Economics of Pain: Pain transactions (part 3)

The worst, or maybe best part about pain, is I think it can be exchanged.

When I am in deep pain I have lashed out at the people closest to me. Aside from the fact that I lose my normal tolerance of other people's mistakes or hurts, there is something deeper in me, that perhaps wants to pass on my pain. I am angry at the happiness of others, at the unfair allocation of suffering between us. I wonder if causing another person to suffer the consequences of my pain makes it more bearable to me.

So here, I can say, there are some units of pain, that I have transacted to another person.

But I can also take on someone's pain. Perhaps the hardest part is allowing myself to be someone else's punching bag, and yet maintain my love and friendship for that person. While not losing my own dignity and self respect, or internalising false messages that person may be saying to me about myself.

But to do this, I need to have suffered at least as deeply as the other person is, to have that intuition to understand the deeper transaction that is taking place.

Then maybe pain does have attributes as a currency, since it can be transacted between people.

Which takes me back to what I first thought when I started talking about pain. That is, the greater pain I have experienced, the more 'pain credits' I have. My 'wealth of pain' makes me a bigger buyer of other peoples' pain.

At the same time, just as very rich people can create great good, I am also in danger, by my enormous wealth of saved pain, of creating huge destruction to a great many people.

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