21 levels of Self-Deception: THIRD EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

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imposed boundary might be recognised. It might best be described as the ‘boundary of ecology’. Wherever science crosses the boundary of what damages rather than serves the eco-system it should be restrained. There should likewise be a boundary in politics — sustainability and the well-being and flourishing of people. The human economy would, in turn, be bounded by the ecological boundary mentioned above. Along with science, no other human activity should inflict damage on the eco-system of which we are a part. Finally there is a boundary set by our embodiment. Spirituality itself (the limitless aspirations to Eros) needs to be bounded by the reality of our embodiment. The dignity of our personhood should never be compromised by seeing either ourselves or others as mere ‘objects’. Genuine desire is satisfied rather than frustrated by this boundary, as will be explored in a later chapter.

The main aspiration in Western consumer capitalism is economic growth. Somehow this is seen as being an ultimate ‘solution’ to all ills. If only a society can grow in economic terms, it is argued, then all else will follow. Western politics deals a lot with desire, but they are substitute desires. Politics either knowingly or unwittingly plays into the fact that individuals are largely unconscious of their underlying desire and will therefore seek substitutes via materialism, career and so on. At best, governments might hope to achieve human well-being and flourishing — the fulfilment of genuine desire — as some kind of after-effect of having material needs met. There is also still a denial of death, but this plays out tellingly in the ‘rights’ afforded to individuals. ‘Freedom’ is

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