Crippled inside

 

Man, historically, has a rignificant proneness to be asocial and inhumane toward members of his own and self. Some causes relate to primary, secondary and social narcissism, identification, alienation, sadomasochism, fear, reinforcement, emotional conditioning and programming irrespective of the biblical “love thy enemy.” At about 6 months, the infant fears strangers and later learns to hate differences of skin color, race, sexual orientation, and intelligence, religious and political beliefs.  Because of man’s psychological design, it’s far too easy to convince him man that his enemies are nonhuman and belong to another species.

Contrasting man’s aggressiveness toward his own species, the study of paleontology has revealed the following: 1. Researchers found that if the social structure of baboons was not disturbed, there was little aggressive behavior except gestures or threatening postures. 2.  The likelihood of aggressive behavior for chimpanzees was low. 3. Jane Goodall found that a gorilla’s behavior was primarily related to eating, sex and grooming. As far as dominance, her gorillas exhibited assertiveness during the navigation of trail and grooming. The guerrillas used, with an alight tap, the back of their hand to direct another guerrilla. When it comes to defensive aggression or survival, animals can be found to fight or flee.  With that being said, this disquisition looks at violence in a compendious way.

Our 3 basic brain structures include: 1.The Archaic Brain. One function of the archaic brain (lizards and snakes} is instinctual behavior for defending territory and keeping safe.2. The Old Brain (cats and dogs) have many functions one of which includes and found in the ‘amygdala.” The amygdala is primarily responsible for fear, fight or flight responses and anger.  The hypothalamus, another brain function, is the major controlling organ of the autonomic endocrine system. It regulates temperature, hunger, thirst, sexual arousal and the sleep -wake cycle. 3. Humans have the New Brain. This new brain has higher cognition, abstract thought, use of tools, formation and comprehension of language, social behavior, creativity and problem solving. It is called the Executive Function. Let’s reframe and refer to it as the “Destructive Function.”

It’s apparent that man and the animal species are aggressively wired for survival. Paleontology studies have observed animals in the wild and in captivity. Briefly, yes there are predatory animals, but field observations show that aggression is found in food acquisition and mainly as a defensive reaction. In captivity, often an animal will show aggression when a new member enters the setting. Generally speaking, animals are not found to be predatory. They prefer to run or escape as opposed to fighting.

In the evolution of intuitional Catholicism, Adam’s disobedience was considered sinful because of man’s nature. Luther and Calvin agreed and had man dependent on God for salvation. Both the Old and New Testament, with the 10 commandments, acknowledged man’s aggressiveness toward man. Later, Charles Darwin wrote about evolution and the necessity for aggression regarding survival of the species and his “Survival of the Fittest” was published in 1869.

Sigmund Freud wrote, from a biological orientation, about the development of the mind. He identified the master drive or need for survival, the libido and with its aggressiveness as in sadomasochism. He later added the death instinct as a second major competing need or drive. He believed there was an interplay dynamic and struggle between life and death. I’m winning Dr. Freud.

The history of Homo sapiens have glorified  military rulers  Joshua, Alexander the Great, Hannibal, William the Conqueror, Caesar, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Suleiman the Magnificent, Francis Drake, Frederick The Great, George Washington, Horatio Nelson, Geronimo, Ulysses S Grant, Eisenhower, Halsey, Lemay, Patton Jr, Rommel Jr, Dayan, Zedong and many others. Our military gives medals for excessive killing. Yes, winning, death, destruction is glorified for the winners. Man’s aggressiveness toward man is noted.

For the past 20 years, our country has been at war in the Middle East and is withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.  We’ve been part of a worldwide pandemic in which there have been over 190 million cases with over 4 million deaths. On January 6, 2021 we witnessed an attack on the US Capital. Certainly the war in the Middle East, the pandemic and capital attack was fight and not for defensive purposes. Moreover, there are numerous shootings and killings every day in this country.  There is little doubt of the preponderance of aggression, on display, directed toward others.

Now, let’s take a look at how man aggressively treats himself. First, Henry Murray built on Freud’s psycho dynamic theory and then created his own theory of personality. Murray stated that the existence of a need can be inferred on the basis of: 1. The effect and result of the behavior 2. The particular pattern or mode of behavior involved 3. The selective attention and response to a particular action of stimulus objects 4. The expression of a particular emotion or affect 5. The expression of satisfaction when a particular effect is achieved and disappointment when the effect is not achieved.

Murray then identified man’s needs that pertain to survival. Our focus is Abasement Need-to submit passively to external force. To accept injury, blame, criticism, punishment. To surrender. To become resigned to fate. To admit inferiority, error, wrongdoing or defeat. To confess and atone. To blame, belittle or mutilate the self. To seek and enjoy pain, punishment, illness and satisfaction.

I know, first hand, about a basement. I have been consistently running, roughly 50 trail miles a week for 50 weeks per year since 1997 totaling over 50,000 miles; approximately 650,000 hours or for a total of a year and a half. Take that Forest Gump! Did I seek and enjoy pain, punishment, illness, and satisfaction? Well, I have often experienced pain, punishment, satisfaction and some injury. Also important, is the ability of having an image of a special food, during a run, which is an aspect of the oral experience and addressed later.

I have experienced discomforts from overuse injury. Treatments included ibuprofen, ice, spa Jets and visits to chiropractor Matt; Monster of Massage Veloyce, physical therapist Jim, and in 2019 to the Dutch Dr. orthopedic surgeon. He told me that I had a knee of a young man. Oh yes, in 2005 I had meniscus surgery on the left knee with Dr. Kevin, one squamous cell surgical procedure and two hernia’s removed. I do my best to rationalize my running obsession. I have read and wrote in “It Has Nothing To Do With Age” about the benefits regarding health. Currently, I am running slower and therefore not likely to experience another overuse injury. In essence, I’m currently satisfied with my abasement need Dr. Murray.

I know a number of NFL and college players. Most were linemen that received honors. They enjoyed their NFL careers and likely would do it again. Ed, Jim, Reggie, Connie, Dan and Mike, with the exception of Ed, are about 10 years younger than me. I can easily run circles around all of them suggesting that they significantly hurt themselves while playing that violent game. Another friend, Thom, is part of a longitudinal Harvard study evaluating the health effects of playing that game.

Noting the need for abasement, certain occupations have high suicide rates. For instance, a recent study stated that police officers are at a higher risk of suicide than any other occupation. Number of police officers who died by suicide is more than triple that of officers who were badly injured in the line of duty. 13.42 out of every 100,000 people have died by suicide in the general population. That number increases to 17 out of every 100,000 for police officers.  Hate supersedes love. California, Florida, New York and Texas suffer from the highest rates of officer suicides.

In the military, a total of 377 active-duty service members died by suicide 2020. Active duty suicides have been steadily increasing since 2016. Also in 2020, there were more than 6,500 Covid -19 deaths and 150,000 infections. They are losing. Then we have military casualties of war. Join the military and learn how to die and kill others as well.

There were 33,244 total motor vehicle crashes the United States in 2019.  36,096 deaths occurred. The fatality rate per 100,000 people ranged from 3.3 in the District of Columbia to 25.4 in Wyoming. With mental illness, there were an estimated 18 million individuals in United States suffering from depression; 40 million affected by anxiety disorders and 1 in 20 children found to have anxiety or depression in the single year.  As far as gun violence, there were nearly 20,000 Americans killed from gun violence in 2020. Plenty of killers in our society.

Turning to oral dependent behavior, the US adult obesity rate stands at 42.4%. There were more than 2.8 million hospital stays every year in the US where obesity was a cause or contributing factor. Approximately 300,000 people die for obesity in America every year. People are eating more processed and high-fat foods, eating larger portions, exercising less, spending more time in front of screens for some explanations. 71.6% of adults age 20 are either overweight or obese.

Excessive alcohol use is responsible for more than 95,000 designated deaths each year. The number of shortened lives that die are calculated to be roughly 29 years or a total of 2.8 million years of potential life lost.  Nearly 841,000 people have died since 1999 from a drug overdose. In 2019, there were 70,630 drug overdose deaths in the country. Further, there are more than 480,000 smoking deaths per year, including more than 41,000 suffering from secondhand smoke or 1300 deaths every day.

Psychodynamically, infants are not born to hate but are born helpless, dependent and begin to form reality. The infant’s tension system is activated when hungry and reduced-pleasure when fed in this primary narcissistic object less phase. How, when, what and the manner in which the infant is fed is considered psychologically a critical period. As in Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the porridge can be hot, cold or just right. Being held, cuddled, talked to and being able to be properly nursed by a warm, secure, non-anxious, healthy and loving caretaker is the issue. Also important is the timing to reduce the tension; the proper amount of milk; or on whose schedule when the infant is fed, especially during night feeding? The feeding process and interaction can be easily disturbed and the infant can be spoiled, constricted, regulated or even in varying degrees frustrated. How much and how often should delaying gratification be implemented? With frustration, conflict and other psychological issues at this stage, a number of timely studies by Spitz, Goldfarb, Harlow, Anna Freud and others found significant infant childhood illness depending upon the dynamics of caretaking.  In Erikson’s psychosocial model, he wrote about whether or not the infant can develops a sense of trust (emotional health and richness of interpersonal interactions) or whether a sense of mistrust was established. This psychological state has implications for inter-and intra-psychological interactions. With mistrust, the ground floor for the development of paranoia and suspiciousness becomes established. Thus, initial emotional well-being or not becomes generalized toward the outside world.

During this oral, mouth, lips and tongue dominance stage of infancy, the infant’s mentation   introjects an object from the outside world. It can take in “love,” pleasure which is a reduction of tension and/or can take in “deprivation” and frustration without the reduction of tension or discomfort and pain. The object, person or persons can also be introjected as “good or evil” and if evil, rage follows and this feeling can be generalized and directed and attributed to others as well. Simply stated, the mother’s character and well-being is of critical importance for optimum child development. If the woman has already been exposed to consistent pleasure in giving and receiving of love, nurturance and respect, as a wife and mother, the chances are high that the baby will greatly benefit despite his rage, resentments, temper tantrums and “I hate you comments.”.

The mouth, the need or an initial anxiety state, can be a source of tension reduction-pleasure or a source of frustrated painful tension. The mouth and tongue can be associated with love, pleasure or zone of receptivity. Essentially, nurturance taken in by the mouth becomes destroyed. For a moment, think about the nursing mother. Initially it’s a wonderful, symbiotic and pleasurable experience. With development of the teeth, biting of the nipple, can change that pleasure experience and facilitate quick weaning. Initially, we see receptive passivity and then we see aggression as in teething, biting, chewing, devouring with more and more pressure. Devouring is aggressive and becomes destructive.

This oral stage is passive and aggressive as it’s the first pleasure or painful zone in psychological development. Difficulties at this critical stage can become tendencies for oral aggression and hate. Oral aggression, later on, can be exemplified passively by arguing, yelling, shouting, spitting, and/or verbalizing hate and violence. This tendency are passive aggressive examples of an individual developing an oral character. In other words, excessive gratification and/or excessive delay equals frustration of the physiological need, at this stage of development. This dynamic often results with the sadistic impulse to attack others. Also apparent, at this stage, with the frustration of that need, becomes the attempt to magically resolve that early oral deprivation by devouring. Now, for the first time can exert dominance, even if short-term, for being in control- a reception of pleasure. Psychologically, this is referred to as going from the passive to aggressive mode.

With significant problems at the oral or psychosocial stage of development, we find that the individual emotionally regresses in the attempt to overcome and undo that initial and traumatic deprivation.  Individuals use their oral cavity or mouth to bring in food. Food is taken in emotionally, compulsively and not related to survival or being full. It’s the emotional emptiness and anxiety that can never be filled. In addition to food, nicotine and drugs are also emotionally and compulsively misused. They provide, at best, only temporary pleasure, distorting reality by reducing the tension. However, unfortunately these substances have long term dependent, addictive and far reaching unhealthy consequences. Alcohol, is another temporary oral pleasure that distorts reality-reducing tension. It also has significant negative long-term ill health effects. No wonder, our hospitals are filled, as the American life span is shortening.

In essence, lack of trust, disturbance during the oral and psychosocial stage of development, sets in motion the prospect for oral fixation. The oral stamp on character cannot be overstated.  With an oral fixation, we find pessimistic outlook tendencies coupled with aggressiveness and rage directed both inward and outward. There is much more to the story about addictive, dependent and self-destructive behavior but beyond the realm of this essay. In other words, ineffective parenting contributes greatly to the development of this dependent and addictive character disorder. Yes, it’s apparent, that the social character in our country has a negative and sadistic oral dominance.

Thank you John Lennon for your song “Crippled Inside.” It’s clear that individuals have a productivity for directing aggression and sadomasochism against others which cripples our country’s mental and physical health. We are harming ourselves and others over and over again with statistics on the rise. There are some, compromised by health and other cognitive issues, but many individuals are making poor choices, seem out of control, and not able nor care to regulate or moderate their sadistic and hateful behavior. They seem as if they want to end their life sooner than later. It’s not the American dream but the American nightmare.  Too much of the population has ineffective “New Brain” evolution.

PS

Do not forget about another self- destructive act like not following public health and common sense recommendations for the Pandemic and its variants. They are spreading the virus of fear and hate with nearly 4 million cases and nearly 65 k deaths. One evangelical pastor (so called spiritual leader) claimed “Don’t believe this delta variant nonsense.”  That ignoramus is teaching hate.

Reference

Fromm, Erich. The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness. A. Fawcett Crest Book

Murray, H. A. Explorations in Personality. New York: Oxford

Malignant Narcissism

 

 

It’s apparent that man has to fulfill his biological needs for survival. Psychologically, the infant’s initial reality has to do with its body, the physical sensations of warmth, thirst, the need for sleep and bodily contact. This psychological state has been referred to as primary narcissism in which all the psychic energy of the mind is directed inward. Over time, psychic energy becomes directed outward toward an object or objects within his life space. This psychological state has been referred to as secondary narcissism. Subsequently, the psychic energy of secondary narcissism is transferred and directed towards groups. It’s imperative that group assistance is necessary for survival. This disquisition focuses on individual and social narcissism.

First, let’s distinguish between benign and malignant narcissism. The productivity and achievement of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Michelangelo, Epicurus, da Vinci, Kepler, Spinoza, Chagall, Picasso, Bacon, Locke, Newton, Frost ,Einstein, Marx, Mozart, Bach, Rousseau, Shakespeare, Goethe, Mendelsohn, Gutenberg, Freud, Lewin, Skinner, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson , Lincoln, Stanton, Anthony, Gompers, Roosevelt, Faulkner, Hemingway, Whitney, King Jr., Salk, Chomsky, Steph Curry’s winning this year’s NBA scoring title etc. are  a few examples of benign narcissism. This essay, however focuses on malignant narcissism which is not related to accomplishment, works of art, literature, music, productive intellectual achievement or a creation.

Survival is an important aspect of narcissism since it requires psychic energy to stay alive. Yet, exerting, directing and focusing energy primarily related to self can make man ineffective in dealing with others as in asocial behavior.

The malignant narcissist thinks that everything about himself is extraordinary. His hair, his mind, his intelligence, his personality, etc., for him, are exceptional; and superior. It’s not about accomplishment or production. Further, there’s no limit to his possessiveness and/or lust; he can do what he wants, when he wants it. His words are wonderful, special and exhibit exceptional intellectual power according to him. The more he perceives himself to be God like, the more he exploits and perceives himself to be above others. Then, he fears that the enemy is everywhere and against him.  He reacts by wanting more power, being more ruthless, in his exploitation and control of his subordinates. He demands loyalty; his precepts becomes the “guide”; everyone has to agree that he’s the greatest; the most powerful and the wisest of leaders.

When others are critical, it’s a threat, to his self-esteem. The reaction results in frustration and anger. Threats are perceived as hostile attacks. He then rationalizes that his violent outbursts and/ or responses are justified. When self-inflation is threatened by a critic, his primary response is to destroy and/or humiliate the critic or the persons.

When Trump lost to Biden that was a narcissistic injury. He angrily responded that the election was stolen and put in motion 62 frivolous lawsuits attempting to right his perceived wrong. In his mind, he was right to do what he did. Again, he was behind the January 6 riot, at the capital, in an attempt to overturn the election results and scapegoated Pence in the process. He was righteous and had to ward off the psychological threat by transforming reality, making it conform to his self-image. Destroying democracy was justified and is an illustration of malignant narcissism.

The elections, impeachments, lawsuits against voting, leads to the danger and power of group narcissism. Joining and identifying with a group allows one to be part of the protection which assists in one’s survival. With feelings of social, economic and political inadequacies, one identifies, follows and irrationally submits, loves and is drawn to the power of the leader. This “magically “occurs with identification and illustrates how the mind works in an attempt to reduce the anxiety, insecurity or dangers.

One transfers narcissistic attachment to a group which is thought to be good, beautiful, and wise, the best etc. in other words, cognitive thought, rational judgment and moral capacity becomes distorted. Joining the group leads to a distortion, lack of capacity to think, to judge and to evaluate. It’s subjective, biased and becomes one like “a band of brothers in arms.” My group is good, decent, stronger, and clean while the other group or groups are bad, inferior, weaker, stupid, dishonest, dangerous, immoral etc. Note the importance of rivalry between groups. With group affiliation and identification, one becomes” better “equipped for survival in the dangerous world.

Think about the Olympic rivalry and the narcissistic quest for superiority against the other nations. Our country’s athletes are pitted against the athletes of the world. The gold medal becomes the ultimate prize.  Then, our country counts and compares our number of prizes with our competitor’s number of medals. Does this make us the best, the most superior? Therefore, capitalism is superior?  What does capitalism have to do with athletic performance? In other words, rationalizations follow which are necessary for satisfying the ideology of self-superiority which is a divisive group narcissism requirement. There is no finitude.

A few examples of group narcissism include but not limited to: 1. US versus China, Russia, and Iran 2. Capitalism versus Socialism 3. Democrats versus Republicans 4. Trump versus Biden 5. Whites versus Blacks 6. Phoenix Suns versus Milwaukee Bucks.

If an individual with malignant narcissism, has a narcissistic injury, the reaction is vengeance and rage. Don’t forget the Hatfields and McCoy’s; The North Versus South; Protestants versus Catholics; the Axis powers versus the Allied powers are just a few examples of vengeance, reaction and destruction following narcissistic injuries. Rivalries, as in college and professional sports are good examples of fan craziness. Even though an opposing important player becomes injured, the opposing fans clap and yet are happy as the other team lost its star player.

In order for group narcissism to be significant, it requires a powerful leader who’s convinced of his greatness without any doubt. This leader can justify any of his actions even if they are amoral, above the law, anti-democratic etc. The followers submit, become obedient, magnify his power and even take on the amoral qualities of their leader without acute guilt or wrong doing. They deny and rationalize the leader’s reality and his subjectiveness and his precepts become theirs. Of course, even though their hate and racist attitudes were there all along, they would not, by themselves, attack an officer etc. With a leader of malignant narcissism, the group’s malignant narcissism fits as well. Trump and his Republican followers, are a significant threat to the rest of us because of their hate , quest for power, control, and exploitation .Their policies  regarding anti-vaccine stance, January 6 capital attack, voter suppression legislation, anti-infrastructure stance, and being against legislation that benefits everyone but the corporations and top 1% are a few illustrations.

PS

Sibling rivalry, watch the lackey’s fawn.

Reference

Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and It’s Discontents. W, W, Norton & Company Inc.

Stop the Virus

 

 

President Joe Biden set July 4 as a date for 70% of our country to have been vaccinated. As of that date, 67% of the country met that request. 20 states have exceeded that number. However, a few states have not reached a 50% level for at least one vaccine shot. Not surprisingly, those states under 50% were those that Trump carried in the 2020 election.  Even today, Trump’s message, to his group, is to not get the vaccine. I take the position that refusal to follow current CDC recommendations such as social distancing, mask wearing, vaccine etc. are examples of passive aggressive violence against self and others. I’m not referring to those individuals that have dementia or some other cognitive impairment. Per the New York Times, cognitively impaired individuals have made poor financial decisions and “Online Trickery in Fund -Raising Entraps Seniors.” The GOP leads in the dollar amount for online refunds. This disquisition classifies forms of violence and Trump’s responsibility for illness and death from Covid -19.

First, let’s take a look at the nature of man per Judeo-Christian beliefs. In the Old Testament, Adam and Eve demonstrated an act of disobedience. However that act of disobedience was neither considered a sin nor part of man’s nature. According to the prophets, man has the opportunity for displaying good as well as an opportunity for displaying evil. Yes, man displayed evil in the Old Testament, however man had the ability to choose between good and evil.

In the Christian development, Adam’s disobedience was considered a sin and thus it corrupted his nature as well as his descendants. Man could not by himself rid himself of sin. It was only God, or the appearance of Christ that could rid man of his corruption and offer him salvation. Then, Luther and Calvin righteously reinforced the belief in man’s evilness and corruption.

Now, let’s turn to Trump. On a positive note, Trump didn’t destroy the world by unleashing our nuclear arsenal. However, his handling and stance and his sycophants on the Covid-19 virus exhibited Trump’s malignant and pathological acts of death. The malignant narcissist employed the power of the presidency, press conferences, social media, and TV rallies to propagate lies and harmful misinformation. His words were authoritarian, the law, god like and unchallengeable. His followers, without rational judgement, believed it all and thus were easily duped. He was the Pied Piper, as in the fairytale, and they devotedly followed. Thus, the passive aggressive behavior of Trump and followers led to an inordinate amount of Covid-19 deaths.  They were responsible and they spread the deadly virus. Yeah, open up the economy and spread the virus. To illustrate, there were 117,000 American soldier deaths in World War I, 291,567 American soldier deaths in WW 11while Covid-19 deaths currently total 621,946. On the other hand, there is a rise in life expectancy primarily because of the many lifesaving vaccination discoveries.

 Our country had never experienced, in one year, the severity and toll of economic hardships, social stresses, alcohol, drug, suicide, divorce, and low birthrate statistics demonstrating an enormous threat to security and well-being. Current stories in The New York Times of the continued threat include: “Even as the pandemic seems to have made childhood obesity worse, it points the way to some possible means of fighting it,” “The pandemic is not over yet,” “Even as the pandemic seems to have been bad for our teeth and gums, it has highlighted ways to fix some disparities in oral health.”

Trump’s sadism, incompetence and propensity for evil were in full view. He called it the Chinese virus, stated it was no big deal, could be treated with disinfectants and non-effective drugs. He also said it would go away in the summer. He didn’t wear a mask and modeled that disgustful and irresponsible behavior to his group of narcissist followers. Moreover, and significantly important, Trump and the fanaticism of his cronies distorted, muzzled, sabotaged the credibility of the CDC and rational public health information about the virus.

With that being said, there are numerous factors accounting for violence. First, violence can be called reactive violence. This form of violence is rooted in fear. Fear can be real, imagined, conscious or unconscious. However, it is not necessarily irrational.

Reactive violence is often based upon reality along with the manipulation of man’s mind. Trump repeated numerous lies, did not wear a mask and flaunted the dangers of the deadly virus. This messaging appealed to too many with their lack of independent thinking and feeling. They were also emotionally dependent on him. Their rationalizations behind their malignant narcissism included “don’t infringe on my right; do not tell me what to do; it’s false propaganda; inaccurate statistics, contradictory CDC recommendations and it’s a deep state lie.”

Violence also occurs with frustration and then followed by aggression and violence. Often, this hostility reaction is the result of envy and jealousy within a narcissistic character.  “Look at the rise and favoritism toward people of color. We see too many of them on TV, especially in the entertainment industry. Our movies, music, sports are just full of them. We even had a black President and now a black VP. Why are they getting ahead?”

Revengeful violence occurs even though the “injury” had already taken place. Revenge has an irrational function of undoing magically of what realistically happened as in the Hatfield’s and Mc Coys. Psychologically, it restores the crippled sense of narcissism and magically attempts to overcome injury to one’s self-esteem. “I’m falling behind so many people of color; my wages are stagnant; my family’s been crippled by divorce, alcohol, drugs, falling marriage rate except those girls under 18 years of age, my leaders Romney, McCain, and Bush have failed me.” Revenge becomes the devotion. It is supposed to restore and reverse feelings of inadequacy and/or loss. Too many times one hears from a narcissist “I’m not a racist.” Too many have spread the hate that Hillary Clinton is a witch and George Soros is the devil.

This man, for four years, was the most powerful  eidolon on the planet. With a malignant narcissistic diagnosis, he experienced, this past November 3, a narcissistic injury. The fraudulent election lie along with the 62 phony lawsuits were established to create, the fiction, of a stolen election. Then, he orchestrated, with the help of others, a plan to attack the symbolic transfer of presidential power during the January 6 ceremony. In his mind he was justified, to lie and discredit his VP. Some members of his group of narcissists also had a malignant narcissistic diagnosis. They believed the lies and attempted to avenge both his and their defeat. They even rationalized, in the righteousness of their cause and that they were patriots. As far as Trump’s attorneys, and their phony lawsuits, they are now receiving the consequences like sanctions etc.

Violence is also rooted in life’s beginnings, the opportunity to develop trust and have faith. Early upbringing provides opportunities for care, and unconditional love. If early needs are not sufficiently met neither does the development of trust and faith .Much too often early loss is followed by subsequent losses, disappointments and other betrayals. These betrayals can occur from religious figures, teachers, coaches, loved ones etc. The numerous betrayals reinforce the difficulty in developing a sense of faith and trust. Mistrust generalizes to other humans. One can’t trust or have faith. With this impairment, these individuals turn to a “powerful” leader to regain that faith. These mistrustful individuals also turn to the pursuit of power, possessions, control and privilege. These pursuits are about things, not people. Things can be controlled, replaced, discarded etc.

With mistrust and loss of faith sets the stage for turning psychic energy against people in negative ways. According to them, people can’t be trusted and this corresponds to the Christian religion teachings. Violent behavior can be justified and rationalized because these other individuals are inherently evil. So, mistrustful individuals embrace conspiracy beliefs which is in line with their psychopathology which is paranoid thinking. With paranoid thinking and lack of faith in humans, these individuals turn to electronic gadgets and things that are not alive.  They can’t be separated from their phone, iPad etc. In other words there’s a tendency toward the nonliving .Destruction and violence toward “others” can easily occur. Kill Mike Pence, attack Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, Liz Cheney, Stacey Abrams, AOC, etc.

Compensatory violence relates to individuals being emotionally impotent. Their activities become tendencies to overcome this weakness, anxiety and incompetence. Difficult to tolerate, these impotent individuals transform this disequilibrium state in their mind .It’s an attempt to rescue the lost competency of the impotence. Therefore, these individuals are drawn to the power of Trump, the Republican Party, automatic rifles, alcohol, white supremacy groups, the military, police force etc. Of course the emotional and cognitive identification is only symbolic, and an illusion of power. These individuals submit and become part of those who act. Thus, the impotent man, with identifications can transform his life by destroying it in others or to himself.

In essence, by not following the CDC and public health recommendations, especially vaccination is based on fear, insecurity and powerlessness dynamics. The behaviors express a tendency for passive aggressive violence turned toward self and toward others. No one can “make” another wear a mask, vaccinate etc. and there is no mandatory law to make that happen. One does not have to obey public health recommendations and therefore they transmit the virus to others whether symptomatic or not. This permits these individuals to have absolute control over others. This drive is “sadistic.” Sadism is the wish to inflict pain or death on others. Sadism, in this way, makes others helpless objects. These sadists are the masters by exerting power over helpless others. It also is a humiliation tactic by making another suffer. This results as a means toward an end. Having control over another is pleasurable.

Perhaps, the most historical example of sadism occurred in the Roman Coliseum. Thousands of impotent Romans received their greatest pleasure by seeing men devoured, slaughtered, wounded and killed. This was glory?

In summary, Trump sadism was well communicated to his sycophant’s dependent followers. He was, at the time, the most powerful individual on the planet. He mastered the sound ways effectively with his flagrant lies and other propaganda. Trump is a weapon of mass destruction. Jefferson wrote “the pursuit of happiness.” Trump masterminded the pursuit of violence, death and destruction. Stop this virus.

Devotion and Faith

 

 

Writing about Frank Sinatra’s character and the recent Western States 100 mile run, directed my thoughts to devotion and faith. The synonyms for devotion include love, loyalty, fidelity and admiration while faith’s synonyms include trust, belief, confidence, conviction, reliance etc. Additional thoughts about devotion and faith led me to think about the Israelites leaving Egypt and wandering in the desert for 40 years following Moses with loyalty, obedience and allegiance ; St. Joan of Arc being burned at the stake for her belief, loyalty and submission in supporting Charles VII while fighting the English  during their ongoing religious war; Alexander the Great’s soldiers who followed and fought with him from Macedonia  to Egypt , and finally to  India confronting death, illness and being separated from loved ones ; Hitler’s  subjected followers that supported his domination and agreed with his extermination of  the Jews, Gypsies, and homosexuals. There was allegiance, dependence while he and the followers created havoc and destruction in and to Germany and other parts of Europe; and the followers of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that experienced racism, police brutality, J Edgar Hoover’s investigation and King’s assassination. Personally, I thought about my devotion, loyalty, allegiance, obedience and faith in attaining my PhD in psychology, and running the Western States 100. Another word related to devotion is goal accomplishment.

One could argue that finding meaning to existence is an existential need. One could also argue that man has a need for devotion which is obviously related to thinking, a belief that’s in concert with the art of living. Devotion can be found in primitive cultures in which one sacrifices a child; to monotheism like following Buddha but not the concept of God; in economic principles like in Capitalism or Communism; to Paranoid conspiracy belief’s, not paying taxes, being above and not accountable to the law; fraudulent social service assistance regarding homeless benefits; racism; white supremacy; democracy for whites only and Climate change. Do not ignore that following “anything” irrational falsifies a sense of an irrational meaning in one’s life. Man has difficulty without faith, trust, belief, confidence, reliance, devotion, loyalty, fidelity or admiration to something bigger than self.

Further, within man’s character, there are devotion tendencies for destruction, sadism, racism, greed, money, possession, control, fame, youth, etc. To illustrate, Spanish General Millan Astray’s favorite motto “Viva la muerte” (long-live death).

These irrational needs express themselves with tendencies for devotion for strivings and are aspects of one’s character. A devotion or devotions tend to elevate the person beyond his isolated existence by giving meaning to life. Do not forget, for one moment, that man can be devoted to idols, destruction, amassing a fortune, acquiring power etc. Obviously, man can also be devoted to loving self, to health and others. The objects of devotion can be varied. Their importance can be questionable. In other words, the need for devotion is a primary existential need demanding fulfillment regardless of rationality or irrationality or how the need is fulfilled.

Faith is also important to man and may be associated with God, religious teachings or in rational and scientific thinking.  Often, uncertainty allows people to accept any idea that’s presented to them. Acceptance of faith is often related to submission and accompanied by doubt. This occurs with feelings of powerlessness and helplessness. These are anxiety states which torment and exacerbate doubt. Individuals can be confused about conditions in life because confusion is often typical. When feeling isolated, powerless and not experiencing life on one’s own terms, the individual has thoughts, emotions and perceptions that leads that individual to acquiesce to an external power.

When following and submitting to an external source, there is a danger that the devotion can be irrational. For instance, when an absurd idea is presented, that transcends common sense, those individuals rationalize and create the idea that the person, in question, has some magic power far exceeding the power of the average person.

Individuals with devotion and faith have be seen submitting to: 1 a belief that they would sacrifice their life for the cause -Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death.” 2. Blind allegiance to a person or cause. In other words, having irrational faith, fanatic submission and conviction to another is rooted in anxiety and irrational needs. Alexander’s foot soldiers following him, to an unknown world, with killing for what purpose; and Hitler’s faithful who were destroying Europe and themselves are examples of submission and following an irrational authority with blind allegiance.

On a personal note, I applied for admission to a PhD program at Wayne State University, and was one of six admitted. I went along with the conditions set up by the psychology department. I had to formally apply for admission; pass a preliminary exam; pass core courses taught by senior professors; take and pass additional units outside the department; pass a French exam; select a dissertation advisor; create a dissertation team of faculty; create and engage in original research, teach a University psychology course; be a consultant to Wayne State’s preschool program; complete my dissertation; and defend my dissertation. I did submit to the program requirements.

From 1969 through 1973, I was devoted and spent much energy, significant time in thinking, working, and relating to the field of psychology. I was loyal and on a mission. Not much would have distracted or detoured me during those four years. However, I would not have given my life. Looking back, although the process was difficult, and time-consuming, I have good memories. Archie was a dear friend and Denny was one of my best friends. Wayne and I are still alive and continue to visit each other. I’ve known Wayne since high school. I’m also pleased with choosing that particular devotion. I had faith in my ability to complete and finish.

Another devotion was my Western States experience. In September of 2001, I became reacquainted with a young woman named Linda, a ride and tie competitor. I was running on the Western States trail that day and met her near the 16 mile marker. She was riding and was accompanied by Diane and Cindy.  She told me that she was competing in marathons and suggested that we run Western States in 2003. I told her that I would think about it.

Returning home, I researched information regarding that historic run. I found out that there was a 50 mile qualifying run in November put on by Helen Klein, a running legend. At that point, a 50 K was the longest run that I had completed. I thought to myself, that I only had to run 19 more miles in order to reach 50 miles in November.

I contacted ride and tie Linda and told her about the qualifying run in November. I convinced her that we should enter that qualifying run in order to do Western States in 2002 instead of 2003. She was convinced and we started a more meaningful friendship and both were devoted. We both met the qualifying time standard at the Helen Klein race and both entered the lottery. A lottery determined the runners allowed in the run for June, 2002.

Linda and I were selected, in the lottery, to run the race in June, 2002. I was devoted and she was devoted. We ran on the trail, entered trail races, and read materials pertaining to that run etc.  It was a 24-7 devotion. I was still entering ride and tie competitions and my friends and associates were part of my goal. My waking and sleeping hours were accounted for. I would not have given up my life for this devotion. I also had faith in my ability to complete and finish.

PS

When I moved to the Bay Area, I became devoted to the Oakland A’s, Oakland Raiders and the Golden State Warriors. It was easy to devote and follow these professional teams. I had Oakland Raider season tickets, and went to their Super Bowl victory in New Orleans. I followed these teams, the players, the statistics, the trades, the standings from the newspaper, TV, and from other written materials. I had many happy memories and sad disappointments. I developed friendships with an Oakland A’s radio announcer and their team physician. Yes, I yelled, hollered, cheered and booed. The participation in the stands were fun also.

The Raiders have moved to Las Vegas and the Warriors have moved to San Francisco. There’s talk of the A’s possibly relocating to Las Vegas. I’m still devoted to these teams. I end with quote from William Shakespeare “Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.” Are your devotions productive?

For additional examples to devotion and faith, I refer you to my book “It Has Nothing To Do With Age.” Winter Goose Publishing, Sacramento, California.

Blue Eyes

 

 

Frank Sinatra is one of the most popular musical artists of the 20^th century. In fact, he is one of the best-selling music artists of all time having sold more than 150 million records worldwide. In 1943, he was the idol of the “Bobby Soxers.” In the 1950s, Sinatra and the Rat Pack (rats are rodents that live in sewers) put Las Vegas on the map. He earned an Academy award and a Golden Globe award for best supporting actor in “From Here to Eternity.” His portrayal of Maggio, a soldier, during the bombing of Pearl Harbor was terrific. He portrayed a soldier in The Manchurian Candidate and was super in that film as well. Unfortunately for Frank, he could only be a soldier on film. More about that later.

Frank Sinatra was honored in 1963 at the Kennedy Center; was awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985; and the Congressional Gold medal in 1997. He received 11 Grammy awards including the Grammy Trustees award, Grammy Legend award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement award. Time magazine called Frank as one of the most influential individuals in the 20^th century. One music critic called him the greatest singer of the 20^th century.

Sinatra campaigned for Franklin D .Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. He was investigated by the FBI for his alleged relationship with the Mafia. He was married to Nancy, Ava, Mia and Barbara. This essay addresses Frank Sinatra from a characterological viewpoint.

At the beginning, Homo sapiens have certain physiological requirements for their survival and for the survival of the species. Physiologically speaking, man has hunger, thirst, sex satisfaction and bodily exercise needs that’s are rooted in the chemistry of the organism. In a deficit state, the human organism experiences uncomfortable and/or painful tension, anxiety or fear. When the need states are relieved or fulfilled, the organism experiences pleasure and/or satisfaction. Thus, seeking pleasure is positive.

It should be noted that anxiety or psychic tension, located in the mind, is the center of neurotic behavior. The emotional reaction can be a result of a danger, or an imaginary danger. The danger is often hidden but it is subjective. Not only that, one can’t persuade somebody out of their anxiety. For Frank Sinatra, feelings of affection, inadequacy, anger and suspicion were his dynamic anxiety motivational forces. Feelings of inadequacy and helplessness were unbearable for a person whom power, ascendancy and having to be in control, of every situation were necessary. These feeling were signs of weakness or cowardice. He attempted to escape these unbearable feelings of anxiety with prescription drugs, alcohol and nicotine. Further, he feared being alone. In which he compensated, by throwing himself into his work and having numerous sexual encounters as other attempts to avoid his dreaded feelings of anxiety. However, irritability and anger accompanied his anxiety.

The anxiety related to irrational greed, creates imbalance in the mind. One can only temporarily mitigate anxiety in that need state. This irrational desire propels the pursuit of irrational pleasures. In this unfulfilled uncomfortable anxiety filled need state, there can never be enough money for long term satisfaction. It remains a psychological deficit and/or irrational scarcity. So one is like a slave to the desires for creating, pursuing, accumulating, possessing and controlling more and more.

Let me repeat, unfilled physiological needs of the body create tension or anxiety and the removal is associated with satisfaction. Irrational desires are rooted in psychic deficiencies in the mind. The anxiety and insecurity propel the individual to pursue a variety of irrational behaviors.  In essence, irrational psychic needs are part of a system of scarcity and/or shortage.  On a side note, pleasure can accompany the accomplishment of any goal. However, luck, ability, power to cope with the outside society is required. Also important, is task difficulty. It can’t be easy. However, unfortunately, physical and/or mental suffering are unavoidable and are the human condition.

Back to Frank Sinatra, the following can be said. Frank, at birth, was delivered with the aid of forceps which caused severe scaring of his left cheek, neck and a perforated eardrum. He had a childhood operation on his mastoid bone which left major scarring on his neck as well. During adolescence, he suffered from cystic acne which furthered scarring his face and neck. A flaw or facial blemish is disastrous for any adolescence as appearance is golden.

Sinatra’s mother Dolly, according to Frank’s fourth wife, was abusive and knocked him around a lot. Frank stated regarding his mother “I didn’t know whether she was going to hug me or hit me?” Dolly was also involved in Democratic Party circles, worked as a midwife, and ran an abortion service and had the nickname “Hat Pin Dolly.” Sinatra’s illiterate father was a boxer and worked for the Hoboken Fire Department working his way up to Capt. When he told them that he was going to pursue a singing career, his father said “You’re going to be a bum” and his mother threw a shoe at Frank. Note that Frank’s character development occurred within a dynamic and changing social process.

 It’s been said that Frank lived in a rough aggressive neighborhood. This skinny underweight kid was fearful and scarred, and avoided physical confrontation at all costs. Although he attended high school he didn’t graduate, acted out his unhappiness and was expelled for “general rowdiness.” As a teenager he began singing professionally and learned music by ear. Frank never learned to read music. Frank attempted to enlist in World War II, but failed his physical and was diagnosed with “emotional instability,” a psychiatric disorder. He stated “war years, there was great loneliness, and I was the boy in every corner drugstore.  Give him a gun, with others and maybe aggression will be a reaction formation against his fear. Do not forget about the multitude of ongoing interpersonal associations affecting the development of his character.

There are doctor reports of heavy drinking-fifth of Jack Daniels daily, heavy smoking-two packs of unfiltered Lucky Strikes including secondhand smoke, that damaged his lungs, medications , urethra cancer, acute diverticulosis and vascular dementia. He performed, on stage, with cigarettes and alcohol which was his routine. He was also depressed, anxious and angry and made four suicide gestures while on Elavil a psychotropic medication.

Frank Sinatra was insecure and unhappy regardless of his blue eyes and warm smile. He certainly had the suburb physical gift of artistry with his music. However, his irrational pursuit of prestige, popularity and fan adulation was strong and powerful. Could he get enough “love” or reduce his anxiety? He certainly had difficulty getting enough “love” within numerous affairs and marriages. The underlying reassurance against the psychic tension for affection was humiliation. Perhaps, his mother’s “parenting” played a part. He was physically and emotionally inadequate as a teenager .He was rejected physically for the draft, had physical facial scarring, didn’t graduate from high school, and was not able to read music. No wonder Frank was insecure and emotionally troubled. He performed in the 1990s, with faded memory (beginning of dementia)-not remembering the lines and fainted onstage in Virginia diagnosed with heart attack. He performed 65 concerts in 1990, 73 in 1991, 84 in 1992 in 17 different countries. He passed in 1998.

Frank Sinatra was operose and pursued the irrational desire of power and possession. He acquired much wealth during his illustrious career. Expensive residences, boats, planes etc. He also associated with the mob, Kennedy and Reagan. He ran the show and was aggressively rude toward others. It was his show. He was gonna do it his way. This striving for power attempt was unconscious to protect him from the anxiety, insecurity and fear dating back to his childhood and adolescent experiences. He feared and attempted to counter any expression of helplessness or weakness with his public persona. This striving also was an attempt to protect him against the danger of feeling or being regarded as insignificant. He would feel humiliated if he had to acknowledge the existence of his demons. He despised himself for having and not being able to cope on his own. He avoided being alone and even created the “Rat Pack.” This group gave the impression of solidarity and friendship to the public. It was a front to mask his anxiety, unhappiness and fear of loneliness.

Frank Sinatra also accumulated and acquired female relationships. Sometimes sex was important and other times not. This pursuit for affection was based on the anxiety resulting from his unfulfilled needs of not being loved and admired without conditions. For Frank, his pursuit of affection was accompanied by his irrational desire for ownership and possession. He had too many unfulfilled or a scarcity of receiving care, respect, love and affection in his early life. This irrational desire and behavior for affection resulted in his exclusive and unconditional demands for love. His ways of pursuing and receiving affection was based on bribery “I love you darling, you should love me in return.”  Also in the mix was, in his mind, justice. “Look at all that I have done for you, I assisted you in a movie career.” However, he also expected that she would be grateful and forever affectionate and dependent on him. This was an expectation .He likely did things for others also, unspoken in his mind with a condition of expectation. In his mind, he was entitled to receive special attention. When Mia, preferred to do her own movie and didn’t go along to do a movie with him that facilitated their breakup- humiliation. How could she do that to me, after all I did for her? Unfortunately, not being able to love self-interferes with not being able to love another.

He was smitten with Ava. On one occasion she left him at a nightclub. Frank’s anger, insecurity, manipulation and dependency surfaced.  Later that evening he called her. He also was angry with her when she met with her ex-husband. During a later conversation with Frank, he fired his pistol. He didn’t trust her nor could he control her as a possession for him. She left also -humiliation.

Sinatra’s irrational need for affection, fame, adulation continued throughout his years. He was unable to ever resolve the insecurity related to inadequacy, not being good enough and being unlovable. That deep well was impossible to fill for him. Being on stage and performing, Frank had to have his psychoactive numbing crutches regarding his anxiety. Alcohol and nicotine were weak aids at best and assisted in his escape from his reality. Even though he had dementia, couldn’t remember the words to his songs, and had them written on a Teleprompter on the stage floor, he still performed.

For Blue Eyes and Chairman of the Board, fame, money, adulation, affiliation, wives were just possessions that never fulfilled or met his irrational passions. Yes, he had numerous achievements and received many awards. However, psychological achievements can be satisfying only when they are challenging and difficult to obtain.  Frank’s achievements and accomplishments and materialistic success were not enough to interfere with his self-destructive or abasement behavior. His excessive drinking, excessive smoking, pitiful nutritional eating habits, and his disregarding medical advice were irrational, nonproductive and self-defeating. These abasement behaviors suggest little regard for life with anger and hatred turned inward, and suggests a wish to die. At 82, he had a nurse monitoring his care. His wife on May 14, 1998 left the home to go to dinner. Later that night she was summoned to the hospital bed. Barbara said “he opened his eyes and said “I can’t,” closed his eyes and passed.  Sinatra’s unfulfilled needs, deficiencies, and scarcity heavily interfered emotionally and led him to pursue unfilled irrational behavior patterns. His public persona was about happiness but his inner soul was about depression. Depression is the opposite of happiness.  Yes, he did it his way. However, his way was extreme self-destructive behavior. Did Frank achieve Nirvana? No, he experienced too much pain and too much anger. The Epicurus quote “He who is not satisfied with a little, is satisfied with nothing” fits Sinatra.

References

Autopsy, The Last Hours of Frank Sinatra.

Horney, Karen. The Neurotic Personality Of Our Time. WWW.Norton and Company Incorporated.