Go Blue

 

 

On a cold November day in 1950, I was listening on the radio to the blizzard conditions of the hard-fought football battle between University of Michigan, Chuck Ortman and Ohio State University, Vic Janowicz. The final Snow Bowl score was 9 to 3 Wolverines. Another bit of factual information, my two siblings Ron and Bev also have degrees from the University of Michigan. As alumni, we all share the ups and downs based on the gridiron score by our Wolverines. This essay, pertains to football coach Jim Harbaugh.

About 9 years ago, Linda and I were at the Olmsted loop. She was riding my Tevis horse Raider and I was running alongside them. She thought I should write another book. I told her I was thinking about Mental Toughness. Shortly after our trail ride and run, I made a connection with Mike Keller. Mike was an All-American at the University of Michigan and played professionally with the Dallas Cowboys. I discussed with Mike my idea of mental toughness. He was engaging and suggested I talk with his All-American University of Florida and Los Angeles Rams friend Jack Youngblood. Then, Mike suggested that I talk with Tex Schramm and Gill Brandt. After a while, I realized that I should focus on the mental toughness of the 1969 University of Michigan football team as they, in historical fashion, upset the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Buckeyes were the number one ranked team in the country, were undefeated in 22 straight games and were a 17 ½ point favorite to demolish the Wolverines.

An intense interview process began with Mike Keller, Jim Brandstatter, and Reggie McKenzie all players from state of Michigan. Other interviews began with Fritz Seyferth not from the state of Michigan. However the following interviews with Frank Gusich, Thom Darden, Gary Moeller, Tom Curtis and Jim Betts all represented the state of Ohio. These facts significantly foreshadow the University of Michigan football program.

My book “Bo’s Warriors Bo Schembechler and the Transformation of Michigan Football” was published by Triumph Books in 2014. That year I involved my friends in a number of book signings. For example, Thom Darden, his wife Melissa, Linda and I in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Mike Keller, Linda and I in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Fritz Seyferth, Linda and I just outside of Ann Arbor; Mike, and the two Jim’s, Linda and I at the Brady Hoke luncheon in Ann Arbor; Mike, the two Jim’s Thom, Linda and I at M Den in Ann Arbor; and at an Ann Arbor location with the two Jim’s, Fritz, Linda and I. Further, Mike, Linda and I met with Dave Brandon the U of M athletic director; and Mike and I were on Jim Brandstatter with his Jim Harbaugh radio show a few times.  At a later date, Linda and I did book signings for Michigan alumni in San Francisco and my cousin Shelley in Orange County.

Both Jims were on the executive board for Michigan alumni football. Jim Betts, the president, purchased football tickets for Linda, myself and my cousins and we visited tailgate parties. Linda and I made it a point to hang out with Jim and Marti Betts during our Ann Arbor stays.

Jim Harbaugh born in Toledo, Ohio was an All-American quarterback for Bo Schembechler. He was a round one draft pick and played for a number of teams in the NFL. He coached in the NFL and was a successful college head coach at San Diego and at Stanford. He became the San Francisco 49ers head coach in 2011 and his 49ers played in the Super Bowl against the Baltimore Ravens coached by his older brother John Harbaugh. Older brother won in a closely fought game.

The University of Michigan were unhappy with their head coach Brady Hoke and when Jim Harbaugh became available, hired him in December, 2014. Jim, at that time was, the Prophet that was going to save the Wolverines and once again beat Ohio State. The last football coach to beat Ohio State was Lloyd Carr who also led the University of Michigan to a national championship. The Savior of Michigan football was hired to lead them from the ashes.

The Prophet was hired to whip Ohio State; whip Michigan State and lead the Wolverines to Big Ten championships. Unfortunately, no Big Ten championships nor wins against Ohio State. One could argue that in 2016, but because of poor officiating, the Wolverines could’ve won that OSU game.

Why has the Prophet failed to beat Ohio State? Could it be poor coaching, not having enough quality players or not developing the players recruited? Well, one might suspect that whatever the reason, Ohio State players have been better than the Wolverine players. One criterion, would be the number of All-American players, the number of NFL players, and the number of first round draft picks per team. The Buckeyes have 51 players on the active roster to start the NFL active 2021 season. Notable players include Trey Semon, Ezekiel Elliott , Joey Bosa, Justin Field and others. The University of Michigan has produced 20 NFL players the past three years. Notable players include Devin Bush, Chase Winovich, Donovan People Jones and others.

Another criteria would be the number of skill position players in the NFL per team. The University of Michigan, under Jim, does not have one starting quarterback in the NFL. I recently watched Justin Field of the Chicago Bears beat the Las Vegas Raiders. In essence, since 2015, Ohio State’s recruiting has been exceptional as evidenced by the number of their former players in the NFL. However, the University of Michigan has one statistic unmatched and considered maybe the best to ever play the game-Tom Brady.

Turning to this season, the Wolverines have played exceptionally well winning all their games except one. They outplayed Michigan State but lost 37-33. The Michigan Wolverines are ranked 5 in The College Football Playoff behind the 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. This season Michigan has prevailed against Wisconsin and Penn State both notable rivals. The showdown between the Buckeyes and the Wolverines is scheduled for tomorrow, November 27.

Historically, the University of Michigan in the last 20 years, has beaten OSU four times. During that time, coaches Lloyd Carr, Rick Rodriguez, Brady Hoke and Jim Harbaugh were Michigan’s coaches. Some might say, like my sister, bring back Bo. However, Bo inherited a recruiting cast from Bump Elliott that included College All-Americans; All-Pro selections; many NFL players and one Hall of Fame member. What about bringing in Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots genius coach. Oh I forgot, Tom Brady was his quarterback. Didn’t Belichick get rid of Brady last year and Belichick’s team missed the playoffs, while Brady won the Super Bowl with a different coach and a different team.

If the Wolverines are victorious, Jim Harbaugh will be on solid ground even though he’s no longer considered the Messiah. If the Wolverines lose, his fate will be like Moses who never found the Promised Land. There has been disappointments and many like my sister Bev and TD are okay with his parting. I have had many conversations with both. With TD, we have been able to talk about the previous defensive coordinator Don Brown and his mishandling the Wolverine secondary. They have been no match for OSU’s wide receivers.  I’m okay with Jim Harbaugh whether he wins or loses against Ohio State. I believe he needs to recruit better. I’m not sure that can happen with Ohio State’s dominance in the polls and in the college football playoffs. Ohio State has been a clear winner and a dominant football power. Will Jim Harbaugh ever beat Ohio State? In any event, Saturday will be a good 3 ½ hour diversion from the significant realities facing this nation.

Successful football teams are composed of players that have mental toughness. Mental refers to football IQ and toughness refers to physicality and skill set. Mike Keller know something about mental toughness as a player and evaluator of football talent at the professional level. To learn more in-depth of his ideas read Chapter 10 Keller 90: Mike Keller.

Go Blue!

Our Country's Conflict

 

Is our country headed for authoritarian rule? Adam Tooze’s book “Shutdown How Covid Shook the World’s Economy” caught my attention. He stated that our collective will is so divided that we can’t decide or agree on how much to spend, what to spend it on, who should benefit and when to pay for it-on a continuum from now to….  paints a grim future. It seems to me, that these dire economic, political, religious and social conditions contribute to the possibility of our country heading toward an authoritarian rule.  Not to be forgotten, that at one time, Ashkenazi Jews contributed greatly to Germany’s intellectual, scientific, social, philosophical and artistic accomplishments. Yet, despite that fact, Germany was vulnerable for authoritarian dictatorship. Its humiliating defeat in World War I coupled with the axis power structures punishment of Germany along with the great depression contributed greatly to finding a scapegoat so that many German people welcomed Nazi rule. This essay addresses some psychological components that contribute to this country heading toward authoritarian rule.

All of us are affected emotionally and at times threatened by our culture with its biased political, economic, social, and criminal justice institutions. Also, we have to deal and cope with the ravages, frustrations, and stresses of fire, flooding, tsunami, tornadoes, hurricanes within nature occurrences. If that’s not enough, the frailty of our brain and body becomes a third threat.

More specifically, all begin life powerlessness and dependent and not at all able to survive on our own. Thereafter, we begin to objectify self from other. This allows us to begin our identifications starting with parents. In essence, a sense of helplessness, dependency and identifications are emotionally based. They are significant like being imprinted and remain with us until the very end.

Within this human psychological kaleidoscope, the newborn, must resolve and deal with a multitude of the physiological requirements that are necessary for growth and well-being.  The emotional crisis and frustrations are ongoing as in the physiological requirements that include food, water, sleep and warmth. They are fixed, necessary for survival and “provided” by parents for significant periods of time. If these physiological requirements are not met satisfactorily, frustrations, deficits and deficiencies occur and become associated with physical and emotional illness. As a result, the implications for growth or deficiencies are the lifelong conditions. Successful or non-successful resolution affects the next need requirement that include the emotional needs for security and safety. It’s like proceeding step by step up a ladder. Is that succeeding step secure, slippery or broken?  Successful resolution is associated emotionally with growth and well-being while non successful need resolution is associated with stagnation, painful consequences, and frustration, physical and emotional illness. The importance of protection provided by parents is paramount. Man’s character is based on interpersonal interactions-good or bad.

In this initial need stage of development, food frustrations and deficiencies can be observed with continued painful crying and fussing behavior. At first, there is not much else the helpless and dependent infant can do. There is no mastery or effectance.  With later development, a compensation for powerlessness can be observed with refusal to eat, tantrums, hiding food etc. in essence the quest to compensate for helplessness and powerlessness expresses itself in a power attempt to control. This behavior is actually attempting to obtain reassurance against the deficit related to the anxiety or tension. To obtain continued satisfaction around food deficits, especially among certain groups, is difficult. We note that there are tremendous inequalities regarding nutrition, deficiencies and poverty. A ZIP Code location identifies the socioeconomic story. Note that life expectancy in this country is decreasing while obesity, overweight, diabetes, homelessness and poverty is on the rise. These facts are associated with sickness.

Apparently, the EPA has not updated, drinking water contaminants since the turn-of-the-century. We know about Flint, Michigan’s issues with lead and cancer. However, virus’s protozoa, Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium contaminate the water and rapidly cause widespread and serious illnesses related to ZIP Code location and socioeconomic status.

In referring to air quality, the climate crisis currently exists and affects all. In fact, one can locate the air quality Index for their location. This past summer, I viewed my air quality Index to determine whether to run on the trails. With this being said, the ability to meet one’s physiological requirements, for growth, can be challenging for most. Without growth there is no well-being. Instead a psychological vulnerability foreshadows future.

After the physiological requirements, the next stage relates to security and safety. For example, financial security is extremely important. Currently, income inequality, debt, homeownership, minimum wage,  education levels, artificial intelligence, homeless, employment opportunity  and irrationality are current factors and concerns affecting too many. Once again ZIP Code location tells the economic story.

An article in the New York Times August 29, 2021 “Were Burring Our Kids in Debt,” pointed out that the Philadelphia Schools have $4.5 billion of unmet infrastructure needs despite high levels of affluence in the city. Inequitable table distribution of state and of progressive taxation including hundreds of billions of dollars in local corporate tax breaks have exacerbated budget shortfalls. Further, in 2019, K-12 schools debt nearly reached 500 billion, a 118% increase from 2002. City schools all across the country are at risk also especially in the poverty areas. Do the schools hire more teachers or repair the classrooms?

Steven Pinker’s “Rationality What is it, Why it Seem Scarce, Why it Matters” points to the modus morons in our country. He pointed out that Kahneman and Tversky’s experiments showed that simple assumptions about what people want and what drives their decision-making are often more unrealistic than was previously thought. Pinker added that we live in a pandemic of poppycock. According to one Gallup poll, “42% of Americans believe in the demonic possession.” According to Department of Education, fewer than half of Americans adults are proficient at reading and according to a Department of Health study, one third of adults have difficulty interpreting simple health information, such as the instructions on a drug label. Yes, this country is headed in the wrong direction.

Another security and safety needs relates to health and wellness. The pandemic wreaked havoc on too many. 46 ½ million cases with more than 754,000 deaths are current statistics. Families have been devastated economically and health wise despite the availability of masks, social distancing and vaccine medication. Poverty level, and racial injustice also affect health and wellness dramatically. Poor health limit one’s ability to work; it reduces economic opportunities; retards educational attainment and leads to medical debt and bankruptcy. According to the Department of Labor, employees away from work due to illness affect productivity. Causes of poverty include: 1. Lack of shelter 2. Limited access to clean water resources 3. Food insecurity 4. Physical disabilities 5. Lack of access to health care 6. Unemployment 7. Absence of social services 8. Gender discrimination.

With physiological, security and safety deficits, sets the crisis for a continued sense of helplessness and dependency. Psychologically, one attempts to protect oneself against the tension and anxiety. As a result, a quest for power, affection and dependence emerges as a compensation. Unfortunately, the pursuit of power affects our unions with others because we have to fortify and strengthen our position of control and dominance.

Accompanying pursuing power are feelings of hatred, inferiority and weakness. Of course there can be a normal striving for power out of one’s strength as demonstrated by LeBron or Steph, or a neurotic need out of weakness and helplessness. Hatred and repressed hostility are common. Yet, at times, be channeled, in benign ways. Pursuing power also serves as protection for being regarded as insignificant. With the pursuit of power we find the pursuit of affiliation with a hate or white nationalist group, or the white skinned Republican Party. These cannot tolerate being alone or being insignificant .They have to cooperate and win the affection of other like-minded souls. With repressed hostility, it’s easy to affiliate with an aggressive group. It’s about consensus, loyalty or a band of hate brothers with their idealization of strength. It is common for the hate group to scapegoat. They worship strength and despise the weak. It is not uncommon for an armed hater to kill the unarmed or vulnerable. Being in a group masks the contempt with their own unconscious feelings.

This culture also depicts power. We are told that we are the most powerful nation on earth; we have the most powerful military killing machine; we are the wealthiest nation; we have the most guns; we have the most killings and we have the best universities. We also rank teams according to power; we rank players; and we rank universities. Winning, dominating is the rule. We want our team to dominate its power by running up the score against the opponent. If a star player from the opposing team gets injured .yea!

A number of people claim to be Christians. They certainly don’t follow the teachings and behavior of Jesus .Christ did not lie, steal, hate, discriminate and kill. Oh I forgot, Christ died for their sins so they can sin when they want. Saying “I believe “is very different than exhibiting a toxic attitude and actions towards others. Christ did not scapegoat, restrict people to hear him, lie, steal, kill or have his followers beat up the nonbelievers.  We are a Christian nation? Christianity was once about the poor but now it’s about the “white” and the powerful.

The pursuit of power individuals have the desire to control others regardless. They have to have their own way and never give in. This quality of my way or the highway does not do well for unions. They have to dominate and humiliate others regardless.

With identification, powerless individuals seek the high and mighty. In childhood, protection and safety was provided by parents –especially a strong father.  Emotionally, his protection, his wisdom- knowledge, and his expertise was supreme. His words were the law, unchallenged and unconditionally believed to be true. With devotion, compliance, and loyalty, followed his love, approval and being liked. Disloyalty or oppositionalness was met with disapproval, anger, hostility or some other form of punishment. Because of emotional helplessness and insecurity as a child, later in life, a transfer is made to a more powerful “father” for ongoing dealings with reality. This new transfer figure doesn’t provide food, water, air etc. He provides an illusion to assist the individual in dealing with his own racism and other reality conflicts and issues.

 Turning to Donald, he was Superman on his popular TV show. He was powerful, in charge, fired others and disrespected others freely. Despite losing the popular vote, he ran the government as he did his TV show. He was invincible, he could be impeached but not convicted. His attorney general was his attorney. If he didn’t want anyone to submit to a subpoena, he was supported by the Atty. Gen. and the Republican Senators. He could do no wrong without any consequences. Did he break the law? He was the law. Even the party of whites became his party with loyal followers. It didn’t matter that he freely lied, was amoral, and was incompetent.  That was his appeal to the followers. His Covid 19 debacle revealed his incompetence and his hostility. The loyalists followed irrespective of the consequences. Some die for him.  Is Donald a racist authoritarian and white supremacist? Of course he is. Did Donald attempt to steal the election? Of course.

Superman has a weakness- his vulnerability to kryptonite and he can lose power when he is exposed to the yellow sunlight etc. His strength and abilities will drastically be diminished if on the receiving end of too much radiation .His intellectual capacity and ability to think can be overloaded to the point of pain.

 Donald has a kryptonite weakness. His weakness is called democracy or allowing people to vote. This” kryptonite” weakness also affects the power of the white. If only limited educated, racists and whites voted, Donald wins easily. However, the majority of black, brown, Asian etc. oppose him. Political and economic power always has been limited to white people, primarily men. That fact does not bother many of the powerlessness of whites. Their deficits were on display on January 6. One of these savage haters was all dressed up in paraphernalia looking into the camera while making loud noises. One mother took a number of pictures of self, at the capitol, and emailed them to her children. I bet that this family is narcissistic and extremely dysfunctional. When caught, this mother attempted to destroy the evidence.  What a mother! What about the armed 17-year-old who had his mother drive him from Illinois to Wisconsin to attend a rally? Oh yeah, he killed a few. Both he and his mother should be locked up. On another occasion, I heard a defense attorney telling a Georgia jury that his armed defendant was acting in self-defense when he killed an unarmed man jogging. I forgot-lying is the norm.

For the minority party of whites, it’s about power. They are afraid of becoming insignificant and irrelevant. Their hostility has been expressed by voting against infrastructure, John Lewis’s legislative  bill, minimum wage, tax breaks for the poor and middle class, immigration reform, police reform, filibuster, changing gerrymandering, investigating the lies and corruption regarding stealing the vote and  January 6. The issue is not democracy but the trend toward authoritarianism. Economic, political, social, religious, and climate present obvious danger. Not only that, this oppression along with the conflict between people of color, intellectually elite and the Democrats results in individual becoming more radical. We are in the grips of this threat of human violence and destruction Today’s oppressed are mentally, emotionally and physically sick. All the above conditions propagate and create the conditions for authoritarian rule even without a world war or global depression.

The emotional ideas presented are based on the importance of child rearing. This brief disquisition identified only a few of the ideas affecting the human psyche. The personal history within the first five years provides the ground floor of behavioral and emotional tendencies for character development.  Obviously, there are many additional factors that were not addressed.

References

Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and Its Discontents, W. W. Norton and Company Inc.

Maslow, Abraham. Toward a Psychology of Being, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc.

Hemingway

 

Ernest Hemingway had a public bravado rivaled by very few. What was beneath the Hemingway image? He wrote 6 novels. His last novel published in 1952 was The Old Man and the Sea. This disquisition is a kaleidoscope in that it incorporates and applies Erik H Erikson’s psychosocial model of human developmental crises to Hemingway, and the protagonist -the old man in his last novel.

An early child crisis sets the stage for Hemingway’s development of character. Grace, a musician, was Hemingway’s mother and Clarence, a physician, was his father. Family lived in Oak Park, Illinois with Grace’s father Ernest. His sister Marcelline was a year older than Ernest. Grace allowed Ernest’s hair to grow long and dressed him in fluffy, girly outfits so the two would look like twins during his first three years. Gender identity, oedipal issues and identifications became compromised. Being treated like a girl, with gender diffusion, became imprinted and the basis to overcompensate this inadequacy. His ambivalence love-hate and identification for his mother resulted in him being involved in the school orchestra, for two years with Marceline, and receiving good grades in English. At a later date, he stated that he hated his mother.

Clarence took him camping, hunting, and fishing in the woods and lakes of northern Michigan this providing him with a masculine role and identity. These masculine traits were exhibited in high school as he participated in boxing, track and field, water polo and football. In essence, Hemingway’s character trait tendencies and personality are now well-established. Hemingway’s battle with survival and death surfaced throughout his life. This emotional drive and need was established early and exemplified in his accepting injury, punishment to mutilate his self and to seek and enjoy punishment, illness and misfortune. He stated “When you go to war as a boy, you have a great illusion of immortality … Then when you’re badly wounded the first time you lose that illusion and know it can happen to you.” Did that acknowledgement end his cognition and preoccupation with injury and death?

A narcissistic injury occurred when he failed his enlistment in World War I. However, he became an ambulance driver for the Red Cross. In a month or so he was seriously wounded by mortar fire after returning from the canteen bringing chocolate and cigarettes to the men at the front line. Despite his injury, he assisted Italian soldiers to safety and was decorated with the Italian Silver Medal of Military Valor. Other physical injuries sustained: 1. Compound spiral fracture and seven-week hospitalization suffered in a car accident. The nerves in his hand took as long as a year to heal. He suffered intense pain. 2. Contracted amoebic dysentery in Africa 3. Hospitalized for concussion from a car accident. He also had another concussion 4. Car accident which he smashed his knee and sustained another deep wound on his forehead 4. Two plane crashes in Africa included another concussion, a leaking of cerebral fluid, head wounds and second-degree burns on his legs, front torso, lips, left hand and right forearm burns 5. A fall in the bathroom which left him with a permanent scar.

Examples of a lifestyle that put him in harm’s way after World War I included: 1. Hemingway was one of the last British and American journalists to leave the Battle of Ebro which was the last Republican stand in the Spanish Civil War 2. He attempted to convince the Cuban government to help him refit his boat so he could ambush German submarines 3. He accompanied troops to the Normandy landings. He came in sight of Omaha Beach but was not allowed ashore 4. He attached himself to the 22^nd infantry Regiment as it drove towards Paris. He impersonated an infantry captain to group of resistance fighters and was brought up on formal charges, but he beat the rap for claiming that he only offered advice. 5. He observed fighting in the battle of the Hurtgen Forest 6. Covered the Battle of the Bulge and was hospitalized with pneumonia. He was awarded the Bronze Star for bravery during World War II.

Hemingway had difficulty with drugs and booze, depression and was paranoid. He thought the FBI was monitoring him because of financial trouble. He had numerous electroconvulsive therapy treatments and was diagnosed with hemochromatosis. He inherited this condition from his father. This terrible condition caused the excessive accumulation of iron in the cells and propelled mental and physical deterioration.

Also in Hemingway’s history, was his difficulty with being alone and his troubled interpersonal relationships with women? Emotionally, he was initially attracted to females and married four times and divorced three times. He wanted to marry a young nurse while he was hospitalized during the First World War but was rejected when she told him she was engaged to an Italian officer. While being in a failing marriage, with Pauline, he met Martha and divorced Pauline and married Martha. During their marriage he met Mary and then divorced Martha and married Mary. Also, Hemingway had a platonic relationship with 19-year-old when 49 years of age. On a sad note, his father committed suicide, his brother committed suicide and his son committed suicide. Pauline’s father also committed suicide. During that suicide Hemingway commented, “I’ll probably go in the same way.”

Briefly, Ernest Hemingway overcompensated for his early experiences as a girl by engaging in the macho male behavior. However, he hated himself as he hated his mother as exemplified with his repetition compulsion of failed female relationships. At times, he was brilliant and the executive functioning of his ego dominated in his creative writing. However, emotionally he was impulsive, driven by irrational drives and displaced his anger inward and outward. His critical superego punished him over and over as well.

I shall employ Erik Erickson’s ideas regarding psychosocial development during the eight ages of man. It should be noted that successful resolution of each stage of development contributes greatly in a positive way during the lifecycle. Without successful stage resolution, makes it difficult to fully progress to the next stage. With that being said, the following should be noted: 1. Developing a Sense of Basic Trust versus Basic Mistrust applies significantly to Hemingway. Ernest was reared as a girl thus making it difficult to resolve the oedipal complex dynamics. His identifications suffered and his insecurity had to be overcompensated significantly with his taking on the masculine, rugged macho role during his entire life. That Oedipal dynamic interfered with his psychological ability to develop basic trust with his mother, the first dominant female figure in his life. So it’s not surprising, that he had troubled ongoing female relationships. He was demanding, controlling, physically and verbally abusive. With mistrust, the mechanisms of paranoia develop and the difficulty to distinguish between real and unreal.

 With masculine identification, he tackled the developing a Sense of Industry versus Inferiority successfully, in part, as exhibited by his award winning achievement within the executive functions within his ego. He was successful with school and developed the ability to write. During writing times, his ego dominated .His drives and his conscience became subordinated. The focus and energy he put into his writing was supreme and second to none .Nothing else seemed significant to him. However, too many of his decisions were irrational and self-destructive.

 His energy displacement masked the balance between his male and female conflicts. This displacement of his drives put him into harm’s way which he used for his writing material because of the real life and death danger in his experiences. In other words, issues around developing a Sense of Identity versus Role Confusion facilitated his wonderful ability to tell stories that pertained to his own experiences. Of course, these experiences reinforced his self-hate and unconscious risk to die. War, death, loss were themes in his novels as well as his own troubled life. Sexually, he allowed his unconscious fears to be expressed in play. In bed, he was the female and his wife was the male.

 His difficulty in the stage of developing a Sense of Intimacy versus Isolation was regularly repeated with repetition compulsion. Hemingway was great at catching like a fishermen or killing his prey just like the protagonist. He had great skills of seduction, charm and like a spider’s web he captured his victim. His focus and energy was unsurpassed and his infatuation and genital love drive was tremendous. Hemingway, however could not maintain his infatuation drive and exhibited controlling, dominating and verbally abusive behavior. Like the protagonist, who went out every day to fish, Hemingway had to have new prey. He was fearful of isolation, unable to tolerate separation or being alone. However, once he captured his prey it died and was symbolically like the dead skeleton of the Marlin.  His favorite bar in Key West was Sloppy Joe’s and had a very difficult time being alone while wife Martha left him in Key West to be involved in covering World War II.

 Hemingway’s novels and other writings contributed to his teaching the world about the trials and tribulations of irrational war, conflicts, about life itself with the shadow of death lurking. This stage is called developing a Sense of Generativity versus Stagnation.

 The last stage in Erickson’s model is developing a Sense of Integrity versus a Sense of Despair. To be successful in this stage, relates to being able to successfully pass through the seven previous stages. Already, we know he hasn’t been able to easily navigate the previous stages. With integrity the individual has to be able to have an acceptance of his life which importantly includes a love for one’s parents. He hated his mother.  One has to be able to master all the physical and economic threats and confrontations that interferes with one’s well-being of which he was not able to accomplish. Drugs, alcohol, cerebral concussions, numerous physical injuries, DNA inheritance and with despair, the individual is unable to start another life and try alternate roads to reach his integrity. With despair, Hemingway was depressed and feared living. At the end, he was depressed, paranoid and that was coupled with severe physical impairments, multiple concussions, hemochromatosis, paranoia, depression and ECT treatment as well. Suicide with 5 family members in 4 generations and financial difficulties tell an important segment of his story. Although, Ernest’s moral principles were suspect, his honesty was best expressed in his novels, he didn’t fear death, and he welcomed death .Because, in large part, of his tremendous physical and emotional pain, Ernest died without integrity.

With the protagonist in The Old Man and the Sea, we saw the old man at the last stage of his life. Was he developing a sense of integrity or was he in a state of despair? With repetition compulsion, the aging old man put himself at risk daily by going out into the sea in his small boat with limited supplies. He traveled to kill or to catch; to have his masculinity emasculated; or to be killed. He was alone except for being befriended by one young boy. He was old, tired and beyond his productive years. His impotency was illustrated when he was unable to successfully fight, with bloodied hands, off the sharks and brought back just the skeleton of the Marlin. We don’t know if he loved his parents but we do know that he had limited skills and likely didn’t have the opportunity for a different lifestyle. Economically he lived day-to-day. We do know that he was alone and life consisted of him being nonproductive and less effective. The end suggests a tired aging man in despair, broken and awaiting death.

John Steinbeck

 

 Linda and I recently viewed East of Eden written by the brilliant Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck. Main characters were Julie Harris -Abra; Raymond Massey -the father Adam; Jo Van Fleet -the mother Kate; Linda’s heartbeat James Dean -Cal; Richard Davalos-Aron and others. Elia Kazan was the producer. Kazan, Dean and Van Fleet were nominated for Academy Awards and Van Fleet won. Paul Osborne was nominated for the best screenplay.

In this novel, Monterey and Salinas were the settings and the time was 1917 during World War I. Kate left Adam and their two sons Cal and Aron. Cal was the biblical Cain and Aron was the biblical Abel. This essay employs concepts of identification, ambivalence, sibling rivalry, and alienation to this relevant film.

Briefly, in Genesis, Cain and Abel were the first two sons of Adam and Eve. The brothers made sacrifices to God, but God favored Abel’s sacrifice instead of Cain’s.  Cain then murdered Abel out of jealousy, whereupon God punished Cain by condemning him to a life of wandering.

In the movie, Adam or god was a rigid, unemotional, hypercritical, and ineffective authoritarian father that read Scripture in the evening with his sons. Adam had Cal read Scripture, in a certain way, out loud. Of course, the rebellious and “bad” Cal was oppositional and read the passages his way. We see a strict father and an alienated, disrespectful and hateful son. Cal’s alienation was exemplified by his rebelliousness-drinking alcohol, staying away from home, hitching a ride on trains from Salinas to Monterey, throwing blocks of ice down a slide, and so forth. Cal’s only consistent punishment was Adam’s scorn.

Karl Marx wrote about man’s alienation as a result of the working conditions in the industrial revolution and problem with Capitalism. Man becomes alienated because of the subservient, slave like, and burned out position in his workplace. Man has very little control or significant emotional involvement, sense of satisfaction, meaning and gratification within his work setting. In other words, the worker must have the opportunity to be able to express his self in terms of his mental and physical powers. Man is not what he ought to be but instead be able to develop his potential into what he could be. However, with alienation, man becomes separated from self and isolated from others. Within capitalism, there’s focus on external things like money. Man becomes a cog, insignificant, an anonymous number, and an object which counters and decimates his ability to fully develop himself. A few illustrations of alienation and satiation in man not wanting to be in the workplace include the  preponderance  of drugs, alcohol, absenteeism, Workmen’s Comp and all the physical and emotional disabilities associated with work. Sometimes money and all the diversions of books, movies, games, social media, gambling, sports and sex placate the masses but only for the short-term. Currently, we have a labor shortage. It’s not a surprise when profit rules. There is too much emphasis on the unequal distribution of wealth and the perversion of labor transforms too many into emotional cripples. In Steinbeck’s novel, Kazan depicted Cal, a young male, being alienated within his family and his society. Alienation today is obvious and on the rise. I just read that the NFL Commissioner’s salary was close to $130 million for two years. That is simply obscene.

 Marx’s concept of alienation is simple but difficult for many to resolve or master in today’s capitalistic system. Man has to emancipate himself from alienation, caused in great part from capitalism because of the profit motive, and have the ability to return man to himself, for his self-realization. His estrangement is expressed in that things or objects are against him even though the objects may be of his own creation. Alienation is essentially experiencing the world and oneself passively, and receptively as the subject is separated from the object.

Alienation was first expressed the Old Testament with the concept of idolatry. The essence of what the prophets call idolatry is not that man worships many gods instead of only one. It is that the idols are the work of man’s own hands-they are things that man bows down to, a worship of mostly dead things; worships that which he has created himself. In doing so, he transformed himself into a thing. He transfers to the things of his creation and not the attributes of his own life. Instead of experiencing self as a creating person he is not in touch with himself but only by the worship of the idol. He has become estranged from his own life forces from the wealth of his own potentialities. He is in touch with himself only in the indirect way of submission to life, frozen in the idols.

Cal’s ambivalence (love, like and hate, dislike for parents) for his father was demonstrated when his father lost a great sum of money transporting lettuce, by train, to New York. Cal went into the bean business and made a ton of money because of the United States involvement in the war. Ambivalence towards parents is a typical psychological condition within the family. Cal’s hate was exemplified in him being the bad son. On Adam’s birthday, the bad Cal presented his father the money he earned as a present. Adam didn’t want the money, rejected Cal and said he didn’t want the money that was made because of the economics of the war. Aron’s gift to his father was his engagement to Abra. Adam bestowed significant praise on that gift and rejected Cal again.

The sibling rivalry (receiving love, being favorite, seeking praise etc.) between Cal and the “good” Aron was made very clear in the movie.  Aron, the good son, pleased his father while Cal did the opposite. Aron was clean-cut, didn’t swear and did not drink until the movies end. Within the rivalry, Cal said he was like his bad mother. Back in the day, it was believed that a person inherited a good or bad character from parents. Today, we identify good or bad behavior based on identifications and other psychological variables instead of DNA.

Regarding identification, both Cal and Adam, grew crops. However, Adam went broke with his ice experiment and Cal made money with beans. Cal and Kate were both successful capitalists. Aron and Adam read the Bible and on the surface were good citizens. But, both failed miserably with Kate. Cal, Aron and Adam were emotionally compromised. They did not appear to display empathy or affection interpersonally and all three acted and behaved irrationally with self-destructive tendencies. Cal with his fighting and drinking; Aron with his impulsive enlistment; and rigid Adam with Kate and their ineffective parented boys.

Kate, the mother, ran a profitable brothel in Monterey. If this woman was “bad,” then all her paying customers were bad also. Were the town leaders bad because they frequented a brothel for booze and sex? In the film, Aron was good like his father. Aron wore a white shirt; had a girlfriend; was clean-cut; supported his father’s friend the German shoemaker and was his father’s favorite. However, at the end of the film, Aron when he found out the truth about his mother, got drunk, got into fights, enlisted in the Army and put his head through the train window-breaking it. Was Aron still good? Don’t forget that the messaging that sex is bad and war and killing is good. What a delusion, with our troubled sense of values.

The “bad” Cal violated his father’s rules not by reading Scripture slowly but by reading the biblical passages fast; stayed out all night; rode the freight trains back and forth from Salinas to Monterey; drank alcohol; got into fights; stole a cool chute; thus suggesting violation of parental and society rules, being provocative and stubborn. These patterns of disobedience, negativistic and provocative opposition to authority figures are associated with an oppositional disorder diagnosis. However, the bad Cal borrowed $5000 from mother Kate, to start the bean business. Cal went into business to earn money to pay his father for all the money he lost shipping lettuce to New York. The bad Cal earned over $5000. He worked extremely hard in the fields, as a day laborer, for that money. He paid back his mother Kate with interest along with attempting to gift his father the money he lost. The bad Cal had his bags packed and ready to wander. At the end of the film, Cal moved his chair close to his stroke stricken father. Note, Cal’s ambivalence toward his father. He exemplified both hate and at the end “love. “Also, the only consequence for Cal’s oppositional actions were his father’s disapproval. That disapproval did not change Cal’s behavior.

We found out that Kate left Adam and their two sons because he was too controlling, too restricting, and too possessive and preached the Bible. In leaving, Kate shot and wounded Adam. She said she could’ve killed him but didn’t. The moral Adam lied to his children and told them she died.  The self-righteous Adam read the Bible every day, and believed that making money because of the war was evil. However, Adam worked in the recruiting office processing the young to go off to war and die. What is wrong with this picture? Adam’s values were what?

During one scene, Aron was attempting to defend his father’s friend a German shoemaker. An anxious town crowd began scapegoating their neighbor. Earlier, the town had banners, parades and a carnival like atmosphere with the United States involvement in World War I. Going to war was celebrated. What an illusion and delusion.  Reality set in when word of sons dying in trenches and being prisoners of war. The scapegoating was convenient. Don’t blame Woodrow Wilson, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, or the leaders of France, Russia, Britain, Germany, Austria Hungry, or Italy. It’s so much easy to pick on and find the weak and defenseless. Mob rule is irrational as it is to scapegoat. As if this German American shoemaker was responsible for the war.

With this boisterous crowd, the bad Cal jumped in, started rescuing his brother and wound up fighting. After a short brawl, Burl Ives, the sheriff intervened. The good Aron didn’t thank Cal but instead focused on Cal’s innocent involvement with Abra. In response, Cal hit Aron and pummeled him numerous times and then ran off to the bar in solitude.

Cal found out about his mother and why she left Adam. Out of his jealousy and hate, after Adam rejected Cal’s gift of money, Cal quickly took Adam to his mother and her business. This fact exposed the father not telling his sons why their mother left him. He told his boys she died. Confronted with the reality of his mother, Aron got drunk, got beat up and enlisted in the Army. When Adam was also confronted with his son’s reality, he became bedridden with a stroke.

Abra was Aron’s fiancé but was attracted to Cal.  She told Cal that Aron was unemotional and doubted his love. She added that his words seemed only as words and difficult to believe and trust. Abra convinced a paralyzed Adam to engage, reach out and demonstrate “love” to Cal. Up to that point, Cal had his bags packed and ready to wander and never be seen again. However, Adam listened to Abra and he whispered into Cal’s ear that he wanted that nurse fired and for Cal to take care of him. The film ended with Cal moving a chair close and near his father’s bed.

This great novel depicted life about 100 years ago and retold in film about 60 years ago. James Dean played an ambivalent, alienated and rebellious young man who loved and hated his father. His searching for his lost mother along with the sibling rivalry for their father’s approval, affection and love continue to be remain relevant psychological issues within families today.

There are many White alienated young associated with hate groups. These hate group’s scapegoat, become part of the mob and attack easy prey. Hate, guns and emotional disturbance means mental illness. As Gandhi stated “An eye for an eye will only make the world blind” and “It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” These alienated are emotionally empty and dead inside. In order to compensate for their hate and inner deadness, they choose the idol of white supremacy. They make it absolute and totally submit to it. In doing so, they find excitement in the submission to this chosen idol. However, this excitement does not stem from Joy and productive relatedness. The intense hate is built upon their inner deadness, lack of direction and insecurity.

In summary, Cal was bright although narcissistic, immature, rebellious, impulsive, oppositional and emotionally unattached and numb. He was also driven by impulses that at times dominated his executive ego and superego or conscience functions. He was not alienated because of his being a farmer’s son but, for the most part, because of being abandoned by his mother and scapegoated as the bad son. He badly wanted his father’s approval. He was directionless, had poor parenting and acted out his emotional conflicts. Aron, on the surface, was the good son. Being good and compliant, he received his father’s praise and recognition. With the narcissistic injury, his character was revealed. He was confronted with his alive mother. Aron displaced his anger against self and others   with directed hate. He got drunk, got into fights, put his head through a train window and enlisted in the service. Now, he could kill Germans, become a prisoner and/or die. Where was his executive functioning ego and conscience?  He was engaged? Engaged with what? The Bible reading Adam was emotionally shallow with his dysfunctional family. Instead of taking responsibility for his failed marriage, he blamed his son and directed his passive aggressiveness towards Cal. This Bible reading hypocrite lied to his children and processed people going off to war. He was wounded narcissistically, when he reached the train station and saw his son smashing the train window and going off to war. He was no longer in control and not able to “protect” his son from the truth. This emotional conflict resulted in him becoming partially paralyzed with stroke. Kate, was wounded narcissistically, as she aged. She was no longer beautiful but financially well-off yet alone and being labeled by the jealous, the town pariah. What a troubled family. Although agnostic and intellectual, the well-educated Steinbeck was versed in religious teachings, philosophy, history and man’s social, economic, political plight as well as man’s failings. Epicurus stated “The greatest reward of righteousness is peace of mind.”

PS

In a previous life, I taught English at a junior high school in Oak Park. For one assignment, I had my students read Steinbeck’s novella “The Red Pony.”

Reference

Fromm, Erich. Marx’s Concept of Man, Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, New York.