Daily Times

“Fifty-four under age Colombian girls were sexually assaulted by US troops and contractors stationed in the war-ravaged nation, but the men will never face justice, according to a new report. The 800-page investigation commissioned by both the Colombian government and its Marxist adversaries reveals the US officials were immune to prosecution during their stay in the country between 2003 and 2007” (Daily Mail, March 25, 2015).
US forces are deployed in Colombia to save this war-ravaged country that, so far, has lost nearly seven million lives in the struggle by Marxist guerrillas who are dreaming of transforming this state into a more equitable and just society. What a nuisance and that too in the era of monopoly capitalism. Another case that, according to the Daily Mail, received massive public attention involved US Sergeant Michael J Coen and defence contractor Cesar Ruiz. Inside the military base they drugged and raped a 12-year old girl. What a pity for this ‘slight’ crime they were forced to leave the country. A gigantic retribution to pay for a petty mistake! Is it really a big price demanded by the US from its allies, the Colombians, to guard their country from an ‘evil’ ideology promoted by the swashbucklers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which once resonated the sweet cadence of a classless society?
This certainly was not an isolated incident of its kind. Nick Turse, in his article ‘AFRICOM behaving badly’, gives a detailed account of such part-time activities invented by US soldiers to entertain themselves in Africa and the rest of the world. Why these activities are considered ‘bad behaviour’ is anybody’s guess. After all, once the city of Troy had fallen, Ajax, a warrior, was known to satisfy his Eros in the temple of goddess Athena by forcefully possessing Cassandra and went scot-free.
The concept of rape has more to do with a sense of domination rather than deprivation of someone’s esteem since, if seen rationally, in such cases loss of self-respect/esteem occurs either way, though it is attributed to the female alone. The man who gratifies himself by force degrades this subtle human act of gratification into a sub-human level. This evidently indicates the complete alienation of man not only from other human beings but from his own humanity as well. He becomes an animal. He feels that he can act freely only in his animal functions, “while in his human functions he feels himself nothing more than an animal. What is animal becomes human and what is human becomes animal” (Marx).
Instinctual satisfaction on its own is one of the most basic, beautiful and ecstatic experiences. It is the culmination of human love. It is not coincidental that Marx insists upon the formation of the object world “in accordance with the law of beauty”. But aesthetics, unless a tool of a class-based society, in their very nature are non-violent and non-domineering. A patriarchal society having dominant pre-capitalist relations is not only prone to stigmatise but scourge the woman alone who becomes a victim of some crackpot’s lust. The dynamic of a capitalist society is different. Herein all other values except the ‘exchange value’ are perished; sex too is no exception.
True to its principle, instead of turning this human instinct into something sacrosanct, it ‘socialises’ consensual sex. Physical molestation is considered not only a criminal offence but looked upon with contempt as well. The victim is treated with sympathy and care. The human body, which continues to be an instrument of labour, finds society accommodating to the free exhibition of its sensual features. In everyday life, sensuality becomes the norm. Due to its exchange value, society is no longer interested in guarding the bulwark of taboos. The act of sexual gratification is not only accepted as a reality but also pleaded for since it generates submission. It is encouraged for a different reason as well. It helps to maintain the status quo by weakening the rationality of protest.
But does this society that brings forth the undressed freedom of beauty provide satisfaction, real happiness, which is closely affiliated with sexuality? Perhaps not! For Freud, sexuality and aggressiveness are inversely proportional to each other. The act of sexuality simultaneously brings forth the feeling of serenity. Contrarily, human aggressiveness keeps mounting despite this freedom; wars, holocausts and other crimes against humanity, poverty and rape highlight a different scenario. For the apologists of capitalism the answer is pretty straightforward. For them, the innate aggression imbedded in human nature is responsible for this human plight. Hence, repression of this nature is the key to a solution. For them, the pleasure principle can never be redeemed. The reality principle, the need to toil, which itself is a neurotic symptom of an unhappy society, will continue to dominate civilisation.
According to the Marxist view, human nature is nothing beyond an ensemble of social relations. “[It contains] man’s primary impulses and senses as the foundation of his rationality and experience” (Herbert Marcuse). These impulses and senses remain engaged in a constant struggle with the external nature in which he forms his society. Marx himself speaks of complete emancipation of all human senses and qualities, the purpose and essence of socialism. Hence, to develop the ‘new man’ having emancipated senses is vital for the foundation of a free society. With these senses alone, which are the preconditions of a liberated society, humanity will give birth to a new rationality. That is, a rationality devoid of repression and exploitation, which refuses to surrender before the irrationality of modern civilisation and/or the one that will be formed in the future under the glorious name of socialism. In modern society, “the individual lives the universal fate. The past defines the present because mankind has not yet mastered its own history. To Freud, the universal fate is in the instinctual drives but they are themselves subject to historical modification” (Marcuse). Their modification by undoing repression will be possible only through revolution.

(To be continued)

The writer is based in Australia and has authored books on socialism and history. He can be reached at saulatnagi@hotmail.com