Freud had a lot of rather perverse notions concerning human personality. Penis envy is the first to come to mind; in which he asserted females felt deprived of something that males had…a penis. Strange thought isn’t it.  The Electra complex (murdering  mom for full possession of dad), or the Oedipus complex, (the expunging of the father for full possession of the mother).   Freuds basic structure of the human personality, comprised of the evil Id,  the over critical Superego and the hypercritical superego  is dead on. It is the struggle for primacy between these opposing drives (instincts if you will.) that brings forth either the good  or the bad in men.

Trained in neurology, Freud saw the world from the micro to macro.  From the ravenous feral Id to the excruciatingly criticle  Super-ego, a constant psychic tug ot war battles for control of mans behavior. Will the Id win and the trigger is pulled……or will the shaming of the super-ego prevail and the gun be put peacefully back in the holster? The Id (feeding, fighting, fleeing and sex) The superego, (restraint, shaming and condemnation of the less than moral urges of the Id) and finally, the Ego the great negotiator of the mind, helps the Id get what it wants in socially acceptable ways.

Most conflict begins in the soul of each. War, murder, domestic violence , prison rape and  the guy with the ‘fro’ that paints happy little trees.(God I hate that guy).Of all theories Freud’s tripartite structure to the average human personality is the most cross -culturally  meaningful.  Because he begins with life in it’s most primitive state and works to the most complicated organism there are no logical gaps to fill. No rationalization to whip out  when there are holes in the theory….it fits. As a matter of fact the behaviours are cross special. Just ponder a mother tiger cuffing a cub when it needs to learn not to play with dangerous things. It’s the same. the parents teach the young, guides and hones their survival skills. Same thing with all species.. Same thing as a human parent teaching a kid to look both ways before stepping into the cross-walk.

So there will be evil I the world…..as long as there are men in the world. The “Devil made me do it”! or I guess I should confess I did it; which ever way. Doesn’t matter, . Whether it is born on the wind or in mens hearts, there is evil in the world and there will always be evil in the world. The good man is defined by the courage he shows grappling with himself and the world.