Many people seem to think masochism is just a desire for pain. But it is so much more than that. Certainly pain is a large part of it - whether it be emotional or physical. Pain is inflicted through domination. The whip doesn't just lash you, it dominates you, and brings a new awareness. Thigh high leather boots grinding into your face don't merely inflict pain, but a value system too. Pain is the grease that lubricates the passage of higher types of civilized behaviour, values and ideas. I would define as masochistic any person, body, institution, country, whatever, that welcomes being dominated and taken over by another, and even seeks it out.

Why would a body want such a thing? Well, if one accepts that it is impossible to get anywhere in life without learning from another, we can see that already our culture is quite masochistic - we regularly herd the youngest into "schools" where they have their minds invaded and shaped. Curiosity is a form of masochism, under this schema - the desire to be changed by knowledge of things external to you.

Indeed, most masochists are very curious. The most curious people tend to be the most masochistic, and the most curious also the most intelligent. We can see that there is a clear relationship between masochism and intelligence.

Imagine a masochistic civilization, a civilization which welcomes invasions and domination of other civilizations. Such a civilization would advance very quickly, for it would be constantly absorbing the fruits of many different cultures and forming them into a new whole. Such a civilization has never existed in its pure form, but certain areas of the world have certainly approached it. Look at Britain, for example; a country that was formed by countless invasions and counter-invasions, its language an amalgam of great, powerful civilizations of the past. This nation was masochistic, and this is why it, in the end, stamped its synthesized belief systems and morality upon the rest of the world. Masochism eventually leads to power.

Another good example might be modern Japan. Its culture is all about submission to superiors - everybody has a master but the Emperor himself. During the Meiji period, they became very masochistic in the economic sector, but remained with a dominant, sadistic military. It wasn't until 1945 that truly masochistic Japan was allowed to shine, and it did so, absorbing an entire economic system, technologies, and culture from the west, synthesizing and then exceeding. Little wonder that Japan is so powerful, and yet so small.

Even the great religions are masochistic, for all their insistence that theirs is the "one true path". Christianity has long had a core tradition of self flagellation - wasn't Jesus the ultimate masochist? He died to absorb our sins. Buddhists, taoists, hindus, all have a great tradition of masochism, often taken to a wonderful level of spiritual perfection.

All this holds true at the personal level as well. A masochistic man will be dominated by a succession of lovers, he will absorb the fruit of their minds, and will become a kind of superhuman after he has been dominated by as many people as possible.

Now some might argue that the perfect masochist may have issues with his identity, because he never produces anything truly new, preferring to absorb and co-opt already extant ideas, practices and beliefs. To an extent, this is true. But the perfect masochist will always have a new combination of absorbed ideas, and so will in that sense be unique. And truly original thoughts are supremely rare - most new things are merely a new synthesis of what has went before. For example, Einstein's theories weren't new in any real sense, they were just mathematical derivations and conjectures from what was already known.

I think that if we look at the history of recent times we can see that, with postmodernism and associated ideas of relativity, these ideas of masochism as a plausible lifestyle, philosophy and world view are already taking fruit, even if most people have no idea, as yet, or don't attach the label "masochism" to this.

Modern countries realize that the only way they are going to progress is by embracing masochism. Hence, countries around the world are absorbing as much knowledge and culture from each other as they possibly can. We are heading towards a new global culture, in which masochism is King.

At the interpersonal level, masochism is also on the increase. We already know that women tend towards masochism - 30 million women throughout America are in abusive relationships through choice. However, the masochistic tendencies of women allow them to shine educationally and in the workplace. The have taken on the qualities that have made men so successful in this arena, and synthesized them with their own unique feminine gifts to make an unbeatable new formula. Unless men too become masochists, they will be left far far behind in the world of work.

The brave new world of masochism is a land of opportunity for masochists such as myself. However, I have to wonder if there will be pressures for the nature of the sub/dom relationship to change. With the rising tide of masochism, dominators will become increasingly rare, and submissives will have a hard time finding domineering mates of sufficient social status. Perhaps the way forward is for doms to fulfill the traditional househusband/wife role - and as women are more naturally submissive than women, we can see that making it socially acceptable for dom males to be house husbands and dom females housewives is of the utmost importance.

Whatever happens, the 21st century will be remembered as the century of the masochist. Truly, we masochists are the conclusion of thousands of years of cultural development, and the future is ours.