ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I consider a series of forms of verbal pollution, among which: the enemy within, the obscuring of emotions, external sabotage, the use of nicknames, verbal microaggressions, and techniques for constructing unreality. Secondly, after illustrating some of the sociocultural characteristics of time perception in contemporary society (referring to the work of numerous scholars who have extensively dealt with the topic), I proceed to illustrate some forms of pollution of temporal perception, which include the flooding of the future into the present, the autopilot syndrome, and various forms of domestication of the wild future. In the third part of the chapter, I revisit the concept of the spatialisation of the self to illustrate some possible pathological forms of organisation of domestic space, such as disposophobia and decluttering. These should not be understood as being mere expressions of individual psychological pathologies; indeed, I suggest we consider them as extreme (and certainly pathological) forms of resistance to consumer society and to the fierce marketing of desires the latter promotes. In the fourth part, I introduce the concept of Self-Home (based on Didier Anzieu’s Skin-Ego) and argue for its utility and explanatory potential. Finally, in the last part, drawing inspiration from Alejandro Diaz’s work Happiness is Expensive, I analyse the compulsive and pathological phenomenon by which we seem to believe that the market is the exclusive place where we may find a possible solution to all our problems and desires, also referring to the concept of “identity badges” proposed by Zygmunt Bauman.
