psychologically depressed peoples. On both ends of the spectrum we are affected by this phenomenon. For me personally this is part of a larger discussion about creating the ideal reality for ourselves. A theory based on a component of the now defunct psuedoscience Phrenology called "Ideality".
The state of our thinking, the nature of our being, the existence of our way of life is constantly under a threat of terror, and for many of us has been since the founding of this country. This terror conditions our minds to expect the unexpected. To be leary of our neighborhors and to trust no one. To think twice about those who we say we love, and about those who we say we share a "familial" connection. It amazes me that in this world of have and have-nots that the poor are preyed upon by those attempting to sheathed themselves--they cover their blades (words, deeds, actions) with niceties and claim a friendship naively accorded them.
Maybe it is a lofty goal to get people to think about what it means to be pyschologically depressed. First, what are the symptoms? What is the stimuli that creates such a condition? Is it in the water? Or, can it be traced back to our educational system? To our indoctrination in the "womb" of our parent's homes or the cauldron of our communities? Where is the source of our discontent? To the point that, as West suggest, poor people are scapegoating other poor people. I truly believe that hurt people hurt people and that is conditional. I believe that we are all victims of our own ingenuity. Somebody on the road of innovation is bound to be left behind or considered as an after thought and this will possibly leave them in a depressed state. Whether this condition is economic, political, or sociological. People will continue to have a pyschological battle to face. How they face it becomes the larger question. Who helps them to face it is an even bigger concern as we breakdown our populace along lines that are becoming increasingly immutable: I'm a Tea-party Republican. I'm a Social democrat. I'm a blueblood liberal. Or, I'm a hardline conservative. I'm black. I am white. I am Christian or otherwise denoted.
