Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Oh the consequences of self preservation.
After watching three episodes of this second season I am so less convinced of reform, progress or change. The issues that permeate all of human society are so deeply in bedded in exactly what Landsman said; 'self preservation'. The human society is trapped in fear and therefore do all within their means to protect themselves and what they have going for them. In reference to Landsman's insightful contribution it's institutional anomie that drives these individuals to generate destructive relationships with those around them. The normal and accepted approach to life is to protect oneself at all cost. now the one sliver of selflessness is the Union head at the docks, his gesture of kindness to his employee. The error is that money came at the cost of 14 lives and billion dollar human trafficking industry. He appears to have no concept of what is behind 'The Greeks' errands which is discouraging in the grad scheme of progress as such huge crimes against humanity are carried out right on a seemingly good intending man's docks. But all in the name of self preservation. For the same reason he is ready to fight Valchek over the stained glass window. The strain of not getting the work he believes his staff deserves pushes him to take action he feels entitled to in order to get back. The fiasco has already caused him more harm that vindication which is typical of revenge if you ask me. The show in all honesty is at a frustrating point. I struggle to understand the logic behind some peoples decisions which allows for too much judgment and not enough theoretical understanding.
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Nice post...I like that you tend to gear your posts around a central theme. Self-preservation (one might say "survival") is such a dominant force at the individual level going back to season 1 (really, can you imagine many circumstances--in the U.S., anyway--more demanding of base-level self-preservation than that depicted in the West-Baltimore projects?). But, as you point out, this doesn't arise in a vacuum. Social conditions give rise to this and certainly IAT tells us something about this. And GST provides insight for understanding how individuals attempt to achieve such self-preservation. It also brings to mind Maslow's hierarchy of needs. How can we expect invidual-level reform (individuals aspiring to meet those higher level needs) until the conditions change such that the more lower-level needs can be met safely and consistently? Can we expect individuals to "pull themselves up from their bootstraps" and work hard and succeed legitimately, when basic safety and biological needs are not able to be met given the conditions of the environment in which they exist?
ReplyDeleteI like your point about most of the characters being concerned with self-preservation rather than necessarily doing what is right. McNulty, on the other hand, always tries to do what he thinks is right, at least when it comes to cases, and he gets screwed over for doing good police work. He does not follow this theme because he does not look out for the interests of his future career. Most cops, on the other hand, are avid ass kissers and only do things to further their careers.
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