Sigmund Freud describes human nature as satisfying sexual needs and impulses such as aggression in order to gain love and avoid pains in life. Technically, any form of a government will ultimately go against and repress human nature. To satisfy some will not satisfy all. Freud states, “Reality shows us that civilization is not content with the ties we have so far allowed it. It aims at binding the members of a community together in libidinal way as well and employs every means to that end” meaning that society is forming into a dystopia that forces the population to conform and adjust to what the government wants. Even if things change, there will still be people that will feel like they are going against their human nature to assimilate to what is desired for the population. Not every rule that is given to follow coincides with who we genuinely are.
People as a civilization are always seeking to have more. Gain more knowledge, experience, and a better quality of life. I feel like any form of government would put a damper on some people’s ability to gain the more they seek. In the book, Civilizations and Its Discontents quotes, “If there had been no railway to conquer distances, my child would never have left his native town and I should need no telephone to hear has voice; if travelling across the ocean by ship had not been introduced, my friend would not have embarked on his sea-voyage and I should not need a cable to relieve my anxiety about him.” With this statement, Freud states that things are made to be explored, boundaries are made to be pushed in order to gain that feeling of more and to be truly content with our life situations or human nature. With societal constructs limiting that idea, such as government rules and regulations, people’s own human nature is repressed. Freud expressed the idea in this statement that “it was discovered that a person becomes neurotic because he cannot tolerate the amount of frustration which society imposes on him in the service of its cultural ideals.” This shows that society gives us a “guide” or “script” to follow. If we get off track, we tend to feel emotional pressures whether it is stress or frustration. Everyone has different life journeys, they do not always go to plan, and we most definitely do not follow the same path. With too much control, or unwanted “guidance,” man cannot truly be happy. Society ultimately finds a way to make any form of government oppose cultural ideals especially if they do not align.
