Cultivating Fear

Fear is a powerful emotion, a necessary emotion. It tells us when we shouldn’t do something. It saves us from making some of the gravest mistakes in our lives. In fact, without fear humanity wouldn’t exist today. In some ways, fear necessarily guides every action we take. It undoubtedly saved our ancestors from going into that dark cave inhabited by a saber-toothed tiger eons ago.

While that primal instinct was undoubtedly important, fear has morphed itself in today’s society. In some cases for the better, but in many cases for the worse. Fear prays on society today in so many ways. That original emotion directly correlated to our physical wellbeing, but it’s now attached to so much more – image, health, stability – sometimes for good, but often for the worse.

Fear is more pervasive, I think, more subtle, than anyone realizes. Talk to any liberal  (about fear) in the US and they’ll undoubtedly mention Fox News and the culture of fear it propagates throughout the conservative base. And they would, of course, be correct – just listen to one of Glen Becks rants and raves. But I think the culture of fear is far more ingrained, far more subversive than most people realize.

Could you quite your job if you hated it? Move to a new country on a whim? Ask that cute girl or boy you’ve been crushing on for the past six months out? Some people undoubtedly do, any and all of those things; good for them. Most people, however, can’t or won’t. Fear prevents them from doing it. It isn’t active, visceral fear; it’s latent inert intangible fear. It’s something most people don’t even realize exists.

I’m making these grand, sweeping generalizations because of my growing awareness of them. Perhaps it’s a result of living in Singapore – the government actively instills fear in the population. Or maybe I’ve just become more attune to it – living so closely with people who have chosen to resist it (well maybe, but something convinced us all to up and move out).

I’m coming to realize that popular culture – pervasive culture – utilizes fear on a subconscious level. You see it in the advertisements, the political slogans, and what have you more than anything else, but it pervades society on a much more individual level. Ask someone for advice and they will probably counsel you towards the least radical course, the safest action. And hell, most of the time, they’re right. But hearing that over and over again – it wears a groove in our subconscious selves away from the radical course – towards safety and stagnation.

It takes courage to confront that latent insipid fear and rebel against it. It takes awareness. What is the true motivation behind your course of action? Personally, I’m examining mine a little more closely – the origin and the source – to see the root emotion. I am finding the results startling. More though, I see it in other people – a stagnation stemming from fear coated in supercilious logic. Take a second look. You might be surprised.

A World of Sweet Crazies

Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules..

     -Steve Jobs

A couple of things are prompting this essay. I recently read an article, well read about a shoot, which focuses on Ethiopia’s “Sweet Crazies,” the 15% of the population that suffers from some form of mental illness. I also read an article discussing dyslexia and the possible benefits that it provides the afflicted. And, of course, I’m perpetually reminded of my brother’s permanent inspiration.

Around the world mental differences get viewed in a lot of different lights. And, I should note, I’m talking about anyone whose brain works differently, be it dyslexia, a manic-depressive disorder, or psychophrenia.

In much of Africa, any sort of mental instability often gets linked to demons or spirits inhabiting the afflicted. The victims are often ostracized or the treatment is terribly inadequate and possibly dangerous (if there’s a demon stuck in you, drill a hole in your skull to let it out, right…?).

Western society tends to over prescribe in order to deal with the insanity. If you have x take pills A, B, and C. If that doesn’t help take twice as many of A, B, and C; hell, let’s throw in some D for good measure. Granted, that’s usually paired with some sort of psychiatric treatment. Or… you know, it’s ignored and the mentally afflicted are left to wander the streets.

I don’t envy anyone with any sort of disorder. And I got lucky as hell; I’ve never had any real problems dealing with my emotional or mental health. Having grown up with someone who dealt with a variety of different educational disorders, I’m aware just how difficult it can be.

Still, somehow despite, or even, perhaps, because of all the challenges people that are a bit “touched” tend to end up touching the lives of ever many more. Writers tend to be manic-depressive alcoholics. Artists get a whole range of disorders, combined with alcoholism, of course. Many scientists and engineers fall into the autistic category. CEOs tend to have a wide variety of educational challenges.

So does society have a healthy relationship with all of these people, so fundamentally important? Eh, probably not. Just take a look at the latest numbers for the homeless aimlessly wandering around the states… A lucky few get the attention and help they need to go onto great things, not that their life is any easier for it, but most get lost among the multitudes.

Food Tastes Good

I recently had the opportunity to enjoy at meal at one of the finest restaurants in the world. I was given the following menu:

Pure

Salt

Artisan

South

Texture

Unique

Memory

Terroir

Each menu item included a brief comment on the chef’s philosophy going into the dish. When the dishes came out, our waiter told us what the actual food was. Pure, for example, was scallop and cauliflower. The restaurant looked at food in an entirely different light, different from even foodies. But yet, it really didn’t, it had just been couched in more… intellectual? academic? philosophical? terms. The chef devoted significantly more time to the language of food than most people do (a man after my own heart).

So food… We need it the same way a car needs fuel. You’ve undoubtedly heard the saying that the world is 24 hours and a food shortage from anarchy. The counter to that is humanity’s first step towards towards civilization was the cultivation of food. We moved from being hunter-gatherers, wild, to being agrarian, civilized.

The food industry is one of the largest in the world. Annually it accounts for roughly 3.2 trillion dollars in revenue. The United States consumes roughly 1 trillion or 1/3 of the total food sold, nearly 10% of GDP. That’s a lot of money to be spent on something so seemingly simple.

And it makes sense, aside from water, what could be more important than food? In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, food comes in at the most basic level. Water, air, sleep, and, interestingly enough, sex also fill that level (at least according to Wikipedia). Air is, well, air – you can’t really do much to improve it, though it can be contaminated. As for water, last I checked, you can spend a few hundred dollars on a bottle of champagne, essentially fizzy water. And sex… just read my last post.

As our culture has continually developed, becoming more intricate and varied, food has naturally grown up along with it. As humanity gradually produced more and more excess, we’ve devoted more and more time, more and more energy, more and more thought, to food!

Today in cultures of excess (read: developed or semi-developed world) you can spend an easy three or four hundred dollars on a meal, including alcohol, if you want. I can assure you, it will be delicious. I ask, however, if it is the best meal you’ve ever had? In fact, what was the best meal you ever had?

Taking a note from of “Ratatouille,” (if you haven’t seen it, go watch it, NOW) I suspect that it may be something of little note. My most satisfying meal, one that I haven’t had in ages, is probably caesar salad with roast chicken. It all goes back to my childhood and the memories I associate with it. It’s not the best meal I’ve had; I do distinguish, but the most satisfying. And I could eat it right now, though I’m full, and still be quite pleased with it.

Food comes with significant emotional impact. Your company can ruin the best meal in the world; they can heighten the worst to glory. And then on the other hand, we often use food to cheer our own gloomy mood. It’s a strange relationship. I do wonder just how much time and energy the world truly devotes to food; I can assure you it’s far more than the 3.2 trillion I quoted earlier.

Speaking as someone hopelessly obsessed and devoted to food, I know that a significant amount, if not majority, of my time is spent on food. It may be your greatest time consumer as well.

The Oldest Profession

Yes, I’m talking about prostitution. And it may not, technically, be the oldest profession, but it has existed in one form or another for as long as humanity has existed. Some of the greater apes have even been observed trading food for sex. Throughout the world today it exists in various forms: legal or illegal, reputable or despicable, glamorous or ugly.

I’ll start with some history. Some of the oldest recorded forms of prostitution describe it in a religious context. It was practiced in ancient Babylon in certain hospitality and fertility rituals. It was, in fact, holy – honored. That was probably the high point of prostitution. Prostitutes were given respect, and were even protected by law. Hammurabi’s Code, the oldest known set of laws, includes provisions protecting the rights of prostitutes.

In more recent history, prostitutes have ranged in class from the highly sought and respected courtesan to the lowly streetwalker, though not in religious contexts (to my knowledge). Until recently it has always been legal, to some degree, or at the very least not illegal.

That all changed with the turn of the 20^th century, in the west at least. In the United States the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (yes, the same people responsible for prohibition) managed to successfully make prostitution illegal throughout most of the United States. Similar movements enjoyed varying degrees of success throughout Europe.

In the West, today, it is mostly, still, illegal. Exceptions exist, of course, and in some places prostitution has been effectively decriminalized. Unfortunately, the profession continues to exist throughout the world in illegal capacity. Human Sex Trafficking is the second largest criminal trade in the world, second only to drug trafficking. Estimates range, but profits from the industry could be as high as 31.6 billion dollars.  It is considered by many to be the largest slave trade in the history of humanity.

What about legal prostitution? Aside from the few places it exists in the west, prostitution enjoys significantly greater social acceptance in the East. Most countries have legalized and regulated prostitution. In Singapore, for example, prostitution is legal and regulated – it’s even contained to a specific part of the city: Geylang. I don’t know as much, and won’t speak for other countries.

But prostitution continues to exist in other areas of Singapore illegally, notably Orchard Towers. Orchard Tower’s is the home to illegal prostitution in Singapore. Many foreigners (Malay, Thai, Cambodian, etc) come to Singapore on a tourist visa. They then work for between one and two months as a prostitute before returning to their home country. They live off their profits for the remainder of the year. Their clients? Other foreigners – western, Chinese, Japanese, all wealthy.

This past weekend, some friends and I visited Orchard Towers. Don’t worry; we were merely observers, not participants. Following someone who had been before we were led to the “four floors of whores”. It’s a dirty, abused place.

Mostly drunk, older, slovenly expats (though some my age) dance with younger Asian and Russian women. To be honest it was disgusting and degrading both to the prostitutes and the men seeking their services. Money talks…

At one point several drunken men came up to the girls I was with (meaning friends that embarked on this adventure with me) and began dancing with them. We left quickly after that scene, much to everyone’s relief.

On the whole it was a very ugly introduction to prostitution. I understand why it’s been made illegal in so many countries. Yet, I’ve always been a proponent of legalization and regulation. It is, I think, safer for all the parties involved. Still, it made me seriously question if prostitution can be safely, legally done. After all, prostitution is legal in Singapore. I wish I had visited Geylang, to see what the legal side of it looks like.

And then I come back to the fact that it exists, regardless. Evidence enough in the size and profit of today’s sex trade. So how does a country go about regulating this industry safely, effectively? I’ve no idea, but it’s given me much and more to think about.