The first wound

The analytic space reveals a truth that shakes the foundations of childhood experience: the real trauma isn't physical abandonment, but the discovery that maternal desire is directed elsewhere. The first betrayal doesn't come from an act of negligence, but from the moment we discover that we aren't everything to the mother, that her gaze and desire can turn toward other objects.

The father appears here not only as a real figure, but as a function that embodies this first structuring rivalry. He is the one who introduces the dimension of time into love, who marks the limits of jouissance between mother and child. His presence announces a disturbing truth: love has schedules, maternal desire has other destinations, imaginary completeness is impossible.

This primordial narcissistic wound is, paradoxically, what allows us to become desiring subjects. Only when we accept that we aren't everything to the Other, that maternal desire exceeds and precedes us, can we begin to construct our own desire. The paternal function doesn't castrate pleasure: it opens the possibility of desire.

The digital cage

Slavery has become elegant. It no longer needs visible chains or masters with faces: it operates through algorithms that predict and shape our desires, through screens that keep us as willing captives. Power is no longer exercised through punishment but through seduction. Every 'like', every 'click', every digital interaction reinforces the invisible bars of our comfortable prison.

The new control devices are so sophisticated that they make us believe we're freer than ever. We voluntarily share every aspect of our lives, gladly hand over our most intimate data, cheerfully build our own digital chains. Surveillance no longer needs spies: we have smartphones that do that work for it.

The truly perverse aspect of this system is that it makes us love our servitude. We crave the next device that will monitor us better, we eagerly await the next update that will refine our consumer profile. Modern slavery doesn't just come with wifi included: it comes with a waiting list and fans camping outside stores to be the first ones to chain themselves.

The new master

Analytic work confronts us with an undeniable evidence: the market has taken the place of the ancient master. We no longer obey kings or dictators, but algorithms that predict our desires, metrics that evaluate our productivity, indices that measure our worth. The capitalist discourse operates as an invisible but omnipresent master, needing no whip because it has advertising.

This new master is more efficient than any historical tyrant: it doesn't demand explicit submission, but makes us believe we freely choose our servitude. Each act of consumption is celebrated as an expression of individual freedom, while binding us more firmly to the chain of programmed desire. The market doesn't prohibit: it seduces, promises, incites.

The true perversion of capitalist discourse lies in its ability to turn even rebellion into merchandise. Our protests transform into market trends, our discontent into business opportunities, our search for alternatives into new market niches. The modern master doesn't fear revolution: it packages and sells it at a discount.