I wonder . . .
In a day when mental health is featured, how was this featured years ago.
We had asylums that provided care for the extreme. We had mother figures that told us when we were out of line (and somehow maintained a “caring” composure). We had jobs that had strict rules to give guidance on right and wrong. We had peer pressure to put us in line. It was all about the “common good” – probably better labelled the culture’s mores and the enforcement thereof.
At least, that’s the stereotype. We were also told to climb the ladder to self-actualization. We were led to be rebels, to find our own person. We were to become who we deeply felt/desired/knew we should be.
Mentally we placed the definition and control of right and wrong on our own shoulders.
Instead of on an outside standard, determined by trusted others!
The term faith was passed to the back of the bus. Meanwhile, the driver of the bus became us.
And we didn’t know the road, or the engine, or the passengers, or the causes of route failure.
We were trying to drive while trying to figure out how to drive, while having to ask ourselves how to drive when we weren’t experienced in driving.
Seems to me like a formula for the failure of our mental capacities? And a few other capacities??