Although I first developed my concept of Surplus Powerlessness in the<br >1980s to explain my own experiences in the social change movements of<br >the 1960s， it seems even more relevant to daily life experience and<br >politics in the 1990s. My work as a psychotherapist in the 1970s and<br >1980s， my experiences in founding and then editing Tikkun magazine，<br >my work as a consultant to the Israeli peace movement and to progres-<br >sive social change forces in Eastern Europe， have all strengthened my<br >first impressions that Surplus Powerlessness is the central social and<br >psychological reality that stands between us and the fullest realization of<br >our hopes for a humane and decent world and for deeply fulfilling<br >personal lives.<br > It has become chic to deny the possibility of human emancipation<br >from the tyranny of selfishness and self-destructiveness that have char-<br >acterized human societies through much of human history. "Sure，" it is<br >argued， "there have been some advances in overcoming slavery and<br >feudal societies. Yet all that has really changed has been the form of class<br >rule. We remain in a world that is characterized by the domination of the<br >few over the many. Democratic institutions are cleverly manipulated by<br >ruling elites so that people end up participating in their own enslave-<br >ment. And to the extent that they do participate， people choose paths<br >that are just as foolish and self-destructive as ever. The problem with<br >you progressives is that you do not give adequate attention to the tragic<br >dimension of human reality， the inevitability of evil and irrationality，<br >which will always dominate human life. The best we intellectuals can do<br >is chart those irrationalities with irony and humor. But once we attempt<br >to change things， we are likely to participate in shaping a new gulag，<br >just as intellectuals have done throughout human history."<br > There is some truth in this objection， and much despair and cynicism.<br > It is certainly true that many people do participate today in their own<br > self-enslavement， and that irrational dynamics continue to dominate our<br > political and personal lives in the 1990s. For those who were temporarily<br > enthralled by the revolutionary optimism of the 1960s and mistakenly<br > bought the notion that a total transformation was imminent， everything<br >