This Patriarchal Extinction Burst
It’s the temper tantrum of millions of souls who are being denied the privileges they have grown accustomed to. It’s the death knell of a way of being that stunts the growth of those souls through the very privileges that they so aggressively cling to. Privileges that were not earned, but were granted by an accident of birth; privileges of skin color, of gender, of class, of creed.
Extinction Burst: A predictable behavioral reaction to changes which deny expected and habitual rewards, even if those changes are for the better. During an extinction burst, instinct and desire take over, subduing rational thought and conscious wishes in favor of the habitual desires.
Toddler temper tantrums are a form of extinction burst. The immature psyche doesn’t get what it wants, and it overwhelms conscious thought, lashing out in destructive ways.
We’d all like to think that we grow out of this, but the reality is that most of us don’t. Falling off the wagon is a form of extinction burst. Even if you want to quit whatever it is you’re quitting, the brain gets irritated because it has to adjust to a different flow of chemicals. You may temporarily experience reduction of dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and other feel good chemicals, and in reaction, your brain freaks the fuck out and pushes you to give in to your cravings. Drugs, alcohol, gambling, food. Any of these things can be the triggers for extinction bursts. Whenever you quit something that you’re used to having, that primitive part of the brain that is solely focused on feeling good has a big fucking hissy fit.
And now, we’re experiencing it on a cultural level. More than that, it’s happening on a global level. As the world has shifted more and more towards equality, those who were used to privilege have begun to feel the pinch of that equality. As they realize that the room at the top grows smaller and smaller, they find there is less and less space there for them, and this is uncomfortable. But instead of looking up, to see why the top is getting smaller and smaller, they look down, towards those in oppression, and blame them for the squeeze that they are feeling.
Regression seems to have taken hold across the globe. Those of the far-right have steadily gained more and more political power, and now, a narcissist with no political experience and a string of failed businesses and accusations of sexual abuse behind him is the most powerful man on the planet after having run a campaign built on lies and innuendo. A white supremacist wrote his inauguration speech, and he has already begun challenging the press.
Across the country, women’s rights are being challenged, gay rights are being challenged, the rights of non-Christians are being challenged. Immigrants are being threatened, as is healthcare and the financial stability of millions of people in the middle and lower classes.
It’s an extinction burst. It’s a cultural-level temper tantrum of the dying far-right. White men used to having a life of ease are pissed because they’re losing the home field advantage. They’ve grown to expect things to be handed to them, because that’s how it was for centuries.
White culture has been built on a foundation of oppression, and as the oppressed rise up, the oppressors freak the fuck out. We’re seeing the freak out, and it ain’t pretty. It’s going to hurt a lot of people. There’s a good chance it will radically alter the world. And then we’re going to have to pick up the pieces and make something better.
