Guilt Trip #027:

Simone’s Notes:

Collective guilt is the controversial collectivist idea that a group of humans can bear guilt above and beyond the guilt of particular members, and hence an individual holds responsibility for what other members of his group have done, even if he himself hasn't done this. Advanced systems of criminal law accept the principle that guilt shall only be personal. This attitude is not usually shared by primitive systems of law. Assumption of collective responsibility is common for feud. Such systems tend to judge the guilt of persons by their associations, classifications or organizations, which often gives rise to racial, ethnic, social and religious prejudices. Collective guilt is regarded by some as impossible because it seems to presuppose that collections of humans can have traits, such as intentions and knowledge that strictly speaking are claimed to be truly possessed only by individuals. The principle of collective guilt is totally denounced in libertarian social thinking. However, there are those who consider such judgments on collective guilt to be overly reductionistic and accept the existence of collective guilt, collective responsibility, etc. Sometimes the idea of collective guilt can be a form of association fallacy. Humans seem to have a natural tendency to attribute collective guilt, usually with tragic results. History is filled with examples of a wronged man who tried to avenge himself, not on the person who has wronged him, but on other members of the wrong-doer's family, or ethnic group, or religion, or nation, or tribe, or army. Likewise collective punishment is often practiced in different settings, including schools and, more transcendentally, in situation of war, economic sanctions, etc, presupposing the existence of collective guilt.

Edward lied awake in his bed in the wee hours of the morning. Another round of guilt was keeping him awake. The alchemist tried to ignore it, but to no avail. It was too powerful to tone out this time. “I’ll make it up to Winry soon! I promise!” he thought. But that wasn’t enough. A sick feeling came over Ed. He shut his eyes in misery. The boy hoped this was all a bad dream that he could wake up from. Surely, this wasn’t his life that he was living right now. What had happened to him? How did he come to this? It was only supposed to be porn and Derdra! Then, it grew into hookers and some loose women. Now, he was doing randy succubi on a nightly basis. Somewhere between hookers and Christmas it all spiraled out of control. The only path Edward was going with this was down. He wanted to go back up, but he didn’t know how.

The boy’s thoughts were distracted by a warm body cuddled up to his. Ed looked down hoping it was Winry. But sadly, Mya was lying in his arms asleep. She looked so peaceful sleeping there. Ed felt his cheeks turning red by the mere sight of her. Her healthy tan look to her skin added a luscious charm to her. Instantly, the alchemist wanted to bang her again. He was about to kiss her lightly on the lips when he stopped himself short. “What am I doing?” Ed thought in shame. “I should have nothing to do with this woman! Why am I even in bed with her?” The alchemist sighed and looked away from her. This problem was getting worse every single day. Sex was constantly on his mind. He just couldn’t escape it all!

Edward felt himself getting sick again. He shut his eyes again. Another draw-back with his sex problem was the lack of sleep that followed. He had forgotten what a good night sleep was. The only sleep he got now with accompanied by wet dreams. He wanted just for once to sleep normally and not wake up embarrassed. “I understand why Winry kicked me out of her bed in first place now!” Edward thought in misery. Just thinking about his girlfriend made his heart sink again. He had wronged her in so many ways. The boy had cheated on her so many times. “I don’t blame her if she never trusts me again!” he thought in sorrow.

Mya cuddled up close to his naked body as she slept. Edward felt sick and aroused all over again. He wished that he could hate her so easily. But his own desires had cut off his hate and replaced it with lust. Little Iris and Ai-Oni had the same affect on him as well. He hated all three women, but yet he needed them. They were all like his heroin. These ladies were all bad for him, but he just had to have them. Right then, Edward saw what the problem was. This wasn’t just a mere habit anymore. Edward Elric had an addiction! He began to blame the dragon. Sure, it hadn’t talked to it before Christmas, but he was sure that it was behind his suffering.

Ed shut his eyes again. The pain just kept returning back to him. Why couldn’t it just leave him be and never return? Mya lying on his body wasn’t doing him any justice at all. The pressure was driving him crazy. Ed found himself trapped. He could only look up at the ceiling and hope to make it through the morning in one piece. Ha! Good luck with that one pal! All the alchemist could do was look up at the ceiling and wait. Ed sighed to himself again. This was going to be a long morning!