Relieved

Sara Hall, age 36, is a world-class runner married to Ryan Hall a former world-class runner. They reside and train in Flagstaff, Arizona at a 7,000 feet elevation level. The November 3, 2019 article “A Runner Refuses to Stop Racing “in the New York Times highlighted her running ability. This marathon runner limits the time between events. She’ll run a marathon and then run another event within two months.

The article pointed out that other world-class runners like Meb Keflezigi at age 36 ran the New York marathon and 69 days later won the 2012 Olympic trials. Sarah’s short downtime between races has been advocated by her husband- coach. Sarah began this training approach in 2015. For example, she qualified for the US cross-country team and then 13 days later entered a marathon in China but was not happy with her 2:48:02 time. She said “I’m not taking a break.” Since that time she has done very well with this approach. For instance, in 2017 she ran a 2:27:21 Frankfurt Marathon in Germany and then 35 days later ran a 2:28 minute win In the California International Marathon. She said one of her greatest motivations “fearing failure.”

Sara claimed to know how her body recovers.  She will run a competitive marathon and then run a shorter race afterwards. She also includes marathon running workouts in her training. Perhaps this young elite runner has other strategies for protecting her body as well. Sara, per the Nike commercial “Just Do It,” I would add “While You Can.”

About 4 to 6 weeks ago, I developed discomfort in my left knee. After a few days of using ibuprofen, I visited my primary care doctor. Dr. Dan suggested that I continue resting for 10 days and continue using ibuprofen. I told him I wanted an X-ray, an MRI and a referral to Dr. V a sports medicine physician who replaced Linda’s shoulder.

After three or four days, I went on the elliptical, discontinued the ibuprofen and then continued my running again. This time I was more tentative, reduced my running distance and ran primarily on the level street. I did not experience discomfort again and over the past month I slowly increased my running distance. The x-ray was negative and the MRI’s finding suggested that I either damaged my medial meniscus or that damage was from my previous meniscus surgery. I still didn’t know the extent of the knee injury and was looking forward to meeting Dr. V.

I met Dr. V and a resident, on a Friday, I told them that I was running up to 8 miles a day without any pain. Dr. V told me that although I had some arthritis there was very little damage to my meniscus. He said that if I develop a problem later on, he would take care of it. He also said for me to resume what I normally do. The next day, was Saturday, and I ran much more relaxed. It was as if the burden and fear was lifted from my shoulders as I ran faster and walked less.

Sara, in my 60s, I ran 50 milers at Jed Smith on the first week in February and then about five weeks later ran the Way Too Cool 50 k‘s. In my 70s, on January 1, I entered the Resolution Run-a 10 mile trail run. I followed that with either a 50 K Jed Smith event in February or another 50 K called the Folsom Lake at the end of February. This past year I only ran The Resolution Run and the Jed Smith event as a result of a previous overuse injury. This coming year I intend to run the Resolution Run and will then decide where to go from there.

PS

Tony and I talked about the upcoming Resolution Run. He indicated that he might have to run a shorter distance this year. For the last five months or so, he hasn’t been running because he was building his home on Whidbey Island.

Age of Hostility

The article titled “Let’s Wage a War on Loneliness” was timely based on my recent essay that pertained to the denial, fear, and anxiety of being alone. This current article was published in the November 10, 2019 edition of the New York Times. Loneliness is a symptom of an illness in our Republic as we live in an Age of Hostility. We have been at war since 9/11; lead the world in incarceration rates; lead the world in the number of guns per capita; lead the world in number of homicides;  threatened by  terrorist and homeland attacks;  epidemic of opiate related deaths; lead the world in unevenness  of income; have more than 500,000 homeless;  exhibit  unfair employment  opportunities; high rates of   depression and  teen suicide ;  witness verbal and physical  attacks on different  political, religious, ethnic points of view;   continue to deal with the Roe vs Wade craziness; have  increasingly large numbers of hate groups;  have  excessive  social media, cable TV , film and radio  sadistic abuses; view excessive violent commercials and electronic games; use  of aggressive speech like “lock her up” and even the title “Let’s Wage a  War on Loneliness” depicts hate, prejudice, violence and hostility. These are just a few examples of disrespectful language and sadistic behavior exhibited by man toward man in our culture and suggest that the socialization of civility practices have failed.

Although the Existentialist Barrett expertly expressed man’s nature in the following: “the individual is thrust out of the sheltered nest that society has provided. He can no longer hide his nakedness by the old disguises….. He learns that the solitude of the self is an irreducible dimension of human life no matter how completely that self-had seemed to be contained in the social milieu. In the end, he sees each man as solitary and unsheltered before his own death”; it is clear that some are able to form interpersonal relationships better than others despite this reality.

It’s true that culture has a tremendous impact on the motives, goals, ideals and values that affect man’s needs and motives and/ or socialization. It is also clear that by preschool age, psychological differences and characteristics are present and are predictive of future adolescent and adult behavior. For example preschool children have been described as highly active, outgoing, boisterous, independent, explorative, curious, and adventurous. Other preschool children have been described as passive, dependent, shy, aggressive, and withdrawing. We also know that child’s personality, values, attitudes etc. are heavily influenced by parents who reside in that particular culture of hostility.

The need or motive that propels an individual toward other individuals has been described by Murray as the need for Affiliation. In order to have a friend, one “has to be near and enjoyably cooperate or reciprocate with an allied other.” It is clear that one would have to have positive experiences and reinforcements coupled with positive feelings toward another. Further, one has to “please and win affection of a cathected object.” Once again, one has to be able to navigate as well as to approach and avoid certain conflicts. This would take some degree of the development of empathy, care, respect and emotional strength. Also, one has to “adhere and remain loyal to a friend.” This suggests that despite perceived slights or disapproval one has enough ego strength in order to work through various disappointments, lies and injustices. In other words, one has to have important personality characteristics in establishing friends and friendships in an attempt to fulfill the need for union with another. Important personality characteristics are found within the emotional level. Emotions affects all perceptions. No one or the other are perfect. All humans have deficits or flaws. Yet, it is possible, for many, to develop unions despite various emotional limitations, conflicts and non - satisfying encounters.

Unfortunately, there are many physical and verbal violence and attacks on others. This toxic behavior runs rampant in our culture and severely affects the personality development of all individuals. Individuals brought up in this culture, pass characteristics on to their offspring and so forth. No one is immune from the dominance and impact of culture on its citizens. The newspaper article highlighted strategies developed by the current Minister of Loneliness in Great Britain to deal with this condition.

Various programs implemented in Great Britain are based on superficial techniques and not on various emotional needs or causes. They have slogans and campaigns like “Let’s Talk Loneliness.” Also, they provided small grants to local gardening clubs, birdwatching groups and others so they can invite people to join. They also support “friendly benches” which are public benches where people are encouraged to go and chat with one another.

Although these programs are well intended they do not address individual need structures. We can identify individuals at an early age that are likely to be lonely and have fears and anxiety of interacting with others. However our tax monies go to Defense; building a wall; putting immigrants and their children in separate cages; and maybe providing healthcare for our warriors. Just think of all the funding of monies by lobbyists for special interests, for corporations and even to re-elect our politicians. We can have a so called war on drugs but not a war on loneliness. I would reframe and not use the word” war” but instead use the word “alleviate “or” solve. “

It’s not surprising that many individuals fear and avoid others in this Age of Hostility.  Many individuals are sadomasochistic, narcissistic, impulsive, revengeful, prejudiced, mean, disrespectful, defected conscience – with moral limitations, argumentative, defensive, anxious, neurotic, demeaning, not truthful and non-trustworthy. It’s just not safe to be with many individuals that don’t seem to care one bit for another. Withdrawing into self, using drugs are just some of the behaviors that affect the loneliness epidemic. Certainly living in our culture of hostility affects personality development in negative or toxic ways for all concerned. As a result, our Republic is significantly affected. To treat our sick Republic, the necessary medicine required is for an adjustment in the attitude and behavior of its citizens that will result in changing the culture.     

Escaping Isolation

Man enters our Milky Way galaxy alone, small, insignificant with unmet physiological requirements, anxiety or tension levels and unable to survive on his own. This essay pertains to the difficulty of being alone and man’s attempts to escape his isolation. Because of man’s design, such factors  as primary drives, needs, activation levels, reinforcement patterns, expectations and of course anxiety are  a few key components in understanding man’s psychology.

We begin life alone, dependent, helpless and with anxiety and/or tension activation levels. If not for another, we are unable to survive. Our basic physiological drives for food and water are examples. We are unable to meet those requirements, without a caretaker. Beginning in this fragile state, the infant, at first, is not able to associate or discriminate exactly how the anxiety or tension levels are reduced. But with development, he begins to form a cognitive schematic, and begins to associate and develop expectations for a reduction or increase in activation levels of comfort or discomfort. The infant clearly learns  that being alone is associated with anxiety, tension {non pleasure} and non-survival; and being with another can be associated with less anxiety, tension {pleasure} and survival. Erickson refers to the stage as developing a sense of trust versus a sense of mistrust. Consistency and regularity with feeding, diapering, touching, talking to, affectionate responses etc. are important characteristics for the caretaker. Caretaker responses can also be irregular, punishing, rejecting, disparaging attitudes, non-kept promises, inconsistent, rough, loud, withholding, overprotective etc. So, what we have here is conflictual since the baby does not nor ever have the full attention or optimum care provided by the caretaker. As a result, of the many positive and negative reinforcement schedules, a cognitive expectancy or pattern of likely expectations or outcomes becomes developed and engrained in the psyche of the youngster. In other words, he experience positives and negatives within interpersonal interactions. Regardless, all humans develop and require needs - strategies to escape the anxiety produced feelings of isolation, helplessness and rejection.

As a result of man’s isolation vulnerability and anxious state, one manner of escape becomes the need for affiliation. Affiliation, becomes, for the infant a major building block for one’s survival. According to Murray, the need for affiliation is related to enjoyably cooperate or reciprocate with an allied other; please and win affection of another; and to remain loyal to a friend. With separation from the other, the results include the activation of anxiety and tension levels. Of course other psychological needs, and strategy behaviors or defenses are established to combat the requirement for survival too.

Within this context, if the interpersonal interactions become dysfunctional, the individual learns to withdraw, isolate and be unavailable with others resulting in a neurotic adjustment to life; or he learns to be aggressive, sadomasochistic, dominant, exploitative, passive and narcissistic in his establishment for power and prestige with others along with control and possessiveness in his interpersonal interactions. On the other hand, if the interpersonal interactions tend to become pleasurable with anxiety or tension reduction activation levels, the individual learns to experience affection, caring, respect, admiration, nurturance, and support in its interactions with another. Of course, there’s various depth and degrees of expression of these three general behavioral orientations. Obviously there’s no pure form or expression of these three orientations. However, it appears that the orientation to inflict pain on others predominates man’s behavior as evidenced by wars, murder rates, incarceration statistics, criminal justice violations, divorce and social media dialogue. The loving and withdrawing orientations behavior follow in frequency and kind.  Also entering the equation is the positive and/or negative reinforcement behavior of the caretaker or caretakers as well as the many interpersonal life positive and/or negative reinforcement experiences or history that follows. Regardless of one’s experience of negative outcomes, there’s still a push toward another encounter with another with the hope and illusion and expectation for a different outcome. Ones thinking process and behavior can also be considered an escape from loneliness or potential loneliness.

 Denying or distorting, the reality of insignificance, powerlessness, and loneliness prevails. It should be apparent that each individual brings to every interaction or union, an unconscious fear, anxiety or tension of being alone and the imperative need for attachment with another in the quest for survival as evidenced man’s active and/or passive behavior. That unconscious quest for survival is built-in based on our design by the underlying anxiety or tension component that has been exacerbated by the need structure of the individual. Another escape myth is that only “love” or “sex” or attachment to another can resolve this unconscious dilemma or fear. Other escape illusions, compensations and strategies to combat isolation include marriage, children, God, religion, politics, pets and other identifications. Additional escapisms to combat isolation include but not limited to are seeking drugs, using alcohol and food to reduce the anxiety activation levels. In essence, the solitude of life, or man’s nature, is an irreducible dimension of human life regardless of the many defenses, illusions and behaviors employed.

PS

A few other psychological needs generated by anxiety, insecurity and helplessness include but are not limited to  sex, abasement, personal achievement, nurturance, prestige, admiration etc. These additional need factors paint a more complete picture of the nature of Homo sapiens.

Being Healthy

Recently, Paul and I got into a discussion regarding health. Even though he is overweight, he argued that he was healthy based on  recent test results, low blood pressure and conversations with his doctor. I argued that being overweight was associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, senility, depression etc. With this in mind, an October 27, 2019 article in the New York Times “Obesity is a population-size crisis in Western countries-but it’s a problem that may resist population-wide solution “was pertinent to our discussion. This essay focuses on the variables associated with being healthy.

The New York Times article pointed out that obesity was like cancer. Obesity is about biology, behavior, society, and culture which makes research difficult. We know that the same diet affects even identical twins differently. Also, it was pointed out that research regarding red meat and processed meats are controversial. One researcher at the National Institute of Health compared ultra-processed food [accounts for roughly 57% of the American diet] with non-processed foods. Results of this particular study suggested that limited consumption of ultra-processed food may be an effective strategy for obesity, prevention and treatment.

However, there were many criticisms of this particular study that included: it was too short to observe the metabolic and behavioral changes; it was done in a lab compared to field research; and it did not take to account for many other variables like lifestyle. In essence, to do a proper study which takes into account controlling the many variables and using a universal or random population is expensive and not likely to happen unless government funds the research.

I suggest incorporating additional relevant variables and taking a more encompassing and healthy approach than limited to diet alone. Yes, diet is extremely important. However, let’s take a glimpse at how Centenarians approach life. Reaching 100 is a clear cut definition of health. We already know that this group has been studied by a number of researchers. In fact Howard’s book “How to Live to 100 Years Old: 16 Lifestyle Characteristics of the Oldest and Healthiest People in the World” provided one model for evaluating important variables related to longevity. His findings: 1. Have low blood sugar 2. Have low blood pressure 3. Have low blood total cholesterol 4. Keep weight low and steady [BMI from 18.5 to 25] 5. Eat fewer calories 6. Eat mostly vegetarian with coffee and tea 7. Take your vitamins 8. Exercise regularly, be active and stay busy after retirement 9. Don’t smoke or stop smoking if you do 10. Drink less alcohol 11. Get regular restful sleep 12. Have healthy gums 13. Challenge your mind, stay positive in attitude and avoid anxiety and depression 15 Shed those stressors, have daily structure and be resilient 16. Stay socially connected with serenity and a purpose to life.

Let’s face it, all research studies are flawed. They are compromised because no study employed a representative sample of the population. Each study has findings which can be generalized to represent only the particular sample utilized. It’s just too expensive, to select a random sample. We also know, that obesity is related to diet and the likelihood that processed meats are not healthy is just one aspect of being overweight. With that being said, Howard’s research on Centenarians is subject to the same criticism of randomness. However, his research incorporated many parameters of these Centenarians. In his study, healthiness was defined as  being  physically healthy; emotionally healthy; employing healthy habits with discipline and stick- to- it- ness; and surrounding oneself in a healthy community. In essence, the 16 characteristics of the Centenarians seemed reasonable. Even if one employed the 16 characteristics, there is no guarantee of reaching 100 years.

It’s obvious that superlative health can be achieved by some. It’s also obvious, that going on that “magic” diet alone does not solve the present obesity crisis affecting about 40% of the adults and about 19% of the children and adolescents in the United States. Healthiness is based on many factors including what we eat. Reaching 100 is a realistic and measurable definition for being healthy.  My ride and  tie, endurance and running friend Paul has made a good start, has lost weight, but, according to Howard’s research, has more choices to make regarding his health.

Hate Speech

The October 6, 2019 article “Free Speech Is Killing Us” found in the New York Times was certainly relevant. This article addressed noxious speech found on social media and the ineffective stance taken by the media giants and the politicians regarding limits. Numerous examples of physical violence and murder were given that recently took place in our country as well as the 1993 -1994 genocide in Rwanda were cited. Should our government and social media platforms be held accountable for allowing the spreading of false, hateful and noxious speech?

Some might say that free speech is protected by our First Amendment. Others might say that the First Amendment does not apply to private companies; and the Constitution does not guarantee it to them. Others might say that not all free speech is protected such as 1. Libel 2. Incitement to violence and 3. Child pornography. Further, what about noxious speech that drives a woman out of her workplace; rhetoric that correlates with hate crimes; speech that bullies a teenager into committing suicide; or words that influences democracy in the direction of totalitarianism?

Others point to the 14^th amendment which guarantees full citizenship and equal protection to all Americans including those who are harmed by hate speech? Do you protect just the hater or the distributor of noxious incitement and not protect the victim or victims of such derogatory behavior? The Christchurch gunmen for example wrote a number of negative posts and indicated on one “that it was now time to make a real-life effort post.” He murdered 52 people.

Make no but doubt about it, hate and noxious speech can be defined. Alex Jones and Milo Yiannopoulos have been barred from all major social media platforms. There are plenty of inappropriate hateful online posts that come from a variety of sites in and out of our country. The government’s responsibility is to protect its people. Protect the people now. Do your job.

There are many variables that result in causing one individual to hurt another. Let’s not use a parataxic mode of thinking and believing the power of one post and its resultant causing someone to kill another. However, it’s true that “sticks and stones can break one’s bones.” However it’s not true “that names will never hurt me.” It’s also true that “hate can evoke feelings of animosity, anger or resentment which can be directed against certain individuals groups or entities.” Hate also is associated with violent antipathy. The unpleasant emotion and behavior of hate (revenge}, and if it’s a character trait, is a real threat to our political process, our Republic, and to our well-being. There’s too much sadomasochistic behavior {the tendency to derive pleasure, from inflicting pain, suffering or humiliation on others} present on social media from known and unknown sources. Let’s come together to protect the recipients of hateful rhetoric that’s all too common in social media. Protecting recipients from unhealthy words affect well-being. Protection is not only constitutional but it’s also one of the 10 commandments “thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” I thought this country was founded on Judeo-Christian values. Am I naïve?

Effectance Motivation

Originally, Alfred Adler was part of Freud’s inner circle. Dr. Adler broke from Freud and with his theory he placed more emphasis on the ego and the dynamics of social interaction. Dr. Adler, in doing so, developed his own school of individual psychology. Adler wrote about family interactions as well as the development for potentially good behavior like affiliation, nurturance, empathy as well as the potential for bad outcomes like sadomasochism.  This essay incorporated only three of his pertinent motivational concepts- Striving  for Superiority, Style  of Life  and Social Interest while explaining aspects of my behavior.

Striving for Superiority, was viewed by Adler, as either imaginary or real. It emerged in order to compensate for either some bodily weakness or some sense of emotional inferiority or insecurity. He hypothesized that all newborns enter the world tiny, weak, helpless, and dependent on the caretaker for survival. To him this meant that all newborns begin life with a generalized view of inferiority or anxiety. As a result, the innate psychic task was in place to compensate for this weakness. It did so by striving for superiority or mastery in order to overcome this deficit to develop one’s personality in attaining possible completion.

As a young child, I received a medical diagnosis of asthma. This diagnosis explained my difficulty with breathing. I was cautioned not to exert myself physically. I was also not allowed to leave the house when the air quality was bad. This deficit was real. Eventually, I compensated and overcame my breathing difficulty and physical weakness by engaging in PE and in pickup games of basketball, baseball and football during my later elementary and junior high school years. In order to become physically stronger, I lifted free weights. In fact, I became a lot stronger and had my brother and friends hand me the barbell for bench presses. It took a lot of them to pick up and hand me 350 pounds so that I could bench press. I also performed 30 chin-ups within a minute as well as 60 push-ups within a minute.

As an adolescent, I played football for the Denby Tars which was one of the or the dominant high school team in the city of Detroit. I earned honors and was awarded a football scholarship to play for the University of Detroit Titans. I pushed myself physically and athletically to control and dominate those one-on-one battles during practice and in the games. This could be explained as a striving for superiority, excellence and effectance. Of course, expending tremendous amounts of psychic and physical energy, having a myopic purpose, with realistic goal setting were important and necessary at that time.

Years later, in my late 30s, I began running and also became involved in the horse world. In my 50s, I discovered a sport called Ride and Tie. This sport combined having a human and horse partner. In this sport, I met world-class equestrians-winners in Tevis and Polo competitions and world-class runners-winners in Western States 100 and other nationally sanctioned races.  I also wore my Tevis completion buckle. Once again, expending tremendous energy, dealing with overuse injuries, having a singular focus and realistic goal setting were necessary.

Striving for Superiority  became, in  certain respects, my own particular Style  of Life  as I spent a great deal of time and energy physically conditioning that included  running 50 miles a week on average and riding my horses 50 miles a week on average  so that I could compete in the many running events [age division winner in the 100 Western  States ], endurance competitions and ride and tie [coming in first place in the 100  mile Swanton Pacific  Ride and Tie with my partners]. I ran so I could compete in ride and tie. I competed in endurance rides so my horses would be ready for Ride and Tie. Ride and Tie was my passion, my Striving for Superiority, and my favorite sport. In essence, I incorporated ride and tie behaviors which became my Style of Life.

Social Interest for Adler meant focusing on social welfare – doing well and thinking about mankind in socialized ways instead of self-serving or narcissistic interests. It’s not about fame, leadership, power, self-aggrandizement or political ambitions Once again it’s a matter of using a real or imaginary weakness or deficit as a striving compensation for behavior.

 Returning to the past and school years. At one high school reunion, a longtime friend from elementary school and a high school class officer, told me she remembered me as being really smart. My personification during junior high and high school years were sports and girls. They were certainly more important than academics. Not being motivated in high school academically, I developed an ambivalent attitude about school learning. That negative attitude was a psychic weakness and my drive to overcome for compensation.

It wasn’t until my University years that I got turned on and became passionate about the field of psychology. My Striving for Superiority took that direction in my 20s and 30s as I achieved a BS; two MA’s and a PhD. In part for Social Welfare and giving back, I taught kids, adults, and college students in both the public school, community college and at the University. I practiced psychotherapy with kids, adults and families. I performed research on the ego development of pregnant teens and presented my research findings to a National Psychological Association.

While in “formal” retirement, I wrote two books regarding the motivations of college and professional football athletes and older athletes participating in extreme sports and presented my insights to numerous groups. My Social Interest centers on reading, writing and educating on various health topics. Striving for Superiority ,Style of Life and Social Interest are related to both my emotional and physical well-being. Thank you Dr. Adler for enlightening me to your insights regarding a motivational model for man. For depth, consult: Adler, A. Understanding Life: An Introduction to the Psychology of Alfred Adler.

PS

While  beginning  my eighth decade,  I still run 50 K’s and am considering co- producing a full-length film on racism and sports with my good friend. Adler would call this Fictional Finalism. Is this quest, a striving ideal or a fiction?

Man's Emotional State

It is known that factors affecting security, anxiety and life are forces of nature; realities regarding the frailty of the human body; and the irrational aspects of society.  it can be debated whether or not the advancement of society has contributed to reducing or increasing man’s anxiety which this essay addresses. It’s apparent that there have been tremendous intellectual and technical advances made within the last century. However, it can also be argued that man’s emotional development, based on behavior, has remained in the Stone Age.

Man has been somewhat successful in dealing with nature such as “knowing” the path of hurricanes with its algorithms statistics . Also, we now have apps that inform us regarding the location of fire. In fact, if we lose energy or electricity, we can purchase a generator to alleviate the disruption of our routines. We might even be able to   purchase homeowners insurance that covers earthquakes, flood damage, fire etc. We also can go green by purchasing solar, electric cars etc. However, global warming affects us currently; and the destruction of our planet are predictions for our future. This threat clearly raises the anxiety level of many Homo sapiens despite current feeble political attempts for combating this potential catastrophic problem. With all the “warning” devices, reminded me of the study by Joseph Brady in the 50s. Simply, one group of monkeys were provided with continuous regular scheduled electrical shocks and another group of monkeys learned they could press a lever to avoid the shock. The monkeys with the control [pressing a lever] developed more ulcers than the other group. Better not be a monkey.

Regarding aging, there have been wonderful medical advances including diagnosis, medication, prevention and rehabilitation. Some societies have actually increased the lifespan of their inhabitants. However, other societies, subgroups, and others have done harm to their bodies and in the process shortened their lifespan. Despite all the information regarding health, health plan insurance, diets, food plans, health clubs,  pools and apps that measure physical activity, many people do not do well as evidenced by obesity, various medical  illnesses, alcohol and drug or opioid abuse and the dramatic increase in  homicide and suicide rates. In other words, despite intellectual advancement, man’s emotional, rational thinking and objectivity remain barriers .He prevents optimal living by not taking better care of his body.  For instance, food consumption often serves as a medicinal way of filling emotional needs and voids. The everyday reality is troublesome {anxiety} and that interferes with rational choice as evidenced by mortality statistics. Instead man employs too many every day illusions and rationalizations for effective living

Society and its political divide have created more difficulties. Within the 20th century we had totalitarian regimes and world wars. Democracy came to the rescue during that time. There were a number of reasons for the rise of totalitarian regimes that included, but not limited to an economic depression; humiliation and promises of revenge for a World War I defeat; a character structure that had a deep respect for order, obedience, dependence, suggestibility and authority; persuasive, exploitive, sadistic political figures with their seductive promises and lies of nationalistic strength and ridding society of its others and undesirables. The anxiety, feelings of helplessness and powerlessness factored in and resulted in submission and dependence on a leader that was going to rescue the day. Thus, feelings of anxiety, helplessness, insignificance and inability to control one’s life were psychological factors of the day.

Today, although we are not engaged in a world war, we’ve been at battle in the Middle East since 2001. Like yesterday, we have another current enemy that have been called terrorists, Isis, Iran, Hezbollah, Syria etc. In fact we have been involved in regime change, use of military, tax dollars, and diplomacy to fix that situation. Yet somehow, it can be argued that the powerful have perpetuated these wars to protect their interests-oil and the military-industrial complex with the result of continued stress.

Yesterday, Jews, people of color, LGBT, Gypsies and others were hated and scapegoated and blamed for economic hard times. Today, hate crimes against Jews, immigrants, and Muslims dominate statistically; people of color are also discriminated against; homeless, and refugees leaving their homelands continue to make the news. Walls, refugee camps, National Guard, sadistic remarks, chain-link detention centers etc. are discriminatory strategies to protect. I’m not sure what we’re protecting, but we are scapegoating all the “undesirables” and perpetuating hatred.

Yesterday, we had the great depression and economic hardship. Today, we have the record for the greatest income inequality; loss of manufacturing jobs; trade wars, increasing automation; record numbers of homeless, inadequate minimum wage and absence of benefits affecting many in our society. Yesterday, a high school graduate earned decent wages .Today college debt and being overqualified seem to be the norm. With less worker unions, wage earners have meager protection against the giant corporations with feelings of insignificance and powerlessness.

Yesterday, one had to cower under their school desk, head to the school basement, lineup orderly to walk outside to deal with the threat of fire and nuclear annihilation. Today, the teacher might go to the target range; lock the classroom door; teach her students about hiding places and report suspicious activity among fellow students. Get a gun to protect yourself. Gun violence in schools is one current threat for pupils of the day.

Yesterday, we had the radio and television. Today we have electronics and social media dependence. Don’t leave home without your smart cell phone, iPod, navigation device etc. Not  only are we more dependent on these devices, we are at the mercy of the hacking by some government or individual to take our money, manipulate  our grid, interfere with the  transportation network , mess up our satellites, and raise havoc with our military. This is all scary stuff.

It’s clear to me, that psychologically, anxiety, fears, insignificance, meaning, dependence and submission remain significant today. With that being said, it’s no wonder that narcissistic self-serving, Elmer Gantry type histrionic individuals continue to remain a threat. The Pied Piper of today, like yesterday, has had little difficulty fooling and deceiving his flock based on their unresolved needs. They continue to go along with the program regardless of intelligence, rationality or morality. The faithful remain. Anxiety is one major variable or cause. Man’s cruelness toward man perpetuated by anxiety driven behavior continues regardless of century. The pursuit of security, peace, and happiness continue to be illusions for the masses. Anxiety, worry and fear are still present regardless of the present form of democracy and capitalism.