Unions and Separations

 

I met, in 1997, a number of super first-rate athletes during my Ride and Tie competitions. These Ride and Tie athletes are world-class runners and equestrians. These competitions are made up of two partners and a horse that take place in the mountains of California, Oregon and Washington.  There are many stories of rugged trails, steep climbs with terrific competition. In the competition, one person rides and the other runs. The runner and rider make exchanges throughout the race.  The team starts together and completes the race together.  This essay relates to 5 of my dear Ride and Tie friends.

Bob Edwards was roughly 10 years of age, or older, than me when we initially met. Our first event was the Bloomfield Boogie.  He was an excellent runner and I found out he was selling Arabians in Arroyo Grande. We made many exchanges in subsequent Ride and Tie competitions, running events and equestrian races. In the Bay Area, my young neighbor Sandy was looking for a competitive horse. There was Bob with his horses. Today, Sandy is still a neighbor.

Bob was a lot of fun. He was with me when I was looking to purchase a home in the foothills. We had great chemistry during the Ride and Tie events. We didn’t have to talk much about exchanges and so forth. If we didn’t make an error, like running past the horse, we did well. Unfortunately, much later, Bob’s lead rope got caught around his leg, while training a horse, and he was injured. After surgery, he became aware that one leg was shorter than the other. Bob could not run competively after that injury. During my Western States run, Bob and Jim were to meet me at the other side of the American River aid station with another pair of running shoes. They weren’t there so I ran on. However, Bob was at Robie Point with a number of other friends like Tony. That was special. Hey Bob, I miss you and your friendship.

I also met Dr. Jim Steere the head veterinarian for Ride and Tie.  Jim had a colorful Ride and Tie and Tevis history.  In the early days of the Tevis, Jim, the veterinarian, pulled Wendell Robie during one Tevis ride. That was Jim’s last Tevis veterinary experience. Robie couldn’t tolerate Jim’s action.

 Jim was in Denmark as a Fulbright Scholar .The liberalism of the Danes got his attention. He stood behind their liberal policy regarding assisted suicide.  He was familiar with suicide. Jim was very helpful to me regarding my Tevis days and also was our head veterinarian for our Coolest Ride and Tie. I have a chapter about Jim in my first book “It Has Nothing To Do With Age.” Jim has a terrific life story.  I had a phone conversation with him a few days before his death. Jim was a super hero on so many fronts. I miss him a lot.

I first met Warren Hellman at the Mustang Classic Ride and Tie. However, I spent more time with him on the 2000 Tevis.  We rode together for the last 50 to 60 miles on that ride. Warren was a terrific athlete. He was one of four individuals to have completed the Tevis, Western States, and the 100 mile Swanton Pacific Ride and Tie. I am also a member of that club.

Warren, according to Kathy Perry, had more money than God. Warren ran Lehman Brothers in his late 20s and essentially took over companies. He owns Sugar Bowl and according to one story, put off a Levi stock transaction because it interfered with a Ride and Tie. Warren, didn’t talk about his wealth and would arrive at the events unshaven in a wrinkled shirt. However, for events in the San Diego area, he would arrive with his partner on his private plane. Another competitor employee would transport the horses.

Dianne Feinstein, for one, gave a eulogy at his Memorial service. The San Francisco Chronicle had a massive story about Warren’s life. He sponsors, to this day, a Bluegrass Festival concert in Golden Gate Park. He enjoyed playing the banjo with the superstar presenters. One can find the Warren Hellman Meadow in that park. Thank you Warren for your many contributions. You are certainly missed.

Jonathan Jordan was my partner in the Swanton Pacific 100 mile Ride and Tie. We had a blast during and after that event and I wrote in detail about it in my earlier referenced book.  I spent many days staying with him, Tera and the boys Ethan, Atticus and Elijah in Southern California. Jonathan, Terra and the boys came to Cool numerous times. We had exciting times with the Cool 50 K, Coolest Ride and Tie, and the Salmon Falls 50 K races. It was our tradition.

Jonathan, with his sweet Georgia charm, was also a San Diego defense attorney. We spent hours talking about his cases and I went with him to Redding for jail interviews regarding a mother that killed her new born. Jonathan and I also went to Palm Desert for a book presentation and we stayed with Jack Sholl. We had a ball and heard Jack’s and Joanne’s numerous Grace Kelly stories. I also have a chapter about the rower Jack in my first book.

 Jonathan and I also had numerous discussions regarding the political nature in this country. Sadly, Jonathan left us last year, likely a side effect of his cancer treatment, while running with Elijah on one of our familiar trails.  His son found him leaning beside an oak tree. I miss my dear friend Jonathan greatly.

Mark Richtman was a world-class runner. He has numerous US records before and after turning 60. Mark and I were division winners In the Western States 2002 run. Tony and I, during one of our Jed Smith’s run, saw Mark run by us as he was going for another US 50 mile record. After the run, Mark was with Megan Arbogast a world-class runner from Oregon along with Greg Thornley. We said hi. Greg is now the Race Director for the Western States 100. Mark and I have our names engraved on the Coolest Ride and Tie trophy the same number of times. Unfortunately, Mark was last seen, last year, in his kayak paddling in the Pacific. I miss you Mark.

Tom Christofk was a runner, endurance and Ride and Tie competitor. Prior, he was a rower in college and then left for the Marines. Tom was very helpful when I left the Bay Area and came to the foothills. He gave me a referral to Greg’s Echo Valley Ranch Feed store. In the 2000 Tevis, Greg had a grin on his face as he was leaving the Last Chance Vet check. I did not waste any time at that Vet check. I caught up to Greg just after No Hands Bridge. Shortly, I had a grin my face as I went by Greg placing in front of him on that ride. Tom also gave me a referral to Kris a veterinarian, karate expert and maker of beer. Kris also became a friend. Tom, Tony and I rode the Tevis trail, as well as a few endurance rides prior to the 2000 Tevis. A number of my Ride and Tie friends did not finish that Tevis. Thank you Tom for your introductions and friendship. Tom never stopped competing. I write that with a smile.

Every December we have a birthday run for Tom and Tony.  In 2018, Tom, with an ALS diagnosis, could walk and talk during that get together. Last December, Tom was in a wheelchair that had a motor that he could maneuver with buttons. That was the last time that I saw Tom. Tom left us last week. I miss you and your competitiveness Tom. 

Unions are frequent and separations are inevitable and follow. Some unions are significant and last longer than others. My Ride and Tie experience with so many neat people made my life better. That sport was a whole lot of fun. Teamwork with a partner and horse are like no other. So many stories, so many experiences and so many good times. However, separations are part of life and always happen.  With some separations, sadness follows. Thank goodness, I have numerous fond memories of the stories of my friends as well.

PS

Jack Sholl, Megan Arbogast, Greg Thornley, Greg Kimler, Jonathan Jordan and others like Tim Twietmeyer, Tom Johnson, Kathy Perry, Julie Sur, Dan Barger, Cathy Rohm and others were guests on Tony and my TV show. Catch the shows on YouTube.

An Absence of Integrity

Mary Trump, in her book, calls Uncle Donald a sociopath. Norman Cameron, PhD from the University of Michigan and an MD from Johns Hopkins in his book “Personality Development and Psychopathology A Dynamic Approach” has a chapter on the traits of a “Sociopathic Personality Disturbance.”  This essay provides examples of Donald’s behavior with comparisons to individuals with the pathology traits of a sociopathic personality disturbance.

A few of the characteristics of an individual with a sociopathic personality disturbance follows. This person, with this disturbance, seems unable to learn from his experiences in certain areas of interpersonal relationships. This interpersonal dysfunctional behavior represses anger that results with interactions of being defiant, being oppositional, expressing hatred, selfishness and prejudice.  These persons may have average or above average intelligence. However, these individuals are unable to control their inappropriate impulses. Their acting out antisocial behavior often leads, and results in illegal acts.

These individuals, with their defective superego conscience, often cannot fully realize why their behavior is socially wrong, and dangerous. Further, they have shallow feelings, do not feel deep remorse nor are they able to exhibit empathy. This suggests that they are likely to insist that there is nothing wrong. Because of their desires for immediate gratification without regard for the demands, rights or feelings of others, they seem incapable of assuming common socially acceptable responsibilities. They have a selfish and withholding lack of consideration for others.  They are without an appropriate or dependable conscience.  With some form of guilt, frustration, then repressed anger follows and directed inward. Because of their defective conscience, and deficient ego functioning, they are powerless to control impulses. As a result, these individuals make the same behavioral mistakes again and again.

The development of a sociopathic personality disturbance individual begins in childhood. Roughly at the age of four, the precursors of conscience, within the superego, begins with the identification and interjection mechanisms. The child initially identifies with the all-powerful parents. The omnipotent fathers are extremely important in the process. That parent, according to his own personality development, has the power to reinforce all types of actions by the child. The reinforcement can include monetary rewards, approval, disapproval, cruelty, love and even rejection.  The reinforcements can be regular, irregular, fair, not fair, contradictory, clear and unclear with a lack of affection and warmth as well. During this Identification and interjection process, the child unconsciously and consciously learns that what is important for that father figure. The child learns the inconsistencies, attitudes, beliefs, prejudices as it relates to the world both in and out of the home. In essence, the child develops a conscience with moral and ethical rights, wrongs, and his conscience becomes like his father’s conscience.  The cliché “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” fits here.

As result of defective conscience development because of the father and mother, the child’s conscience too becomes unable to take on social responsibility while failing to establish stable emotional relationships with others. It’s not surprising that this individual becomes like the identified parent or parents with a similar conscience. In other words, the child takes on the sociopathic qualities of the identified parent- capricious, inconsistent, impulsive, sadistic, selfish, irresponsible, and neglectful emotionally, with meaningless and asocial attitudes toward others. The parental negative asocial qualities are now the qualities of the individual child. Both parent and child can have sociopathic personality disturbance traits.

Applying the characteristics of a sociopath personality, to the narcissistic Donald follows. One example is the sociopath’s faulty relationships with others. Donald talked about draining the swamp and that he knew the best people. This meant that he “put up with” individuals that were loyal to him and would terminate those not loyal to him. Currently, the White House is now conducting a loyalty test with one on one interviews across many departments in an attempt to weed out the disloyal. Donald’s, one time, personal lawyer Michael Cohen did a wide array of illegal acts for him for many years. When Cohen didn’t lie during investigations, Donald quickly left Michael and called him a rat. When Jeff Sessions, his first attorney general, did not do exactly what was wanted pertaining to the Mueller investigation, Jeff was no longer a friend because of his disloyalty. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the coronavirus expert, has a science point of view. Because Fauci’s scientific information is dissonant to Trumps, Donald ignores him and views him as an enemy. Donald doesn’t want to hear nor does he want the public to hear the science of Covid-19.  The insecure, selfish Donald is now silencing the CDC from presenting Coved 19 information. This once prestigious agency is no longer receiving the data. Instead HHS is the focal point. The narcissistic sociopath can now have more control and lie about the numbers pertaining to this awful epidemic.

Donald, the narcissistic sociopath, has provides misinformation for the social welfare of the country. Donald’s messaging regarding Covid -19 has been selfish, cruel, incorrect, and hateful toward the public. The welfare and protection of the country should be his first presidential responsibility. The government, meaning the narcissistic sociopath, has lied, over and over about this disease. It’s going to go away, we have it under control, use a disinfectant etc.’s. His selfishness and lack of leadership is appalling.  He finally said wearing a mask is patriotic. Donald threatens to withhold money from schools for not opening. The Covid-19 numbers are staggering and in fact we have about the same number of cases and deaths as do the next three highest countries-Brazil, India and Russia.

This narcissistic sociopathic fraud says the Covid 19 numbers are inaccurate and that we have more cases because we test more. Yes, the numbers are inaccurate because our tests are not always credible. We have too many false negatives – people, actually being sick, believing they don’t have the virus. About 20% of some test results are inaccurate. Our disease numbers are greater not less. Testing more is not why we have greater numbers. We have greater numbers because we are unfortunately transmitting the disease. Not only do people not wear facemasks, social distancing etc. but for many the turnaround getting a test and test results can take up to two weeks. It’s not about freedom. It’s about selfishness.

The narcissistic sociopath is not confident of his intelligence based on the fact that his sister did his school homework, he did not take his ACT’S and does not want the colleges to reveal his academic record. However, that does not stop Donald from saying he’s the smartest in the room which really inflates the idealized image that he has himself. He falsely said that he aced a recent test. The test in question, Montreal Cognitive Assessment test provides cursory information regarding Dementia .In part it asses short term memory with no letter grades.

Donald’s life is about self-interest that results in silencing prostitutes, nondisclosure documents, numerous lawsuits, a phony University, a phony foundation, being impeached etc. Partially, his anxiety is a precursor to his desperate need to be loved and admired. This man has repressed hostility, which relates to persistent lying, ruthlessness, exploitation and lack of concern for the welfare of others.

This narcissistic sociopath, with his defective conscience, has been able to flaunt, like a king, the rule of law with the help of his current Atty. Gen. He fires “whistleblowers,” federal prosecutors, withholds tax returns, and made a mockery of his impeachment. The Senate did not hear one witness. Up to now, the only restrictions containing him, are the recent Supreme Court decisions. It seems that he doesn’t learn and continues to act as if he’s king and above the law. There is even speculation that the oppositional Donald may not leave the White House. Donald has repeatedly said there’s been voter fraud; he’s leading in the polls;” I’m not losing and I may not accept the election results.”

This narcissistic sociopath does not care about most in our country let alone the world. He withdrew from the Paris Accord; gave tax incentives and withdrew restrictions for the fossil fuel industry; left the Iranian nuclear deal, is now in inefficient, costly and destructive tariff wars, and was an enabler in the tax breaks for the top 1%. Donald also took about $400,000 of campaign finance money and gave it to his Mar a Lago property and uses tax payer funds while filling his properties. Donald is irresponsible, dangerous, exhibits criminal behaviors with a defective conscience. The future of our country and world is at risk.

I agree with Mary Trump that he should resign. I also agree that his behavior is similar to sociopathic personality traits. Yes, he can be charming, manipulative, and competitive. As for his concern for others, he has been impotent and inept about the health and welfare of our country. His lack of respect, his sadism, his racism pertaining to George Floyd and the separating and incarcerating policy pertaining to children and parents, at the southern border cannot be forgotten. His 38% selfish approval rate for handling the Covid 19 virus is scary.  He has too many followers that are like him.

 Donald has a history of bankruptcy. Donald is intellectually bankrupt; he has bankrupted the economy; he is morally bankrupt; he has ethically bankrupted the office of the presidency, the rule of law; and he is without integrity. It’s important to make this narcissist, sociopath, racist, sadistic anti-Semitic Donald a one term president.

The Happiness Illusion

 “Happiness in Hard Times” was an article in the June/July AARP Magazine. Are you kidding me? My endurance, running and ride tie friend Tom has an ALS diagnosis; my dear cousin Shelly has a Parkinson’s diagnosis; and my running friend Tony is on Whidbey Island, running in Tango’s paddock. Seriously, this essay critiques and challenges the notion of the pursuit of happiness.

Aristippus of Cyrene is regarded as the originator of the philosophy of hedonism. He believed that pleasure, in the moment, is the only thing worthy of striving for, and that pleasure and happiness are good .Epicurus, held that happiness and pleasure should be the goal of life. The pleasures he advocated were acquiring mild and tranquil states, like the absence of pain or the satisfaction of a desire like hunger. Thomas Jefferson, the wealthy privileged plantation slave owner knew happiness. He had no difficulty satisfying his sexual needs. Jefferson coveted hedonism.

In the AARP article, Dr. Laurie Santos, the Yale psychology professor, developed a course titled “Psychology and the Good Life.” In her course, included physical and emotional aspects of happiness. Nearly 1,000,000 people, of all ages, signed up for a free online version of the course. Included in the course, were suggestions such as eating well, sleeping well, exercising, and yoga to minimize stress.

Happiness and pleasure are short-lived. Positive longer-lasting mood states are influenced by one’s attitude, and appropriate mental and physical lifestyle choices. Historically, our country was founded on the privilege of wealth which equaled power, which then resulted in political control. The House of Representatives was the only branch of government that is directly elected by the American voters since its formation in 1789. The Senate, until 1913, had its members elected by individual state legislatures. Thanks to James Madison who wrote “in England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people, the property of landed proprietors would be insecure. Madison, must have read Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations.  Therefore, it is important to keep the power with a few because otherwise, the people would take over the wealth .For their happiness, pleasure and satisfaction, under no conditions, will the privileged wealth and power, of the few, allow that to happen.

In the 1920s, advertising was created to tranquilize, brainwash, to provide short-term pleasures or hedonism to divert the attention of the masses away from their powerless position. The sophistication and understanding of hedonism has been incorporated by Madison Avenue Advertising. They have created a demand for superficial, non-essential items, gadgets etc. The decision to purchase the desired “label” are irrational and superfluous. Advertising messaging does not list the rational benefits of comparing a Ford to a Chevrolet. The plethora of messages appeal to emotions and often are just lies. In its place, we find an attractive smiling woman driver with her hair blowing in the breeze etc. The purchase of items are supposed to bring pleasure and happiness. There are no shortages of examples of these various goods and ideas associated with short-term happiness. These are some of the messages:  pursuit of making money [Is Jeff Bezos the happiest man in the world?}; purchasing a dream house; going on a wonderful and memory filled vacation; ingesting a giant burger; purchasing the right hair and skin products; the one with the most toys wins; taking a pill for all these obscure illnesses-don’t forget about the disastrous side effects. If you have this gadget, you’ll be the envy of the neighborhood; and you better keep up with the Joneses. Working your way up the ladder for that special promotion and procuring that most wonderful job are messages too. On a side note, I remember “See the USA in Your Chevrolet;” “Brylcreem, a little dabble will do you;” and “Do you want my advice Sir, use deicer,”

Take the sociopathic individual in the White House. He has the most powerful position in the world. How often do you see him portraying happiness? He has power and very little happiness. He escapes to a golf course and hits and hits that little white ball forgetting to count all his strokes. He would likely call happiness going to the golf course and his rallies where the individuals cheer at his falsehoods.

How can you be happy with the imbalance between manufacturing and the financial institutions? In the1950s and1960s, we were leaders in manufacturing. In the 1970’s, the power structure moved production offshore for cheap labor. While this was happening, the growth, without regulations, of financial Wall Street grew tremendously. By 2007, the unregulated financial institutions procured 40% of the profit of the United States. Then the economy collapsed; taxpayers bailed them out-not for the first time; and no one went to jail for all their shenanigans.

How can you be happy with the collapse of the middle class? Opportunities were aglow in the fabulous 1950s and 1960s. People had good employment, able to afford a home and bought into the “American Dream.” Not so today, as we have a ridiculous minimum wage; part-time employment so the corporations don’t have to pay benefits; dismantling labor unions which provided necessary protection for its workers. Today we have less than 7% of unions in the private sector; and an unfair tax code that’s shifted from corporations in the 1950s and 1960s to the rest of the population. Amazon and General Electric pay no federal income tax and Warren Buffett stated his secretary pays more federal income tax that he does; a defunding of public education and Social Security. College has become unaffordable and many are enslaved because of their debt; 70% of our population cannot influence public policy; stagnation of the socioeconomic class-who gives and who follows orders?; In the 19^th century, the Republican Party called wage labor, slave labor; racism that goes back 400 years  and was necessary for production and economic exploitation.

 Adam Smith, the Scottish moral philosopher, in 1776 stated in his classic Wealth of Nations “All for myself, results in less for everyone else,” “Those in control of manufacturing are the Masters of Mankind.” As a result of keeping the power and wealth in the hands of a few, along with political divisiveness, and brainwashing by television, radio, and advertising, we have  too many that’s primarily concerned with self and less concerned with others. It’s your fault for your economic mess. Legislation, political parties, Supreme Court decisions, criminal justice or injustice, employment and housing opportunity with overt and covert systemic racism are in place to protect the Masters of Mankind. The masses should obey per Allan Greenspan, former Chair of the Federal Reserve “Keep them from our throats.”

I propose that, those that are able, focus on becoming a healthy individual and a positive mood follows. Being mentally and physically healthy is not easy. No one says it is. Freud said something to the effect “The ability for productive work and the ability to love are necessary for a healthy individual.” I would add to Freud’s model. A further cognitive use from the ego: to utilize the scientific method, to incorporate rationality and wisdom, to accommodate and synthesize information, and to refute populace illusions are also necessary. With optimum ego development, better choices can be made regarding mental and physical well-being .Productive work refers to both being significant, and creative in the physical and/or mental domain. Being productive perpetuates, is consonant, and accompanies the individual’s pursuit in finding significance and meaning in life. The individual also has to be capable of loving oneself. If one loves self, one has the capacity to empathize, care, respect, like and love others. Therefore, the ability to be involved productively, lovingly with positive mental and physical health decisions are the necessary components equated with being able to maintain a longer-lasting positive mood. Thus, the dynamics of these decision making behaviors are equated with a healthy lifestyle. The obvious result is that the individual now will be better equipped to deal with nature’s hazards and manmade exploitations. The pursuit of happiness is a capitalistic illusion.

Imagine

Throughout history there has been a belief in the ability of man to reach his humanistic potential. Today, there are others that favor a nationalistic ideology. This essay contrasts these two ideologies with religious examples. I shall not address the why, the how or the dynamics underlying the forming of these narcissistic religious groups.

We know that the young are first faced with uncertainty, anxiety, dependence, and require sustenance, a protector for survival. We also know the importance of narcissism in the development of man. Man has a great capacity and drive for survival. He realized that a union with another, as in two heads are better than one, were to his advantage. Man further realized that becoming part of a group, group narcissism, increased and bettered his chances for engaging in the world.

Let’s begin our story by taking a snapshot at a few of the religions of the world. The Hebrew Scriptures, prophets and kings like Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Samuel, David, and Saul go back over 5,000 years. According to Moses, God identified, in the 10 Commandments, a number of inappropriate behaviors between man and man: honor thy father and thy mother; thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; thou shall not kill; thou shall not commit adultery; thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor; thou shall not covet [neighbor’s house, neighbor’s wife, slaves, or anything else] and thou shall not steal. Clearly, these are sadistic behaviors. It wasn’t until the Exodus, when these slaves wandered in the desert for 40 years, believed in the Lord and became his chosen people. This resulted in the 10 commandments forming the basis of Jewish law or right and wrong. Not only that, these Hebrew slaves became one. They belonged to a special group of Homo sapiens and are referred to as Jews and group narcissism.

Roughly 2,000 years ago there was a Jewish prophet, preacher, leader called Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was a Galilean Jew, was baptized, began his own ministry and was called Rabbi. He debated other Jews about God, engaged in healings, taught in parables and gathered followers. He was arrested, tried, and turned over to Pontius Pilate. He was crucified. After his death, his followers believed that he rose from the dead, and Christianity followed. Now, we have another group of Homo sapiens called Christians and group narcissism.

In Islam, Jesus was considered one of God’s important prophets and a Messiah. They believed Jesus was born a virgin, but was neither God nor a begotten God. They stated that Jesus never claimed divinity and they don’t believe he was killed or crucified .They believed that he was physically raised into heaven by God. In Islam, there are Sunni, Shia, and a number of other narcissistic groups within that religion.

Judaism does not believe that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, neither fulfilled Messianic prophecies, nor was he divine or resurrected. In Judaism, there are three main narcissistic groups, the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform.

In the 15^th and 16^th century there was a rebellious, anti-Semite, sadomasochistic German professor of theology named Martin Luther. He was excommunicated by Pope Leo X and condemned by the Holy Roman Emperor. An angry, hateful temper driven Luther called for the death of the Jews and burnings of their synagogues. His anger and hatred was also directed toward Roman Catholics, Anabaptists, nontrinitarian Christians and sometimes at God. He was extremely superstitious and had a strong belief in spirits and the devil.

Luther taught that salvation and consequently external life are not earned by good deeds, but are received only as a gift of God’s grace through the believer’s faith in Jesus Christ as Redeemer. He challenged the authority of the Pope by teaching that the Bible was the only source of divinely revealed knowledge. He opposed sacerdotalism and considered all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood. His narcissistic group are called Lutherans and he was instrumental in the Protestant Reformation. Today, about one third of Christians are Protestants.

A short deviation pertaining to Luther follows. There is a controversy as to whether or not Luther, the priest, at the age of 23 in 1507, while celebrating his first mass, had a “fit in the choir.” Was Luther mentally ill, possessed by demons or both when he fell to the ground in the choir of the monastery and roared with the voice of a bull “it isn’t me or I am not” depending upon the German or Latin translation. Early biographers have different interpretations of this event.

More recently, Erikson, a clinician, was unable to give a clear diagnosis regarding that behavior. Erikson believed that Luther was undergoing an identity crisis at the time. It was known that Luther‘s father was a miner. Luther’s parents were rigid, hard, thrifty, and superstitious and both caned their boy. Luther’s school years were monotonous, cruel and exploitive. Needless to say this resulted in making this child fearful for life. Luther was troubled, defiant and stubborn. This factored in his conflict with his identity. Should Luther show obedience to his father {and become a jurist} or obedience to the Father in heaven?  First, Luther had to endure melancholy, depression and/or psychosis in silence and meditation for the next 10 years in that monastery, until 1507. Perhaps, he recovered, perhaps not.  In any event, the rebel, reformer and spiritual dictator nailed 95 theses on the church door in Wittenberg.

Born in 1509 was the French theologian John Calvin. Within Calvin’s theology, are the doctrines of predestination, absolute sovereignty of God’s salvation, the human soul, and death or eternal damnation? He was a reformer during the Protestant Reformation and influenced many congregations .Calvin broke formally from Roman Catholic Church around 1530. Now, we have another religious narcissistic group.

We have a lot of religious groupings and it’s safe to say, that belonging to a religious group is an example of group narcissism. All these groups say that there is one God. From there, there are differences per each group and each group clings to a belief that they have the true or only answer. Not only that, but they are right, true believers and anyone having a different opinion are not as righteous. In fact, there have been numerous sadistic and hateful battles and killings between the groups.

The hate propaganda states that “Jews are killers of Christ” so they are the enemy. English kings went to the holy land to fight and kill the infidels numerous times. Shia and Sunni seem to have little difficulty murdering each other. Do not forget the 30 years’ war from 1618 to 1648 when the Protestants and Catholics battled in response to the election of Pope Ferdinand 11. 8 million deaths, hunger, disease and the devastation of entire regions followed.  

The European wars of Christian religions were waged in Europe during the 16, 17 and early 18^th centuries. These wars essentially disrupted the religious and political dominance of Catholic countries in Europe. Much later battles between the Ireland Catholics and the Great Britain surfaced. This also resulted in many civilian casualties.  Thus, we have a number of narcissistic groups.

 I purposely used only a few religious groups because they provided numerous concrete and historical examples for division, hatred and the significant problem as in” my group is better than your group,” It can also be argued that these wars were the result of revenge, power, accumulation of money, acquiring geographical space, destroying the world of Islam, challenging medieval learning by the philosophical and scientific ideas of Arabic thinkers and political control. These explanations or reasons do not seem to be divinely inspired nor for moral and ethical purposes. It goes back to man versus man under the umbrella of religion but not the religious teachings of humanism.

We have humanistic teachings of “love thy neighbor” and “love thine enemy.” However, during those times and in the times of Socrates and St. Augustine, the world, as known by man, was very limited. Years, later from the 19^th century on, the existentialists Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Jaspers, Heidegger, Sartre and others extended those ideas and emphasized man fully developing. This meant a more humanistic man, with man relating to man very differently than historically. Humanism is diametrically opposed to narcissistic groups.

In fact, you may be surprised by the writings of the German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, and socialist revolutionary Karl Heinrich Marx. In collaboration with Frederick Engels, their writings can be found in the reading room of the British Museum.

Marx has been discredited by propaganda perpetuated by the United States by falsely accusing him of being the creator of the economic policies of Russian and Chinese socialism. So far from the truth. Marx was true humanist and believed that one’s personality is highly influenced by the economic and social conditions in which one must live, and not with ideas and slogans. His ideas were to liberate man from the pressure of his economic needs so he could become fully human. In other words, he was concerned with the emancipation of man’s individualism by overcoming his alienation because of the monotony of his work. Then, he would be able to restore his capacity. By doing so, man could relate to himself fully, to fellow man and to nature. Man had to have more control over production. Marx was opposed to an economic system based on materialistic practice, the greedy desire for money, maximum profit, material gain and property. He didn’t believe that the absence of private property was inhuman nor bad. He believed that man makes his own history and he should be his own creator.

There were Communities of Work programs based on a communitarian movement that took place in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Holland. Founded by Marcel Barbu, who owned a watch case factory. Briefly, he hired atheists, Catholics, Protestants, materialists, humanists and Communists and they all worked together, found common cause and created  an ethical code: thou will love thy neighbor; thou shall not kill; thou shall not take thy neighbor’s goods; thou shall not lie; thou will be faithful to thy promise; thou shall earn  bread by the sweat of thy brow; thou shall respect thy neighbor, his person, his liberty; thou shall respect thyself; thou shall fight first against thyself, all vices which debase man, all the passions which hold man in slavery and are detrimental to a social life; pride, avarice, lust, covetousness, gluttony, anger, and laziness; thou shall hold that there are goods higher than life itself: liberty, human dignity, truth, justice etc.

These men vowed to treat self and each other their best every day. The group also wanted to educate themselves. Within three months, their productivity grew so much that they saved nine hours in a 48 hour work week. They now had nine hours to use for education. They were paid for the full 48 hours. They took courses in engineering, physics, literature, Marxism, Christianity, dancing, singing and basketball.

The following principles on which the Communities of Work are based: 1. In order to live a man’s life, one has to enjoy the whole fruit of one’s labor 2. One has to be able to educate oneself 3. One has to pursue a common endeavor within a professional group proportioned to the stature of man-100 families maximum 4. One has to be actively related to the whole world.

 Following this humanistic practice, psychologists like Gordon Allport, Kurt Goldstein, Carl Rogers, Rollo May, Abraham Maslow, Martin Seligman wrote about man’s ability to self-actualize. They saw this as being very important for man. It’s important for man to become a human being .Only then is he able to function fully, constructively so he can become trustworthy. Man has to be free from defensiveness, open to experience, have the ability to socialize, communicate with others in order to develop new heights of happiness and achievement.

Abraham Maslow researched a variety of individuals and was able to theorize about humanistic psychology. Some of his subjects were alive and some were not alive. In his theory he came up with 15 characteristics that described an individual that reached self-actualization. This didn’t mean that they were perfect. They could be ruthless, alienate others, and detached. A brief overview of a few of their characteristics are as follows: 1. They tolerated uncertainty and ambiguity more easily than others. As a result, they lived closer to reality and to nature 2. They were especially spontaneous in their thoughts, other covert tendencies, and unconventionality 3. They were not ego centered, but are oriented to problems outside themselves, important problems to which they are devoted as in a mission in life 4. They derived ecstasy, inspiration and strength from the basic experiences of life 5. They experienced identification, sympathy and affection for mankind 6. They respected people, learned from them, and related to them, irrespective birth, race, blood, family etc. 7. They tended to be philosophical and non-hostile in their humor.

Moses, Jesus, Mohammed and other prophets gave humanistic messages to their followers and thus individual narcissism was transferred to group narcissism. However, the Roman Caesars, Popes, English and French Kings, Queen Isabella and her Inquisition, Protestant Reformation figures and others with their slick marketing, power, and narcissistic styles had no difficulty converting the masses or group narcissism to their whims. It was like sheep following the wolves. It was not about rationality, objectivity, and reason, it was about having the” love “and protection from powerful father figures. When this happened, the likelihood of my group is supreme, the best, the most religious and the only one to follow occurred. This resulted in prejudice, hate and sadistic destruction of others.

Unfortunately, the behavior of the masses do not follow the modeling of Moses, Jesus and Mohammed. The devil and group narcissism continues to be a major threat to humanism. However, there is hope as Einstein said “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”  I don’t know if this quote influenced John Lennon and Paul McCartney for their classic “Imagine.”  “Imagine there is no heaven  it’s easy if you try  No hell below us  Above us only sky  imagine all the people living for today

 Imagine there’s no countries   It isn’t hard to do  Nothing to kill or die for   And no religion too   Imagine all the people living in peace, you

You may say I’m a dreamer  But I’m not the only one  I hope some day you’ll join us  And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions  I wonder if you can  No need for greed or hunger  A brotherhood of man  Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you

You may say I’m a dreamer    But I’m not the only one   I hope someday you’ll join us  And the world will be as one.

References

Erikson, Erik H. Young Man Luther A Study in Psychoanalysis and History .WWW Norton and Company Incorporated.

Fromm, Erich. The Sane Society. Fawett Publications Incorporated.

Trump and His Supporters

A diagnostic assessment includes a mental status exam, a psychological, neuropsych, employment, and family history etc. Instead, I gathered behavioral descriptions from a number of sources in order to present a working hypothesis for incorporating sadism and narcissism. This essay deals with the pathology of sadism, individual and group narcissism.

Infants are born with anxiety, helplessness and dependence and require comfort, security and protection for survival. This fragile state is imprinted throughout the lifecycle. For survival, we developed needs and engaged in other behaviors to deal with anxiety, insecurity for “mastering the world.”  Initially, that protector was the mother caretaker. Her role, the father’s role, the sibling’s role, other adults and peers, educational process etc. all factor in, and depending upon circumstances, start in motion the development of a sadistic and narcissistic character. Character develops and drives behavior.

The following is a limited overview regarding parent-child relationship styles: 1. An Authoritative parent has been described as being highly controlling; using power freely and not encouraging the child to express himself during disagreements. 2. A Permissive parent has been described as not well-organized or  effective in running their households, lax both in disciplining and in rewarding the child, making relatively few and  weak demands for mature behavior, and paying little attention to training for independence and self-reliance. Their children appeared immature, lacking in independence and self-reliance 3. A Hostile-Neglectful parent has been described as lacking warmth, rejecting the child, failing to use reasonable and consistent controls appropriate to the child’s stage of development and likely to maximize aggressive poorly controlled behavior. 4. A Warm- Restrictive parent has been described as intrusive, in which the mother attempted to force a child through punishment or threat to adhere to her standards, and the degree to which deviations from those standards were punished.

 Additionally, inconsistent discipline appeared to be as harmful as too little or too much discipline and was another important variable in character development. The inconsistency can stem from parental hostility; indifference; parental certainty; lack of confidence; or from mood swings. However, whatever its source, inconsistency in parental discipline, tended to contribute to maladjustment, conflict and aggression in the child. The purpose of this small sample was to highlight the difficulty for the parent in child rearing.

 Depending upon a number of factors contributing to the development of secondary narcissism, the child could develop tendencies to withdraw from people in its life space.  In this case, child history suggested an inordinate degree of punishment or absence, inconsistent reinforcement resulting in anxiety while being with people. Included In the development of malignant narcissism was being a sadist, a racist with an intense desire to control, hurt, or humiliate another person. Once again, consistency, type and manner of punishment, credible reinforcements and degrees of frustration are key parental variables in developing character -negative interactive aggressive behaviors against others.

Racism, hate, narcissism and sadism have been present since beginning of recorded time. In fact, it may be increasing? This malignant narcissistic character development was based on conscious and/or unconscious feelings of significant anxiety, insecurity, helplessness, powerlessness, impotency, lack of protection and feelings of inadequacy. These hateful individuals are attracted to power, wealth, control, domination, exploitation, and contempt for others as result of their extreme anxiety, maladjustment, and shallowness .They too were recipients of severe, nonexistent and inconsistent punishment.

 The drive or move against another, as in sadistic behavior, was based on the person’s inability or impotence in being able to be effective in making productive change and creativity. As a result, the violent behavior was a substitute and a compensation for feelings of powerlessness. More often than not, these individuals submitted to and identified with a person, a family, a clan, a tribe, a religion, a nation, a flag, being of the same blood, born on the same soil, a political party, a race or racist organization, being a Nationalist or associating with some others in a magical attempt to regain the power that they are lacking. If impoverished in wealth, status or job security, they can feel privileged belonging to a superior group like the white race. In this case, individual narcissism was transformed into group narcissism. When this happened, the group becomes cult like, with the belief in their superiority. Because of their allegiance, they are willing to give their life. However, others not in the same group, are seen as inferior, not worthy, low life, bad, wrong, and evil etc. Being united with the group in question means that all worship the same idol or leader, and have the same mindset. A leader who’s convinced of his own greatness and has no doubts attracted narcissism of those that submit to him. Once identified with the leader, he magically projects his narcissism on them. In other words, the individual characteristics of narcissism are applied to the group.

Applying individual and group narcissism , we have the  following : white nationalist racist dog whistles propaganda included but not limited to make America great; build a wall to keep out the illegals and rapists; withdrawing from the Paris climate accord; withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, renegotiating so-called disastrous trade agreements; taking away funding to the United Nations, WHO and NATO; blaming China for the virus; falsely focusing on Kaepernick’s kneeling on the flag; protecting the Confederate statues; and tweeting various hateful ,lies ,negative and unflattering comments about the protesters by the incompetent, authoritarian leader.

 Healthy narcissism can be thought as the ability to have positive self-esteem and a well-defined “I” as well as the emotional capacity to have in-depth personal relationships with another. That means having the ability to care, to like and attend to another and their feelings; to respect as to highly admire and regard another; and to empathize which is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another cognitively, emotionally and compassionately. Further, the capacity to use intelligence appropriately.

Often, one mistakes overinflated language with a large ego. Actually, it’s a fragile, damaged and a weakened ego. An ego was very important in the development of narcissism. The function of an ego was to determine appropriately personal and universal reality. This means the optimum use of perception, and the intellectual capacity to employ science, wisdom and reason objectively. Keyword is objectively. The ego also has to gather facts, assimilate, accommodate, use recall and debate other viewpoints. An inflated ego is vulnerable to narcissistic injuries or wounds that penetrate the nonrealistic sense of self.

With defective or malignant narcissism, there’s a major failure in navigating the reality with others and with the world. Trump, was not able to establish warm, emotionally driven interpersonal relationships. Others, different viewpoints, are seen as threats. This individual was unable to admit an error, a wrong or mistake. He, under no conditions, can admit because that’s failure. As a result, he was unable to apologize or even acknowledge the wrong. This individual was easily threatened and had to increase his narcissistic stance as a protective device. When that happens he became angry, irritated and defensive. Attacking, discrediting and humiliating another was a common response. He also falsely bragged about being the smartest in the room. To seriously listen to others or gather up information, was felt as a weakness and not to be established under any circumstance. To compensate for impaired intellectual functioning and impaired memory, he employed self-glorifications, propagates erroneous information and lied to cover the gaps. This man stops at nothing and even engaged in criminal activities and self-defeating behaviors to further his narcissistic goals.

It’s important for a malignant narcissistic leader to have a consensus, a transformation of reality that fits his narcissism, believe his ideas, and even give up their life for him. The Covid -19 was another perfect example of demonstrating the transformation of narcissism into group narcissism. In the early part of the year, Trump downplayed and distorted the seriousness of this pandemic. Numerous doctors talked about the seriousness and recommended testing, social distancing, washing hands, and wearing a facemask.  No one had seen Trump wearing a facemask. He focused on opening up the economy and bragged about how well he’s doing. Followers, like the governors in Florida, Texas and Arizona downplayed the seriousness of the virus and followed his lead. In fact, at one government meeting in West Palm Beach Florida, video showed a few individuals yelling and screaming about not wanting to wear a facemask. Loyalists shouted a number of idiotic and irrational slogans for not wearing a facemask. For example:  it takes away freedom; I don’t wear a mask because I don’t even wear underwear, I have to breathe; I would die for the flag. I would die for the Constitution. Trump was willing to sadistically let many, especially older African Americans die, and had his followers doing likewise. Just recently, with record cases for the pandemic transmission, these same three governors are implementing a different policy than prior. Yes, Trump could shoot a person in New York, get away with it and some might cheer for him.

Sadism is about controlling or dominating another. The officer that pinned a handcuffed George Floyd face down on the ground, with a knee on his neck, was modeling sadism. That officer was in complete control and could do whatever he wanted to the powerlessness, dependent and insecure George Floyd. The officer derived pleasure by making a vulnerable George Floyd suffer. Sadism was also about humiliating another, especially in front of others. Having a bully pulpit and twitter account facilitated cruel, disrespectful, hateful and sadistic verbal garbage. Lynching, waterboarding, calling another a Niger, putting children in cages, not engaging in social distancing and not wearing a mask, and lying about the Covid -19 virus are a few illustrations of sadistic behaviors.

Sadism was about inflicting psychological and physical pain on another. The person likely enjoyed that sense of power. The exploitation and contempt for another was often racist but not limited to racism. Furthermore, within this personality structure are behaviors related to parsimony, stinginess, withholding, meanness and miserliness. A few examples from Trump include attempting to abolish The Affordable Care Act; overturning Roe versus Wade; limiting government resources for Covid 19; attempting to kick out children born in this country or DACA; attempting to punish protesters; tax cuts primarily for the wealthy; not paying or stiffing various employees; going bankrupt numerous times; not able to acknowledge Dr. Anthony Fauci and discriminating regarding housing since 1973.

A few US facts employing narcissism, racism and sadism in our toxic society: 1.in 2018, we had over 16,000 murder and non-negligent manslaughter cases. Adjusted for population, our murder rate is 4.2 compared to 0. 8 for Germany.   2. We have more guns than people. 3. Our suicide rate in 2018 was 14.2 per 100,000 individuals or 132 suicides per day.  4. There were 1003 police shootings in 2019. 5. There are more than 10 million men and women physically abused by an intimate partner every year 6.  We have 940 hate groups, 7,120 hate crime incidents and 60% of these are related to race, ethnicity, and ancestry bias in 2018. 8. We are closer to nuclear oblivion now than at any other time in our history per our Doomsday Clock. 9.  We are rapidly heading toward destroying our planet with climate warming; increase in hurricanes, floods, fires etc. 10.  20% of the highest earnings families made more than 50% of the rest in 2018 11. We have the highest income inequality of all the G-7 nations 12. The black-white income gap has become greater 13. Gov. Ronald Reagan ended free tuition at the University of California and cut higher education funding by 20%. Reagan continued this national policy as president. From 1982 to 2014 tuition increased nationally by 260%. Germany, Ireland, France, Norway, Sweden and Denmark have no tuition for college students.  14. The Covid 19 pandemic has disrupted the supply side and has metastasized into a collapse of demand. The number of layoffs is in the millions and the number of business collapses are increasing. 15. We’ve been at war in the Middle East for over 20 years; while the CIA has been at war in Central and South America forever. 16. We rank fifth worldwide in drug use while the Republican Party legally tries to repeal The Affordable Care Act 17. We have racist and discriminatory laws that interfere with housing, healthcare, education, criminal conviction, lynching, marriage etc.18. We just witnessed the sadistic police killing of George Floyd. 19. Jefferson wrote, God created men equal while he had slaves working his plantation.

Seems to me that man has made numerous, stupid policies and decisions. The consequences are not pretty. With anxiety, uncertainty, helplessness, powerlessness, the security for many have been compromised especially those white folks with a high school education.

Inadequate parenting styles has contributed to the development of a malignant narcissistic, sadistic, hateful and racist character structure. Character has been significantly influenced by our toxic society as well. The election of Pres. Obama resulted in a reaction by electing an incompetent, white, racist, narcissistic, Nationalist and sadistic WASP for president. Hopefully, the 2020 election will result in a more inclusive reaction by electing Biden.

References

Fromm, E. The Heart of Man Its Genius for Good and Evil. Harper and Row.

Mussen, P. Conger, J. and Kagan J. Child Development and Personality. Harper & Row.