Does the Pied Piper Exist?

 

A June 5, 2022 article in the New York Times titled " In Rural Town, Parents and Students Clash over Mental Health," received my attention.  I am  tying that article to the Pied Piper of Hamlin fairy tale.  Although there are significant differences, there are too many similarities currently in play This disquisition, by analogy, addresses 6 similarities.

In a small Connecticut town, described as blue-collar, many parents argued vehemently against placing a mental health clinic in the high school.  Although ,in Connecticut ,there are more than 100 school-based health clinics operated by Generations Family Health Center.  This nonprofit health care group provides a licensed therapist that bills on a sliding fee scale using federal funds if necessary , so there isn’t  cost to the school and little, if any, to the families. This blue-collar community has been described as being among the 157 schools with the highest unmet needs in the state.  According to a 2021 survey, 28.2% of teens  thought about self harm and 14.7% reported making a plan for suicide. This town has been known for decades to have problems with substance abuse and suicide that were formally addressed by priests or pastors. According to the article, studies suggest that school-based services can significantly decrease suicidal behavior and substance abuse.

There's been a series of parental complaints reported such as: 1.  My generation toughens things out.  I fear school-based therapists would be advising teens on matters like gender identity or birth control. These topics  should be firmly in the grip of parents.  Children are very malleable.  2.  This resistance is mostly on grounds that it infringes on the rights of parents.  3. This arrangement  gives the student a lot more access to counseling without seeking parental approval.  4. I don't think we should be helping a kid to walk into a mental health facility in the school and say I'm thinking about an abortion without the parents knowing for up to six visits. Therapists can mettle in my teenage son's mind because at that age they are most vulnerable.  5.  Modern-day psychology is rooted in occultism-Sigmund Freud used drugs when writing his thesis and Carl Jung channeled spirit guides 6. My mother was committed to the state mental hospital where they just drug people up. We could become a walking pharmaceutical clinic .

Those parents are  expressing fear about treatment for their children and teens irrespective of emotional disturbance.  Psychological welfare is irrelevant to their primitive,irrational false belief system . Receiving assistance for emotional disturbances from people other than a religious person is dangerous ?  Is there a connection between today's parents' fears with the archaic belief system of  The Pied Piper tale?

According to the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm,a mysterious man appeared in Hamlin wearing a coat of many bright colored clothes and was called the Pied Piper. He claimed to be a rat catcher. He promised that for a certain sum of money he would rid the city of all mice and rats. It was stated that in 1284 Hamlin was suffering from a plague.  According to the tale, the Pied Piper used his magic pipe and pulled all the rats into the river where they drowned.  For some reason the citizens of Hamelin did not honor the agreement and shortchanged the Pied Piper. So, the Pied Piper got his revenge by playing his magic pipe, thereby having all the children except one to follow him and never to be seen again. Some think this event actually happened but that does not concern us.

.In any event, certain themes are apparent: 1. The citizens  of Hamlin were confronted with a significant  health concern.  The citizens of this Connecticut town  had a mental health crisis of drugs, pregnancy, depression, suicide, and other self-destructive acts. First, how long did it take the citizens of Hamlin to address their health issue?  Had they tried other avenues before hiring the Pied Piper?  How reputable was the Pied Piper?  Second, mental illness problems in Connecticut were not new but ongoing.  It was reported that men of faith had not fixed or cured their issues.  However, these parents were given an opportunity for a  medical program to be implemented.  I question the primitive,magical thinking of the citizens of Hamlin and the fear-based ignorance of many of these blue collar citizens in Connecticut. More than likely these primitive,irrational citizens did not wear a mask, social distance nor receive vaccinations, thereby making Covid-19 more problematic, which exacerbated problems for their teenagers.

2.  The citizens of Hamlin were not trustworthy. They hired the Pied Piper and then reneged on fully paying him for his work. Did he not do what was requested?  The citizens of Hamlin lied, misled, betrayed, cheated demonstrating amoral behavior to the Pied Piper. Tendencies of  mistrust, interferes with adequate parenting and is harmful. The citizens modeled mistrust that negatively affected their property- spouse and children.  With mistrust, one cannot rely and be certain and secure of parenting messages.  Mistrust likely led to the children following and easily being led away by a charmer. The citizens of Killingly, Connecticut also have issues of mistrust.  These parents are fearful of their teens talking to a  professional about  Individual and family issues. They mistrust their teens and mistrust a therapist.There are communication issues going on in many of these households. Are they against assistance for their loved ones ?It’s a funny way to show love and concern. Is there something that the parents want to hide? Are there drug and alcohol use or abuse; domestic violence or sexual abuse taking place or some criminal behavior ? Being in a mistrustful family, it's not surprising that teens are in strong favor of having mental health availability so they have an opportunity to develop trust , security and being taken seriously.

3.  The Pied Piper sadistically led the children easily away from their parents  Perhaps the children of Hamlin had difficulties  and ambivalence with being parented and welcomed the opportunity to escape and leave home. One doesn’t leave when there is satisfaction and security. The children were not  falsely promised anything and they appeared gullible.  Were they seeking satisfaction or were they fleeing from misery?  Were the parents over dependent with their children and became anxious with the separation and loss?  Certainly, the Connecticut parents feared they would lose their offspring to the ideas of the therapist. These parents were not only overly dependent, but were more afraid of losing control and obedience by reinforcing dependency behaviors.  More than likely  these teens were seeking age-appropriate independence by talking to a trained therapist about their inner feelings and concerns. The formation of identity begins with the opportunity to explore,understand and be exposed to a broader view of attitudes, values and life issues common to their age group. In any event, parenting styles and techniques are at issue.  The children of Hamlin easily left their home for the unknown. The Connecticut teens wanting to emotionally separate pursue therapy suggests dissatisfaction in their lives becomes threatening to those insecure and dependent parents.  Perhaps these parents had parenting styles of permissiveness and inconsistency or more likely  styles that were of an authoritarian nature, suggesting rigidity, mistrust with a control mentality with disastrous rules and regulations..Further, authoritarian styles are also associated with lack of flexibility, warmth and the ability to understand their teens and what their teens needed and required from them.The exploration of ambivalence becomes necessary to explore at this age.

4.  The Pied Piper received the narcissistic injury in that he wasn't paid fully and reacted with the motive to avenge the wrong with vengeance and revenge.  Apparently there was no discussion about being wronged by those citizens or other attempts to resolve monetary differences.  The citizens of Killingly also demonstrated sadism and perhaps to avenge their own mistreatment by family members during their days of being reared.  To deny the opportunity for allowing one's offspring mental health access is clearly cruel, inappropriate and sadistic.  Allow your teenager to suffer emotionally?  It's obvious that these parents were not addressing the needs of their teens . In doing so, these parents are teaching their teens to mistrust, engage in irrational primitive thinking with prejudice around emotional difficulties. Just put your head in the sand and pray. 

5.  The Hamlin children left home based emotionally and did not apply objective rational  judgment as they left the security of their home to go off with a stranger.  They joined their peers with consensus.  They were obedient and loyal followers marching to some " magical sound" and docile in their following the false Messiah.  The description of the town folks in Killingly. ( The town  name says it all) are described as folks believing in political lies and falsehoods.  These blue-collar white folks obediently and loyally  follow a Messiah who benefited from a defunct and fraudulent University; said Mexico would pay for an imaginary  wall;and collected $ 250 million in contributions for a nonexistent legal fund. 

6.  The last point to be made is regarding the unintended consequences for a decision. The Hamlin folks hired a magical individual to cure  or to fix their health problems. Their greed got in the way of payment and they suffered severe ramifications for that decision.  The Republican leaning folks in Connecticut made a decision against having a community mental health program in their high schools. That decision was based on irrationality, bias, and prejudice suggesting the scientific method ,objectivity and reasoning was not available to them.  Intellectually, emotionally and morally they pursued self defeating ideas. They were handicapped by mistrust and with mistrust one develops paranoid tendencies. The paucity in their thinking leads them to believe in black or white, good or bad. Government, science, psychotherapy,  Democrats, Nancy Pelosi,Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden ,Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, foreigners, CRT etc. are evil.  Their attitude ,biases and prejudices are based on their upbringing, peer groups, political, economic, educational, religious and social negative experiences within their life space. In other words, who they are, their sense of self , identity is built on irrationality, primitive thinking, following false idols and belief in the supernatural.  Cognitive dissonance interferes in taking in information contrary to their belief system. Thus, to change and accept ideas that are  contrary to this way of thinking, becomes very difficult and can collapse one's sense of self and identity.  They stick and hold their beliefs and are unable to separate themselves from these beliefs, regardless of consequences. It's similar to when folks believed "the earth is the center of the universe," "the earth was created in seven days," and "the earth is flat."  One could not convince these folks otherwise, and it would be like talking to a brick wall - ignoramuses prevail .However, change becomes potentially possible depending upon the degree of mistrust and paranoia.  Therefore, Hamlin and the Connecticut folks remained paralazed in their  self -defeating decision-making consequences.  The citizens of Hamlin suffered as well as the Killingly folks.  Children, teens, community and nation suffers from irrationality, prejudice,amorality and limited intellectual capability from the uninformed with unintended consequences  to follow.

In closing, it has been said that history repeats itself.  That is true because man makes history and man's behaviors are a series of repetitions irrespective of time or place.  Therefore, in Germany, about the year of 1284, man repeated and/or created a tale based on his imagination of his experience.  Sometimes it's historical fiction based on some event.  In the magical character of the Pied Piper, we see a magician-like quality in his ability to lead loyal followers regardless of the consequences.  Unfortunately, in the story, he leads children to perhaps a positive or a much darker ending. This story describes and reflects the challenges facing us today as depicted in the January 6 congressional hearings.  Are we going to be led away from the rule of law?  Are we headed for authoritarian gangster-like rule in seeking Pied Piper narcissistic revenge?  If so, the Pied Piper foreshadows our conflicts of our current dilemma from a thousand years ago.The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other- Richard Bach

PS

Jim Howard, a two time W S 100 winner, has entered again and plans to break the 60-69 age group record tomorrow.  Good luck Jim.

On another note, a New Mexico ignoramus voted no in  regards to certifying their recent election.  He said he had no evidence and it was about his gut in making a decision.  I suggest ,instead, he uses his cerebral cortex next time.  Perhaps he has a blood-brain barrier issue that allows harmful substances to  enter his brain.

American History 101

 

James Michener's novel Caribbean, the movie” How the West was Won “ and recent murders, triggers this response.  This disquisition briefly presents  America’s history of man's collective unconscious and his quest for power, prestige and possessions which are compensations for helplessness, humiliation and destitution  in which hostilities are expressed  in the tendencies form  to dominate, to humiliate and to deprive. These  tendencies are repetitions of the mores of  culture regardless of the consequence for these actions.The movie “There Will Be Blood” provides an example of these mores in the late 1890s-1900s  in California.  Historically, our customs, norms and behavior or mores that seem acceptable in our society of certain social groups are presented.

In the  Caribbean in the 1300s,  Michener  presented a group that he described "the heritage of the Caribs was brutality, warfare and little else. “ This group in South America reached an inhabited island. Karuku, the leader of this tribe's mission was to find human prey, conquer it  and steal a wife from the Tiwanee tribe.The formidable leader of this tribe was Bakamu.He was strong, no pushover with weapons of his own. Did Bakamu's strength and weaponry protect him and make him safe against Karuku and his warriors? In other words, there was a quest for possession of land and slaves; employing the power of force, killing, stealing, the possession and prestige of the leader of the Caribs.

Moving to 1619, we find a group of English robbers from ship White Lion stealing slaves from Spanish robbers.  These Spanish exploiters stole black skinned people from Africa who had weapons of their own. The  Blacks were attacked even though they had weapons;  the Spanish were attacked even though they had weapons.  Having a weapon or weapons did not provide safety or security for these groups.By 1776, beginning with land grants from the English king, there were  numerous instances of displacing Indians, fighting with French and the Spanish for territory.  All these groups had weapons yet there were attacks and killings.  During the American Revolutionary war, major battles included Monmouth, Fort Ticonderoga, Fort Washington ,Saratoga and  Yorktown.  Even though Gen. George Washington lost more battles and he won, his victories at Trenton and Yorktown were second to none.  Don't forget the shots fired at Lexington and Concord: "Were heard around the world."  Further, George Washington was our hero ,was our first president and the father of our country.  The Revolutionary war has been glorified-Pledge of Allegiance; bombs bursting in air; Betsy Ross ,Paul Revere etc. Hollywood has provided us with Drums Along the Mohawk;  The Scarlet Coat ,Devil's Disciple; 1776 and Last of the Mohicans. Do not forget Yankee Doodle  and the Star-Spangled Banner. Novels have included 1776; The British are Coming; Because of America No One Goes Alone; Fall of the Giants.   Today, we have Hamilton on Broadway.  The importance of our flag, territory and country is depicted in our customs, holidays, slogans, and especially the misuse of our Constitution. We have sensationalized and glorified the Revolution and the killing as the British lost their power, possession and prestige in which we gained.

.In essence the Wasps brought their collective unconscious history based upon power, possession , and prestige regardless of consequences with exploration  which means taking over a foreign territory that becomes a colony with complete domination.  The propaganda was that we were bringing a civilized stage of social and cultural development to this new land.  We were fighting ignorance with primitive beliefs with our advanced and sensible laws and customs.  We were going to convert their subjects into believing that our God was the only true God; a king was more desirable than a chieftain; it's okay that the primitives were now infected with our sexually transmitted diseases; it's permissible for primitives to become slaves for labor; and it's quite all right that primitives lose possession of their lands.  "Civilizing" means being taken over by power, possession, prestige, regardless so that we remain  the "masters' ' In control.  We are doing it for your own good, because we know what’s good for you.

Don't forget our Civil War and its major battles of Gettysburg, Bull Run, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Fredrickson, Sumter, Appomattox  Courthouse and the classic movie Gone with the Wind and novels like Cold Mountain, The Red Badge of Courage.  The Civil War generals George B.  McClellan, Ulysses S Grant, Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson.  The North won and  the South lost.  Yet today we find all kinds of statues, flags and memorabilia signifying the  humiliation of defeat?  These white Southerners love that Confederate flag and all their slave  heritage.  They lost the war.  I can't remember seeing a statue of Ulysses S Grant or William T.  Sherman?  We can safely say that the customs and traditions of the South go back to the Civil War and its glory?  Oh, they had slaves as property.  That's their custom and was their convention and norm. By the way, The.Battle Hymn of the Republic was considered the North’s most popular song and Battle Cry of Freedom was a rallying cry for the North.

The assassination of Lincoln has not healed the narcissistic injury  and the loss of power, possession and prestige suffered by the defeat from the government.  It's been written that an historian at Converse University in South Carolina  that the Confederate dead raised the question whether or not public funds should've been spent on erecting memorials or instead rededicated to supporting the impoverished widows and children of the dead? In fact, Robert E. Lee's death in 1870 raised the controversy about whether the flag of the United States should be lowered to honor the man who had waged war against the nation. A newspaper article in a West Virginia newspaper hailed Lee as "The Greatest American."  Further, a monument was erected in Durham in the 1920s to commemorate the eventual Confederate surrender  in North Carolina on April 26, 1865. However, it was widely opposed by people who objected to remembering the South's surrender. The motive for revenge lives on then and now -Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination.

 Do not forget that we idolize Indian killers, generals and presidents.  Andrew Jackson the seventh president of the United States led US forces against Native Americans; and against the British crushing defeat at the Battle of New Orleans. Jackson was the name of my junior high school.  Mad Anthony Wayne was a Brig. Gen. in the American Revolutionary war and killed many Indians in the Northwest Indian war and the Battle of Fallen Timbers.  I attended Wayne elementary school, Wayne State University and lived in Wayne County, Michigan.  I also attended Edwin Denby high school.  Edwin Denby served in the Navy and became the Secretary of the Navy. Our football rivalI was Pershing - Gen John Pershing. Incidentally, the main weapons  manufacturer “ The arsenal of Democracy” was in Detroit during World War II  and surrounding areas.

Teddy Roosevelt was a famous president with his appointment as assistant Secretary of the Navy . He organized the first volunteer cavalry known as the Rough Riders  that was sent to fight in Cuba .He led the charge of the Roughriders on foot up Capitol Hill. The battle of Santiago made him the biggest natural hero to come out of the Spanish-American war.  His fifth cousin was Franklin D and FDR’s wife Elenor  was Theodore's niece.  FDR was in charge of creating the biggest, most devastating weapon in the history of mankind.  We went to war against Japan for revenge and went to war with Hitler after he declared war on us.  Charles E. Wilson Secretary of Defense and President of General Motors stated what was good for General Motors was good for the country. Thus our power, possession and prestige was well-established

We have had countless movies pertaining to World War II, such as From Here to Eternity, Battle Cry,The Longest Day, Saving Pvt. Ryan, Patton ,Pearl Harbor and so forth.  Generals MacArthur, Patton, Bradley and MacArthur are portrayed as heroes second to none.  Novels include Catch-22, Schindler's List, The Whispers of War, Slaughterhouse Five, Churchill- Walking with Destiny, etc.  Think of the movie stars like John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Spencer Tracy, George C Scott and their portrayals of our heroes.  Incidentally,that movie about how the West was Won exemplified the aims of killing, rivalry, robbery and economic exploitation.  So what if the railroad men lied to the Indians about the laying of tracks.  There was plenty of excitement around gold and of course then the stealing of gold.  Thank goodness the bad guys, like Billy the Kid Younger Brothers, had to deal with the likes of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.  The Gunfighters at  OK Corral was classic as was the final scene of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid.  These idols were likable and died gloriously of suicide.Over There was a song from World War I, God Bless America., Over There and Pick Up  Your Troubles.  For World War II , Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, I'll Be SeeingYou and I'll Be Home for Christmas were popular .  On the other hand, songs from the Vietnam War included War , Get Together.  The End  and protest songs included :  Gimme Shelter, Eve of Destruction, Fortunate Son ,and Blowin' In the Wind.

Other illustrations of power, possession, prestige, regardless of consequences are based on the five famous titans of industry: John D.  Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and J.P. Morgan.  A Titan of Industry means these people are very important(prestige) and powerful (power and possession).  The movie.  There Will Be Blood depicts a hard-working and controlling driven wasp that despite obstacles and hardships fortified his pursuit of  finding oil. He then proceeds to cleverly manipulate and seductively buy and lease land while taking financial advantage of those poor farmers in California .In the process, he humiliates ,is vindictive, deprives,seeks revenge and murders   during  his” success.” He becomes wealthy monetarily and impoverished emotionally left with only his butler.  The American success story from rags to riches should be reframed as the neurotic quest for power- excessive wealth: possession-land,and natural resources; prestige, being number one and having influence with political, economic,and legal advantages.  Greed is good economically but can leave an individual decrepit and alone emotionally.

Based on this brief overview, the mores of power, possession, and prestige in this country are covered with blood as is the history of Homo sapiens.  We have been a violent country from the start.  We have been winners in major confrontations with the exception of Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan.  We have glorified weapons and even made a movie about Winchester rifles.  Our worship of guns, weapons and killing are far-reaching and a major component in our country's fabric.  In fact , a Marine wrote an article titled "America's Ongoing Secret Wars" in the May 29, 2022 edition of the New York Times and claimed that the United States continues to kill "adversaries" and fails to report them to the public.  He stated there was an increase from 6 special operations in 2004 to about 300 two years later.  He also raised the question about the US's military intelligence operations in the killing of all those Russian generals in Ukraine? Weapons, guns, and killing cannot be separated.  Our economic system,  Politics and religious idiosyncrasies reinforce and manipulate man's insecurity.  Having a weapon does not protect one from being harmed or from being attacked.  On a personal note, my friend and teammate Ed Budde, a mountain of a man, played professional football for the Kansas City Chiefs.  Did his strength and imposing physical stature protect him from being brutally attacked  with a crowbar ?  Have all the guns you want, it's no guarantee for safety.  Ukraine had the protection and support of NATO and the United States along with a military of its own.  What did Russia do? The discussion regarding gun regulation is a joke and an illusion.  So you can't buy an AR 15 until you're 21?  Any kid living at home, bringing to his house an AR 15 and military gear should be evaluated as well as his parents.  We have too many weapons and too many weapons in the hands of sick people.  Change the mores of the country in order to address all the killing.

In summary, in addition to our collective unconscious history are mores for power, possession and prestige include the following facts : 1.  The 1994 federal assault weapons ban expired on September 13, 2004.  2.  In the last 20 years there's been a tremendous rate increase of purchasing assault weapons and ammunition.  3. In the last 20 years there's been a horrific amount of citizen deaths as a result of assault weapons.  4.  Homeland Security was established in 2002 as a protection against foreign terrorism-based on fear   5.  Former Pres.was instrumental in a coup attempt to remain in power as president 6.  We have a cycle of civilian murder; social media hysteria propaganda around the government taking away guns and futile attempts at legislation; resulting in more gun purchase.  The equation is: murder plus fear equals more gun purchase 7.  Guns contributes to both fear and murder.  8.  Our homeland has  not been invaded since 1812.  Yet, we are bullies and have accumulated the largest buildup of weapons on the planet-insecurity;and we have the best trained  killers in the art of warfare- power and possession 9.  The experiment regarding our Republic is threatened from within.  Homeland security should focus on homeland terrorism.  10.  The South with its governors ,congressmen, senators and citizens continue their opposition against the Blue Democratic presidents and their parties policies. They continue with states rights lies and freedom mythology. This minority is like a two-year-old that uses "no"  in a temper tantrum with his parents 11.  Continue the mores in this country because the wasps know what's best and can civilize the infidels.  There is one true "race", with one true God, with one true economic system. Therefore the continuation of power, possession and prestige. 

Reference

Horney,Karen. The Neurotic Personality of Our Time.

Malignant Sadism

 

Recently, Linda and  I saw the movie  "A Time to Kill"  and it was based on a novel  by John Grisham.  Also, a May 22, 2022 article in the New York Times  " Why It Matters That Russia Is Fascist was also relevant to today's disquisition. Sadism,narcissism, group narcissism and Fascism are topics.

In the movie, two 20-year-olds were driving down a road in Mississippi, drinking and hollering. They came upon a 10-year-old black girl returning home with groceries in hand. One of the boys made a comment alleging that if she could crawl, then she's appropriate. The boys proceeded to rape her; urinate on her; hang her from a tree, but the tree limb broke, so they threw beer cans at her body tearing flesh to the bone, and then dumped her body from a 30 foot high bridge into the shoreline. In the story, the girl lived. The boys were arrested and admitted the rape and  on their way to preliminary legal proceedings with the judge,the girl’s father shot and killed the two white boys. The lawyer commented that in this small southern town, a white jury would convict and the father would spend life in jail.The little girl's reproductive organs were damaged so she would never give birth. Her father's motive was simple. In thinking about this little girl, it was clear she was not considered human in the eyes of the two boys. They sadistically brutalized and humiliated her as if she was a throwaway. One would go to jail if one treated an animal in the same fashion. How might this treatment of another human being be explained?  Certainly their behavior was not part of the norm, but it still occurred. Malignant sadism was in full view by the boy’s brutal treatment. Their motive was to rid her without feeling one bit of guilt or shame. That's likely possible when the  objects are perceived as a dirty, nonhuman form.

Historically, on May 14, 1607, 104 English men and boys established the Jamestown settlement and it became the first long-term English settlement in North America. The settlement was originated and operated by the Virginia company.  These 104 were white Protestants , with a common language, a common social structure, common religious beliefs,common economic and political philosophy and with a common law. Moving to 1776, we know that in order to ratify the Constitution, each slave was considered 3/5 of a human or a non individual.  Slaves were the property of his master.  It's safe to say that the founding fathers were white Protestants with a common language, common wealthy economic and social structure, common religious beliefs, and a common understanding of English law .

Incorporating the malignant sadism in the movie to today's recent killing of Blacks skinned individuals, in Buffalo, by an 18-year-old, are as follows.  Sadism can be related to frustration and revenge. In that case, revenge is an attempt to fix an injury that has already been done. It's a magical psychological function of attempting to undo what has already happened.  Revenge is irrational and stupid, since it never restores and it only perpetuates man's craziness.  Gandhi had it right when he said, an eye for an eye only results in blindness.  It can be said that man too often acts as if he is blind.  So if one kills black's, what is the replacement principle ?  College, professional sports and the Summer Olympics are dominated by black skinned individuals. Whites are going to replace what? It's often the case that the shooter is impotent and crippled psychologically , that’s why he has a military weapon. One illusion is to restore oneself and that becomes taking revenge as in an eye for an eye.  With severe pathology, the focus for revenge becomes the sole motivation  as evidenced by large expenditures for weapon purchase and social media involvement.  Revenge becomes the dominant psychological aim. The dynamic behind revenge is based on psychic scarcity.  Likely in one’s history there’s mistrust, suspiciousness and a shattering of faith. The betrayal by friends, associates, peer groups, parents, teachers or others puts one at a distance from others. One begins to hate life. That hate of life is projected on the others who are perceived as evil by this paranoid individual.

On the other hand, in the case of the father who murdered the two sadistic white boys, we have more of a reactive sadistic characteristic. In this case, it was more about a defense of life, about freedom, about some form of dignity and justice. There was a realistic fear that the two white boys would not have received deserved punishment from a white jury.  It was a rational calculation to some extent that can be criticized morally as killing is never morally advocated.  However, one can argue that this killing was in the defense of life, of justice and those boys were guilty of  malignant sadism  and deserved to die. If an eye for an eye is justice, these boys should've been raped, urinated on, hung from a tree, had beer bottles thrown at their body and dumped from a 30 foot high bridge.  The Bible says thou shall not kill, but an eye for an eye?

Using an assault rifle on a defenseless human being is the definition of malignant sadism. The bullets have no mercy. They tear the flesh to pieces.  That weapon was not meant for hunting as it would destroy the prey. It's only used for killing and destroying. Sadism can be characterized as a drive to have complete and absolute control over a living being. It's a complete mastery and its drive is to make another helpless, defenseless and to humiliate . Make him suffer without the person being able to defend himself.  It's complete domination and transforms the victim into something inanimate which is a negation of life. A citizen using an assault rifle on a human being does not perceive that other as human. It was a  complete disregard for human life and malignant sadism.. It was a projection of hate that often comes back to that individual becoming suicidal and dying at the hands of self or another.

Sadistic tendencies lead  to a character of narcissism. We began life  narcissistic which is necessary for survival. Developmentally, there is a progression from a state of primary to a state of secondary narcissism that occurs within the first five years of life that's highly affected based upon the importance of interpersonal interactions. The result of these interactions leads to a blending of three main tendencies. Optimally, under exceptional nurturing influences results in behaviors characterized by an attitude of giving, care ,respect and the ability to love which is associated with positive self-esteem . One extreme tendency becomes giving” unconditional love" as in the likes of Mother Teresa , Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt and Albert Schweitzer. They were able to love  thy enemy as oneself and walk the walk regarding the Golden Rule. One can love another if they are able to love, care and respect themselves . A second  tendency results in a tendency to be moving against another as in taking, dominating, exploiting, sadism , aggression and violence which are associated with low self-esteem. An extreme  would be  the likes of Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer and 18 year old  mass shooters with assault weapons.These individuals are unable to care and respect self, let alone love self. These individuals hate life and appear to love death and project hate and death onto others and their behavior  can be called malignant sadism. The third tendency would be moving away from another as in isolation, withdrawal with an extreme of being a hermit.  It's not uncommon for these young 18-year-old shooters to be characterized by being “a lone wolf type.”  They are not popular and on the contrary, are seen as weird,strange, spooky without face-to-face friends. They likely engage in anonymous social media interactions.At the extreme level, these violent types have an abnormal diseased narcissism.  When using an assault weapon, the bullet has a tremendous and devastating impact on the human body, tearing it to shreds. It was designed to kill the enemy in wartime. Use against the civilian suggests an extraordinary amount of malignant sadism, and unconscionable hate against another human.  It's as if the other was non-human. An enemy that one hates can become that nonentity.  With diseased narcissism, there was a distortion of rational judgment-from beautiful to ugly, good to bad etc. That  prejudice and bias becomes prevalent and the norm.  In the movie , she crawls, so she can be mounted.”In other words, if the narcissist was diseased, reality gets transformed and becomes a fictionalized illusion.

Individuals who have a tendency for a diseased narcissism are often found to be insecure, dependent as well as being affected negatively educationally, economically, socially and/or  interpersonally.  This sense of weakness is often unconscious and there's a tendency to compensate.  One way to compensate is to identify with a group that appears to be powerful. It's magical. It allows that individual to become powerful as the group, especially with group consensus or a great number of people being part of that group. That group narcissism can become satisfying.  Going to a superior group in that way elevates that person. It's like an infusion and compensates for one's feelings of being inferior. So, I am somebody now because I belong to the most admirable group in the world. I belong to this white powerful group. This group has a common language, a common religious belief, a common political goal with the powerful leader. My group is the best. Everyone else is evil.  Evil can be defined as having different skin color, different religious beliefs, different political agendas and different economic interests.  In my group,we love our country, we love flags and we love God.  The other group is evil. They are satanic and must be eliminated.  We believe in the true God.  They are misguided and we have to demonstrate our power and superiority in every way.  Anyone that is different does not belong and deserves to be punished.Really!

With group narcissism, we find a leader that was able to speak to the group's insecurities by demonstrating power, righteousness, sureness and being in control. For example, Hitler used to have rallies late at night knowing that his followers were then more likely to be more receptive to his propaganda. Also, the leader can use a variety of means to justify his goals and it doesn't matter if that leader was of diseased narcissism,was a criminal or was insane. This is true because followers lack objectivity, rational judgment and are unable and are easily seduced by the projection of power by that mystical messanic leader.

Turning to the newspaper article, fascism was of Italian origin that Hitler followed. Incidentally, Hitler entered into an agreement with Russia regarding invading Poland, but later, Hitler changed his mind and took Poland for himself. The definition of fascism "A political philosophy movement or regime that exalts nation often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation and forcible suppression of opposition.

Let's go back to the founding of our white race Republic. Jamestown can be argued fits the definition of fascism directed solely by the Virginia company.  Our Constitution has a political philosophy that some have argued has three equal branches of government. However, we all know  the prize is to become president. We number and rank presidencies.  Donald was a dictatorial leader, he benefited himself economically,had more lackeys surrounding himself, had the Republican Senate in his pocket with millions of voters, Justice dept. for his personal lawyer, nominated 3 supreme court nationalists and other federal judges and  belittled opposition daily with social media coverage.

Putin is the leader as he invaded Ukraine and called Ukraine an artificial state with a Jewish president. Putin’s going to eliminate the Nazis by destroying Ukraine? There are no Nazis in Ukraine. Putin’s violence was compensatory to say the least. He’s impotent in his inability to restore self and Russia to its “glory.”  He was exhibiting malignant sadism in his drive for complete and absolute control over Ukraine. His aim was to humiliate Zielinski and make the entire country suffer. His weapons are able to maim and destroy.  It doesn’t matter that children, women and  the elderly were eliminated, destroyed, and humiliated. He demonstrated complete dominance over the helpless.  He's bombing, killing and wiping out Ukraine because they are  subhuman animals that Russians can kill and murder as they've done in Bucha, Mariupol, and other parts of Ukraine with all the mass graves with  malignant sadistic destruction. He invaded Ukraine because of its natural resources and its strategic port access. What country has NATO  ever invaded?  Yes, the enemy is Ukraine,Zelensky, NATO, capitalism, Biden,and the United States.Putin is a leader who can bring back and restore the imperial greatness of Russia through violence and destruction?

In essence, intellectually we have developed the most destructive weapons and we are about to eliminate mankind. Mentally and emotionally our development has left us in the state of  diseased narcissism with all its visible pathological symptoms.

Reference

Fromm, Erich.  The Heart of Man It's genius for good and evil.

The Relevance of Existentialism

 

The word existentialism was used recently In regards to nuclear war, climate crisis and political authoritarianism. This disquisition presents abbreviated aspects of the philosophical writings of Soren Kierkegaard, Frederick Nitschke, Karl Jaspers, Martin Heidegger ,John Paul Sartre and their relevance today from articles found in the New York Times .

One significant idea in existentialism philosophy pertains to God’s death ,based in part, questioning a belief in an afterlife .The loss of faith in God,negates a belief in immortality. Jesus spoke to the poor without a political agenda, nor was he concerned about acquiring wealth and power.  In fact, the wealthy and the powerful were not at all admired.  Today, the messaging is different. The wealthy TV and mega church messengers have a political agenda. Forget about the 10 Commandments, the ends justify the means and focus on  implementing minority rule.  it's okay and reinforced to discriminate, to deceive and express hostility to black skin people and the infidels. What about” Blessed are the poor?”Also, why is following an immoral, lying, cheating, criminal, greedy capitalist worshiped ? The Pledge of Allegiance  reframed "I pledge allegiance to  capitalism …and for a white nation with liberty and justice for us.  The newspaper article following addressed the fictionalism of God and questions his omnipotence.  

The article  was dated May 8, 2022 and titled "Praying to a God You Don't Believe In. In this reference, a 12-year-old boy who was studying for his bar mitzvah had this interaction with his father, a professor of law and philosophy.  Briefly, during one of their walks, his son said that he didn't believe in God.  In response to why not, " if God was real, he would  not let all those people die ( Covid -19 and Ukraine}."  Why do you say that ? "God is supposed to care about us."  "That doesn't seem like something you could have done if you cared-and could stop it."  His son also stated on another occasion, "I think for real God is pretend and for pretend God is real."  God is real, but  we were pretending he is."  The article went on, and the professor's father raised questions such as the presence of evil.  If God was  all-powerful and endlessly empathetic,  why does God let people suffer? Why does” good “require” evil” and why can’t good exist without evil?  If God is omnipotent,why does he allow so much evil ?Why couldn’t God  create good without evil?  The professor  added that he seeks refuge in religion but not because he thinks his prayers will be answered , but that pretending  helps him.  Pretending( Fictionalism), for him, makes a world more magical and meaningful.

 

The second idea identifies the denial of  man’s supremacy of rationality with the acknowledgment that man has crippling irrational impulses.  In addition, man is not in the here and now but escapes and pursues vicariously with dependency on TV, newspapers, social media, sporting events,drugs, games etc. Detrimentally, man places emphasis on a subjective experience of truth, or the belief in his opinion, as the only criteria of truth.  In other words, man takes opinion as truth.

Aspects of rationality  "the quality of being based on or in accordance with reason or logic.  Other synonyms include logic, reason, empiricism, reasonableness, morality, analytical, deliberate , enlightened, intelligent, impartial, and level headed.”  However ,irrationality,” is the inability of capable reasoning, as in senselessness, absurdity, unreasonableness, groundless,and invalid.  Further, to describe someone's feelings and behavior is irrational -  meaning it was not based on logical reasons or clear thinking.  Moreover, irrational behavior arises as a consequence of the emotional reactions evoked when faced with difficult decisions, according to research at University College London.

An article titled "Clear Thinking" in October 31,  2021 made the following points regarding the difficulty of employing rationality as far as  truth was concerned . Examples related to logic :  1.  Some A are B; therefore, some B are A   2. Everything that runs has feet; the river runs; therefore, the river has feet . The writer pointed out that logicians have classified some fallacies as modus morons. He added “ today there is a pandemic of poppycock when  applying logic.” Psychological research experiments showed that simple assumptions about what people want and what drives their decision-making are even more unrealistic than was previously thought.  Our faculties work well in some settings, but go wrong when applied  in novel circumstances or in the service of other goals  To illustrate, a Gallup survey found that 42% of Americans believe in demonic possession. Gallup  questioned the survey and wondered how many people took the question literally. Also, more than two billion people believe that if one doesn't accept Jesus as one’s Savior, one will be damned to eternal torment in hell.

With the above being said, it's obvious that people misunderstand, distort, read into, oversimplify, give lip service and do not challenge illogical assumptions about themselves or  toward others. In order to think more clearly, one has to discipline their thinking.  It is important to note that thinking consists of the following, which are interconnected: 1.  Perceive , sense-see, taste, smell, feel and hear.  2.  Act-walk, eat, swim, throw, climb, etc. 3.  Feel ,emote-love hate, fear, become guilty or depressed 4.  Reason, think, remember, imagine, hypothesize, consolidate and solve problems.

Are the schools failing us? Not only are people irrational,but they are unable to read. 1. The Department of Education finds fewer than half of American adults  proficient in reading  2. The Department of Health found 1/3 of adults have difficulty interpreting simple health information such as instructions on a drug label.

The second article titled How Much Military Spending Is Too Much? was dated January 16, 2022.  In that article Joe Manchin voted against the Build Back Better plan that addressed climate change, investment in childcare, healthcare and education.  Yet ,voted yes on a bill that allocated 768 billion for the military in 2022.  That amount was roughly 24 billion more than the White House requested from Congress. On another note, more people have died from the pandemic than from every war that we fought.  Further, we build aircraft carriers, each of which cost about 1.5 billion . We have 11 and no other country has more than two.  We know there is waste, misappropriations, and even the Pentagon said it’s unable to balance its books or do an analysis of  spending until later.  Also, we don't even debate the amount of money that is spent for national defense.  Moreover, in 2015, the Pentagon hired contractors-nearly as many as deskbound, back office people as well as troops.  We could save money by eliminating many of the contractors.  Oh yes, military spending contracts go to a large number of congressional districts and it is not surprising why there's excessive military spending. Greed and irrational thinking benefits the military-industrial complex .

The third article titled The New Wave of Holocaust Revisionism was found in the January 30, 2022 edition.  In this article, the nationalistic Polish government was reframing the horrors of the Holocaust.  For example, along with a public ceremony at the village of Treblinka (the second largest Jewish killing field)  a memorial was being held honoring a 21-year-old Polish railroad worker who gave water to starving Jewish prisoners.  Although we don't know if he was paid for providing water, we do know that many Polish individuals received money for providing water to captive Jews.  The Polish government was also erecting markers commemorating humanitarian Poles over the countryside in order to restore identity and national pride.  However, we do know that Poles went out looking for Jewish individuals in order  to track them down , rob them, and then to get rewarded by the Nazis.  This reframing undermines some realities like: 1.  Close to 900,000 Jews were slaughtered at Treblinka alone  2.  80,000 Jews died in the Warsaw ghetto of starvation and/or disease, and more than 300,000 were transported to their deaths.  3.  A street was named in Warsaw after a brave Polish woman who  saved some Jewish children as well as a statue of a Polish underground courier 4.  Before the war, there were 85 million  in Poland  5.  Nazi’s murdered an estimated 1.9 million  6. The Jewish population numbered well over 300 million before the war, and in 1950, only about 45,000 7. A   National poll published in 2020 found nearly half of Poles thought that Auschwitz was most of all a place of Polish suffering .In essence,creating a false equivalency of victimization between Poles and  Jews  during World War II is  a clever state-sponsored effort that downplays anti-semetic  terror at the hands of the Polish nation.  Once again we have a distortion of rationalism, objectivity and misleading historical facts with truth.

Third existential idea relates to the fact that scientific and technical achievements have not solved the problems of our existence, but have placed difficulties in our way affecting the non-solutions of dealing with ourselves.  With science there is the belief and ascending curve that progress and human problems would disappear. That ignores irrational forces as in Covid-19.  Also, humans can be easily manipulated by irrational as well as rational messaging.

An article titled "Sci-Fi Care: Can Robots Save Nursing Homes?”  April 24, 2022 was used to address this existential point. This article pointed  to the tremendous problems in assisted living. The pandemic accounted for more than 200,000 residents or workers in long-term facilities that have died as a result of the coronavirus virus. Also, since 2020, more than 300 nursing homes have closed and more than 400,000 workers in long-term care facilities have left according to US Bureau of Labor statistics. When asked to a group of older adults in Minnesota what they would like in a nursing home, they replied "off-color jokes."  So now a trial of robots are going to eight nursing homes around the state with off colored jokes.  These people believe that this technology can solve some of the problems in nursing homes and/or help people stay out of them. This technology  can be used for touchless delivery of meals, groceries, video, doctor visits, smart speakers on monitoring devices and even smart toilets.  Toilets are going to tell you to take your pills.  For example,  Best Buy  offers senior friendly mobile devices that detect falls, tie in with hospital systems, assess electronic medical records and provide “One Touch “connections with the company's 3400 member call center which can contact Drs. ,order pickups from Lift and alert the owner's caregivers.  Last year the center took 9 million calls from 1 million users. Wow, what an incentive to enter a nursing home!

A fourth idea of existentialism pertains to man’s psychological character. Unfortunately,  because of society's emphasis on mass communication, propaganda  and  conformity,the individual becomes lost. These forces interfere with developing an authentic way of being. Authenticity becomes problematic because of the inertia and complacent lifestyle that pursues comfort from objects as opposed to learning about oneself.  Only man makes of himself and nothing more .it's his thinking, behavior and acknowledgement and responsibility that determine who he is.The tyranny of the crowd, anonymity, not facing the fact that he is going to die ,the strong irrational forces working against him and acknowledging that he can't be comforted by religion, political, scientific or other illusions are uncomfortable challenges.  One has to face the anxiety of his being and move toward perhaps self-actualization.

The few that actually reach self-actualization can be characterized as having tendencies that: 1.  Have a more efficient perception of reality; able to detect falseness in others and  tolerate uncertainty and ambiguity  2.  An acceptance of self and others with minimal defensiveness  3.  A problem-solving style oriented to social welfare  4. A need for privacy 5. Significant interpersonal relationships with a few rather than with many 6. Able to love and be loved, which includes a caring, respecting responsibility, knowledge, fun, elation, well-being and gaiety attitude.  Note, the absence of pursuing happiness, power, prestige, and possession.

This fourth point was addressed by the article in the April 24, 2022 edition, titled "It's Life or Death; US Teenagers Face a Mental Health Crisis." Adolescents present a great public health challenge. United States teenagers ,in the past three decades,have gone from binge drinking ,drunken-driving, teenage pregnancy and smoking to  the following: 13% of adolescents report they have a major depressive episode, a 60% increase from 2007 with the rise of emergency room visits by children and adolescents with diagnosis of anxiety, mood disorders and self harm.  People ages 10 to 24, had suicide increases of nearly 60% by 2018.  

It was  also stated , we have a national emergency with rising levels of mental illness, a severe shortage of therapists and treatment options and insufficient research to explain the trend.  It’s important to note that the more educated are less likely to get pregnant, use drugs and are unlikely to die from accident or injury. Related, although the data is limited, the findings on social media suggest that some adolescents appear to be more vulnerable than others regarding the effects of viewing time.  However, teenagers,as a group, are getting less sleep, exercise and are spending less in person time with friends. Interpersonal interactions are crucial for healthy emotional identity development .Anxiety, depression, compulsive behavior, self-harm, and even suicide are troublesome statistics. On the positive,30% of high school-aged teenagers report having had sex at least once compared with roughly 50% in 1980.  Teen birth rate also has plummeted, so has cigarette and alcohol use.

Rise of loneliness appears to be a key mental illness factor in that teenagers report they feel lonely even after internet use.  Although Internet use has exploded ,they hang out with friends but no friends are there. A second article "The City Has a Loneliness Problem,"  In the April 24, 2022 edition pointed out the effect of loneliness on adults. This article suggested the pandemic only exacerbated the epidemic of loneliness driven by the accelerated pace of life and the spread of technology into all our social interactions.Further, loneliness is damaging not only to mental health but also physical health as well.  Being lonely increases the risk of emotional disorders like depression,  anxiety and substance abuse and also puts people at greater risk in terms of heart disease, cancer, stroke, hypertension, dementia, and premature death. In  lab experiments, lonely people that were exposed to cold virus  were more likely to develop  cold symptoms than people who were not normally lonely.  There are more  struggling with loneliness than even  diabetes. Tissues from the brains of older adults, in their final years, answered questions about their levels of loneliness.  The results suggested the physical cellular nature of loneliness was distinctly different when comparing the brains of lonely people to the brains of non lonely people.  Some genes that promote prolific proliferation of cancerous cells were more activated in  lonely people.Genes that regulate inflammation were turned off in lonely people. Depending upon how lonely these people felt , they were associated with cancer,inflammation, heart disease, as well as cognitive function . Article pointed out the pandemic underscored how important casual connections are for emotional well-being. So a healthy diet,medication and exercise might not cure the problem of loneliness.  Loneliness in our culture is  reinforced by technology.  Once again, technology, Internet use can not  treat loneliness. Are Geeks less lonely?.  We know that connected people live longer, happier, healthier lives, and that the workplace and home environments have to be reevaluated.  If we truly want to be healthy, well being and fulfilled, we have to restructure lives around  people,not things or fiction.

In summary, existentialism pertains to thinking and behavior.  It's cognitive in the sense that irrationality is acknowledged with a danger that man's thinking can be easily influenced with the primitive, supernatural, wishful ,conspiratorial, self-defeating fictional ideas. We know that emotional needs mislead man and interfere with thinking and choices.  Currently man,within our society, has produced the inauthentic and recorded over 1 million Covid-19 deaths; with 5% of the world’s population, we have 45% of armed citizens; number one in school shootings; enormous economic disparity; number one in defense spending; 50 or so elected Republican's saying no to bills that protect and help the majority; the evangelicals saying yes to restricting women's health issues, what’s taught in schools, who can be a member of their group, who can purchase an assault rifle, and who can vote; decrease in life expectancy; healthcare crisis; exploitive insurance industries; increase in hate groups; excessive obesity and neurotic disturbances etc.with models that include  the likes of  Kardashian’s,Bezos, Musk, Putin,Trump.It’s obvious that man has difficulty with his reality which is how,what and where the use of drugs, games ,dream vacations, pornography etc. are employed as distractions. Being part of the crowd with many social media followers has not solved the problem of loneliness. The number of followers does not at all indicate friendship quality. The existentialists suggest we are not pursuing happiness but something else. For what it’s worth : Learning never exhausts the mind stated Leonardo da Vinci ;  according to Epicurus, nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so; every negative belief weakens the partnership between mind and body wrote Deepak Chopra and  when health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot become manifest, strength cannot be exerted, wealth is useless, and reason is powerless said ​​Herophilus, ancient Greek physician.

References

Ellis, Albert and Harper, Robert.  A Guide to Rational Living

Maslow, Abraham H.  Motivation and Personality