The Ego of the Eighties

Egos come in all shapes and sizes: big, small, cocaine-infused, or utterly annihilated by psychedelic drugs are some of the possibilities. It is a curious thing, the sense of identity that comes from having an Ego in one's brain. One thinks that one exists, that one is a person, and that this person has opinions, likes, dislikes and all manner of identities built around it. The Ego is a point of organization in the mind, the part that thinks it's making decisions, saying "Yes" to this or "No" to that.

In more modern times than the 80's it is often pointed out that all of these things, identifications, and beliefs that one has about oneself, and the sense of control that go along with them are an illusion, just notions that can be blown away, leaving a much more expanded consciousness. I think, however, what the 1980s did was ask people: "What if you tried expanding your Ego to mammoth proportions until it seems to encompass your whole mind?"

While this question was not asked outright by hardly any people, the onslaught of mass media, products, infomercials, fads, fashion, drugs, consumerism, and the political climate suggested the question. The hippies were gone; they realized that if they were going to exist in any tangible way within modern society, they needed Egos. They needed a sense of self that belonged to some identity: to be an employee, a professional, a business-owner, a criminal, a member of society, just anything but love-struck, bucolic, spirit-infused, Ego-dead hippies. And while they were at it, they could make some money at it as well (or if not, at least have an identity as someone who hated it all.)

Some identify the Ego as the true Devil in humans, the root of selfishness, callousness, and the lack of concern for others and the world we live in. The Ego wants to stay, it holds on to its opinions. It says "I think that X is Y" with the emphasis on the I. It's not enough to think a thought, the I has to think the thought. If your name is Steve Urban, then Steve Urban has to think the thought. Steve Urban thinks "I am thinking a thought, it is my thought."

So, society shuffles people into roles, things to do for that part of their brain that identifies itself with roles to latch onto and be proud of, brag about, and judge them harshly for their shortcomings. The sense of Egoism comes easily to some people; they get into their roles, their identities, and their opinions easily, as if they were merely painting a picture with them, seeking desires to hold to be their own. They do not have trouble examining themselves, and so they easily carve out a niche for themselves in society.

One of the main things that society does is ask its citizens to have Egos that identify with the desire for money--and society often does this impolitely, leaving those who don't have this desire to live in constant danger. This focus on money though--does it cut one off from a whole world of mental life that isn't focused on money? The desire for money that the Ego identifies with: it withers compassion, demands that the person plan their life around this desire, whether it's for survival or just to enrich oneself. It inspires one to try to get ahead in some corporation, or to fret about the stock market.

The word materialism is used in two senses in English. In the first sense, it refers to a focus on acquiring consumer goods and wealth. In the philosophical sense, materialism is the philosophy that the universe is made up of matter, and that this is the ultimate basis of our existence. Both are non-spiritual, don't require any metaphysical entities like gods or souls, and if one puts one's fear of death on the back-burner of one's mind, it can be easy and even enjoyable to get caught up in either of these materialisms.

The 1980s was a time of conformity to a rigorous materialism. Even religion seemed based on this writer's analysis like it was materialistic and surface-level, adopted out of a need to assuage the Ego's fear of death so that one can get down to the business of living life and filling the roles of society, all while being bombarded by invitations to buy consumer goods.

Money was the driving factor in life; if you wanted to get married and have kids, you'd better make some money, and the 1980s provided a smorgasbord of consumer products to enhance your home life: toys for your kids, computers to work and play with, home stereo equipment, music, VHS and Betamax movies, books, video games, televisions, while endless desire was nurtured by advertisements on TV, in magazines, and on billboards on the highway.

In the end, the Ego is a puppet of desire, but it believes that its desires belong to itself. In the 1980s, Americans let their desires run wild and their Egos run roughshod over suffering people who seemed so distant, so far away from the life that one was caught up in and identified with. The Ego took over the heart and built a place for itself to call home in the 1980s and it would exist front and center--for a time.