I was reading a book that went into some details about the ‘death drive’ that Freud coined later in his career to explain self destruction and at times projected violence toward others. Lacan it is said looked at it as a symbolic death, a second death before the first death. Not exactly sure what that means other than the first real death, i.e. mortality.

I have known of many people who have been on that reckless path of self destruction. What kept them going was the projection of writing their names or embellishing their names. Once they lost steam projecting, they turned on themselves and inevitably others. In some ways the death drive raises a lot of questions and not knowing all of the details it has caused a lot of debate.

In a lot of ways acting on the world, engaging with the environment we are in is paramount but what if it is out of the transactional environment of capitalism? It is fundamentally tolerated (people aren’t executed on the street for graffiti) but it is seen as a negative cost. If people are paid to clean graffiti for example isn’t that essentially an industry operating for profit? Also the tools needed whether they be a roller, brush, or spray can are in the supply chain.