Nihilism

 

Philosophically and psychologically there is a relationship between nihilism and authoritarianism.Nihilism and authoritarianism are related in the sense that man's common meanings, morals, rules, laws, values and ideas become blurred and irrelevant. Man is irrational; manipulated within a capitalistic network: subservient to technology,mass communication,propaganda, advertising and  with conformity. These salient factors  and circumstances are connected resulting in a number of lost, unaware, bewildered and alienated individuals. The authoritarians system structure provides a false sense of certainty, security, safety ,protection, regularity and power that, in essence, depletes individual responsibility, objectivity and reason but not man's total submission and obedience.

Nihilistic authoritarianism is defined as pursuing power for its own sake, rather than serving a higher ethical purpose, political or religious ideal.And, this systemic nihilistic  authoritarianism distorts reality and truth because it can.

This  Mega movement has made a mockery and nihilistic statement with respect to the US constitution, Congress, Declaration of Independence, rule of law, free press, science, public health, foreign aid and NATO.

A few New York Times articles from the September 27th, 2026 edition provide salient illustrations:  1.”  How Congress Fell Apart  From an Inside Account From Lawmakers of Both Parties  About How America’s Legislative Branch Descended Into Total Dysfunction.”  This article stated that congressional dysfunction began before Trump.  However, the GOP belongs to Trump.  And if a bill or legislation is in Trump's interest or priority, then the bill  gets passed. Further, Trump doesn’t look to Congress to lead or set limits and acts subservient and irrelevant.

2.  “White House Blocks CNN From Covering Trump’s Trip to Tennessee .”Trump argued that he was banning media from the White House.  “Fake news should not be allowed in the White House!!!  It has gone on too far, too long.”  In response, other news organizations adjusted their coverage of the

White House to show their solidarity.  That was followed when a federal judge ordered the White House to restore the journalists credentials immediately.

3.” Quitting Prosecutor Felt Pressure to File Charges.”  The former head prosecutor in a high profile Trump administration case against anti-ice protesters retired last week and accused Chicago’s US attorney of pushing unwarranted felony charges.  And this resignation escalates the turmoil inside the US attorney’s office in Chicago where a wave of veteran prosecutors have quit or what some of them believed to be pressure to charge certain cases . For example, the current US attorney overruled the former prosecutor and threatened her with discipline or termination if she tried to intervene and defend herself against misconduct allegations.  

That current US attorney personally ordered an expedited transcript of the failed grand jury session and directed that it be circulated among office leadership.  Essentially this man’s tenure as Chicago’s top federal prosecutor has been marred by controversies and criticism.  All seven sections of the office -the criminal division , and many successors and deputies have left . Is the law  blind  ?

4.  “Zombified” CDC Strains To Meet Scientific Mission   Independence  Crumbles in Kennedy's Grip as Work Force Contracts by 30%. For many years.  CDC and prevention was at the the top with  global leaders in public health , scientists there  trained health officials worldwide, and  for the  states it was a primary source of guidance for prevention and treatment of diseases including diabetes, HIV and seasonal flu.  Now, the CDC is a skeleton of the powerhouse it once was.

Interviews with more than 30 current and former employees explained that the agency was now controlled by Kennedy  Jr. and his  political non-trained nor qualified associates.  The  remaining scientists  are finding it difficult to do their jobs effectively. This results in the lack of CDC’s ability to respond to outbreaks such as measles, ebola  and vaccinations.  Also entire divisions have been duly affected, including some teams that work on smoking, sexual violence, child abuse and falls among older adults.

There’s also a leadership vacuum as only one of the 11 center directors from before remains at the agency  despite a series of high-profile disease outbreaks .Also, CDC workers have had little contact with the WHO,  Congress and even their partners in the state and local health departments.  Further statements to the media about the health crisis are also tightly controlled by HHS.

On the very first day of Trump's second term, he withdrew the country from the WHO and his administration has upended the nation’s health policies and aligned them with his political priorities.  Also, there’s been a whole host of political interference in CDC’s activities.  One example was when Kennedy  Jr. overruled the CDC’s scientist in opposing strict quarantine measures for people exposed to the hantavirus.

Many divisions are struggling to distribute money appropriated by Congress and have been saddled with asking for volunteers from other offices to help the Division of Population Health which lost 88% of its staff.

The agency’s dysfunction is alarming. Public health experts, even outside the country  who had previously relied on CDC's experience or expertise during the global crisis, believe we are less prepared now and less capable of having a coordinated response than we were before the pandemic.

CDC’s public health infrastructure grant helps health departments train employees and build systems that were managed by 20 project officers but it now has three.   “You are doing your job , your boss's job who left you and also have three staff people  left under you,.... No one has a spare capacity to help out something that’s not in their field.”

Nihilistic authoritarianism clearly exhibits a willingness to dismiss and destroy democracy ,constitution and the Bill of Rights while establishing absolute control over its citizens.  We the people; pursuit of happiness; rule of law; free press and the health of its people are values that are considered absurd and have no  meaning , purpose .without objective truth , morality  and  just don't matter. Instead, their agenda is about their narcissistic power, control and obedience .

Our current nihilistic authoritarian president’ s wealth has increased by at least $2.2 billion since 2025 while being in office suggesting  his avarice pursuits . It’s  his economic greed  pertaining to nihilism and associated with his neurotic  pursuit of power and illustrates this man’s overwhelming malignant narcissism. However, this emotionally bankrupt man remains unsatisfied and unable to find contentment here on earth .

Trust Part 2

 To reiterate, the “mothering person” (  voice,touch,facial expression ) can be characterized as loving, caring, warm  or insecure, rigid, controlling, angry, anxious, inadequate and/or incestuous. Not surprising, the child is looking for  nurturance, protection, comfort,security ,safety, and love . Taking into account being suckled, as an example,did the feeding  engagement contribute to developing  and become associated with a sense of trust( a good mother) or a sense of mistrust ( a bad mother)?  An/ or , did the “good” mothering person leave and become absent for any number of reasons and then become the “bad “, by introjection, the untrusting  mother to fear and become associated with feelings of   hunger, frustration, insecurity , tension, anxiety, uneasiness , anger, loss and mistrust ? 

With a bad mother ,the child’s emotional  experience of hunger, fear,threat and danger  becomes unconsciously projected,  as a reality , of a dangerous  world . If so, it results in   a fixation of the child’s emotional development  .

When there is the  loss of a” good “mother, the child first encounters feelings of  acute distress and then followed by a  feeling of despair  and subsequently a stage of  emotional detachment.  And , with more losses of mother figures, it gradually begins to lose trust in other human beings . As a defense , the child withdraws and assumes an attitude of indifference toward further human contact.

With a sense of mistrust , begins the development of paranoid , delusional and persecutory  thinking .Paranoid   thinking is defensive, irrational  and rigid. This defense  offers some solutions for a person’s anxiety ,fear, insecurity, discomfort  and distress as the world is perceived as dangerous, threatening and attacking . And because  these children are easily frightened ,experience ongoing frustration,  they are easily given to rage .

Paranoid thinking is a projection and a distortion of reality but does not satisfy the wish for safety, security and love .  Essentially , it’s a mechanism , an orientation  of hyper  vigilance . It’s a prediction of  intention, motives, thoughts and feelings of others made  to be consonant , a confabulation, to fit with one’s distortion of reality . 

It interferes with objectivity and rationality in that it tends to treat impersonal things and events as though they were personal .And  unfortunately, a paranoids  attitude, beliefs , feelings , thoughts and behavior  become less susceptible to correction .These paranoid types rigidly hold onto their crazy ideas and believe in a whole host of extraordinary explanations of events.They are not open to rationality,reason or reality. And, they become easy prey  from other  “ parental” figures falsely promoting power,protection,safety ,caring and love.

Their emotional tensions are transferable and projected to  others in the external world .With paranoid thinking,  they believe that they can identify and discern the difference between self and another.  Despite being unable to discern differences, they  act as though their influences and suspicions are established facts. 

 Simply put, they are unable to identify or take another person's position and see things from that person’s perspective.  They are unable to trust  no one but themselves . And, they lack the  intellectual or cognitive means for reconsidering their beliefs and conclusions. Moreover, they cannot be convinced of their irrationality,hate and craziness . Essentially the defense mechanisms of  denial, rationalization ,introjection and projection are paramount.

Accompanying paranoid thinking,  is  the defense mechanism of denial  which becomes established early in childhood . And denial  becomes an overdeveloped tendency ,in part, because of the excessive amounts of  anxiety , unpleasantness and the threat externally. Not only  do they deny reality but they  project their own toxic and hateful attributes and feelings  onto others.  A hostile paranoid person  deeply feels that he is  surrounded by external hostility and , as a defense, also has identified with angry, hateful  sadistic individuals. likely , at first, with the parenting figures .

These paranoid types are secretive, closed, suspicious and seclusive.They  deny  and can not take responsibility for their failures but  instead , project and blame  others for their failures and situation . Although they often appear agreeable to self and others, they are  actually hostile individuals.

It’s not surprising  that these paranoid mistrusting types engage  and identify with angry, hateful others that lie, project , blame and scapegoat . Without  objective, truthful information , reasoning and a clear understanding ,these brain rot individuals have sympathized - 74% with the Palestinians and 44% were against US military support for Israel. 

A US Millennial Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey revealed  that  63% of Gen Z and Millennial respondents did not know that 6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. And, 48% could not name a single concentration camp or ghetto, established during World War II.  In another survey highlighted by USA Today, 20% of young adults in New York incorrectly believed the Jewish people caused  the Holocaust . And  a Claims Conference study in the Netherlands found that 23% of millennial’s and Gen Z  ers believed the Holocaust was either a myth or had been highly exaggerated.

It’s clear that this troubled, non-trusting, suspicious, paranoid ,easily manipulated and receptive to conspiracy ideas population are a threat to themselves and to our republic. They have bought into Covid-19 vaccination misinformation; Trump's phony 2020 election lies;Netanyahu’s manipulating Trump ; Trump’s war with Iranian;Israeli genocide;  winning the Iranian war; the evils of woke, LGBTQ , the Democrats and other nonsense.These dependent, non trusting  paranoid , brain rot individuals ,with intimacy fears, are contributing to our  nations mental, emotional and physical  decline. 

PS

More  Gen Z females graduate from college than the males yet more of the males voted for Trump. 

 

Reference

Cameron, Norman.  Personality Development and Psychopathology.

Erikson H. Erik .  Childhood and Society.

Trust -Part 1

 

Trust has been characterized as a conscious choice, becoming vulnerable to another person, anchored in the confident belief that their intent and competence are reliable. Also, trust relies on integrity, strength, ability, surety of a person , to believe that someone is good and honest and will not harm you. This brief essay has to do with the lack of trust  and paranoia of  many Gen Zers .

The following  troubling statistics , regarding trust, come from the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and  The Hill  “Gen Z Rejects Trump Support and is Mid Term Motivated and Pew  Research.  Pertaining to Gen Z  :1.They make up 21% of the population 2.  Their voter turnout remains lower than other age groups 3.  31% supported Trump in the 2024 election and their GOP showing  was the highest since 2008 4. Trump’s approval rating dropped from 94% to 69% in his first seven months 5.  Prior to the 2024 election 27% strongly agreed that democracy was the best form of government, compared to 69% over the age of 58  6.  Less than one third under the age of 30 trust the government 7.  16% believe  that democracy is working well for young people .

Additional information  pertaining to trust : 1 right-leaning influencers have 9 out of 10 most popular podcasts and shows 2.  Gen Zers are getting information from their favorite influencers, favorite content  creators and/or YouTube streaming 3.  Many conservative youth leaders use highly inflammatory language involving  Nazi-ism and racism.  4.  Information  received is driven by social media not traditional news outlets as they are absorbing narratives not consuming the news 5.Politics of equality don’t  resonate with a lot of these males.

Further  trust statistics: 1.  17% of Americans say they don’t trust the federal government in Washington 2.  66% of Republicans trust science 3.  There’s been a big decline in trusting science associated with the Covid -19 pandemic 4. 23% of Republicans trust higher education 5.  26%.  Republicans trust the current Trump administration 6. Globally, the United States placed 27th in  trusting  the rule of law .

Politically , Gen Zers complain  but do not always vote . Second, a significant number of these types supported , voted  for a man that made 30,573 false or misleading claims  during his first 4 years in office ;  lied about the 2020 election results and  provided inaccurate statistics on the economy ,inflation , and Constitution according to the Washington Post Fact Checker. 

 Perhaps, if these types read and received their news from reliable sources, and  not from  social media , they might've experienced cognitive dissonance. Unfortunately, too few believe in democracy or trust the government  but do support an authoritarian  running government. Can there be any surprise that the government is not working for them ?  Ignorance is not  their bliss .

Psychologically , Erikson  brilliantly described eight psychosocial developmental stages pertaining to personality development.  His first stage described whether or not a baby  was able to show and demonstrate social trust . This psychological issue is an important variable affecting well being . Did the baby experience ease in feeding, depth of sleep, relaxation of bowel movement or does that baby  have to deal and be confronted with  too much unpleasantness , anxiety ,irregularity , vulnerability and discomfort ? 

Social trust has to do with familiarity ,anticipation and expectancy when experiencing anxiety , tension or threat . If  physiological and psychological needs get gratified by the mother  figure (reinforcement), that results in reduction of discomfort  for the baby.  With  a positive  ratio of  primarily continuous reinforcement, anticipation and expectancies develop with that gratification .This allows the infant to become better able to balance the discomfort caused by  its physiology.  With successful reinforcement, that newborn  develops  a familiarity  and  with that results , on a continuum ,of a sense of inner goodness - a”good” mother . 

With a negative  ratio or absence  of reinforcement, tension, anxiety and discomfort is not lessened  and therefore negative anticipations, expectancies with familiarity become established and associated with that mother figure - a “bad “ mother . That baby has developed the ground floor or prototype for mistrust . The sense of mistrust begins with the mother figure and then generalizes to other mother figures .

Questions , just an example ,relating to that mother figure  associated with feeding  for developing a sense of  trust or mistrust  include  the following : 1. The mother figures, age,  character , psychological maturity  and mental health   2.  How much psychological energy  and focus can be devoted  to the baby when feeding without excessive  worry,  fear, distractions, obligations, other responsibilities , priorities or other needs ? 3. Was the bottle propped and/or does a relaxed or tensed ,insecure mother hold the child near

?.  Comparative research by Harry Harlow demonstrated the importance of close and warm contact during feeding.  4.  Was the feeding based on some rigid  schedule or  on demand ? 5. What’s the degree of love or fear associated with that mother figure?

The degree ,comfort , strength  or love of  mutuality that occurs  between caretaker and baby affects the degree of  developing  that sense of trust or mistrust.  If a sense of trust  occurs , that outer predictability  can  and does generalize towards  others and results in a positive  familiarity between self and other human forms . If a sense of  mistrust develops ,a different and negative tendency occurs .That occurrence makes it difficult to trust one’s ability in reducing tension, discomfort , frustration  along with a tendency  to limit and avoid forms of  other humans for expectancies to reduce conflict . 

The task of the caretaker is second to none and must be a priority.  That parent must also have developed a sense of trust, to be able to guide  with prohibition and permission and have a firm sense of what they are doing. Parents that have been deprived or have developed a sense of  mistrust themselves present and reinforce  that untrustworthiness, irregularity and inconsistency. This dynamic  results in frustration, uneasiness, hate , fear and anger with the  development of paranoia.

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The baby must be able to rely on the sameness and continuity of that caretaker which leads to the ability to trust oneself and be able to deal  effectively with urges, deficits, frustrations, and so forth . If not, the newborn develops too much of an inner sense of anxiety, frustration, rejection , anger, fear  and  hate.  In other words, there is an introjection , a taking in, based on that identification . Then ,  that negativity  becomes projected onto others. And,  all those troubling thoughts and feelings turn into  negative implications, ramifications  with toxic behavior . Paranoid thoughts  then hold the infant captive throughout life.

Of course there’s a constant testing in that relationship .Are there going to be  degrees of comfort or rage , initially with that provider and later generalizing with others ? Importantly, we are not talking about absolute quantities of food or demonstration of love, but rather the quality of that mutuality within the relationship.  The importance of personal trustworthiness ,being all right with oneself and others becomes an important psychological task.

Having developed a sense of mistrust, because of inadequate  , irregular or multiple  caretakers, that individual is additionally  faced, during a lifetime, with fragmentary or incomplete information  about reality at the best and  then  consequently makes assumptions that are influenced by  one’s feeling and thinking.  

Feelings and thinking are  reciprocally related . With  that sense of mistrust , that individual becomes unable to  think , reason  and procure information in an objective , cogent and rational manner  .Essentially, an inordinate amount  of internalized  thinking and feelings of fear ,anxiety , desire  and hate Influence both perception and cognition resulting in cognitive unsoundness and irrationality.

To Be Continued

Today's Hal

 

Homo sapiens have a terrific history of creating existential threats by following  and submitting to authoritarian despots.  Alexander ,Caesar ,Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Henry VIII and Hitler come to mind. Their ethical and moral conscience can best be described as being authoritarian with destruction tendencies .

Recently, a 27-year-old Anthropic employee quit and released an A.I.warning pertaining to the end of civilization as we know it.  The zillionaire and two billionaire CEOs agreed . However, they wanted to remain and have  control of AI’s development . They proposed to develop all  the necessary rules and regulations without interference  and received Trump’s support .  

Bernie Sanders, King Charles, Bill Gates  and  others voiced  concerns  . Additionally, the following titles of articles regarding A.I.concern found in the New York Times September 13, 2026 : 1.  The A.I. Safety Experts Can’t Sleep, And Neither Should You.  2.  How To  Rein In An Existential Threat.  3.  A.I. Becomes a Tool To Target Gamblers.  Most Likely to Lose 4.  It Does Not Seem Like a Good Idea to Give A.I. Control of Its Own Frontier.5 Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor Say the End of the World Is Now on the Table.

Donald said  that A.I.was a “hoax” and then called it super intelligence. Of course he would say that because he has financial interests in AI .And, Musk and the four other billionaires have contributed greatly to Trump and his GOP . Government contracts and other advantages have accrued to these robber barons as well with a relationship that’s reciprocal and symbiotic.

From a moral perspective,consider  a few of the characteristics associated with rational authority and humanistic ethics. 1.It is based on competence not on intimidation but on helping, not exploiting  2. It requires scrutiny, criticism and its acceptance is dependent upon performance.  3.  It is based on equality of both the authority and the subject 4.  Only man himself can determine the criteria for virtue and not an authority transcending him.  5.  Good is based on man’s welfare 6.  Man’s virtue is a set of qualities which is characteristic of the human species . And man is virtuous If he unfolds his virtue 7.There is nothing higher and nothing more dignified than human existence 8.Fulfillment , happiness, and relatedness are associated with solidarity with fellow man .  9.  Love is in man’s own power which he relates  to himself , to the world and makes it truly his.

A few points related to   humanistic ethics per Aristotle, Spinoza, Dewey and Freud.  Humanistic ethics for Aristotle, was built on the science of man.  He deduced the idea that virtue or excellence pertained to  functions and capacities peculiar to man .Also, happiness was man’s aim  which  is the result of activity and use  but not a possession or state of mind. Using the Olympic Games as an example,  he stated that it’s not the most beautiful and the strongest that are crowned but those who compete.It is those who act ,win, and rightly win, The free, rational and active man  is  both  good and happy .

Spinoza  hypothesized  about unconscious motivation, laws of association and the persistence of childhood experiences through life. For him, man’s function was to preserve himself and persevere in his existence .And, persevering meant to become that which one potentially is and that virtue was the unfolding of the specific potentialities of every organism . For man it’s a state in which the most human values determine  his real interests, which are freedom and the productive use of his powers.Also, happiness was not an end in itself but is what accompanies the experience and ability to increase his potency .or all the powers characteristic of man.

Dewey postulated that the aim of human life was the growth and development of man in terms of his nature and constitution.  According to him , man does not know what he is until after a course of action is figured out. And, reality relates to the unconscious forces in determining not only  overt conduct, but desire ,judgment, belief and idealization.

For Freud, a passionate faith in truth was critical. Man must strive because he is, by nature, endowed with reason . It’s the power of reason that allowed mankind  to unify and to free men from the shackles of superstition.  Essentially,  faith and truth underlies Freud’s concept of psychoanalysis with its goal- to uncover the truth about oneself. Freud also believed  that virtue was a natural aim in man’s development.

In comparison and contrast an authoritarian conscience is associated with irrational authority. For example: 1. Their commands are determined by their own self centered, selfish  beliefs,  values, judgments ,rules, policies, laws and obligations  which are considered to be good and beneficial for them . They determined right and wrong, good and bad, lawful and unlawful, moral and immoral within their own conscience. 2.  They present fear and admiration with unlimited power .  3.  Irrespective of their behavior , rules and morality, rebellion or disobedience was considered a sin as they are perceived as being morally superior.  4. Their powers, wisdom, strength and magic is unmatched.5.  Their sadism, cruelty ,destructiveness and hate tendencies are turned inward and outward.6. They exhibit unlimited self interest , selfishness ,desire for power, status and possession .

Currently, the top five AI companies driving the industry are NVIDIA, Open AI, Anthropic, Google(alphabet) and Microsoft. Their business models are associated with competition, profit and supremacy . With that being said, the tendency for authoritarian ethnic morality prevails.  This means an absence of  humanistic ethics for mankind  .

In essence, humanistic ethics, values and conscience is associated with man, not  with some  anthropomorphic device.  Humanistic ethics concerns itself with man’s developmental characteristics , with the ability to fully develop,understand, reason ,seek truth , happiness with the  capability  to love self and others. In comparison, authoritarian ethics, values and conscience are diametrically opposed .It is based on  an external authority knowing  and deciding right from wrong, good from evil ,reality from fiction , rationality from irrationality , love from hate , war from peace, freedom from slavery , ignorance from strength and with  their meaning  and definition of happiness.  In essence,they  create the rules,  laws and standards for all others within their dominating restrictive , controlling and destructive culture. 

Reference

Fromm, Erich .  Man For Himself  An Inquiry Into The Psychology Of Ethics.

Orwell, George.  1984.

Brain Rot

 

Today’s essay is based on the article  “The Brain Rot Generation Has Its Reasons”found in the September 13, 2026 edition of the New York Times .. 

This Assistant Prof. research pertained to the shaping of human behavior by digital environments . He and another researcher Interviewed Gen Z ers age 13 to 26 about how they experience brain rot - what these videos meant to them .

According to him, these subjects were aware of what brain rot is doing to their minds; they are searching for a way out.

The following are some of Gen Z responses: 1.You’ll watch something anyway so why not brain rot?  It’s actually better than an ad because it doesn’t demand anything from you .  2.  If everything is content.  Now, brain rot is anti-content.  It’s the only way to be free online, which is to do something so stupid it can’t be monetized.  3.  Because brain rot content is visually fake and or AI generated, it feels less exploitive than polished influencer posts pretending to be candid.  4.  Everyone knows it’s generated, so it feels less manipulative than posts  that act like you’re just normal life 5.  I’m scared I won’t find something I’m actually good at, mainly because I don’t really have any hobbies.  I guess brain rot is my hobby.  Also, there is no more time during the day once you start watching.6.  They know it’s not good for them, but it gives that little hit and escape.  7.  Before the government regulated the tobacco industry, everyone was smoking, even though they knew it was bad.  Because the environment encouraged and allowed for that to happen.  Yeah, the doctors would smoke.  Now we need to get into a state where the environment shifts so young people’s habits shift.  8.  Brain rot gives you the sense that you're in on something.

These rationalizations,distortion and denial are just that and mask their anxiety ,emotional deficits, irrationality, inability to assimilate ,reason and relate . They exhibit excessive dependency, desire to fit in and be a part of it.Their electronic devices are their security blanket attachments  and “friend.”This group is limited intellectually and without insight to change  their self-defeating behaviors.  

Brain rot is associated with mental fatigue and perceived loss of critical thinking caused by consuming excessive amounts of low quality online content.  This particular article presented various responses from the subjects of their study.  It did not appear that these subjects had any in-depth knowledge, understanding of their self-inflicted harm. Their emotional deficits contribute to their lack of understanding of their deficits.  Brain rot is just another example of their plethora of self-defeating behaviors for this troubled group .

 

Without  the inability to change, these subjects, because of the loss of  the  egos executive function of critical thinking, ,become  easy prey and  more susceptible to other self-defeating ideas from aberrant character types . They create illusions ,are  paranoid , believe false information ,and lies. They are also prejudiced and  engage in stupidity. Brain rot also affects self-esteem,which are feelings about oneself And, their self-loathing , paranoia and hate is projected outward toward others.

Yes, the  technological system is exploiting , contributing and negatively affecting the brain development for so many. However, there are other additional factors contributing to this cognitive crisis.  For example, the association of too much time spent with these electronic devices regarding mental and cognitive health is not new. Research with parents found that they made poor decisions by allowing their  young children to engage.  Parents paid for these devices,  spoiled their children, encouraged use and employed the devices as “baby sitters”  giving themselves  breaks so they did not have to deal with them . 

How long did it take  some school systems to ban electronic devices during school hours?  Do children really have to have these devices available  in school for safety? Consider  Australia’s values and policies  regarding these devices.

We  know that individuals spend  too much time with their electronic devices . Yet,  not one participant reported spending too much time on a device using maps ,checking the weather or Shazaming songs.

A few statistics follow:  About 84%  of US students graduate from high school .The US Department of Health and Human Services recommends an 8th grade reading level or  If targeting a broad audience, a 12th grade reading level for an educated or specialized audience. Unfortunately ,only 35% of US high school seniors perform at or above the proficient reading level according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. In the US, 40% of fourth graders,in reading, scored below the NAEP basic level in 2024 and only 31% of fourth graders achieved NAEP proficiency in 2022.

Reading improves focus , comprehension, enhances knowledge, stimulates the brain, reduces stress, strengthens vocabulary and communication skills.  It can also boost empathy and creativity by exposing one to different perspectives and ideas.

Pursuant to reading,consider the following three examples: the billionaire Mark Cuban reads at least three hours daily.  Another billionaire in the White House reads and posts what ? And, Ari Emanuel the youngest of three brothers was diagnosed in the third grade with ADHD and dyslexia.  To supplement instruction at school, his mother spent many hours helping him to learn to read.  She hired tutors and private instructors to give him private reading lessons at home.  This man has a BA, the executive chairman of WME Group in entertainment and media agency as well as CEO and executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings. He was a founding partner of Endeavor Talent Agency and was instrumental in shaping its merger with the William Morris Agency.

Currently, the political divide also is a contributing factor.  We have the GOP distorting United States history; book banning, and a fight promoter as part of Trump’s cabinet.  She should head the Department of Education  and be okay with Trump’s dismantling in order to give local control to many irrational GOP cronies ?As a model, Trump represents lying, deceit, corruption and exploitation, but not education, learning, assimilating , reason, truth and reading. Yes he had a fraudulent University.

Parents,parent substitutes  and caretakers model all sorts of behavior. In the US about half of all adults read one or more books for pleasure each year  and about 5% read more than 50 books per year. Parents are certainly not  modeling learning,curiosity and learning.  How much time do parents spend with their electronic devices? And, Trump models  these electronic devices as well. 

Issues pertaining to  schools of  education , teacher shortages and retention follow .  Fewer candidates enter programs and many leave the profession early . The cost of college and debt result in negatives for majoring in teaching .There is also limited hands-on classroom training and mentorship before certification.  The quality and consistency of  programs vary widely ; regular curriculum relevance and  lack of support for diverse learners.  There is insufficient preparation for using digital tools in adapting to online or hybrid teaching environments.  There is also a need for better training to address diverse classrooms and inclusive practices . A high workload and shifting certification requirements discourage enrollment along with irrational school boards .And, teachers continue to have low status, female oriented, and an economic supplement  for their spouses. These challenges  and societal values impact teacher readiness, student achievement, impoverished learning and the stability of the education workforce.

In earlier times, this country had an educational system  that was envied worldwide. Not so today .The United  States  currently ranks 12th globally in education.  And, American students continue to rank around the middle of the pack behind many other advanced industrial nations with international assessments in math, science and reading  according to the PISA .

Our brain rot  technological culture has been hijacked  by economic inequality  along with ineffective politics and  ineffective parenting .Furthermore, the  brain rot crisis  is  not  effectively addressed by local, state, and / or the federal government. Instead, the  media focuses on  AI, mid term elections,Iran, gas price, inflation , Trump’s ballroom ,Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and  the 250 foot triumphal arch.

Selfishness

 Darwin wrote about  survival of the fittest .Compared to animals, which are limited by their brain physiology , we humans  with cerebral cortex development , become faced with a sense of self, reason  and the  existential fact  of mortality. And, we cannot change the fact that our mind and our body changes from growth to decay , atrophy and death. We are fearful, powerless of that reality in spite of  our  illusions , delusions and double talk from the promotional  longevity gurus.

As humans  we are confronted with the major mental and physical  disharmony that exists with our existence based on the inevitability of death.  In coping , we require and create  a frame of reference  based on our  thinking , feeling and behavioral tendencies for this inevitability.

In essence, for our survival , we require and create  strategies .These thinking and feeling cognitive strategies become our devotions, aims, ideas and/ or “god” that allows us to transcend  our dilemma. If "successful"  with our orientation , this allows us to find  harmony , an anxiety reduction in our existence by giving us a sense of meaning in our lives.

Survival  and meaning In a capitalistic  industrial,technological economy, for some, become a devotion  for success, prestige, power, possession , conquest , exploitation and domination . In fact, the intensity of  a devotion becomes a drive or desire that can be superior and supersede  all else, even self-love , morality and even self preservation.

Such devotion suggests that these individuals choose a system that’s based on  their irrationality , narcissism , the worship of power and destruction as opposed to a system with tendencies for humanistic productivity, love and rationality .

Let’s begin with a Biblical quote  “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. “  However, we find that the love of oneself is a sin in Calvin’s theology.  He believed that man is essentially evil , powerless and cannot achieve anything that’s good on the basis of his own strength.  And ,the fondness of oneself ,to like anything about oneself is one of the greatest sins. In fact ,Calvin spoke of self love as a “pest.” If one can not love oneself , how can one love thy neighbor ?  

From a philosophical viewpoint, Spinoza believed that It Is in the interest of man  to preserve his existence by realizing his inherent potential. Self interest is not conceived in terms of the subjective feeling of one's interest, but it is in terms of what the nature of man is objectively . Man’s only real interest is to fulfill the development of his potential as a human being. The ability to love is part of the equation.

Nietzsche believed that a strong individual is one who has true kindness, nobility, greatness of the soul which does not give in ,in order to take,  and  to excel  is by being kind.  To love another person is  a virtue if it springs from  inner strength, but it is a vice if it’s an  inability to love oneself.

A capitalistic belief and  societal reinforcement is that greed is good, be selfish,  keep up your advantage, act according to what is best for you and by doing so you will be obtaining the greatest advantage .And , more than likely,  this  selfishness belief reflects one principle upon which our capitalistic competitive society has been built .

Can one be selfish and still love self and love others ?  Psychologically, love of others and love of ourselves are not alternatives or different attitudes. In fact ,the attitude of love toward oneself has been found in all those who were capable of loving others.  Love is indefensible. Love is an expression of one’s powers  and to love somebody is the actualization , the concentration of this power .However, selfishness is another matter as it is associated with discrimination, contempt  ,power and exploitation .

The following examples were taken from the New York Times, September 6, 2026 and reflect Trump’s selfishness ,contempt and exploitative  policies.1.  How US Widened Effort Against Covid Scientist   As Fauci Was Put Under Public Scrutiny, More Experts Were Quietly Targeted 2.  Plan Would Shift Some Aid Meant for Working Parents to Stay- at- Home spouses.  This move would end up redirecting money away from working parents and their childcare providers, causing some to raise their rates or even close potentially worsening.  What many experts say is a childcare crisis in the country.  3.  In Unparalleled Inquiry, Joint Staff Members Are Given Polygraph Tests.  The Pentagon seeks the source of news leaks on the Iran war.  4.  Latest Clemency Grants Issued by Trump Benefit Union Boss and a Sailor . An executive who served a decade in prison for selling crack was pardoned. 5.  New Tool To Screen Voter Rolls Is Blocked.  This tool would allow states to compare their voter rolls against federal citizenship and Social Security data.  6.  US Says It  Blasted 3 Iranian Oil Tankers.  7.  For Midterms, Trump Controls $ 400 Million To Sway Races.8.  Homeland Security Secretary Asks For  Inquiries Into Voting Machines.  9.  Justice Department Issues, Subpoenas for Voter Data in Nevada.  10.  North Carolina Applies New Restrictions to its Vote- by- Mail Program. And, don’t forget his six bankruptcies; fraudulent University and fraudulent foundation.

Donald believes that he is acting in his self interest  in his pursuit of money which he equates with success.  It’s what he possesses, that defines himself .  In trying to gain and accumulate all that wealth he has lost himself with an absence of truth, justice, freedom , morality , respect,integrity and love of self .

Is Donald selfishness identical with self-love or is it not caused by the very lack of it ?  If it’s a virtue to love my neighbor as a human being , it must be a virtue and not a vice to love myself since I’m a human being too.  As an object of feelings , attitudes  toward others and toward ourselves is not contradictory but basically conjunctive . And importantly, love of others and love of self are not alternatives .

Genuine love is an expression of productiveness and implies care, respect, responsibility, and knowledge.  It’s not an affect in the sense of being affected by somebody but an active striving for the growth and happiness of the loved person is rooted in one’s capacity to love. Essentially, if the individual is able to love productively, he loves himself too.  If he can love only others he cannot love at all.

A selfish person , like Donald ,is interested only in himself , takes everything from others for himself,  does not feel  pleasure in giving, but only in possessing. His outside world is looked at only from the standpoint of what he can grab for himself; he’s without empathy and does not respect  the dignity and integrity of others.  He can not see beyond self and judges everyone and everything by its usefulness to him. Thus, Donald is emotionally unable to love but only to take.

It is apparent that selfish persons are incapable of loving others and they’re also not capable of loving themselves either.  In the past 300 years or so self interest has become identical with selfishness, pursuit of material gains, power ,exploitation and success.  Selfishness is not virtue but synonymous with conquest  and has become engulfed in the thinking,feeling and actions of many .

Trump's pursuit of self interest is the supreme activity of his existence.  His  motivations are clearly  based on his interests which are  money ,power, status and success .His concept is” I am what I have", and “what I possess.”  Check out where he places his name. He’s essentially  a transaction  commodity . He has brilliantly sold his false self  or mask to the public with  fake publicity and that inauthentic television program.  His narcissistic neurosis  has been on constant display  especially for the past 10 years.

Trump’s exploitative self interest can also be characterized as one that prides on his ability to grab and take from others.  His physical and sexual assaults on women; invading and “taking” Venezuelan oil and  rhetoric regarding doing the same to Cuba, Canada, and Greenland are other examples. His attitude is associated with hostility and manipulation.  Recently he’s said something - that if Republicans remain in power in the House and Senate  that American  adult citizens would receive $5,000. Of course, that remark is simply manipulative to say the least. And , people are judged and viewed according to him as their usefulness to him as  recently illustrated by the $45,000  cash gifts to 3  of his White House aides' sycophants.

From a biblical , philosophical  and psychological point of view, the ability to productively love oneself and others is not a sin but both healthy and humanistic .This  selfish 80-year-old man in the White House has exploited , tarnished and marred  America’s reputation both at home and abroad. His persona does not conceal  his extreme selfishness. He’s an  immature  neurotic  who lacks integrity, empathy , dignity  while being a satanic leader.

Reference 

Fromm, Erich.  Man For Himself   An Inquiry Into The Psychology Of Ethics.

Stunted Morality

 his essay’s topic  relates to an article written by a history professor titled “We’re in a New Era of Class Warfare.  History Points to a Way Out.”She  compared and contrasted the early history of  unions  and the  violent conflict  with companies and government  with four recent acting out characters .

 The professor suggested that in the earlier times, anarchists and trade unionists who committed acts of violence did so in the hopes of effecting change and bringing about better conditions for working-class people.

A few of her examples included: 1. Western Pennsylvania Irish miners killed at least 14 mine officials between 1860 and 1870 2.  In 1899, Western Federation of Miners used dynamite to destroy company property.  The governor of Idaho  then imprisoned about a thousand workers in response.  In 1905, after the  governor left office, a bomb killed him at his home.  3.  Pres. William McKinley was assassinated in 1901 by an anarchist who  lost his job during an economic crash.  4.  Two union members dynamited the offices of The Los Angeles Times, perceived as anti  organized labor in 1910.5. There was a assassination attempt against the general manager of the Homestead PA Steel Mill of Carnegie Steel during the Homestead strike of 1892.  Andrew Carnegie  replaced the factory workers with hired strikebreakers and the  town of Homestead rose up in revolt.  Public opinion supported  a young  anarchist  who shot and stabbed the general manager but did not kill him.Carnegie wrote that the answer to class rage was for the rich to invest their money in philanthropic projects.

This historian gave a few more examples that included the association between government and companies: 1.  In the 1930s, many corporations stockpiled gas equipment and guns to resist rebellion. 2 Ford  security forces fired on unemployed workers at the Ford Motor company in 1932  who were participating in a hunger strike  3.  Police officers killed strikers on the San Francisco waterfront in 1934, sparking a general strike 4. In Chicago  in 1937, a police officer shot and killed 10 prolabor marchers. 5.In the Memorial Day massacre , Ford security guards  savagely beat up United Automobile Workers union leaders, including Walter Reuther.

Clearly, these  examples depict the power struggle going on between labor and management. The battles were brutal and resulted in killing on both sides.  However, anarchists are defined as persons who believe in anarchism, a political philosophy that seeks to remove all forms of government authority and forced social hierarchy.Nowhere in this definition is a mention of murder.  One can believe in any number of things but that belief is just a belief and not an action.  In other words, one could be an anarchist and be motivated by a number of additional factors not associated with murder.These examples  are clearly related to union membership but without support for them being anarchists .

All these violent actions were horrific ,dreadful, lawless , inappropriate and a reminder of the inhumane treatment between Homo sapiens .The government is supposed to enforce laws, keep people safe , and provide services and not kill its citizens .And the work force is  supposed to be and do what  to ?

The following are recent characters acting out in horrific ways: 1. An arson causing more than $600 million to a Kimberly-Clark warehouse by a man who worked for a distribution company servicing the warehouse.2.  An individual  threw a Molotov cocktail at the mansion of Open AI Sam Altman . 3.  Man charged with the Palisades fire. The jury didn’t reach a verdict that he was motivated by class rage 4.Man that shot the United healthcare chief executive portrayed as an avenger of all those wronged by private health insurance. 

These four recent examples are clearly examples of neurotic individuals.  Yes, we are in a time of economic inequality, anger,and hate.  Two of the four were Involved in arson which presents a very different psychological profile from a broad daylight murder In Manhattan and a person throwing a bomb.Obviously, these four individuals are mentally ill and  a societal threat .Perhaps economic discrepancies play a part, but are not the only contributing motivational factors of one’s character structure .

In previous times the history of labor unions versus government and corporate control was riddled with savagery and discrimination between the haves and have-nots. The role of government , politics and oppression  should not surprise anyone. The history of this country is associated with discrimination, exploitation , capitalism, control and power.

Our history professor reminds us of the dark times affecting Union development in our Republic.  The organizations of labor unions were seeking better pay, benefits, and safe working conditions with their employers.  All this seems reasonable.  The opposition of companies and our government ( inherent evil of the elite) was based on greed, domination , exploitation , power and profit.” What do we the people “  mean to those companies , the government and  acting out characters from a moral point of view ?

The history professor added that the extreme division between the wealthiest and the rest tends to be politically unstable.  And ,inequality makes it impossible to sustain the feeling that we are all part of the same political project, so it makes it hard for people to believe that democratic government is possible .Small numbers of people with great fortunes come to exercise disproportionate political power. Also, in highly unequal societies , become ones in which the very rich fear the rest of the world.

The historian also pointed out that the rich are facing threats as more people blame them for economic duress.”Luxury homebuilders are incorporating a vast array of new security features into  the mansions they construct from safe rooms to retina scanners to guard towers and moats.”

Personally,I remember overhearing my fathers conversations regarding the difficulty when dealing with management.  My union president dad fought over instituting healthcare benefits ,sick time , working conditions etc. I  even have a photograph displayed, of my dad , taken in 1939 with Luren Dickenson, governor of Michigan signing into law  protection for letter carriers against attacking dogs. Also, in the late 1960’s , I was the administrator overseeing a  collective bargaining maritime election, on board a vessel, to determine whether or not they wanted to  unionize .

Lawrence Kohlberg’s research described moral development. He found that many adolescents had difficulty proceeding morally by becoming less influenced and other directed (consensus) as to what is perceived as “good” and “right.” In fact , only a minority  were able to formulate and be guided by abstract,ethical principles appealing to logical comprehensiveness, universality, reality and consistency.  This means that “good” should not be considered only if it's adopted by all other persons . Instead, it’s  morally important to have developed consistent ,internalized moral standards . And, an individual doesn’t have to conform  because of fear of self-condemnation.

Importantly, Kohlberg’s  research found that about 10% of young people over age 16 showed clear principles of  formal operational logical thought and that human life or  man’s welfare is above financial gain.

Further, briefly authoritarian ethics is based on the belief that what is good for man is determined by the irrational "authority"determining laws and norms of conduct. He knows what’s best,good, and true alone. However, in humanistic ethics, man is both the norm giver , the subject of the norms, their formal source, regulative agency and their subject matter.And, humanitarian ethics  is not incompatible with rational authority . It’s with continuous evaluation , scrutiny and criticism .

Morality can be defined as the set of rules that tells us how we ought to treat other people.  This means actions like telling the truth, sharing, being kind and helping others are considered good as in the Golden Rule . However, the 10 Commandments identify inappropriate actions like stealing,swearing, lying, adultery and murder. Therefore, from a moral point of view, human life matters more than financial gain- humanistic ethics . Unfortunately, in a capitalistic based economy results in the elite  with an authoritarian ethic and associated with greed,power ,status, discrimination , domination , exploitation and immorality .And  those elite  authoritarians  believe obedience and submission are virtues and rebellion is a sin irrespective of causing anxiety,helplessness,misery,inequality and alienation . 

Reference

Fromm,Erich. Man For Himself an inquiry into the psychology of ethics.

Kohlberg, L.  Moral education in the schools: A developmental view