Discrimination

 

 Love thy stranger  and love thy enemy from the Old and New Testaments are a call for humanism in contrast with Trump’s  discrimination  policies. And,according to him, we are  not a “melting pot. “  Religious ,racial ,sexual economic and political beliefs, race,  political beliefs, economic beliefs  have been used to discriminate against others since our founding.  As a result, our  history of discrimination has been repeated  over and over again . This essay describes a few examples of  repeated discrimination in our Republic.

In 1764, about 200 Irish settlers from Pennsylvania's backcountry rode to Philadelphia to confront a government they despised.  This angry group had already slaughtered a group of peaceful Indians and blamed  English Quakers for the attacks.  The Quakers expecting attacks, abandoned their pacifism and picked up muskets; and  the colony was spared from potential Civil War only by the diplomacy of Benjamin Franklin ( Benjamin Franklin PBS KVIE).

Instead of a physical war ,pamphlets were used that accused the Quakers of taking  satisfaction in the slaughter of Irish and German settler families at the hands of the Indians. That  misrepresentation   called for Quakerism to be extirpated from the face of the  earth. On the other hand, Irish Ulster Presbyterians were described as ulceration and piss-brute-tariens. Franklin himself referred to the English settlers as Christian white savages and Germans as Palatine boars who refused to assimilate or learn English.

About 100 years later, the Civil War pitted white against white .  Slavery was largely responsible for the economic wealth and success in the South, even though they were  considered 3/5 of a person . Racism  was not limited to the South as slavery was adopted and promoted everywhere.And, Jim Crow laws perpetuated slavery in the South until  1964 with Pres. Johnson’s Civil Rights Act .  .

When Woodrow Wilson was president there was anti-immigrant sentiment that was furthered by Wilson's hateful and discriminatory A.  Mitchell Palmer, his Atty. Gen.Also,  Palmer’s  efforts were aided by a young Justice Department attorney named J. Edgar Hoover.  Furthermore, Pres.Wilson's mean spirited talk about subversives lurking within America's borders accompanied by a compliant judiciary gave these executive branch leaders permission to discriminate. Ioo years or so later,  are we similar ?

Moreover, Palmer raids detained and deported individuals within the FBI's own history .Palmer scapegoated the Bolshevik revolutionaries  and those who migrated from Russia and eastern Europe.  Also, Wilson warned Congress of a threat posed by citizens born under other flags . Did they actually pose  great threats against  national peace and safety ? This is too familiar. 

The Wilson administration proposed to Congress the Espionage Act  which gave the government sweeping powers to clamp down on free speech , censor the press and  to protect the war effort. The Postal Service followed when the Postmaster General refused to deliver mail that he deemed subversive. Dea vu !

Also, Congress passed  the Immigration Act of 1918, which expanded the government's powers to deport undesirable aliens.and discriminate  against immigrants from Russia and Germany. This was our Democratic government then - sounds familiar .My grandparents left Kiev years earlier. 

With  Hoover  in charge , he  used wartime authority that Congress  provided that allowed federal agents  to burst into apartments and houses across 11 cities to arrest more than 1000 immigrants, many of them Russians . Some were arrested because they were deemed suspicious based on their accent and  were called communists. Democracy in action. Some melting pot !

During World War II, our government  interned Japanese civilians and also  harassed some German citizens.  After that war, Joe McCarthy began his witchhunt and made up stories about red subversives. The Manchurian Candidate  movie with Frank Sinatra provided a glimpse into that era. And,Dalton Trumbo, Hollywood screen writer was blacklisted but wrote scripts under different aliases.  In 1960 ,Kirk Douglas's Spartacus gave Trumbull full credit listing him as the screenwriter.

I remember that time very well.  In fact,when I was 10 years  of age, I found out that my father's name was in the Detroit News newspaper from my friend's  mother - “ Is that your father “? My father was accused ,by unknown sources, that he was a communist. As the story goes, his friend Jim  N, a friend and employed by the US Postal Service was married to a woman who apparently once belonged to the Communist Party.  It was guilt by association and my father was mad because he never knew  who his accusers were.  This was how things were then. What’s changed 76 years later ? 

Jim was fired, his family were deported and  moved to Canada. As a young boy ,we  often visited Jim and his family, and I became friends with his oldest son. Did that make me a communist too?  The McCarthy hearings were  anti-semitic attacks as many of the individuals rounded up, fired,harassed  or blacklisted were Jewish. The movie “ The Way We Were” with Streisand and Redford provided a glimpse into that time .

Today ,we have more of the same discrimination with a round up of immigrants based on the color of their skin.  Ice, military, Congress, Supreme Court, media and social media support the president and his Chief of Staff Miller in these actions despite their  illegality, brutality and murder. Irrationality and sadism are connected with their actions.  For example, an article titled How Hegseth Is Waging A War Against Diversity- Blocking of  a Promotion for a Black Admiral was found in the June 21, 2026 edition of the New York Times. 

Yes,many are in opposition and  are supported by the lower court findings.  However, the Supreme Court has overturned or stayed a number of  these lower court actions.

Freud ,Horney, Jung ,Fromm ,Murray and others have written and have  described man's dark side.  Homo sapiens history

provides us with the repetition of man's  discriminatory behavior. Unfortunately, the administration's policies are favored by too many. Also, Musk is proposing  to spend over $100 million in the upcoming elections . Will Trump, the fraud, and his allies  be able to steal the upcoming  November elections ? Their goal  is power and to continue  their discrimination . They are vengeful, sadistic, narcissistic,and  sociopathic  neurotics 

In essence, religious prophets talked about a man  loving man . However, psychology describes man’s character and points out that some do have the necessary ego supplies to accomplish and relate to others lovingly, while others are simply incapable because their  ego and character dynamics are equated with  narcissism, hate, control , power and  discrimination. Is this the government of the people,by the people and for the people…..? Or is it , of,  by and for some only ?  Elections matter.Do not let this greedy tribe prevail .

PS

Trump favorably interacts with Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un.  Trump must be a  communist.  

 

Thom  Darden and I have been invited by the University of Michigan Alumni to host a webinar regarding Bo's Warriors.  The event is scheduled for August 16, a Sunday, at 1 PM Pacific coast time.  To register for the event .  

https://umalumni.my.site.com/s/lt-event?id=a1QUS00000C3rAX2AZ

Dementia

 

Dementia, which is on the rise, is a group of  symptoms affecting memory, thinking, and social abilities . In fact, it has become the fifth leading cause of death in our republic.  And dementia is a category for multiple diseases. But, the most common  dementia is Alzheimer's disease found in older adults. And, because of brain complexity, there has been  no effective treatment for this progressive disease.  This essay pertains to a few aspects of dementia.

The adult brain weighs about 3 pounds ;the size of a medium cauliflower with 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses.  With that being said, there's essentially "three brains" of a human being.  There is the "Archaic Brain" typically found in lizards and snakes with  its  series of functions; the "Old Brain" typically found in cats and dogs with its series of functions and the "New Brain" found in humans with its functions. Essentially, the disease of Dementia is found in the three brains of the human which understandably makes it impossible ,at this point, to come up with the treatment to eradicate and/or reverse the progressive nature of the disease.

Significant parts within the brain include 1 .Brain Stem 2 .Cerebellum 3.  Thalamus 4.  Basal Ganglia 5.  Limbic System and more specifically-The Hypothalamus, Hippocampus and Amygdala 6. Cerebral Cortex 7 .Cerebral Cortex-Occipital Lobes 8.  Cerebral Cortex-Temporal Lobes 9.  Cerebral Cortex - Parietal Lobes 10.  Cerebral Cortex-Frontal Lobes.

Within brain functioning,there are Neurons and Glial cells in which there is a complex interacting network of neurons that send and receive messages that enable the brain to perceive the world, plan and carry out intentions and actions, think and solve problems, form and retrieve memories and generate emotions and moods. Glial and  other cells help neurons function and regulate neurotransmitters, clean up debris around neurons and protect neurons from potentially dangerous organisms and chemicals. Both neurons and glial cells are dysfunctional or destroyed In most major dementias .And,selected neurotransmitters involved  and affected in dementia include  acetylcholine, dopamine, serotonin and glutamate.

Memory loss is a major component found in dementia.Memory includes the past, present, and especially the future. We can broadly define memory as a time when a past experience has an effect on current or future behavior.  In fact, there is really no single thing called memory and when memory fails, we are left addressed in the sea of uncertainty and confusion with a sense of disconnectedness with ourselves and our world . In a sense we are our memories.

Briefly, there is 1.  Sensory Memory: perceiving which acts as buffers for stimuli perceived through the senses.  2.  Short-term  Memory: temporary storage and manipulation of information for language,comprehension,learning and reasoning.  Most people with dementia have long-term memory conversion,consolidation and retrieval deficits.3.

Within Long-- term memory: there is Declarative Memory for facts and events such as remembering dates ,historical facts ,telephone numbers and names of people that you know.   4.There is also Episodic Declarative Memory, which is for personally experienced events such as what you ate for dinner last night, what happened to you 25 years ago. 5.There is also Semantic Declarative Memory, which is not tied to one particular time, like your name, the kind of car you drive, words of the language, phone numbers, and arithmetic operations And 6. Procedural Memory  which is the retention of the ability to engage in motor activities such as making coffee, driving a car, tying shoestrings and playing a sport-sometimes called muscle memory.

Brains reach maximum size in our teens .About age 25   brain volume in healthy people begins to decline .And, continually over the years , there’s a loss of neurons and  neuron connections .Further,there’s  also reduced blood flow to the brain but the brain is able to learn and make connections throughout adult life, especially for people who exercise regularly and engage in mental workouts.

With brain autopsies, a recent study found that heavier people have smaller brains  with  most  of the atrophy in areas involved in cognitive functions such as memory, attention, planning and decision-making.  Obesity is also associated with vascular damage in the brain related to high blood pressure and elevated LDL cholesterol, which impedes oxygen and nutrients to neurons .

A few  examples related to the structure and wiring taking place in the shrinking brains with dementia include the following . The insides of the brain may shrink to one third  at the time of death. It’s not the skull size ,but the structure, chemistry and wiring connections that change. This means  there's less fuel burning ,less visual processing, less decision-making, less logic and less ability to understand another point of view .

Also, other changes take place. For instance, those who were generally explosive and high strung become more emotional,and more impulsive with their outbursts.  Individuals that  were low conflict oriented  become  more  withdrawn and  shy away from  potential conflict. And those that were fearful before become excessively more timid and fearful.These individuals also have  more difficulty surviving as their sleep cycles and eating behavior change. They sleep less and crave glucose .

Learning and memory is severely affected and so they have difficulty learning new information, storing information  and expressing that material . In fact,  with their limited  reasoning ability , their brain creates fiction and misinformation and lies to themselves. They make up new and false information 

On a positive note, their hearing remains fairly intact .When they ask the same question it's because they did not originally comprehend what was said. It is not hearing loss but language comprehension.  They have difficulty in loud environments such as restaurants, family gatherings and so forth because they have difficulty comprehending what was said  along with being able to remember and respond.  Rhythmic music,and chitchatting seems to be preserved.

Their sense of identity, self-esteem and being becomes greatly diminished.  Once upon a time they were smart, creative, productive, confident, independent while being fully  engaged in life’s offerings.  Goals were achieved, challenges met and obstacles diminished.  Then, as time progressed, they became less capable, less independent ,  their ability is  greatly diminished in so many areas and they became fearful and dependent.  It's like a retrogression, a radical transformation  from being a fully functioning  adult  to becoming more childlike. They even think of themselves as stupid. It's so sad to witness this awful change taking place with this  dreadful disease. 

ReferenceUnderstanding Dementia .Institute For Natural Resources .

Parenting 2

 Turning to technology, we have the negative effects of smart phones; parents' dissatisfaction in their decision-making regarding facilitating smart phones  to their children and creating rules or policies  to combat the issue.Smart phones have "replaced" parents, family, and the socialization of friends and human lovers.  These phones are terrific ,just ask Gen Z’s with their receptive character orientation.  

 AI technology  not only affects socialization , it also affects cognitive development. There has been a dumbing down effect for many, in this country, that's related ,in part, to this technology.  Individuals don't have to take responsibility for their actions as they get their advice and information from AI.

The article, "Thanks to AI, Student  Cheating With AI Is Harder to Detect" dated June 21, 2026 was about plagiarism and cognitive deficits.For instance,  videos all over social media are telling students: to go ahead and let  AI do your homework--with the latest technology  you won't get caught.  These sites show students how to use tools as humanizers  that rewrite AI produced text to make it sound less robotic, formulaic and trite.  Another tool autotypers  drip words and sentences in the documents and even fabricate typos, deletions and revisions. 

 Colleges and K-12 schools are attempting to keep up with  AI detection. But, these apps allow students to generate writing from scratch, humanize text , scan, and replace phrases that could set off AI detectors.  About two thirds of American students are using AI regularly for schoolwork.  According to recent surveys,  it's been said that AI is short-circuiting student learning .Several studies have shown that people who were relying  on AI can experience cognitive offloading, a process in which they've failed to build new skills and/ or their existing skills degrade.

Psychologically speaking, inappropriate and excessive smart phone usage by children and adolescents has been associated with  mental health  and relationship problems,suicide, bullying behaviors and so forth.  According to 1006 members of a Gen Z survey, many young people felt trapped by Tik Tok  and Snap Chat   and nearly all the participants expressed regret about having access to many of the most popular social media platforms. Passive victims without fortitude?

 A national survey of 1013 parents  with children under 18  ,found that many parents gave their children, smart phones and social media access too early; many wished that social media had never been invented and hoped for  new social norms, policies and restrictions .It was also reported that 55% said that the children began  smart phone use  by the age of 12 and 61% said the same about Instagram  and by the age of 13  for Snap Chat. Those decisions were made by? 

A third of the parents  reported social media access  was given too early to their young  children and 22%.agreed regarding  smart phones  as well.  1% of parents said they were ok with  these technologies. A number of rationalizations were employed by the parents,for their inappropriate decisions such as  social pressure and their children would be better prepared for the future  by use of  technology.

Parents are  important when it comes to child development. With that being said, relationships with parents remain, for most children, the most compelling factor in determining the kind of person they become , the kinds of problems they will likely  face and resolve during their lifetime.  In the recent past, there was  pertinent research funding for assessing  parenting styles and  other variables for further understanding its effects  and relationship to child development.  

Today,the harmful effects of  parenting are apparent  with the Gen Z population .Unfortunately there has not been current in-depth or longitudinal research  to evaluate  the association with parenting ,social media and  AI at this time.

Capitalism can only survive with unlimited and excessive consumption. Children are able to manipulate their parents and the parents' response has been to express their “love” by reinforcing the consumption of things and devices. Of course there's  pressure  for everyone to fit in and have what  everyone else has.  Therefore it is not surprising that the knowledgeable technological industry takes advantage  of parental weakness with all its terrific devices.  Apple is just one of the companies making exorbitant profits with  consumers that are becoming more dependent upon . 

One significant factor in early childhood development is  narcissism which begins when the child is psychologically able to first identify with the parent and then learns to separate  from the parent .  With proficient parenting, healthy children have developed secondary narcissism,.With secondary narcissism, the child becomes able to make favorable attachments  or unions to others outside of oneself, if not successful, an unhealthy or toxic degree of narcissism interferes  with developing appropriate object relations . These narcissistic individuals  have difficulty in  looking to others for gratification. It's as if others are perceived as dangerous and to be avoided.

In other words, individuals that tend to have a significant degree of unhealthy narcissism, are extremely comfortable with these devices.  It's no wonder that so many are involved with excessive time spent with these devices.  Not only that, parents allowed their young children access to these devices . And, these electronic devices have interfered and in some cases have prolonged , contributed  and interfered with  developing healthy narcissism which is being able to have human relations with care, empathy, commitment and moral maturity.

Also,it's important to acknowledge the importance  and relationship of the ego's need for affiliation, union and friendship  and the consequences of separation anxiety , loneliness, isolation  and insecurity.  In other words, there's a strong ego need for union and the technological industries are well aware of this need  and have sophisticated advertising strategies in promoting its products. For instance , GenX  individuals have significant, but not surprising , difficulty in meeting the ego need of affiliation with the inorganic . These inorganic devices are not about emotional warmth, understanding , care or love.The devices are responsive to  questions. They do not engage, reach out nor provide significant  human necessities needed.

An article titled "Life Is Better With Siblings" provided input about the importance of  siblings associated  with positive mental health . For instance, older children have the responsibility and opportunities for caring, for understanding and for providing opportunities for teaching the young.  Older siblings can cook, do  laundry and clean and In some ways " replace "the parents.  Significant emotional experiences  with an older sibling are remembered and affect the emotional attachment of their relationship.  Realistically, no, inorganic device can duplicate, let alone replace the learning of empathy.

Technology has produced objects that have  an animistic "life" quality .  These objects are visual, auditory,concrete  and are able to verbally respond based on AI conformity.  The device is  “spiritual” and has a life of its own .In other words,for  many, these devices are  extensions of self. They have  to be attached and  in their possession . Do not leave home without it, and  they are especially stressed when there's some interference in the workings of these devices.

Furthermore, in addition to all sorts of psychological problems for the Gen Z population associated with these devices , also include the epidemic of loneliness.  Once again, it’s the importance of the  fulfillment  of ego's need of affiliation, which is to be able to enjoy, cooperate , reciprocate with another; as well as pleasing ,winning affection and remaining loyal as well.  With loneliness, there's failure to connect with the other despite the fact of the anxiety of being alone.  Of course ,those that are lonely because of the anxiety have additional psychological issues attributed to their inability to meet that important ego need.  In other words, technological devices have contributed to loneliness as people become more comfortable with their devices as opposed to  establishing significant relationships with others.  Unfortunately, people in the culture become associated with excessive conformity. It's no wonder that  we have an excessive amount of hate ,greed and lack of empathy when  toxic narcissism prevails within our inorganic technological society.

Reference

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

PS

Thom  Darden and I have been invited by the University of Michigan Alumni to host a webinar regarding Bo's Warriors.  The event is scheduled for August 16, a Sunday, at 1 PM Pacific coast time.  To register for the event .  

https://umalumni.my.site.com/s/lt-event?id=a1QUS00000C3rAX2AZ

Parenting 1

 

Freud emphasized child rearing experiences in his biological model of personality formation.  Neo-Freudians such as Adler, Horney Fromm, others and more recently Erikson  placed additional emphasis on the influence of society, economics ,religion and politics  on the developing personality. Since  the Middle Ages,  the Renaissance and the Reformation,the  family, social , political ,religious ,technological, and economic forces affecting man's development have changed  significantly . This brief disquisition associates the impact of today's society and technology affecting child rearing on  the development of the Gen X personality. An article titled "There Is a Way to Bring Back Childhood “in the June 22, 2025 edition of The New York Times was pertinent.

Early on, the religious ideas of Luther and Calvin pointed to a powerful authoritarian God who had unrestricted power over man. And man was taught to accept his powerlessness and evilness. But,  he could atone for his sins only by his submission to God. The  idea of God has altered but not the authoritarian -slave-dynamic economically and politically.

A compulsion to work ,passion for thrift and a sense of duty were ,early on, significant character traits  necessary and important tendencies for production  and profit in the rapidly developing capitalistic economy. With that being said, at one time multiple children were  reared  traditionally by both a mother and father and mother was a stay at home mom.The children learned and incorporated their beliefs and responsibilities to God, to each other and to others  as in the Golden Rule..

It’s clear that economically and psychologically, capitalism is predicated on  profitable consumption; meeting of  physiological needs ;perpetuating  the demand and desire for things, items,and objects ;searching for and pursuing  happiness,  “the American Dream;”power ,possession and status.  Briefly, it's  supply ,demand , profit and consumption.

Back in the day, I was reared by mom and dad and lived with my two sibs.  Dad worked outside the home and mom remained at home and ran the household.  Economically , dad provided for  our family on his  salary.  Mom,Bev,  Ron and I had breakfast together-dad had left for work; we  kids had lunch at school and the entire family ate dinner together .  That was  also the norm for  my  neighbors - Klaus,Noseda,Morrison,Russo, Forsyth, Pringle and Peppler families. I was cognizant about religion, economics, socialization, education and preparing for a career.  Plus,my grandparents resided nearby and all my aunts, uncles and cousins  on mom's side lived in Detroit as well .

Later, child rearing changed  because of parents chasing the economic propaganda of "Keeping up with the Jones ;" the rate of divorce  increased; moms entered the work force  and  children were saddled with multiple caretakers.  These  changes had a disastrous effect on the child's emotional,intellectual , moral and behavioral development . Other influences occurred like diminished church attendance ,  scandals; political ineptness and division ; numerous military involvements  and  a war on drugs as well.  Additionally, homeland freedoms diminished;  income discrepancy flourished ; homelessness; poverty ,  debt and  young adults  not being able to leave home increased ; school achievement declined  while college became unaffordable and technology became the new "god."

To make matters worse, remote work also contributed to isolation and a deterioration in mental health as individuals felt lless connected.Further, Plato warned us about wealth disparity and in the Republic stated that “ significant wealth disparity is not a state at all  but rather  two states, the  one of poor, the other of rich men , and they are living on the same spot and always conspiring against one another.”

Within the changes previously mentioned, a receptive character orientation tendency was developing and also being reinforced by  capitalism and its technology. This receptive  character orientation requires support from the outside-parents, friends, consensus, authorities, God and authoritarians.  Because the person believes that the only way to get what he wants, be it material, affection, love, knowledge, pleasure, etc. is to receive it from that outside source.  In other words, in this orientation , the problem of love is almost exclusively that of "being loved" and not that of loving.  

These people tend to be indiscriminate in their choice of the love objects and they "fall for anybody or anything that gives them love or what looks like love.”If intelligent, they make the best listeners since  their orientation is one of receiving.  It is the characteristic of these individuals and their first thought is to find somebody else or something else to give them that needed information or input rather than to make even the smallest effort to find the answer on their own. And,they are proficient at rationalizing their behavior.

Their critical thinking has been replaced and their reliance on memory has been greatly reduced.  Intellectually they are most susceptible , follow consensus and rely on someone or something else for decision making .

By themselves, these people feel helpless and alone.  However, they are also optimistic, friendly, loving when things go well, but easily become anxious and distraught with any rebuff or equivocation on the part of authorities because  they depend on the strength of their masters for their security and well-being even if the masters are selfish , exploitative , sadistic, don’t care and cruel.

These individuals also find consolation in eating, drinking, smoking  and the dream of being fed as a sign of being loved-issues with obesity come to mind.  This group is easily exploited by misleading advertising with its fast food bargains.  In other words, the power of the  food , nutrition and health industries are easily able to exploit their consumers.  Further, there’s a plethora of get rich  schemes;  well-being and happiness books  advertised and an excess   of  electronic apps and gadgets available for these vulnerable characters. We even have a gadget that allows us to remain seated while changing TV channels .

To be continued.

Amorality

 

About 5,786 years ago, according to the  Old Testament , Moses wrote God’s  10 commandments. In Exodus or  the second book, written in stone ,were Commandment V111 'You shall not steal "'and Commandment 1X “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. "  Both  commandments clearly and concretely describe negative, inappropriate interpersonal interactions  according to God's  moral precepts for righteous living.  Yet, turning to today's  politics and culture, it is obvious  that those two commandments seem irrelevant at times . A few synonyms for lie  to consider include deceive, fool,trick, mislead ,delude,fabricate  and falsehood Also, synonyms for steal include theft, larceny, thievery, pilfer, loot, embezzle,cheat, and take.The following provides  some of the motivations concerning both lying and stealing .

In Sigmund Freud's model, in a condensed version, conscience is formed in the superego early on and is related to  both the Oedipal complex and the development of the ego ideal.And specifically, initial helplessness of the child leads to feelings of inferiority and compensatory strivings for power. 

Parents are the main sources for gratification of needs ,safety and love resulting in dependence for the young child. The loss of affection ,love and safety results in significant fear that’s associated with the parental behaviors .Inherently, it’s all about the child’s  identification as he incorporates the wishes and demands of his parents.

This lays the groundwork for the development of a   conscience  which becomes the  super ego’s inner voice of the parents and cultures  moral values . Essentially, the young child learns and incorporates  ,with internalization, the means of how to  gain  approval and love   as well as how to avoid disapproval and the loss of love based on his actions .Doing what the parents dictates for right and wrong generally leads to affection, safety and belonging .

Fundamentally, it’s about the interpersonal interactions between child and parent that  superego(conscience) . And, depending on a history of  consequential experiences , is the voice of one’s conscience gentle and friendly when it comes to right and wrong or does  the conscience  become severe and cruel ? In other words, there can be a serious failure -irrationality in superego development, especially with an internal image of a troubled parent , parents or others  that’s associated with antisocial character tendencies.  And as an adult, that's usually coupled with inadequate inner controls which leads to destructive , deplorable  and narcissistic behavior .

Anna Freud categorized three types of lying.  First, delinquent lying was a deliberate attempt to gain advantage and to avoid punishment.  Second, innocent lying was being unable to separate inner and outer reality which is objective untruth, but valid from an individual's viewpoint, perhaps from ignorance.  Third, fantasy lying  was a wish to believe  in one's own  fabrication.  Obviously there is some connection between the three categorizations.

In the conscience ( right & wrong) is learned ,developed and highly related to the family dynamics  For instance, 1.  Is there an accomplice in the lies?   When the phone rings and asks for dad,and dad  tells his son  "tell him I'm not here ? “ Does mother say  regarding  spending money , "don't tell your father."  2.  Do the rules for truthfulness differ between what's told in the family versus what's told outside the family? Lying also requires an audience.3. Are the lies a cover up for not knowing - a fear of failure  exposing inadequacy ?

 

Psychologically, the superego’s, right from wrong,  can be easily overridden or ignored with intoxication from drugs , alcohol,  internal desires , peer group pressure , some code or belief ,  group consensus or because it comes from  a powerful flamboyant  narcissist.

Extensive lying is associated with a sense of personal weakness , fear of loss of control and/or personal sense of inadequacy.  Trump’s history of lying ,his individual experiences , and his lack of discomfort with his untruthfulness.Is well documented. He shows no remorse and doesn’t accept any responsibility for all of his lies,misinformation and deceit .Many of his lies seem related to his lack of  knowledge .

 Trump , however, when  emotionally disturbed,  aggressively  attacks, avoids or walks out, from the “fake media “ reporters especially  questions regarding  Epstein,tariffs,Iran , Biden . stolen elections and his grift .He denies and does not take any responsibility for his deceitful behavior.

Trump is a master at deceiving himself  as he believes in his fabrications and provides emotionally unimportant  statements which are not factually true. Pseudologia means that he goes to considerable trouble to make his stories plausible, including facts and inferences which lend a surface ferocity to it. His election lies are just one example .

With his excessive lying , he employs an extensive use of denial which interferes with logical thinking and is a predisposition for his aggressively verbally  acting out behaviors and his constant flip flopping responses. He’s full of contradictions and difficult to follow But, behaviorally he’ s accumulated more money  since 2025  ( last 18 months) than  in his entire lifetime of deceit .

With television and social media technology, the code of untruthfulness is internalized in the political attitude.  Constantly, so-called news programs conduct interviews with politicians.  Rarely does the politician answer the question but  instead presents his own talking points irrespective of the truth or question .  George Orwell's  1984 novel  brilliantly described the doubletalk by their Ministry of Truth  with 3 party slogans - War Is Peace; Freedom  Is Slavery and Ignorance  Is Strength.  Orwell’s relevance is paramount to today.And that “prediction” was written as recently as 1949.

A few comments about stealing . Our society places a tremendous value on money and the wealthy are easily able to protect their own from the consequences. Again, right and wrong begins with the superego in early childhood. What behaviors do the  parents  consistently reinforce  ?

From a developmental point of view:1. What is the extent of emotional deprivation for the child ?  Stealing can  be an “equalization” and/ or a substitution for affection-"I'm entitled."  Stealing behavior maintains the fiction of being loved 2.Does the stolen object provide security or meet some other ego need? 3.  Is stealing an act of revenge and easy because the enemy may be regarded as weak?  4.  Does stealing curry favor from the peer group or group at large ? 5.  Is stealing an act of bravado or some initiation ritual ? 6.  Is stealing an act of moral conduct ? Stealing from another is not ok but stealing or cheating the government ,insurance company is ok.  7.  Is stealing  associated with a  getting even behavior ,with parents  8. Is stealing   a projection of one's own hostility onto others in which they view others as exploitive, unreliable,  or just not worthy? 9. Is stealing an act to deprive,humiliate  and dominate ? 

Generally, stealing  behavior is often related to underlying depression and/or emptiness ;of  impotent fantasies which leads to alienation of and toward  others.  It appears that Trump and his governmental  cohorts are in fact rigid, empty , hostile  and exploitative.  Therefore , it’s not surprising that they would project on to others as being inferior, not worthy aliens and not deserving. Their  stealing policies result in excessive discrimination and not caring about the consequences, as long as they hold the power. 

Victor Hugo's Les Miserables  tells the story of Jean Valjean  and his experience with the law because he stole a loaf of bread to feed his sister's seven starving children.  Today's story with Trump and the billionaires demonstrates their toxicity and their inhumanity  toward so many and how the powerful avoid  negative consequences.

Trump, his family, his cabinet, his senators, his congressmen, his Supreme Court , his billionaires and Musk   all have a basic personality of emotional characterological  tendencies  and actions associated  consciously or unconsciously with passions of greed, exploitation, mendaciousness and thievery.  At this juncture, conscience, commandments, hell, incarceration, fines, and the rule of law have been inconsequential or moot .  Will any form of righteous justice ever occur  for these repugnant sycophants in our galaxy ?   

During Trump's first term as president, he’s made over 30,573 false or misleading statements .Since 2025, Trump  made over 21,000 security trades valuing between $600million - to 1.86 billion dollars according to Chat GPT.

.Reference

Disturbance of Development.  Basic Handbook of Child Psychiatry.

Thom  Darden and I have been invited by the University of Michigan Alumni to host a webinar regarding Bo's Warriors.  The event is scheduled for August 16, a Sunday, at 1 PM Pacific coast time.  To register for the event 

https://umalumni.my.site.com/s/lt-event?id=a1QUS00000C3rAX2AZ 

Gen Z

 

Today's essay has to do with the recent conversation that Linda and I had with a  Gen Z young man.  Karl Marx's ideas regarding management, labor and alienation and Sigmund Freud's concept of transference are pertinent.

Alienation refers to the psychological process in which humans become alien, at odds, in their thinking, feeling, and loving with other humans. Marx's concern was that under the conditions of capitalism,man became estranged from his own creative powers and the object of his work became alien to him . He became an anonymous, insignificant  number .These objects   eventually ruled over him and became powers independent of him.  "Labor exists for the purpose of production and not the process of production for the labor."  

 For Marx, socialism was never about the equalization of income.  It was essentially emancipation from alienation and not inequality of money.  An increase  in “wages" becomes  a better remuneration of slaves and would not restore ,either the worker to  the work  or their human  significance and worth . “ The division between labor and management interferes with the ability of man to connect with himself and develop his powers in order to be able to love and respect himself and the ability to love and respect others.  In other words,  alienation transformed man into a thing as well as making him a slave of things in our society of consumption

Marx  was concerned with the liberation of man from the kind of non challenging work which destroyed his individuality, which transformed him into a thing  and which made him into the slave of things.  It was a mode of production that destroyed individuality and enslaved man in the process.   And one consequence of this division was that the worker became poorer . And, the more the worker expended himself in work, the more powerful the world of objects that he had created  becomes .This results in him becoming poorer in his inner life and the less he belongs to himself .In other words, the object of  his production  is alien and hostile to man by mindless ,boring repetition  and his powerlessness and insignificance in the process.

In  the handicraft world, the worker made use of the tools and now it's the other way around - it’s the machines that make use of him.  In other words, at one time man was autonomous and created things with the use of tools but now it's the machine that becomes more omnipotent and significant .Man is now a cog, a thing , a non -enity in the production .

For Marx, socialism was a society in which the man experienced himself as the subject of his own powers and was able emancipate himself from the bondage of  things and circumstances In order to more fully develop a sense and capacity for love of self and the love for others 

Today in our capitalistic  consumption technological society, the worker, although needed for production, is becoming less, and less valued.  For example, an article in the June 14, 2026 edition of The New York Times was titled "Billionaires Billions Are Increasing Faster Than Ever."  That article described how the richest families and stockholders are increasing their political influence; why the rapid rise in wealth and  that the billionaires are accelerating their wealth  at the same time that the workers are getting a smaller share of the profits.  In other words, businesses have shifted the balance of power in the economy, allowing owners rather than workers to gobble up more financial rewards.  The top 0.1% of Americans, a group  of about 135,000 households own stocks, that total 13.7 trillion nearly double owned by the bottom 90% of Americans , a group of about 115 million households. And workers have less freedom, power because of the dominance, exploitation and unfair tax codes .

Essentially, man is becoming increasingly poor, even though there’s  an increasing need for money and this need for money is a real need created by the modern  capitalistic economy. In our society ,this only creates excess and  as a result greed for the favored but  exploitation, deprivation and alienation for the others. It’s the  commodity, the  possessions , the power  in how man relates himself and his status. The cliche “The one with the most and biggest toys wins.”

Our  society of consumption  affects man's tendencies.  For example, within a receptive  character orientation,the person feels that the source of all good comes from the outside.  He believes that the only way to get what he wants- something material , affection, love, knowledge,and/or   pleasure is to receive it from an outside source.  This results in seeking  a magic helper ; being loyal and dependent on others for knowledge , support ,making decisions and taking responsibility. On the negative side, man can be penniless, submissive, insecure, lacking self confidence, unrealistic , gullible and  wishful .

A brief story about our personable young man follows: 1.Homeschooling began around high school.  2.  He lives at home with his adopted parents  on farm-like property on  15 acres 3.  He said that college was expensive and that recent  college graduates can't find employment.  Currently there is a $1.6 trillion outstanding debt from federal student loans from 42 million people.  More than 5 million of these borrowers have not made a payment in the past 360 days, are in default and an additional 4 million are in what is called “late stage delinquency.”  The New York Times, April 27, 2025.  3.  He is learning to be a phlebotomist.  4.  He has had one date in his life that occurred at a coffee shop.  He said he's afraid of girls.  5.  He has an iPhone 6. He has reading difficulties . 7.  Everything is expensive except the foods that are not  healthy .8. Both  of his parents passed by the time  he was 5 years of age.His older brother was also  adopted shortly by the same parents. There are other adoptees in the home .9. He voted for Trump . On a 1-10 scale  to measure being surprised  by Trump’s not following through on campaign promises  with 10 being   the most  surprised he said ,he’s   a number 6.  A lot of people are fed up with the Democrats and won’t vote .10. He attends  a Christian church and believes in Jesus .11. He began weight lifting at age 13 because he was skinny.14. He doesn’t pay for room and board but is responsible for the total costs associated with his car.

According to an article in the New York Times June 22, 2025 "There is a Way to Bring Back Childhood,"  stated excessive smart phone usage by children and adolescents has been associated with mental health problems, suicide, depression, bullying behavior ,reduced dating, less  marriage,  fewer having children, and a plethora of problems associated with cognitive decline. 

 In a Gen Z survey ,many young people felt trapped by Tik Tok ,Snap Chat  and other avenues in which nearly all the participants expressed regret about having access to many of the most popular social media platforms.  Many of these parents gave their children smart phones and social media access too early; wished that social media had never been vetted and hoped for new  external social norms, policies and restrictions.Too late mom, too late.

Our young  man has been subjected to homeschooling ,living in a rural area and primarily relying on parents and siblings for his socialization along with his electronic devices.  In other words, his world, his socialization ,outside family , and opportunities for interacting with others has been limited with  reliance  primarily on consuming technology.

 Electronics has interfered with the meeting of ego needs and have replaced humans for comfort,security,acceptance, permissiveness  and reduction of separation anxiety. His socialization has  been disrupted ,his experiences have  been limited in dealing with others, but instead  has tended to rely upon technology with all its  toxic  lies and misinformation. 

Essentially, the inorganic , became a transference on a “thing” that represents the human qualities of power,love, acceptance, knowledge,safety,connection  and expertise -the  emotional deficits he experienced early on . And, as a result these objects psychologically  artificially “provide “  him with those qualities .However, this technology  did not and does not endow him with human or realistic emotional experiences but instead , he relies on the consumption of technological and social media responses that are programed on the  statistical averages  of the algorithms along with preponderance of misinformation ,prejudice  and deceit provided by AI.

Also ,other emotional deficits pertain to him as he is lacking in the capacity and readiness for intimacy.  Currently, he is unable to commit to concrete affiliations , reciprocate, to please and receive affection ,to remain loyal and  to follow through despite many differences.   And, has been unable to face his female fears  at this point, to  engage in close affiliations, sexual unions and close friendships.  The inability to meet the ego need of affiliation experiences leads him to isolation , self absorption and reliance on the inorganic for comfort in order to reduce his separation anxieties..  Unfortunately, in order to engage, he has to overcome those psychic difficulties with humans whose essence, at this time , seems dangerous and counter intuitive to his own survival.

Cognitively speaking, a relevant article titled "Thinking Is Becoming a Luxury Good" was found in the August 3, 2025 edition of the New York Times.  The writer pointed out that smart phones are breeding a new kind of inequality that's bad for democracies. For instance, individuals are reading less and literacy scores have declined significantly.  Nearly half of Americans read zero books in 2023.

Important brain activity, found in the analytic left hemisphere is related to capacity for concentration, linear reasoning, deep critical thinking and executive functions which are severely and negatively associated with this technology.  Also,  rich kids spend less time on their screens compared to the poor kids which also places them in a better position to enter the knowledge intensive industries that focus on thinking, reasoning, and are associated with higher pay.  Another concern was that  this  cognitive dumbing down favors oligarchs that  easily manipulate our citizens with their contradictory double talk , simplistic , irrational  and  populist brain rot  messaging .Essentially “smart” phones and these Mega rich types  are propagating an  additional inequity that’s detrimental for cognitive and emotional development .

PS

Fromm, Erich.  Marx's Concept of Man.

Thom  Darden and I have been invited by the University of Michigan Alumni to host a webinar regarding Bo's Warriors.  The event is scheduled for August 16, a Sunday, at 1 PM Pacific coast time.  To register for the event 

https://umalumni.my.site.com/s/lt-event?id=a1QUS00000C3rAX2AZ 

Satisfaction

 

This essay is based on a May 5, 2025 article titled “Satisfaction “ found in the New York Times.  Happiness can be defined as a state of being; happy as in joy which is the feeling, or state of well-being and contentment.  A few synonyms of joy include enjoyment, pleasure , gladness, bliss joyfulness, blissfulness ,felicity, euphoria, glory ,satisfaction, ecstasy and intoxication.  In other words, there are many words associated with  happiness.  Therefore, an operational definition of happiness is necessary for any research.  In this essay I will address happiness  along with anxiety and affiliation.

There have been many studies of satisfaction and happiness employing a diversity of subjects.  One study began in 1938 at Harvard that included John F. Kennedy and Ben Bradlee. A short summary of results follows: 1.  Youth and modest life aspirations were key components to happiness as well as the person's mindset  2 .Happy people tended to refrain from comparing themselves with others ; had  a more positive perception of others ; found ways to be satisfied with a range of choices and did not dwell on the negatives 3.  Performing five acts of kindness resulted in students being happier by the end of six weeks 4.  Students contemplating ,once a week , the things for which they  were grateful .  5.  Happiness happens to people by virtue of their genes and circumstances are both 6.  Finding purpose in serving others. ; spending time and being connected to others.  7.  Having smaller points of connection throughout the day also leads to happiness.  And it's important every day to connect with other humans.  8.  Happy people seem to engage in religious observance, socializing and exercising.  9 Happy people spend less time alone every day 9.  Those in happy marriages, socializing with others in their circle contributed to their happiness 10.  Those in pain or ill health reported that spending time with their spouses seemed  to protect them from the mood of dampening effects of physical suffering 11.  People who scored highest on measures of attachment to their spouses were also the ones who reported the highest levels of happiness.  12.  The best predictor of a couple's overall well-being in their old age was how happily married they were at age 50.  12.  Happy people spent less time alone than unhappy people.  13.  Even interacting with strangers in public transit seemed to help people get a mood boost.

These studies suggest, because we are social animals, that "happiness" is related to interpersonal contact, connections and relationships.  With that being said, picture the following connections.  The sperm connects with the egg and it's called fertilization.  In the placenta is the mother's umbilical cord which is a conduit or connection between the developing embryo or fetus in the placenta.  Turning to psychology is the occurrence of the birth trauma which is a separation between the mother and newborn.  This trauma is the first separation between mother and baby, which results in anxiety and trauma from the influx of stimulus for that newborn.  Freud called the birth trauma ,the prototype of anxiety as it's the first reality signaling a dangerous situation.  In fact, Heidegger stated that mere anxiety was the source of everything.

Following birth, we have a multitude of significant and important connections and separations with the interplay between mother and baby.  That infant "learns" over time as to whether or not that mother can be trusted for nurturance, safety, protection and comfort.  If there are positive reinforcements occurring, a preponderance of positive reinforcements result in a sense and expectations of trust.  Thus, with a positive sense of trust becomes a favorable association or connection between the two, and, importantly, that infant baby emotionally develops a favorable interpersonal expectation that can generalize to others.  In other words, an interpersonal connection becomes established, and if that emotionally close connection becomes severed ,anxiety and a threat occurs .In other words, separation anxiety begins about six months, especially after that close bond or connection between mother and child.

The relationship or association between affiliation and anxiety has also been studied in depth .In one research,  Schechter studied female college students and subjected them to either high or low anxiety.  He found that high anxiety subjects chose to wait with others as opposed to being alone.  In other words, he concluded that anxiety leads to affiliative behaviors. Sarnoff and Zimbardo found that placing one group of subjects under a strong fear of shock resulted in more of a desire to affiliate with others compared to  those under low fear.  It should be noted that affiliative behavior is associated and based on anticipating past successful experiences that reduce  the discomfort of anxiety.

It's not surprising that psychologists , philosophers and others have identified the association of anxiety and affiliation for man's survival.  Of course, being with a positive other is more productive to reduce anxiety than being with a negative individual. Being with another is one way to  reduce anxiety as is sex,drugs,alcohol,and various other activities.  It's the belonging that reduces  anxiety and that offers a key for obtaining a sense of  happiness , enjoyment, pleasure , and satisfaction.

Stories, songs,  novels etc. have described a variety of significant  positive and negative interpersonal relationships .. The  stress ,anxiety , conflict , loss and intense emotional feelings in the stories of  Samson and Delilah; Helen and Teseus; Cleopatra and Antony; Abelard and  Heloise   come to mind as well as with  Taylor and Burton; Dr. Zhivago and Laura; Butler and O'Hara; and Bogart and Bergman.  Song lyrics  such as “Will You Love Me Tomorrow, “  “When Will I Hold You Again”and “ ,The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “ I Can’t Live without You” are three examples .  The novelist John Steinbeck’s portrayal  of Lennie and  George from  “ Of Mice and Men “ and brothers Cain and Abel  from East of Eden depict stress,anxiety ,separation and conflict are other illustrations pertaining to  human connections.The most intense and most desirable passion between humans is love and with  separation -anxiety, it's not surprising to find in a long-term relationship that the death of one is shortly followed by the other. 

Affiliation is one of the ego needs described by Murray.  He defined it: To draw near and enjoyably cooperate or reciprocate with an allied other-and others who resemble the subject or who likes the subject.  To please and win affection of a cathected.  To adhere and remain loyal to a friend.  In other words, affiliation is one of our ego needs.  And ,successful gratification  with significant connections as in being loved,liked ,cared for and appreciated  leads to a reduction in anxiety with positive emotions which is just one of the variables associated with well-being.   However, it's clearly an important need to be gratified and one of the best ways to  protect against fear, anxiety ,terror and loneliness .

I prefer to use the term well-being. or eudaimonia  In describing my motivation.  I take into account  growth ,development and individuation while making  choices  pursuant to mind and body ; gratifying important ego needs while being productive with meaning, purpose , care,respect,responsibility and understanding especially with loved ones .  It's clear that  the pursuit of happiness is  short-lived and paradoxically results in self deception, illusion and irrationality. And that happiness is not found with the pursuit  for power,prestige or   possessions. Well-being is related to a  tendency, and a character orientation .

 PS

Thom  Darden and I have been invited by the University of Michigan Alumni to host a webinar regarding Bo's Warriors.  The event is scheduled for August 16, a Sunday, at 1 PM Pacific coast time.  To register for the event 

https://umalumni.my.site.com/s/lt-event?id=a1QUS00000C3rAX2AZ