Watched Nigel Spivey's "How Art Made the World" last night. The final episode concerns the artisitic depictions of death prevalent in Aztec culture. He talks of 40,000 prisoners being brutally sacrificed in 4 days on the great pyramid in Mexico City and the gruesome art work depicting the practice.
He then reports on an experiment conducted by some psychologists. People are chosen for the experiments and Democrats and Republicans put in separate groups. Individuals then dole out a foul concoction for others, both Democrat and Republicans to drink. The amounts they dole out are measured. Equal amounts for D or R initially. Then the psychologists have the subjects write about their own deaths and dole out the concoction again. This time, the amount they dole out for the group they do no belong to is more than double the amount they dole out for their own group. Spivey claims that thinking about death enhances our committment to our group, hence consolidating the power of those in control. The Aztecs knew this and used the cult of human sacrifice and it's artistic depictions to keep death in the mind of its citizens keeping them powerful.
It reminded me of Randolph Bourne's essay, 'War is the Health of the State', and Jim Jones repeating the kool-aid suicide ritual to his followers, not to mention the post 9/11 US.

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