Dynamics of Nationalism Part 2

A sense of identity eventually merges. Initially, the identification and imitation of parental figures are incorporated. The language, beliefs, punishments and behaviors of parents are noted along with their rules, emotions, and contradictions. Good, bad and how people are treated are learned. Teachers, religious leaders, sports figures, movie stars, entertainers, etc. also begin to become part of the individual’s fragile sense of identity. Later on, identity becomes clearer based on potential love objects, social groups, achievement and accomplishments in academic and vocational arenas, membership in religious and political groups, participation in college and professional sports teams, country, etc. Through formal and Informal education, the person begins to learn more about love from the great teachers of man. From Ikhnaton, Moses, Confucius, Lao-tse, Buddha, Socrates, and Jesus to name a few. The introduction to the learnings of the philosophers from Europe become embedded consciously or unconsciously. For instance, Machiavelli wrote about employing fear and love to control the populace. However, he added that fear was a stronger technique and more dependable than love. Hobbes, the British philosopher, believed that because of man’s conflicts and frailties, man would submit, and give over control to a sovereign or the state, which would be geared to protect the individual from attack. In other words, fear was the strongest motive. And then there was Spinoza. He believed there was an unconscious motivation that existed in man. He also wrote “but if the greedy person thinks only of money and possessions, the ambitious one only of fame, one does not think of them as being insane, but only as annoying; generally one has contempt for them. But factually greediness, ambition, and so forth are forms of insanity, although usually one does not think of them as illness.” Currently, we have a political divide that was exacerbated by the May 7 zero tolerance policy. This policy resulted in young children being separated from their parents and placed in chain-link areas all over the country. Politically, we were told that these brown skinned people were illegal and associated with disease, rape, homicide and gang related behavior regardless or irrespective of age. Then we witnessed a video of crying children in their cages. One TV station and its various representatives of this man-made policy talked about the strict rule of law with its narrow right and wrong interpretation regarding the immigration madness or mess. However, this was expressed as if there was a concealment of truth as well as an absence of emotional, conscience, moral, ethical behavior, brotherhood of men, religious teachings and critical inductive and deductive reasoning. Instead, there was a blind obedience to this policy based on nationalism or populism, which means hatred and demonization toward nonwhite skinned minorities, love of the strong, disgust toward the poor weakly masses of insignificant strangers. Moreover, we have been told that the other is lazy, shiftless, ignorant, less intelligent and inferior. They don’t deserve legalization, minimum wage, food stamps, health insurance, affirmative action or government, assisted housing. In fact, it’s admirable that Doug McMillion, Walmart’s CEO earned $22.2 million in 2017. The median salaried employee at that company would have to work more than 1000 years to match that income [New York Times, May 27, 2018]. More To Follow

Dynamics of Nationalism

Psychologically, when going from intrauterine to extra uterine or birth, the baby begins life emotionally vulnerable and sensitive to pain, dependent, fearful and helpless. It doesn’t have perception, cannot feed itself; and relies on the mother or caretaker for feeding, diapering and its existence. Within its development, the infant evolves from primary narcissism and begins to recognize outside objects, reacts with emotion, becomes able to grasp things, coordinate movements and then locomote or walk. Secondary narcissism begins as a child starts to recognize the importance of the other. The rudimentary basis for love has now been established. At the cognitive level, primary process thinking evolves into secondary process thinking as the child develops language, speaks, and learns about things and their function. Jean Piaget viewed cognitive development proceeding through four stages. 1. Sensorimotor 2. Preoperational 3. Concrete Operational and 4. Formal Operational. In the fourth stage, the ability to think abstractly, hypothetically, philosophically, ethically, socially, politically, and employ deductive reasoning emerges. Conscience evolves as the child learns “bad” as a result of parental punishments and threats and “good” as result of parental approval. It behaves as such only when the parent is present. We know that conscience was thought at one time to be a major influence on behavior and that conscience was developmental. Initially, according to Piaget and Kohlberg, a child’s behavior was guided externally by punishment and obedience, and then was based on receiving the approval of others, in order to maintain good relations. Later on, the individual begins internally to employ more rational, beneficial mutuality and utilitarian based behavior. He begins to see a logical and rational necessity for people to cooperate with one another .Appropriate behavior is based more on mutuality, reciprocity and the interests of all. With the capacity to view the world objectively, it can see others within a moral, ethical and humanistic framework. We also know that if the parents had a defective or authoritarian based conscience that was expressed in the manner of excessive rigidity or harshness, then it’s very unlikely that the development of the child’s conscience and moral standards would become mature and reasonable. More To Follow

Anthony Bourdain Part 3

Man is irrational and has need structures. He has a need for abasement and exhibits masochistic behaviors. Additionally, pugnacity, repulsion, fear, disgust, anger, and negative self-feelings accompany behavior. We have wars, and we have men sending off mother’s sons to injury or death. The military is advertised as seeing the world; adventure; having teamwork; and being all that you can be. However, the injury and suicide rate of returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are significant. Yes, the environment and living conditions play a major role with one’s emotional state of being. We cannot discount the effects of the battle conditions and its effect on the emotional toll on these men. They experience closeness and bond with each other, and then find bits and pieces of their brothers bodies scattered. It’s no wonder that PTSD is a common diagnosis for returning vets. Let’s take someone who prefers suicide or assisted suicide. This person wants to end his life for any number of reasons. Emotionally, the ending of life is consonant with suicide. Once that decision is made, the person is unlikely to be open to revoking that position. No amount of persuasion or logic will make a change. When the person wants to die, the present becomes less pleasurable; his future looks bleak; and he is unable to contemplate growth, optimism and change. Anthony Bourdain was not afraid to die. He achieved fame through his cooking, was a famous TV personality, had a popular TV show and was well rewarded economically. Likely, he had a support system and resources to receive help. Although Bourdain had many ways to end his life, he chose a painful death. His emotional misery from depression was so pronounced that he was unable to think clearly and figure out a more satisfactory solution. He believed that he was banging his head against an unsurmountable barrier that he was unable to cross or penetrate. His belief in the future was void of significant or meaningful goals. His awards and attainments were simply symbolic realizations at best. These achievements did not adequately substitute or protect Boudain from depression. Instead, in his depression, he exhibited angry and aggressive impulses inward against self. He contemplated and fantasized about suicide, developed a plan and carried it through. Was it a rational, heroic, intelligent or a destructive act for him? One would have to be in Anthony’s shoes to perhaps more fully understand his thinking and all the elements or components within his life space at that particular moment of time .One could agree or disagree about his act being logical, sensible or violent. However, remember, a suicide gesture and behavior is always based on the perception of the beholder and is within man’s fragile will. PS Per the June 25, 2018 edition of Time, a quote by Graham Greene in his autobiography, Ways of Escape,” sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear, which is inherent to the human condition” had special meaning for Anthony Bourdain as he had a copy of this book on his nightstand. I’ll wager that by reading Greene’s autobiography additional clues will surface as Bourdain likely identified with this brilliant writer. According to Wikipedia, Greene’s book describes “his struggle to stave off terminal boredom rather than merely have a good time. Sometimes mildly heroic, often seedy with those stories of his life, he described his lifelong ennui, his frequent bouts of depression and his endless search for meaning in life he often appears to view as meaningless….. Impression that the author lived a very interesting and varied life, but not a happy one.”

Anthony Bourdain Part 2

We all know that emotion accompanies behavior since man is a thinking, perceiving, sensing, moving and an emotional Homo sapiens. We also know that man is irrational and does not always behave based on his interests. In Leon Festinger’s theory of Cognitive Dissonance, he believed that a discrepancy was an important condition for relevant motivation. Simply put, dissonance gives rise to a tension state, which is unpleasant and motivational. Then the individual will be oriented to reducing or eliminating the dissonance or unpleasant tension. And successful reduction of tension would be rewarding. Dissonance arises in the presence of information, bits of knowledge pertaining to self or others. It can be present or implied. It can be a thought, expectation, attitude, opinion or perception. Importantly, it can be an idea that has a significant emotional meaning pertinent to our perception of ourselves or belief system. That being the case, we’re open to like information and closed or discount ideas of opposition. Let’s take the belief that the earth is 6000 years old or such. In that view, man lived with the dinosaurs, sabretooth tigers, etc. If, that’s the case, we neither want to hear that the earth is 3.8 billion years old and was not formed in seven days, nor that the evolution of Homo sapiens, appeared about 70,000 years ago. We would more likely not read the scientific or biological journals relating to man’s origins, nor would we seek out lectures, movies or documentaries to that effect. If someone attempted to influence us with a different point of view, we would likely become angry. We would call it “fake news.” It would be a threat, dissonance, to our belief system. On the other hand, we would likely visit, a theme entertainment park based on the Old Testament stories with Adam and Eve, mastodons, and other prehistoric animals. That behavior would be consonant with our belief system. And yes, we can be illogical, irrational and employ denial because we are Homo sapiens. A more recent example of how man’s bias resulted in self-defeating behavior was found in a May 27, 2018 article in The New York Times. Briefly, a recent experiment demonstrated just that. Subjects were given a task to identify figures that had different shapes. Then, the participants received feedback as to whether their answers were right or wrong. These participants then observed the answers of four other co-players who were completing the same tasks. The participants were also asked whether they agreed or disagreed with a number of political statements such as “building a wall along the southern border would reduce illegal immigration.” The participants also observed the responses by 4 other co-players. To make the most money, the participants could learn from the co-player who best demonstrated the ability to identify the various shapes, regardless of political view. Unfortunately, the participants chose to agree with those co-players that matched their own views, regardless of their failure rate on the shapes. In essence, the participants lost money because they agreed with the politically like-minded co-players. They could’ve made more money by partnering up with those co-players that excelled at the task. The participants simply trusted like-minded individuals, or simply put, that resulted in an absence of dissonance. Politically, a contrary political view created dissonace to their belief system regardless of an opportunity to earn money. The dissonance resulted in a non-logical and rational decision. The tension or anxiety was stronger and interfered with smart decision-making. More to Follow

Anthony Bourdain

For the past few weeks I’ve had discussions with my friend Paul about the recent suicide of Anthony Bourdain .Paul and his wife Karen had this wonderful perception of Mr. Bourdain. They perceived him as being famous, worldly, engaging, wealthy, and a wonderful connoisseur and spokesman for superb tasting foods. And the fact that he traveled all over the world breaking bread with the natives about wine, food, and food preparation. In fact, he even got paid well to engage in this activity .Paul simply cannot understand this most personal and conscious act by Bourdain, in that it was not rational decision. Paul, being born and schooled in Athens Greece was no doubt versed and familiar with the writings of the famous Greek philosophers Aristotle, Plato and Socrates. These philosophers believed that knowledge, rationality, and the search for truth played a major role in virtuous conduct or right or wrong behavior. Further, that virtue through knowledge and rationality could control the passions. This meant that the mental aspect was superior to the sins of the flesh. And Aristotle believed that the highest aspect of human life was the pursuit of happiness, which was achieved through reason. Later on, Arthur Schopenhauer wrote about the evilness of impulses. He believed that impulses actually don’t bring pleasure, but instead result in pain. Not only that, but impulse gratification leads to satiation but not happiness. I am reminded of an exercise that I participated in one of my graduate classes held by Jacob Kounin. Briefly, Dr. Kounin drew a figure of a cat on the chalkboard and we were told to do the same, until he asked us to stop. This exercise demonstrated an example of satiation. Starting out, the drawn figure of the cat looked similar to the Professors. After minutes, the drawing errors mounted and the cat’s disfigurement developed more and more so. At the conclusion of the task, the cat drawings were placed randomly on the page. In essence, satiation took over, going from a positive valence, to a negative valence. Perhaps, if one ate a particular and favorite food [positive valence] three times a day, eventually, one would prefer something else as the food item would change from a positive to a negative valence. Sex would be another example. More to Follow

Too Many Suicides Part 3

All of us, have had mothers primarily responsible for our upbringing. And men have been largely responsible for sending sons off to war. Suicide is not legal in most states, regardless of one’s mental or physical condition. Jack Kevorkian was a pathologist in Michigan my home state. He assisted approximately 130 patients to end their life on their own terms. Government interfering in that most personal decision did not make any sense to me. In fact, the medical board in Michigan revoked his license; and he was found guilty of second-degree murder, despite the fact that Michigan had no law against assisted suicide. This was a miscarriage of justice. The right to life slogan is just a slogan and means what? Wars don’t count, do they? Our government protects Big Pharma and the food industry by not fully warning the consumer of the consequences of use of pesticides, chemicals and other GMO’s that contaminate our food and are used in household products .I would argue that poor physical health{ cancer and obesity associated with these elements} contributes to depression and likely harmful behavior to self. My friend Dr. Jim Steere was awakened while studying in Denmark on a Fulbright scholarship. Denmark with zero population growth had complete medical coverage for its citizens, and they viewed suicide as humane. To quote Jim in “It Has Nothing To Do With Age.” According to Jim, “in Denmark, suicide does not carry criminal charges or have a religious connotation. Jim’s grandfather, California pioneer. committed suicide by ingesting strychnine. In the US, shame and guilt are associated with suicide. It’s not openly discussed and is a crime and therefore punishable. The Danes are both more humanistic and progressive when it comes to depression and mental illness.” Source: Basic Handbook of Child Psychiatry, Disturbances of Development, Joseph D. Noshpitz, Editor

Too Many Suicides Part 2

Suicide and suicide attempts by children, adolescents are troubling with the fact that the first attempt surprises everybody, and as a result, prediction becomes difficult. Suicidal ideation is often a closely held secret. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents and youth in United States. It is been estimated that about 12% of suicide attempts in our country are with adolescents and 90% of these by adolescent girls. Moreover, since 2010 there has been a 70% increase in suicide rate among girls ages 10 to 19. Ingestion of barbiturates, psychotropic drugs, tranquilizers and drugs combined with alcohol are typical. As far as childhood suicide attempts, they appear to be impulsive acts, often motivated by feeling badly treated. And by the desire to punish those who would grieve at their death. Often the child who threatens to kill himself is expressing rage towards parents, usually his mother. Those who do seriously attempt to kill themselves are usually emotionally disturbed with a pathological family situation as a rule with a very sick mother. Parental feelings toward the child include feeling the child was a burden and the child feels that he was expendable. Suicidal children often do not take part in school activities outside the classroom. They may have reading our learning difficulties. The child may also feel that he can no longer tolerate the pain of living and that his adaptive attempts to fill his need come to nothing. Regardless of the concept of death, he views it as a solution to his difficulties. Children suffer depression with behavioral and somatic symptoms as the outward manifestation. Essentially, they want to punish the significant persons in their life. A few statistics regarding suicidal behavior with children and adolescents. For example, 20 percent have a parent who attempted suicide; 40% have a parent, relative or close friend who attempted suicide; 72% have one or both natural parents absent from the home-divorced, separated or deceased; 84% of those with stepparents felt they were contending with being with a not wanting stepparent; 58% of the parents were married more than once; 16% have had serious problems with a current parent due to the parents alcoholism; and family show marked residential mobility. Specifically, an unusual number of school changes, and siblings leaving the home are common findings. To Be Continued