Verfremdungseffekt Support Group

Brecht (photo: Jorg Kolbe, German Federal Archives)

Have you ever experienced a hatred of happy people who seem smug and self-satisfied? And conversely have you found yourself drawn to the sufferer who's more willing to pour out his or her sorrow and open their heart to you? The human condition is indeed a sad state of affairs to the extent that those who are perfectly content and don’t need others are condemned to an isolation they themselves may be impervious to. Not to sell the idea of mourning, but those who have experienced loss or have been deprived of something that was once a great source of satisfaction (either

because of addiction or merely scarcity) are more prone to seek out fellow sufferers. They're a little like refugees who have been exiled from their homes and need each other to a survive in a way that landed hegemons rarely experience. The bonds between those who are estranged from the world they’re in tend to be stronger than than the ones between free agents who are able to move insouciantly through life, without a care in the world.