In contrast to the point you make, I have been worrying lately that
one of the difficulties we are having in our society that this
firewall you talk of is breaking down. I think, I look at fantasy,
as sort of a version of alternative sense making (if this idea seems
a little half baked, it's because it is.) That is, we establish our
own small, impromptu collectives at a given time to establish a
particular sense for the objects we come into contact with so that
it meets our needs at the moment. Children, it seems to me tend
to do this in a more fluid natural way than adults. That is
because children play more often, and this type of alternative sense
making is important to play out scenarios (but adults engage in it
also). The issue is that after we have met our needs, we need to
come back to the more generalized collective, and the more generalized
sense. We need to do this to become a functioning member of a larger
cooperative. What I see happening is that this alternative sense
is created for political games, so that people can meet political
needs at the moment. A dangerous game, but it seems to me before
this time most of the people involved knew it was a game, knew it
was separated by the firewall. It seems to me this is dissipating.
(I know that this had happened before in history. I don't know if
the outcome has ever been positive.
Michael Glassman
University of Houston