We are the losers, my friend
and we'll keep on losing till the end...
and never mind the love.
(SusuPetal and AKI, it's nice to hear your voices again.)
There's a lot of theory to explain our passionately loving, wise functionality now, but...on more than one level, that is mostly irrelevant.
The major point ( definitely not original with me plus embodied in many cultures and philosophies before Jung brought it to psychology) is that all human constructions, attributes ( tribes, love, faith, character, patience, persistence, hope - or any one we can ever know or experience) contain
within them a continuum of strengths and dangers. Every single one.
I know of none that I can think of that doesn't have the "shadow" as a potential or actuality.
This knowledge is humbling, releasing and pisses me off. Safety and perfection are illusory, f--k it all :)