The Neanderthals

Sufferers from Stockholm Syndrome might remark on a certain nostalgia for intolerance, a nostalgie de la boue, or perverse from of Unheimlichkeit that derives from the discomfort with freedom. The initials for Stockholm Syndrome are S.S. There are, of course, prisoners who prefer their jail cells to the unknowns of survival in an uncirumscribed world. In the 70’s TV presented creations like Archie Bunker who were Neanderthals in human form. The cartoon character Fred Flintstone was a caveman. Now, in the current atmosphere of political correctness, with shock jocks running with their tails between their legs, such creations would have advertisers bolting. However miserable, one can love the past, not only because it's antique, but because it's a known commodity. The prospect of navigating new forms of human relations in which there are no signposts or previous mnemonic imprints, created by the increased neuroplasticity of the brain at a young age, is daunting. One might conjecture that a new way of life is better simply because it provides more possibilities for the next generation. Unacceptable things becoming acceptable is inversely proportionate to the fear of the unknown.