Oedipus blinded
The New British Scapegoats
Over two thousand years ago the ancient Greeks wrote about their world in all kinds of ways. One of the most influential to Western culture being theatre and the performance of tragedy. Oedipus was a real masterpiece of writing by Sophocles and anyone who has studied the play will know just how great it is. Anyone not familiar with the play will not understand what a disservice Freud did to the real meaning and intent of the play. However, I hope that any reader will be aware that Freud has been to a large extent discredited, and is now only really taken seriously by a few die hard devotees.
King Oedipus did not know he was marrying his mother because he grew up without knowing who his parents were. Without going into the play too much (as this post is really not about the play but only pertains to it) the real point of the tragedy is that he was made a Scapegoat. Not only for his own failings, but also for all the sins and wrongs of the citizens of the City State of Thebes. The "sins" mentioned are really not meant in any Religious sense as we know it today, but refer to the breaking of the laws of the State as well as any breaking of any general moral code within the society at the time.
In the play,Thebes is stricken with a plague and the Oracle has informed King Oedipus and the distraught citizens that the plague will only be lifted when the murderer of King Laius (Oedipus' predecessor) is found. Since Oedipus did not know his parents, he is completely unaware that it was himself who murdered his father, in probably the first recorded road rage incident. Therefore, when he orders an investigation to discover the murderer he subsequently and very painfully becomes aware of his own dreadful sins. He then, in front of the assembled citizens, must punish and purge himself of this. My point in this piece is that in so doing, Oedipus also relieves the thousands of assembled citizens of the city State who are watching the play of their pent up feelings and frustrations. The catharsis produced on the very actively involved audience was very much the desired affect. This is the root and origin of the whole metaphor and meaning of the Scapegoat.
The whole genre of tragedy is an exploration of the power of the performed play as a theatrical experience on the audience. Within the drama, the audience will have a cathartic response that is produced by witnessing the downfall of the protagonist. The Scapegoat is a reference to the meaning of the ancient origin of the sacrifice of a goat at the performance. The word scapegoat has it's root and derives from these origins. It refers to the human suffering of the protagonist in the drama leading to the tragedy and hence the collective catharsis experienced by the audience. There is so much more to explain about this form of ancient theatre and how it informs our modern way of life in the West, but there is no scope here to go into it too deeply.
The whole point of this piece is to put forth the thesis that since ancient times it is widely accepted that any society has a collective response to anything which affects it. Whether it is financial or emotional, people in any society have a need to gather together and discuss and emote about any subject which affects the members of that society as a whole. Therefore, because most of us in modern times in the West live in cities, we can only practice this collective purging by watching television programmes, listening to modern music, watching a film in a cinema, or (to a lesser extent now) watching a play in the theatre.
Other ways which inform us and help us to explore and purge these feelings is dealt with in the media; television, radio and newspapers. It is this media which this piece addresses for the purposes of exploring the concept of the Scapegoat. Since ancient times, from any Monarchy through to the power of the modern Government of any country, the need of the citizens of any society to purge feelings of frustration which builds up within it is well understood by the powers that be. This is multiplied hugely in times of austerity. I site the French Revolution as an example of relatively Modern times in which the starving and downtrodden peasant class rose up and overthrew the Monarchy in violent revolution. However, I would argue that in that example the target for the Scapegoats was legitimate and justified and did indeed lead to a more egalitarian society. Even if the means by which they achieved it was overly brutal and unnecessary. It does however illustrate the strong feelings of resentment which can overrun the citizens of any country, especially when socio- economic reasons are involved.
Which leads me to Modern Britain in the 21st century which of late is being lead by a coalition Government shared by the Conservative and Liberal Democrats. Formed because of a lack of positive and less than enthusiastic voting by the disenchanted citizens of this country. At this point I will also put forth the notion and theory that the Establishment and elite of Great Britain is run and motivated mostly by the politically economic and social system of Capitalism. The Banking and commercial sector is very much part of the Government system and most of the Newspapers and a large part of the whole media is also part of this system. There is a so called Socialist New Labour party, but this has lost favour with many in recent times. This is mainly because of Tony Blair's part in the Iraq war and the subsequent down turn in the economy (otherwise known as the Recession) despite the fact that it is a global Recession caused mainly by greedy Bankers.
However, as already mentioned the Bankers are hand in glove with the Establishment and the Government and form part of the elite who run the country. Part of running the country is to have a form of control of the masses, and how better to do that than to run the media. As a consequence of doing so, it is much easier to generate the kind of thought control of the masses that the media can generate. The Bankers and the Government cannot be punished, they cannot be perceived by the public to be blamed entirely because then the citizen's eyes would be open and as a result will be too discontent by realising the truth of the matter.
Therefore, slowly but surely, a campaign in the media must be generated by the Government. They must be seen to be saving money by raising taxes in order to "save" the economy and the country from destitution and ruin. This regime was instigated a few years ago at the start of the Recession. Day after day, issuing from all media outlets, the citizens of Great Britain are very nearly bombarded (and some would suggest brainwashed) by this political rhetoric. This kind of political rhetoric is being continually and constantly reported by the Television and Radio news, the Newspapers (mainly the Tory owned tabloid press) and the speech or talk radio programmes which report on and discuss the headlines in the Tabloids and who regularly lead debates on these matters.
This all leads onto the "Scapegoats" to which I refer to in the title of this piece. The new modern British Scapegoats of which we are constantly and continuously being persuaded to demonize or vilify, whichever word you prefer. The group we are being persuaded to stigmatize and regard with contempt and suspicion are the group known as the long term Unemployed or Sick and Disabled Benefit Claimants. Ever since the new coalition Government took office they have generated a campaign to save Britain money by making drastic Welfare Reforms, as they are called.
In an effort to make these Benefit cuts appear to be legitimate and much needed, the various Government Ministers are trotted out in the press and various media to set forth why they are being made. The rhetoric set forth is a kind of Orwellian "Doublespeak" worthy of the novel
1984. Let me explain further by suggesting that the phrase issuing forth from them is that they are trying to "help the long term unemployed back to work and a better life which is not reliant on Benefits." This is not to explain that the the life of the long term unemployed is actually made significantly much worse by the Benefit cuts themselves, Bedroom tax and general demonization taking place by the Governments cohorts in the Tabloid press and various media.
I sight a programme that was being watched regularly recently by many of the citizens of this country on Channel 4 called "Benefit Street". This programme stirred up a hornets net of criticism by various factions in other parts of the media. It has been variously described by some as like watching "poverty porn" and causing both fascination and outrage. The sensationalist aspect of portraying real people in a "reality" show as if they are characters in a film, and by editing their lives in such a way as to make it consumerist entertainment for the masses is controversial and some would say questionable. Leading up to this programme was a campaign in various media such as the Tabloid press, which almost on a daily basis would scream headlines about "Benefit cheats, scroungers and layabouts". They would find and expose Disabled claimants who where shown to be cheating the system. They would portray work shy parents who would play the system by having football sized family's in order to claim Benefits and fabulously expensive and desirably huge double sized houses in expensive parts of town. In fact any one, including the young long term unemployed who is not willing to take any job, is encouraged to be frowned upon and made to feel like a drain on the tax payer.
The effect on the average citizen who is told constantly by the Government that they are "hard working" is to stir up many feelings of deep resentment, which need to be purged. These hard working citizens are told that they work hard for the money, and just look at all these other scroungers who are not only not working hard, but cheating the hard workers out of all the taxes they pay. Naturally, these citizens are filled with feelings of resentment toward these so called "scroungers". Faced constantly with screaming headlines and TV and Radio media discussions on how they are being "screwed" by their fellow citizens can sway them into playing the blame game. "The country's broke, we need to save money so we can save the country from going down the toilet." They seem to cry out. Who can we blame and save money on and vent our feelings of frustration on, other than those Bankers? The easy answer they have been provided with is; the feckless Unemployed and the "scroungers" who have better houses than us because we can't afford to buy them any more. Therefore we have to purge these feelings by punishing them. We have to do this by changing the Welfare system so that they can't be a drain on our taxes any more. However, short sighted this is, it is no match for the feelings of resentment which have been stirred up and must be purged.
The average worker in Britain works harder and longer than almost any worker in the world. They work longer hours and are under more stress and pressure for much less reward than they did only a few years ago. Trapped in a constant struggle to pay bills, the mortgage and keep their jobs (however much they might hate it) citizens must find a way to purge their feelings of resentment. They can complain, but to who and what's more, who actually listens and changes anything? The average citizen is disillusioned with politics and reluctantly (if ever) votes any more. They are hungry for a target that can actually bring about a real purging effect, or seem to perform this function. For this reason they are provided by "the powers that be" with the Scapegoat Benefit claimant who is the target to fulfil this. The "powers that be" mentioned above, have known that in order to control the masses it is crucial to know how to.
The real effect all this has is to radically change the Welfare System. So that slowly but surely, any one who loses their job will find it demoralising and stigmatising to claim what they have paid for in their taxes. Also, that they probably will suffer greatly in all kinds of ways; ironically not realising that they inadvertently caused the stigma themselves by joining in with general condemnation when they where employed. They may lose their house because they cannot pay the mortgage, again ironically not realising the real culprits of the down turn in the economy. Also, as a consequence they may have to go on the waiting list for council property, ironically again they may never get it because the Government and the Bankers are not funding any more of this. Not having any decent place to live any more may cause Marital strife and lead to divorce and separation and further claims on the Benefit system. The unfortunate people in this scenario may suffer an emotional and physical breakdown and need medical help. Further down the road, they may find that the very system they paid for with their hard earned taxes is no longer there. Ironically it has been dismantled by a Government who claims they are saving money for hard working citizens.
Thus the masses are punished for the sins of the few; the few scroungers of the Benefits system who are vilified in the Tabloid press versus the Bankers who are not. I hope that the citizens of this country and the world wake up and realise the amount of control and brainwashing they are subjected to on a daily basis. This kind of control is hard to detect if you do not realise that it is just that. The hard working citizen does not have the time or the inclination to constantly recognise the manipulation to which he is subjected. However, once the genie is out of the bottle it becomes much more evident.
In ancient Greece the purging of feelings took place in a theatre with an audience of thousands. It was very much a communal experience where the subject was mostly an artistic expression and there were no real targets for the Scapegoat except a recognition of the one within oneself. It was much akin to the experience we have watching a movie for instance. Of course, sometimes the ancient Greek theatre was a real exploration of the Political and also of the democracy of Greece. However, the fact that it was dealt with as an artistic medium meant that the audience went away without any real lingering feelings of resentment toward any group, or individual for that matter. It was not a manipulation but an exploration in a creative medium. When Oedipus blinded himself and made himself the ultimate Scapegoat in order to purge the city of Thebes of the plague, it was an artistic expression made for the audience to identify with. He was not meant to represent a hate figure for the audience to vent their feelings onto.
This is at odds with the manipulation at large by the "powers that be" via the media, to stir up and even create feelings of resentment toward particular sections of society, namely the poorest and most vulnerable. All this is done in an attempt to purge feelings of resentment which should otherwise be directed toward these very "powers that be" instead. It is a diabolical manipulation by the State to create resentment among the citizens toward themselves rather than the real culprits. In other words, divide and rule. What is worse in a way, is the far reaching effect of this on the future of the Welfare system. In future the Benefits that the ordinary worker pays for in their taxes, he may well be stigmatised in claiming and indeed may not even be able to claim. The very reform that the Government has set in motion may hurt all the citizens of Britain and not just the few Scapegoats we are now encouraged to demonize. Ironically, the hard working citizen is ultimately only hurting themselves in all this. Because one day they may have to turn to the Welfare system that they pay for with their hard earned taxes, only to find that it may not be there for them in their hour of need.
