Now, we will hum the notes of a Progressive interlude.

Is Capitalism Exhibit A for socially structured concupiscence?  Does Marx’s “surplus value” equate to “a craving for capital”?  Are developing nations, like Peru and China, co-dependents of the social “concupiscence” of the United States of America?  Does social “concupiscence” destroy the environment?  Does it steal life from the future?

Peters stated, in most Progressive terms, that denial lies at the heart of concupiscence.

What do we deny?  We reject our own limits and that rejection is expressed through the consumption of someone else’s life giving power.

To make a long story short: Capitalism sucks.

Ironically, Peters’ critique projects the arrogance of Progressivism onto the straw man of Capitalism.  Progressives deny limits for the central government.  The central government grows by consuming someone else’s life giving powers.

When that long story is made short, we won’t be so smug about it: Progressivism sucks capital.

So what does “capital” mean?

Traditionally, “concupiscence” (“con” = “with”; “cupere”=”to desire”; “scence”=”a state of being”) was associated with impulsive acts that relieved anxiety.

There is a little “Cupid” in “concupiscence”.   And, it makes “scence” that, if your “state of being” is “with Cupid”, then your may find your heart pierced with “an arrow of desire”.

What do you crave?  Certainly, you do not crave to overcome your craving.  Or maybe you do.  All you need to do is get rid of that nasty body and become a disembodied mind.  What could a disembodied being possibly crave?  Hmmm.  Do I detect a problem here?

Cupid’s arrows can pierce both embodied and disembodied hearts.

Faith^{Progressivism} is belief in the model that the “self” is the principle by which the mind is bound to the body.

Experts define “self-esteem” (see “pride” above) and provide ideas for the social construction of their model.

Faith^{Progressivism} speaks the “language” of Progressivism.  In this language, Progressivism is by definition not a “religion”.

Faith^{Progressivism} adores the social constructions of the Central State, the Multiversities, and the Conformist Media and Entertainment Complex and is blind or dissembling in regards to the unintended consequences of those constructions.

Progressives cannot recognize the sins inherent in the social constructions of those sister religions: Fascism and Communism.  That is because the sins of its sister religions are the ones that they unconsciously intend to commit.

Why?  Because these sins make them feel good about themselves.

See Thomas Sowell’s book: Intellectuals.

Because of the narrow focus of Peters’ book, I extended his formalism from the private occluding magic of Satan (which Peters contrasts with the clarifying magic of the New Age Movements) to the current (2012) religion (that contrasts with the private cults of dark and light magic): the Public Cult of Progressivism.

Pride(Anxiety(Faith^{Progressivism})) is the nested form underlying this Cult.

As before, pride is the feeling that one can define reality.  Pride defines what is to be esteemed by the “self”.  Pride defines “groups” that progressive individuals can belong to – to the point – of “not knowing any different”.

Anxiety is the fear of loss of one’s xiety (what one has, could have had, or pretends to have).

Progressive xiety is “self-esteem”.

The Progressive will aggressively resist loss of “self-esteem” and attack others who appear to challenge their  pursuit of “self-esteem”.

At the same time, the imposition of their “constructions of esteem” on others, through law (the central state), indoctrination (state education), and propaganda (the conformist media), always shifts the boundary of what constitutes an insult.