KEN RUEGG
VICTIMIZED BY MILLIONS
CRIMINALS AND CONSCIENCE
       PLEASURE, PAIN AVOIDANCE, PUNISHMENT, SELF-CONTROL, AND FREEDOM:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           SEEKING OF PLEASURE and AVOIDANCE OF PAIN are intrinsic to all normal humans. This is the basis for what Sigmund Freud called "the pleasure principle": the unrestrained gratification of all urges emanating from the "id". We don't want to leave the womb. It's too comfortable in there. And we are wired neurologically to feel both pleasure and pain, and to gravitate towards pleasure, and away from pain.*                                                                                                                                                                                     The most primitive form of CONSCIENCE is fear of painful consequences. Punishment for wrongdoing when young forces children to learn both self-control and right from wrong.      Not doing something because it is wrong, even when punishment will not result from doing it, is a higher form of conscience called MORALITY.                                                                                                                                                                                                          The final step in the completion of this growth process, is the achievement of the type of mind which doesn't victimize others, and isn't interested in so doing. This is the completion of the stage of development which I call "CIVILIZED" MIND. Minds such as these work differently, and are a "type" or "species" of mind distinct from those which we call "criminal".                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 CONSCIENCE prevents members of "non-criminal" cultures from contemplating and committing crimes for which they can be punished. Sigmund Freud termed such functioning "the reality principle". Members of "criminal" cultures both lack and despise this important safeguard. Felons commit serious crimes because they do not expect consequences. They are more often than not mistaken in that belief. Such mistaken certainty is irrational.                                                                                                                                                                                  CRIMINAL MINDS function by victimizing others. They avoid being stopped by consequences, by convincing themselves that they will not be punished for their crimes, even though there are others committing such offenses who are caught and prosecuted.                                                                                                                                            CRIMINALS want what they are going after so badly, that they derail pain avoidance, by believing that their crimes will be successful. This is a form of Freudian denial.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         "You'll be the only one hurt, and we'll walk away from it UNTOUCHED!", expresses this thinking, while "Our strength is that WE DON'T CARE!", indicates the total absence of formation of conscience. They don't care, provided that nothing bad is happening to them!                  "Freedom" to these people means that they cooperate with each other, to do whatever they want to outsiders, while avoiding punishment. They think differently about right and wrong: they have no use for it. Minds such as these refuse to listen to reason. Force must be used, while those applying it stay within the law, so as to avoid prosecution for using force illegally.                                                                                                                                      Innocence of wrongdoing is wisdom. Those who truly understand freedom, know that they must use it to respect the rights of others.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               *Freud's concept of an unconscious "death wish" in humans, is based upon pain avoidance. Suicide is the most extreme example of an escape from pain, dependence upon drugs or alcohol being forms of escape also. Painted glasses of liquor and wine in advertisements, are known to contain subliminal images of skulls, skeletons, and coffins, symbolizing death. Psychologists working for companies selling wine and other spirits, are paid to produce such subliminal images to market the products more effectively.               Forms of insanity, which include involutional psychosis, delusional systems, and Freudian denial, are all mechanisms which enable persons or groups to avoid facing a far too painful reality mentally, just as the "fight or flight" response to physical danger, is based upon avoidance of physical pain. These mechanisms evolved in humans as protections against mental and physical damage. The fact that some of them are genetically based "illnesses", does not invalidate this conclusion: genetics is a part of Evolution. Activities and ideas which "make life bearable" are other forms of escape, including feeling "more fortunate" than others. Note the statement made by Puerto Ricans to myself, "We'll RUIN everything we find out about!". Feeling "less fortunate" than others, is a form of pain which results in jealousy, a powerful motive.                                                                                                                                                                                               The power of pleasure and pain as factors determining behavior is considerable. Criminals enjoy themselves at their victims' expense. Enjoyment derived by inflicting pain upon others, is sadism, which is classified as a mental disorder.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 See "VIOLATING THE FREUDIAN MODEL", and "ABSENT MIND - A PIECE IS MISSING", under "about".                                                                                                                                                                                                 See "THEIR SATISFACTION AS SADISM", under "home".                                                                                                                                                   See "THE BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL MODEL", and "BIOCHEMISTRY AND SOCIETY", under "about".                                                                                                                                                                                                     See "TWO DEFINITIONS OF MENTAL ILLNESS", "CRIMINAL MIND AND ANARCHY - ADVOCATING THE STATE OF NATURE", and "CRIME AND PUNISHMENT - CRIMINAL MOTIVES AS DEADLY SINS", under "home"; and "BIZARRE CRIMINAL THOUGHT", under "about".                                                                                                                                                         See "SANITY AND CULTURE", under "about".