Memories

 

 PBS had a terrific program of “50’s “music. Lulu’s” To Sir with Love,” Aretha Franklin’s “Respect, “Kingston Trio, Glen Campbell, McGuire sisters, Bobby Wilson etc. left me with a grin.  Lulu looked fabulous. My heart fluttered watching her perform. Those were special memories. We are our memories. Memory effects nearly everything we think, plan or do. In essence, our memory is about our past, our present and our future. Hopefully, knowing about the past, helps us prepare and cope with our future. That does not mean that we don’t make mistakes by repeating the same behavior over and over and expecting a different outcome per Albert Einstein. This essay focuses on normal memory during aging or part 1 of a 4 part series.

Our brain weighs roughly 3 pounds. Its size is like a medium cauliflower. Brain size reaches maximum during teen years, remains steady until about age 28 or so. It is believed that learning complex material declines after age 28. In healthy people, brain volume declines slightly but continuously over the years. Essentially we can lose neurons and our neurons lose some connections with other neurons. There can also be reduced blood flow to the brain. It happens regardless.

Within this most complex, highly developed and profound organ, our brain allows us to be the most intelligent animal on the planet. Yes, I agree that sometimes it doesn’t seem that way. There are numerous components of the brain that’s associated with memory acquisition, storage, and retrieval.

It’s been postulated that normal forgetting affected by aging is broken down as to follows: 1. Normal forgetting 2. Age associated forgetting 3. Mild Cognitive Impairment 4. Dementia. The following list identifies numerous parts of the brain associated with acquisition, storage and retrieval and/or forgetting: 1. Brainstem 2. Cerebellum 3. Thalamus 4. Basal ganglia 5. And in the limbic system: hippocampus and amygdala.

Within the cerebral cortex, we can perceive, think, employ judgment and make decisions. As a result, it’s very important to protect, from extensive damage, one’s Temporal lobe, Parietal lobe and Frontal lobe. It is all these brain components that, if fully functioning, allow an individual to overcome, by using brain, the various challenges in everyday living. However, with the myriad of health problems affecting sapiens and the contradictory and irrational behaviors, our brains have become more vulnerable to impairment.

Today, the focus is on normal forgetting. As we age, certain types of memory decline while others do not. For example, semantic declarative long-term memory continues to improve in many healthy older adults. This is the ability to recall general facts and information that’s related to one specific time and experience. This includes vocabulary, knowledge of language, basic arithmetic operations and how to tell time on the clock.

Episodic declarative long-term memory declines with age .An example of that is autobiographical memory. Other typical examples include going to the store forgetting what to buy; forgetting where you left your car; like one recent Sunday, forgetting to bring your cell phone on a run and even losing your car keys while on a Memorial Day Western states training run from Forest Hill to White Oak Flat. Yes, we had to wait for Debbie to pick us up at Forest Hill. Much later, we went back to that trail to look for Tony’s keys. He had a good idea where he dropped them and he did find the keys.

 Problems with memory can be affected by fatigue, infections, medication side effects, poor nutrition, mood changes, stress, anxiety, and depression. I’m not going to tell, but I know how and why Tony lost his keys. .

The reasons why episodic memory declines relates to fewer neural connections between the cortical neurons were memories are stored; the prefrontal lobes are shrinking ; and slow- wave sleep is impaired in the hippocampus. The encoder of new memories shrinks about 2% a year during our beginning in midlife. Those that exercise regularly, have deep sleep and involve themselves in new learning can slow down the hippocampal atrophy while aging. Good luck. Part 2’s focus will be age associated forgetting.

Reference

Understanding Dementia. Institute for Natural Resources.

Power and Exploitation

 

Yes, the prosecution in the George Floyd and Derek Chauvin trial put on compelling testimony and closing arguments regarding the Floyd murder. Then, we had another shooting of a young black man by a 26-year-old veteran white female police officer approximately 10 miles away. One police chief said something to the effect that her shooting a gun was a mistake. He’s a mistake. She resigned and then was fired. This essay portrays the exploitive sadistic character of killer police officers that murder black skinned individuals.

 402 years ago, black skinned individuals were brought, against their will, to this land as slaves by British pirates. In essence, black skinned people started out, in this land, being exploited by white skinned people. Roughly 150 years later, a U.S. Constitution conceived by the Wasp’s Jefferson, Madison and others reinforced and continued the policy of black exploitation. These framers supported the economic slavery conditions of the South and were concerned that the “non-slavery proponents” would dominate, exploit, and be an overbearing majority politically against the south. Employing irrational logic, the blacks were prohibited from voting, and were considered savages without morals, inferior and non-fully human. Although not human, one black equaled 3/5 of a human when it came to congressional representation.

 John C Calhoun the notorious white supremacist remarked to his friend John Quincy Adams “the enslavement of black people was the best guarantee of equality among whites.” Calhoun fought for states’ rights and believed along with Jefferson and Madison that the states were not subsidiary parts of the permanent union but sovereign members of a compact subject to continual revision.

Approximately 100 years later, Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation that the   non-educated, limited work experience blacks were slave free. Lincoln later pushed for freeing the blacks as a military strategy during the Civil War. Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the KKK followed. The Southern states enacted laws to arrest the blacks so they could continue to enslave and exploit them. Lynching’s, burnings and other sadistic brutality and murder followed. The Selma, Alabama march exhibited police brutality against the peaceful marchers. Congressman John Lewis was there and told first-hand about his experiences as a young man. Our culture and societal norms, in most institutions, are of exploitation, sadistic treatment and continue to be well-established against the people of black color. White man have every right to sadistically exploit blacks because it’s what they deserve, it’s their nature?

A national database compiled and maintained by the Washington Post found that from 2015 to May 2020, Native Americans were killed by police at a rate of three times that of white people; black people were killed at 2.6 times the rate of white people or 1265 total killed. Unarmed black victims, were killed at three times the rate of white people or 218 total killed. These killings are on par with other common causes of death such as lives lost due to cyclist and road injuries, unintentional firearm injuries and maternal death cases related to pregnancy.

One co-author, in an epidemiology study, stated, “Black people are disproportionately killed by police even when they are unarmed.” Further, “what has been done at the local level-such as body cameras and independent investigations-has been insufficient? We need to raise it to state and national level and to codify it into law. “According to the US Bureau of Justice statistics in 2008, the census of state and local law enforcement agencies in California totaled 509. These agencies employed 79,431 sworn police officers or about 217 per each 100,000 residents. In the County of El Dorado, sheriffs roam. I’m not sure what they do, but they do carry guns. Recently, I saw a sheriff buying a sandwich at the local market. He was armed. He needed his weapon?

As an overview, let’s turn our attention to the character of sworn police officers. Remember, character determines what is expressed, what one thinks, and what one feels.  There are different character types and these types often blend as in degrees on a continuum. There is no one character type exclusive of all others. However, there’s a tendency for one character type to be more dominant than another. This means there are many differences and variations in character and thus behavior.

The study of psychology is about interpersonal interactions. Before there was a study of psychology, the 10 commandments identified sinful and exploitive behaviors of man treating man. Honor your father and your mother; you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; and you shall not covet laid out a very clear framework of exploitation being a sin. In other words, exploitation of man treating man has been with us since the beginning of Judeo-Christian religions. A sin means?

Turning to the movies, there are many splendid and concrete examples of man treating man in an exploitive, cruel and sadistic manner. For instance: Spartacus had slaves battling slave, Romans and lions for survival or death for the enjoyment of the crowd. In Cool Hand Luke, Paul Newman was sentenced for two years as a prisoner in Florida. Although a charming and witty war hero, Newman’s character refused to conform or be rehabilitated. As a consequence, the sadistic warden Strother Martin employed sadistic and exploitive punishments.

In the Dirty Harry series, Clint Eastwood was sadistic and exploitive and yet he had a cute girlfriend as well. Eastwood was intelligent, witty, devoted and at times charming as well. His famous line to a bad guy “Make My Day” still rings. Of course, Eastwood had the gun pointed at the bad guy while the other guy thought about picking up the gun near him. About 20 years ago, Denzel Washington played a sadistic exploitive police officer in Training Day. He was manipulative and exploited his new partner Ethan Hawke on his first day. Washington as a corrupt cop, had his fellow cops kill and steal a large sum of money. Yet the popular criminal Washington, in his role, was charming, adaptable, pathological, composed under stress, intelligent, witty, and generous. During that eventful day, Denzel took a break and had sex with his girlfriend and gave her presents.

The movies provide stories of man treating man in exploitive, cruel, and in a sadistic manner. There are many movies that demonstrate that manner in politics, government, Wall Street, military and about our police force. Our nation’s history is based on exploitation, sadism and sin. It’s no wonder that our institutions, society and individuals exhibit the same character quality. Let’s turn, to the institution of police with the culture of exploitation and sadism as their character.

Exploitation refers to how man treats others. He can take things from others out of force or through methods of being cunning. He can steal and his stolen property always seems better. There is complete domination over a powerless individual or person. The person is treated as a thing to be exploited and this character trait is accompanied by destructiveness and cruelty. The culture of the police refers to white power, a badge and permission to treat man inhumanely. Right of might rationalizes the law of nature. George Floyd allegedly had a counterfeit $20 bill. It took three policeman to arrest and kill him for that infraction?

Sadism, is the desire and goal to inflict pain, suffering on another and to want to witness the weakness and humiliation. As a character trait, it’s the desire is to be in complete control, hurt and humiliate. Attractions to power, wealth and being manipulative with or without a sexual component are also factors. In many cases, the object is perceived and treated as not being human. In essence with sadism, it’s having complete mastery and control over another and to make him an object of the officers will. George Floyd was lying face first on the ground, his hands, behind his back were in handcuffs for 9 minutes 29 seconds with a knee on his neck.  George Floyd” was not resting,” he was helpless, powerless, humiliated and not a threat. I don’t know anyone who would treat a dog in that manner. That was no way to treat a human being and George Floyd was not treated as one. There was no apology, sadness or empathetic emotion from Chauvin. Business as usual.

With character tendencies to be sadistic and exploitive, one is attracted to employment with a gun, a badge, criminal justice protection in an industry that was established to exploit and protect the white ruling class since 1844 .This fact is in concert with the socioeconomic and political system in our country. Along with these character traits, an individual can have irrational passions of anger, hatred and compel him to act, with fanatical devotion, in a non-rational way, not with reason toward “non humans.”

These police individuals become expectations of authority and act in the way or in the name of duty. They are an authority to be feared, admired, and loved. There is a chain of command and they are part of a team. They protect each other’s back and are protected by the Supreme Court regarding their immunity. The major problem of police killing blacks is serious and complex. Likely, training, cameras, and independent investigations do not address the cause.

The bad officers are those that have a character tendency for exploitive and sadistic behavior. Likely, other police and administrators know who they are. Their talk in private among their own provides insight; spouses or significant others also can provide input; alcohol, drug use and spousal abuse provide additional clues. Unfortunately, therapy and psychological evaluations along with love and decency are perceived signs of weakness and thinking the occupation of cowards and degenerates for this breed.

Years ago, I evaluated the psychological fitness for potential officers. I propose setting up a specialized program followed by research study that would evaluate specialized training with officers that have exploitive and sadistic character traits to see if the training can change or modify behavior in the field. A few of the specialized training components would include: identifying and dealing with anxiety and fear; raising intellectual, spiritual and moral levels; providing peer group support; and identifying primitive emotional triggers.  I would also change the hiring practices. Do not let the bad pick the rotten apples.

PS

Stanley Milligram, a social psychologist, conducted a classical study on obedience to authority. He had his subjects believing that they were administering electric shocks to other participants in his experiment. In other words, exploitive sadistic tendencies were exposed and expressed under authority conditions. In another study, Philip Zimbardo, a social psychologist, conducted a prison experiment at Stanford. In this experiment, some students or subjects were prisoners and some students or subjects were the guards. The sadism and exploitation of the student guards, in their authority role, were apparent; some student prisoners withdrew and the experiment was terminated after six days. Exploitation is easy.

References

Delbanco, Andrew. Paleo-Confederate.  The New York Times, February 28, 2021

Fromm, Erich. Escape from Freedom. Avon Books

Alienation on the Rise

 

Karl Marx, existentialists and others incorporated the positive aspects of man’s potential put forth by the early prophets. However, they warned about the influences and conflicts that confront and hobble man from reaching his full actualization. This disquisition focuses on the alienation, exploitation and the sociopathic character traits of the 400 plus indicted in Trump’s capital attack.

Alienation is when one’s labor does not fulfill one’s intellectual, physical, spiritual, and religious needs and as a result hobbles his human fulfillment. Some psychological aspects of alienation include satiation. Satiation, per Kurt Lewin, is the process or activity which begins with a positive valence {pleasurable] and eventually becomes a negative valence [non-pleasurable] over time. Think of the beginning of a videogame that’s played over and over and over again. After a while, the videogame become stale, as in satiation, boring and of disinterest. Time for a new game with a positive valence.

Later, psychologists deepened and expanded on Karl Marx’s brilliant concept of alienation incorporating a number of models. They suggested the relevance of the following 5 factors:  1. Incorporating Julian Rotter’s social learning theory, Locus of Control depicts the degree to which an individual is able to control the important events occurring in his life space. Some individuals differ as to whether they do or do not perceive reinforcement as a result of their own behavior. Research suggests that externally controlled individuals perceive that reinforcement is not under their own control but is perceived more due to chance or luck. Thus a potential for that behavior to recur is lessened. Alienated individuals tend to perceive they are not masters of their fate in that reinforcements are outside of their control. 2. A sense of Meaningless is another aspect of alienation .Employing Kurt Lewin’s Field Theory, with the concept of expectancy, they found that a sense of meaningless occurs when an individual has a lower expectation or non-expectancy of achieving his goals and/or having a satisfactory outcome. 3. A sense of Normlessness occurs when the individual has a high expectancy pertaining to outcome and that the ends justify the means even if it takes asocial behaviors to satisfy one’s goals. 4. Self-estrangement, another aspect of alienation is when one compromises their interests; does not meet their intrinsic needs and/or relies on extrinsic things, others or objects for satisfactory outcomes. In this situation, the individual’s needs are not primary but secondary in his interactions. 5. Mental illness, per Sigmund Freud, is another component of alienation. Moreover, mental illness often suggests impaired morals and exploitation of others.  Selfless consumption and engagement in nonessential activities are also symptoms of alienation.

With Neoliberalism, the unions diminished, automation surfaced, gun purchases skyrocketed and the corporations flourished. The income gap between the haves and have-nots accelerated with production, consumption and profits becoming the standard. Wages stagnated, made in America went elsewhere, and the American Dream [a dream happens when one is asleep and projects desires, wants, and fears, in the unconscious, with illusions or fictions] became the American Nightmare. Sleep disturbance is a major issue in this country and therefore interferes with dream occurrence. Health issues like obesity, drugs alcohol became more prevalent examples of alienation and became the norm.

More and more women, especially from lower socio-economic families, entered the workforce in unskilled labor pursuing the American Dream. With that being said, there are now, more than likely, both parents becoming psychologically alienated with their labor. With two alienated parents, a dysfunctional family becomes the likely outcome. To no one’s surprise, research on dysfunctional families found behavior patterns of acting out children, school issues, and other delinquent behaviors.  More specifically, the likelihood of the 400 plus rioters had behavioral characteristics related to alienation and delinquency during their childhood are as follows: 1.Symptoms of depression, mood swings, anxiety, and hostility 2. Impaired Interpersonal relationships. The joining and association with other misfits and hate group’s 3. Mutual hostility with parents. With parental rejection, negative attitudes towards school and education 4. These disturbed, rejects contemporary American culture with its emphasis on competition, materialistic values and had lack of concern for social justice, equality of opportunity, civil rights, and increased racism and hate around immigration 5. These disturbed had a tendency to want to be noticed even though they were unclear about life and future goals 6. These disturbed had negative self-concepts, did poorly in school and disliked school 7. These disturbed had few friends, non-meaningful  relationships, were poorly adjusted, less considerate to others, less friendly, less responsible, less liked and more antagonistic to authority. As a consequence of these behavioral characteristics, the risk of developing an antisocial exploitive sociopathic character is highly problematic. It should be noted that character determines action, feelings and thoughts and not vice versa.

With the above being said, let’s return to childhood for the 400 plus indicted rioters for a moment. Early on, prior to language, rationality and moral development, children learn right and wrong based on the parent’s conception of right and wrong. What’s good and pleasant for the parent is right and what’s wrong or bad for the parent is bad. The child very quickly learns that words like “good,” “I love you” and smiles, open arms, soft voice etc. are associated with good behavior  and pleasing to the parent; and words like “no,”” bad,”” stop that” and gestures like frowns, clenched fist, slaps and harsh tones are associated with anger ,being bad  and displeasing an angry parent. In other words, the child’s learns about the notions of moral or amoral behavior irrespective of his intellect, wisdom, or morality development. Moreover, moral or amoral behaviors [right and wrong] are based with the foundation of early on or primitive emotions and not developed on a full intellectual and moral understanding.

When these fragile, alienated and emotionally weak with amoral tendencies these individuals easily identify with an authoritarian leader to meet their unfulfilled needs and continued antisocial behavioral patterns. They are unconsciously and/or consciously  drawn to that leader’s accumulation of celebrity status, money, power, prestige, things and/or possessions , exploiting others, being above the law, not being politically correct which are associated and prized by many in our competitive ,capitalistic, political and economic system . With identification, they easily take on that leader’s sense of amorality, with the ends regardless of ethical or legal justify the means. In other words, the identifiers take on the exploitive, racist, criminal attributes of the leader without rational reason or thought. When the leader says things like: the election was stolen; takeback democracy; fight, fight, fight and March on the capital, the followers follow. With obedience comes love and approval. With disobedience comes punishment and rejection. It’s a sin to be disobedient to the leader. Just like in childhood, believe, without critical thought, the leader regardless of reality of circumstances, morality, or criminal behavior. Follow, be obedient and be a good boy because that pleases that authoritarian figure and he will protect you.  The stage was set by Trump and the 400 plus individuals with antisocial exploitive sociopathic character traits submitted and followed like sheep, regardless of consequences, his direction. The manipulation that the election was stolen was simply a rationalization.

With that being said, even though we have a white powerful capitalistic economic system, a white Republican national minority along with institutions run and led by whites, the less -educated whites are becoming more and more alienated while being threatened on many fronts. They are becoming more powerless, meaningless, being left behind and irrelevant. It’s as if they are in quicksand and they are sinking with no chance or opportunity for escape. It should be no one’s surprise that automatic rifles [Jason Crow, an Army Ranger now in the House of Representatives said that, with his experience in the Middle East , those weapons are designed for mass killing] in the hands of alienated whites-Sandy Hook, Parkland, Columbine, Atlanta and now Boulder get their five minutes of fame on TV by killing others. Ban and recall these killing weapons. Clinton banned them and Bush did not. Will this pandemic of alienation killing continue? Yes I Will background checks reduce the number of mass killings?  Maybe, it won’t result in increases. Will the availability of mental health reduce the number of killings?  Alienation is not a diagnosis that present insurance would cover and these asocial, introverted low self-esteem with impaired conscience types would not likely seek treatment anyway.

We, Homo sapiens, have created significant fear and anxiety within our country. Within the last 50 years, rising income disparity; non affordable higher education; increased alienation; a shrinking white skinned nation; an expanding people of color nation; epidemic of killing weapons; increased normlessness of moral and ethical values; increased voting restrictions; a dumbing down of intelligence, wisdom and increased irrationality; increased mental disturbance with increased prejudice and hate; a number of these rioters has served in the military or law enforcement-they know how to take orders and how to kill. Service members have an increased probability of returning with traumatic brain injury and/or PTSD.

Taking into account the life experiences of these 400 plus rioters, these alienated individuals have severe mental disturbance. Not only are they alienated, they mistrust, they are suspicious and/or paranoid, emotionally shallow, seek immediate gratification, avoid responsibility and disregard the rights and feelings of other individuals. They may be good talkers, seem warm and friendly, may be superficially informed, are irresponsible and easily fool, exploit, take and manipulate others in ways similar to their leader. In essence, the ingredients for obedience, exploitation, and submission to follow the political authoritarian Trump was perfect based on their exploitive, alienated sociopathic character traits. Beware!

Crazy Evangelicals

 

 

I just had to comment on an article titled “Shame of Lust Is Cross Known to Evangelicals” published in the March 21, 2021 edition of the New York Times. This article was related to the recent murders by a 21-year-old evangelical in the Atlanta area. Various individuals were quoted in reference to the evangelical teachings of Southern Baptists pertaining to sexual desire. Evangelical is defined as “of our according to the teaching of the gospel or the Christian religion.”  This disquisition addresses the inhumane sadomasochistic evangelical teachings regarding sexuality.

Let’s take a quick look at sex from a religious, philosophical, psychological and physiological points of view. The 10 Commandments of Moses and Jesus described how man should be and how man should treat others. For example, thou should not commit adultery and not covet [yearn to possess or have] thy neighbor’s wife. The word commit suggests action or behavior and covet is defined as an intense feeling or longing for something. In other words, wanting something is simply a thought and not a feeling. Coveting a neighbors wife could mean for sexual, prestige monetary or other purposes. On the other hand, committing adultery is the only commandment pertaining to sexual behavior.

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, sexual intercourse within marriage was meritorious. More recently, Melvin Tinker, an evangelical, said “sex outside of marriage is okay because neither of us are really married. I’m not sleeping with another man’s wife, so it isn’t adultery, she’s my girlfriend.” One could argue that having intercourse can be rationalized differently.

Let’s turn to the Greek philosophers for other examples of man’s motivation. Aristippus of Cyrene along with Socrates are considered to be the originators of the philosophy of hedonism. They believed that pleasure was the only thing worthy of striving for .Pleasure was good and brought happiness. Further, pleasure of the moment and virtue were identical along with the ability to enjoy. Self-control was advocated and “the wise man was or who is susceptible to the enjoyment of life, he knows what animal satisfactions are, and how to prize spiritual joy, riches and honor.” Furthermore, friendship was the best and safest of the social pleasures. Socrates was concerned about virtue or right conduct. In his search for truth, Socrates was guided by the belief that knowledge and virtue are identical and that right knowing always leads to right acting. The purpose of inquiry, for Socrates, was largely the discovery of knowledge of good since he believed such knowledge would lead to virtuous action. Hedonism and knowledge were powerful motivators for these Greeks.

 Freud hypothesized that sexual and aggressive were the two main instinctual drives for man. These instincts were in man’s nature and necessary for the survival of the species. Further, under certain circumstances, sex can become pathological as in sadomasochism. Later, Henry Murray postulated that sex was one of man’s needs. He defined sex: “To form and further an erotic relationship. To have sexual intercourse.”

In physiology, testosterone is an important male sex hormone. Testosterone is the main hormone produced in the testicles and secreted by the testes. Major effects of testosterone are that it promotes libido, aggressiveness and sexual desire; stimulates sperm production; nourishes all the tissues of the male urinary and reproductive system. The major growth of testosterone are most pronounced during puberty. After puberty, levels of testosterone drop gradually. Testosterone contributes to one’s physical health; mood and libido for well-being. Testosterone production is affected by a number of external factors such as illness, medications, psychological state, obesity, exercise, and a lifestyle of smoking, drugs and alcohol.

Taking into account the above information, sex is a main motivation from philosophical, psychological and physiological points of view. With religion, we have the man made concept of sin that can exist in one’s heart. Obviously, sin doesn’t exist in one’s heart but exists between man’s ears. Sin has many different interpretations and viewpoints. According to secular law, one can’t be prosecuted for an idea in one’s head but can be for one’s behavior.

The evangelicals emphasize “sexual purity.” In other words, a sexual drive, thoughts and/or behavior are considered sinful. They teach that man should hate their minds because it leads them into lust and sexual desire and women should hate their bodies because it’s a source of temptation. As a boy, now as an associate professor of religious studies at Skidmore College, stated “I spent my teenage years tearing out any advertisements in surfing magazines that featured women in bikinis.”  Let me get this, to attain sexual purity, find a surfing magazine or magazines with young beautiful bikini-clad women? What an enjoyable task that must’ve been for that young kid. It’s a good example of employing rationalization in one’s fictional story.

Another evangelical leader, said that Ted Bundy’s addiction to pornography fueled his crimes. “There’s a possibility at least that it would not have occurred if that 13-year-old boy never stumbled onto pornographic magazines in the garage dump.” These evangelical followers are supposed to control their own desires yet discriminatorily look at women as being the temptresses. At their junior and senior high schools, there are strict rules for the length of girl’s skirts. What a solution to combat raging hormones.

So these evangelicals are supposedly “battling sin”   by hating and demeaning themselves with the made up word called “sex addiction.” Somehow, Asian women have been characterized as super sexualized as well. So, a group of white men, are attempting to control man’s nature and compensate themselves through the use of religious guilt.

Frustration, stress, and anxiety is conflictual and therefore results in aggression turned inward and/or outward. We know that, in man’s nature, the sex drive is extremely powerful during adolescence and young adulthood. These young evangelicals are supposed to repress and/or avoid their “dangerous” thoughts, ideas, and desires or wish fulfilling fantasies pertaining to sexual desire, as if they didn’t exist. But, in humans, they do exist. This is our nature.

 The repressed or unconscious memories are supposed to be forgotten. However, this initially sets up in the mind, before the expression of behavior, two competing or opposing forces -seeking pleasure or avoiding the seeking of pleasure and/or fear. Because of the strength of the sex drive, one cannot simply or easily avoid or control these impulses in a secular society. To be “successful,” one limits pleasure thus gaining approval of the teachings of the authoritarian leader. More than likely, there will be unconscious negative feelings toward that leader. Also in play are potentially limiting pleasures in one’s distant future. Success is defined as?  Just ask the Catholic Church, the various popes, the priests and even the leaders of the Boy Scouts regarding successful abstinence.

 Obviously, the repression of sexual wishes or desires can be diminished through alcohol, drug intoxication and dreams. Lack of gratification, in the flesh, tends to increase the drive or the desire for that individual who has been sexually deprived. These repressions are also related to the duration or length of the deprivation. Another factor which likely weakens the repressions are seduction and/or temptation. Man, not surprisingly, has created a pleasurable, profitable and sexualized society.  

However, as is often the case, the repressed sexual components often break back into consciousness. When this occurs, it’s called a displacements or a symbolic expression of the repressed wish. The symbolic expression occurs because of all the anxiety, frustration, and conflict taking place between our ears.  The expression of behavior is often transformed into a hostility and then likely displaced onto another in sadomasochistic ways as in murder and sexual assault. When turned inward or not outwardly displaced, we find symptoms of anxiety, shame, guilt and depression. In any case, sexual repression results in neurosis.

That 21-year-old individual was obviously sexually disturbed. How neurotic was he prior to his entry into his current sadomasochistic program? That early history coupled with current history would provide a more clear understanding of his pathology. What is clear is that his mental disturbance, not pornography, resulted in murder. Murder is in the 10 Commandments and punishable by the law while masturbation and viewing pornography is not.

 It’s clear, that we live in a sexualized society with messaging around birth control, beauty, wearing apparel, nutrition, weight loss, exercise etc.  Man is supposed to be handsome, rugged and virile and women young, slim, attractive, seductive and receptive. These authoritarian evangelicals with their draconian, non-psychological and non-physiological policies and ideas are perpetuating neuroses in their flock. They are exploiting the young by falsely attempting to distort man’s nature and imposing a self-serving industry. This industry promotes, reinforces and generates “sex addiction,” books, magazines, treatment centers, and schools for the followers. There were reports that one founder had a pattern of groping and exposing himself to massage therapists among other sexual misconducts. Another owned a two day spa in the Atlanta area as well.

Another article provided additional information pertaining to Southern Evangelical Baptists. In this article, the granddaughter of Rev. Billy Graham” We have seen homophobia, hostility toward women’s rights, xenophobia and lack of concern for the poor.” She added “I hope is that we moved to a season where Jesus followers are no longer seen as synonymous with hate, exclusion and hypocrisy, but as beacons of love and grace.”

In conclusion, Jesus do you agree with Karl Marx’s philosophy that man should have the opportunity to develop fully intellectually, physically, spiritually with the important ability to love self and others? Jesus, do you agree with Karl Marx’s writings that industrial society contributes to man’s alienation by interfering with his opportunity to develop fully intellectually, physically, spiritually with the important ability to love self and others? Jesus, do you agree with Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic writings that a healthy man is one that’s able to love and work? Jesus, do you agree with Sigmund Freud in the importance of the sexual and aggressive drives; improper parenting nurturance during psychosexual development; that stress and anxiety are related to natural disasters; mortality of the body with its increasing diseases; and civilization’s man-made rules, restrictions and contradictions results in the likelihood of psycho neurosis in man? Jesus, do you agree that Southern Baptist’s are committing blasphemy when they are teaching to hate and exclude self and others with their crazy, exploitive, sadistic culture regarding sexuality for teens and young adults? Jesus, do you agree that teachings regarding sexuality of the Southern Baptists are contrary to man’s nature and thus are evil? Jesus, do you agree that secular ideas regarding sexuality should be taught to the followers of the Southern Baptists? Jesus, do you agree that the inhumane sadomasochistic sexual teachings of the Southern Baptist leaders should face criminal consequences for their actions?

 Moses, Jesus and other prophets promoted man as having the ability to treat fellow man more humane as in the 10 Commandments and the Golden rule. If the evangelical leaders and followers were following these teachings, they would likely become more humanistic and not neurotic, authoritative, aggressive, sadistic , hateful,  rigid, and exploitive using fear, guilt and sin. If you hate yourself, you can’t love another. Send these followers to community college and widen their horizons. Let them learn to interact with others who believe differently and have darker skin tones. Instruct them about spirituality [spirituality has nothing to do with the amount of time looking at porn] by creating a type of or aspect of a Peace Corps in which they volunteer and contribute to the larger society. Give them a chance to develop their self-esteem and ability to reason. Give them a chance to interact with the opposite sex not in terms of domination or blame but more on an equal basis to develop interpersonal skills. Give them a chance to learn about love as opposed to hate.

PS

A few days ago, one of my simpatico friends said that religion was “gobbledygook.” He said that he likely learned that word from his mother. He added, my mother would give me a dime to attend church. Instead, I did not go to church and used that dime at a Tasty Freeze until she found out that I was playing hooky.

Marx and Curry

 

 Karl Marx has been vilified, misunderstood and his views were nodus for our country for as long as I can remember. He was falsely accused of being anti spiritual, and wishing for uniformity and subordination. It should be noted that the totalitarian and industrial communist method of production definitely and significantly do not promote Marx’s core idea of optimum human growth and development. Marx definitely had a clear opinion regarding the problem of money “Money, since it has the property of purchasing everything, of appropriate objects in itself, is therefore the object par excellence. The universal character of this property corresponds to the omnipotence of money, which is regarded as an omnipotent being…. Money is the pander between need and object, between human life and the means of sustenance. But that which meditates my life meditates also the existence of other men for me. It is for me the other person.” He also believed in the prophetic potential for man attaining self- actualization. Moreover, Marx’s writings of Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts were first translated into English in 1959 by T. B. Bottomore. This essay focuses on Karl Marx’s humanistic philosophy of man.

For Marx, the importance of labor is paramount for man in order for him to be able to have control by his own accord.  In work, its better when man starts, regulates and controls the material reactions between himself and his work. By acting on the external world and changing it, he at same time changes his own essence or nature. Thus, labor is a self-expression of man incorporating individual physical, mental, loving and affiliative powers.

With that being said, Marxist criticism of capitalism is not related to the injustice of the distribution of wealth. Instead its perversion of labor into forced, alienated, meaningless labor. For moments too long, I dug ditches with shovel and sorted packages on a UPS assembly line. I know about meaningless labor. Marx believed that meaningless labor, crippled man’s potential transformation. This crippling, can occur, when stuck in a specialized task or job .This makes him a slave and as a slave he becomes alienated. For Marx, socialism was emancipation from this tendency toward alienation. When successful, man becomes able to pursue his self-realization. Further, if alienated, one experiences the world passively and receptively .The subject now becomes separated from the object. The goal In Marxist thinking,” man is not what he ought to be and that he ought to be, but which he could be.”

With capitalism, labor exists for the process of production and consumption. The mode of capitalistic production, in essence, results in the destruction of individuality and enslavement to things and circumstances of one’s own making. This alienation leads to existential egotism; and the human essence of alienated labor separates man from his own body, his mental and the totality of his human life. On the other hand, with humanism, the potentials for reason, wisdom, love, creativity, and solidarity are now in play to be fully developed. If fully developed, it enables man to become and lead a life that is more meaningful and enriched. Being well informed, responsible, rational, moral, and spiritual are other likely outcomes.

Briefly, man is what he does. With capitalism he generally is captive to a society, a socioeconomic class and not able to develop and liberate himself or his potential. His human capacity is thwarted by what and how he produces. In other words, man is able to develop fully when he is not captive to production and consumption, or being a clog in the machine, in today’s bureaucracy, or being replaced by automation. It’s important and necessary for man to fully and be able to develop his physical powers, mental excellence, and ability to love self and others. However, when he is a laborer or in a job that saps his vitality, energy, and his human passions his active participation suffers. Notice we are not talking about wages, bonuses, vacation time, sick leave, cost of living, health insurance etc. We are talking about meaningful employment that enables man to become humanistic, not egoistic in his relationship with self and with others in his life space. In Maslow’s terminology, we call this becoming self-actualized.

 Do not overlook the fact that labor in an economic, political, and religious culture significantly affects the development of character with the creation of desires pursuant to that particular culture creation. For example, in a neoliberalism culture, passions for power, possession and prestige become synthetic or false “needs” for man, not his true needs. Marx wrote “The existence of what I truly love is felt by me as a necessity, as the need, without which my essence cannot be fulfilled, satisfied, complete.”

Will the recent purchase and possession of the mega plane and yacht for Bezos overcome and change the meaning of his adoption?  No, his adoption is a psychological fact and reality and that can’t be changed! Yes, he can rationalize, distort and create new fiction and illusions. However, the narcissistic injury to his psyche remains untouched. He has remarkably succeeded in being the wealthiest in terms of money but, according to Marx, has not fully developed.

When thinking about man being alive, being productive, playful, joyous, fun, and highly and competitively motivated, professional athletes comes to mind. Steph Curry, in my opinion, captures the essence of Karl Marx’s philosophy of man. Curry is on his way to fully developing his physical, mental, spiritual and humanistic ideals with his unions with others in labor that he loves.  Tom Brady is in the same category.

For a moment, just think about Steph’s physical prowess and perceptual motor ability. Watch him dribble a ball between his legs using both of his hands. Watch him dribble between and among 2 to 3 opposing players while driving to the basket. He can make a basket, while in the air, with either hand near or under the basketball rim. Recently, while at one side of the court, Curry threw a pass to a teammate on the other side of the court. The ball was thrown with such accuracy, speed and skill that it flew over a seven foot or so opposing players head into the arms of his teammate who made a three-point shot.

Steph’s physical and aerobic condition is also very impressive. He seems to be in constant motion while playing over 30 minutes a game. I’ve never seen him bending over from exhaustion. His lung and oxygen capacity is impressive based on his endurance. I’ve even seen Curry on a stationary bike while resting on the bench. His three-point shots from tremendous distances are amazing and he’s been called the best shooter ever. His agility, being able to jump and move is fun to watch.

Steph’s mental and cognitive ability are also special and well-developed. Defenses change against him, and at times, he’s surrounded by two and three players at a time. He has to know when to shoot and when the pass the ball to an open teammate. He also knows how to get open or to receive a pass from a teammate. He is a joy to watch. To see him smiling and laughing, interacting while practicing all kinds and types of shots, bouncing the ball off the floor, reminds me of a young boy playing with sheer delight and joy.

Yes, Steph Curry is a tremendous basketball player but is also very humanistic. During the pandemic, he’s involved in giving away food to the needy. Recently, the NAACP awarded him the Jackie Robinson Man of the Year. Yes he makes a lot of money, but the dollar amount is not his prime motivation for playing a game that he loves. His splash brother teammate Klay Thompson is miserable. Klay has not played this season because of injury. Klay is rehabbing and sits on the bench during home games. Klay still gets his million-dollar salary but is unable to play and engage himself in the activity that he loves. Quoting Goethe, one of Marx’s favorite poets “ Neither possession, nor power, or sensuous satisfaction can fulfill man’s desire for meaning in his life; he remains in all this separate from the whole, hence unhappy.”

During past conversations with my friend Thom Darden an All-American and All-Pro football player, we talked about his love for the game and the friends, and coaches associated. During one Pro season, while Thom was rehabilitating, he talked about going up to the top of the Browns Stadium with one of his coaches to analyze, study and figure out tendencies of the various opposing team offenses. Yes, professional sports are cerebral. Tom Brady is noted for his strict practices, diet and nutrition as well as his spending hours and hours watching game tape. Professional athletes know that physical attributes are important as well as the cerebral part of the game.

For me, being in my eighth decade, I am pleased and thrilled that I run approximately 75K miles during a six day week. Then in the afternoons, I read and write like in the 3Rs and then spend time with Linda. I have health, joy and well-being in my life. However, I do miss our family reunions with Bev, cousins and friends in the Ann Arbor area. I am troubled when I heard that one of my favorite cousins Shelley has a Parkinson’s diagnosis. That news brings sadness.

I have not run a competitive running race since l February, 2020. I admit that I miss the competitiveness and sense of satisfaction during those events especially after when Tony and I direct our attention to ice cream.

In summary, being a professional athlete gives that individual an opportunity to develop physical, intellectual, and humanistic interactions. Employing Karl Marx’s philosophy, being in a job that you love, with joy, enthusiasm, drive, competitiveness, connectedness and mastery allows one to take advantage of the human passions and puts that individual in a great position to fully develop his potential. When physically healthy, alcoholism, drugs, missing work, money disputes does not enter the equation when one performs the right labor in our capitalistic society.

Are Tom Brady and Steph Curry Marx socialists? Yes! For Marx, socialism is not being alienated; not being exploited nor exploiting others; and importantly creating the conditions for fulfillment within the humanistic principles of their life. For these men, it’s more about the competitiveness and joy while playing the game. Moreover, they have created, with their labor, the opportunity and conditions for self-fulfillment by not chasing synthetic or false illusions. Do the NFL and the NBA incorporate Marx’s philosophy regarding man?  No! They are true proponents for the revenue and profits of capitalism. Belichick, the genius, didn’t rehire Brady. Brady wanted to play and was hired by Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay won the Super Bowl. The Patriots, with their genius coach, never made the playoffs. The odds makers in Las Vegas are betting on Tampa Bay to win next year’s Super Bowl because they know Brady still wants to play. Brady and Curry will more than likely retire on their terms. Have you found your path, in your life for humanistic being?

PS

Karl Marx’s daughter Eleanor wrote that Shakespeare was another of her father’s favorite poets. “He was the Bible of our house, seldom out of our hands or mouth. By the time I was six, I knew scene upon scene of Shakespeare by heart.”