S2 Ep44. Part 18. Consciousness, Capitalism, and Death Potential. The Crisis of our Times.

This episode explores Death Potential which is not a psychological trait but a mythological and metaphysical category. Moreover, it is archetypal and universal and therefore is not unique to capitalism but exists within our consciousness across its whole history. The immense technological powers of capitalism constellate this Death Potential in the most intense form yet experienced by our species. This distinguishes it from Freud’s notion of the death instinct. I do not believe such an instinct exists in the human psyche but I do believe that mankind has a tremendous fear of death which is repressed, becomes intolerable and is then projected outwards. I also believe that the whole perinatal period, (that is the period around birth: in the womb, actual birth, and immediate post-birth) can be an intimate, dramatic, sometimes traumatic, encounter with the forces of death that can deeply shape human character. In other words our entrance into consciousness is through the gates of potential death. This is projected onto nature,other human beings, and the world. This is our greatest danger.