Thanks

to Jonah and the gang for some helpful comments, that have allowed me to get a little more un-stuck. I agree with Jonah that Freud's political progeny have been entirely unfortunate, and I suspect that the cause of this phenomenon is embedded in a future answer to my original question. I will ponder that further.

In particular I want to thank Rick for pointing me towards a most beautiful poem, that puts my apologia for Freud better than I will in 10,000 blog posts.

He wasn't clever at all: he merely told
the unhappy Present to recite the Past
like a poetry lesson till sooner
or later it faltered at the line where

long ago the accusations had begun,
and suddenly knew by whom it had been judged,
how rich life had been and how silly,
and was life-forgiven and more humble,

able to approach the Future as a friend
without a wardrobe of excuses, without
a set mask of rectitude or an
embarrassing over-familiar gesture.

Thanks also to my new e-mail friends. Receiving your e-mails has been a delightful part of this new experience for me. I will be responding to each of you in the next day or so. Shout out to Adam and Kathy.