Revenge

  This essay  is about retribution and revenge. Retribution is punishment inflicted on someone as vengeance for a wrong criminal act– vengeance or revenge.  Revenge is  the action of inflicting hurt or harm  on someone for an injury or wrong  suffered at their hands. With retaliation  lies a significant emotional component which is a reaction to a perceived narcissistic injury.  Perception is reality and based on the eye of the beholder.  Retribution is a major motivational dynamic for asocial animal behavior.  It's a past history, as the perceived harm or injustice had already happened.  Retribution also been used politically and socially for scapegoating, discriminating by placing blame on others. 

 Historically, 6,000 years ago in Exodus 21:24 we find "an eye for an eye."  Another example, from past times was the biblical tale Sampson got his revenge after Delilah cut his hair.  He destroyed the Philistine temple and killed himself in the process. In this example we have revenge and suicide.   In the New Testament, the apostle Paul says in Romans Chapter 12, "bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "it is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.  In essence, the idea of retribution is one of man's tools that has been used to inflict pain upon others. Does that mean forget about the 10 Commandments?  Centuries later, pogroms in Russia were justified , in part, because” Jews were Christ killers. “ Yes, Judas was paid by the Romans; Romans held the trial; and the Romans crucified Jesus.

Back in the 50s, I attended  an all white elementary, junior high and senior high school on the eastside of Detroit. I received a football scholarship to play for the University of Detroit. There were no black skinned recruits that accompanied me on the football field. Also, The city of Detroit was run by white politicians.  Also in the 50s, Republican Joe McCarthy went after supposed communists in our country.  People were fired from their government jobs and others blacklisted.  It was guilt by association.  Dalton Trumbo , a blacklisted screenwriter, later made  award winning films that included Roman Holiday,  Exodus, Spartacus and 30 Seconds over Tokyo.

In the 60s, black athletes began to be represented in professional and college sports.  By the 70s, the exceptionalism with black athletes was more noticeable.  I relocated to the Bay Area in 1974.In that year, the Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship.  Rick Barry was the star with All-Star support from Clifford Ray, Phil Smith, Jamaal Wilkes, etc. ; the Oakland A's won the World Series : with Star Rollie Fingers, Catfish Hunter,  with supporting team that included Mr. October Reggie Jackson, Vida  Blue, Bill North and others; and the Oakland Raiders came in first in their division with star Ken Stabler . Stabler was surrounded with Cliff Branch, Art Shell, Gene Upshaw, Bubba Smith ,Willie Brown ,Jack Tatum and so forth.This year, the Golden State Warriors, won the NBA championship with the likes of Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson with coach Steve Kerr.  The Las Vegas Raiders have Derek Carr, Max Crosby surrounded by Darren Waller, Jonathan Abram, Davante Adams ,Josh Jacobs and others.  Professional sports are dominated by black athletes.  White athletes are now the token representatives.   By the way, the John Birch Society the American right wing political advocacy group surfaced as anti-Communist, supported social conservatism and remains associated with the ultraconservative radical  far right politics -go GOP .

These melanin skin  pigmented individuals are just a few of the many people that entertain us, educate us and whom we admire for their skill and contributions made to our country. When we think about the Summer Olympics, our gold medals come from you know whom. When we think about sports records being broken, you know from whom . All these records were once held by white skinned individuals. Turn on the TV  and more of  the same holds true. Yes ,changes have been made and some have profited greatly. 

 I argue that the change from white to black  superstars resulted in envy, jealousy and revenge with a loss of esteem with retribution.  Historically, the Civil War decimated the southern way of living  and the carpetbaggers added to their humiliation. Then, southern state legislatures enacted laws  of retribution with harsh penalties for black skinned individuals.  In the early 1960’s, freedom riders  Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner  were killed in Mississippi. Shortly after, the racist southern Democrats  or Dixiecrats angry with Johnson’s Great Society changed parties for their revenge. In the 1980’s , Ronald Reagan supported racist policies with war on drugs,black incarceration, falsifying history ,and appointing to the Supreme Court  Rehnquist that allowed the police to kill blacks without penalty. Newt Gingrich and The Tea Party followed with their draconian  policies to weaken the federal government while legislating white power.

Last year there were roadblocks for legislation that would benefit  us all. We also witnessed  a riot on January 6 to overturn an election. Building a wall to keep out the rapists and murderer's is an example of political retribution and scapegoating  as  well as justifying the riot on January 6 because the election was stolen.  Stolen by?  Recently, Trump and  his  people claim that if he's indicted, his followers will take to the street. He's about revenge. Victimization, scapegoating, and violence are components in revenge.  The  party of Trump called this a protest by patriots.Currently, the Republicans hope to gain control of Congress so they can impeach Joe Biden ,Dr. Fauchi and hold hearings for their revenge.  Do not forget that the irrational, paranoid ideas found on social media, incorrectly called conspiracy theories, are other illustrations of scapegoating, discrimination and retribution.

We’ve had racial progress since the 60s. We’ve also had revenge and policies designed to continue the exploitation of individuals who  have a darker pigment skin. The rise of hate crimes  has increased. However,  the presidential election of Barack Obama was the straw that broke the camel's back. That resulted in the  overt emergence of the sociopath and criminal Trump . He is the revenge king who always gets even with  the so-called non loyalists. His despicable  behavior reinforced  and brought to the surface the degrading, reprehensible, disgraceful and loathsome behavior of those wanting to cling to power regardless. Those inadequate, limited intellectually, with asocial  moral ethics and values faithfully follow him. Forget about democracy. Democracy is only for the white minority. Long live revenge.

A False Messiah

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Everyone has heard the cliché that history repeats itself.  Yes, history repeats itself because it’s  based on man's nature, and his character tendencies. On one hand man has evolved intellectually and has created and produced unimaginable strides in science and technology, and on the other hand, has exhibited dominance, aggression, exploitation and prejudicial tendencies against his fellow man. Philosophically, man possessing a nature is questioned.  However, commonalities present in Homo sapiens include fearfulness, seeking pleasure, avoiding pain along with sexual and aggressive behaviors for survival taking place within a social structure.  Yet, man, in his mind, engages in tendencies for escape, illusions and irrationality along with his physiological requirements for food ,water etc . Economics, politics and religion also affect man's character development.  This disquisition briefly  compares yesterday's Christians  of 2000 years ago to today.

Over 2000 years ago, in Palestine, the Roman Empire prevailed with its economics , political and religious thinking.  For the most part, the Romans were the enemy.  The proletariat, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were the 3 socio-economic categories.  Briefly, the proletariat or Am-Haarez class consisted of common ordinary uneducated working class people, along with beggars, unskilled peasants, both in rural and urban populations.  They were faced with tax burdens and were oppressed at all levels.  The more they were oppressed, the more they engaged in political uprisings and plundering acts of unlawful behavior.  They destroyed the Roman Eagle at the entrance of the temple for one example.  They were brutally punished, killed and tortured by the Romans for these acts.  The more they were pressured, the more they became receptive to national, social, religious, and revolutionary movements.  In other words, these zealots  hated the Roman power structure.  They also hated the Pharisees.

The Pharisees were similar to middle  class individuals with a stable monetary.  They were educated ,priestly, and scholars with a moneyed aristocracy.  These middle-class Jews despised and hated the proletariat's and likewise were hated by them(  They were Jewish deputies that served under the Romans).  Thus ,there was conflict among and between the social economic classes.  A passage in the Talmud , Pesachim 49 h best describes the relations between the Pharisees and the Am-Haarez.  A man should sell all his possessions and secure the daughter of a scholar for a wife, and if you cannot secure the daughter of a scholar, he should try to obtain a daughter of a prominent man.  If you cannot succeed in that, you should endeavor to obtain a daughter of the synagogue director, and if you cannot succeed in that he should try to obtain the daughter of an alms collector, and if you cannot succeed even in this you should try and obtain the daughter of an elementary school teacher.  He should avoid wedding the daughter of a common person, for she is an  abomination .Their women are an abhorrence, and concerning their daughters  It is said, "Accursed by any who sleepeth with a cow."  Deuteronomy 27.

During the times of Roman economic ,social, religious and political oppression correlated with the rise of a Messianic oriented revolt. This period included apocalyptic writings, i.e.” Woes of the Messiah" Maccabees 13:7, 8, In essence, the  end and change was coming" Will be the appearance of the Son of Man and the clouds in great splendor and glory."  Additionally, John the Baptist movement appealed to the despised masses with "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."  The faithful followers were the masses of the uneducated poor, Proletariat's of Jerusalem and the peasants of the city and country. Their mission  was betterment  for themselves and revenge against their Roman  rulers, middle class and the  Sadducees.  This resulted in feelings, fantasies of revenge and punishment against their enemies  with the day of judgment.  Also, Jesus's message was  that the kingdom of heaven was near.  This message aroused those suffering oppressed masses and gave them an optimism of hope that  the end was coming and there will be a new age.Per Luke 6:20 FF Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.  Blessed are you, that weep,  for you shall laugh.  Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for so their fathers did in the prophets.  But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation.  Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger.  Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.  

We find the economically, socially and politically poor 2000 years ago living in desperate times.  Their lives were miserable and they were jealous, envious and hateful.  Without education and/or without skills, they were stuck in despair and without hope. These poor were unable to successfully cope with their internal drives ,emotions nor employ rationality and reason effectively. Defense mechanisms of denial and rationalization  interfered with their reality related to  Jesus Christ, the Messiah .  They were not promised  food, water, etc. on earth, but were told that they would eventually profit in heaven and their enemies were going to be punished.  Without any verifiable or concrete objectivity or truth, these desperate followers  created, in their imaginative mind, fantasy, dreams and the illusion of concepts and ideas that were not only impossible but improbable.  Based on their nature, character and need structure, these beliefs were mechanisms  to escape from the reality of their situation.  They longed for a great, powerful and omnipotent protector to placate their anxieties.  We know that fear, hate, jealousy and aggression are powerful motivators.

Specifically: 1.  Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah promised by the prophets.  2.  Jesus, after His death is by the Divine  awakening raised to the right hand of God.  3.  He will soon return to set up his kingdom visibly upon the earth.  4.  Jesus is the saint and as such can be certain of the sin forgiving grace of God, and of a share in the future glory, that is, of redemption..

Today's Christians, like Jesus’s followers of 2000 years ago, are also dealing with the problem of living as well as a way of living.  Essentially, they have to cope  with the anxiety or insecurity  that accompanies  their separateness.  Moreover, they are confronted by the threat of  nuclear war, income inequality, global warming etc. Furthermore, the values of the market affect their character. They consume and take in drink, food, cigarettes, alcohol.drugs, games, social media, TV,  movies, etc.  Not only that, our economic system is centered on the function of the market . The market  determines the value of all commodities .  Everyone is free to produce, sell and market.  Even labor has become a commodity that is sold on the market today.  It's been said that man has transformed himself into a commodity and experiences life as capital to be invested profitably. If he succeeds, he is successful and his life has meaning, if not he is a failure . His failure has nothing to do with human values and qualities of love, reason, judgment, brotherhood etc.

 We also know  there’s more to man than what man thinks but what he feels as well.  Is a Christian life today about brotherly love,  fulfillment and contentment?  If one goes to church, one might hear about principles of love and charity or other messages related to abortion, the Supreme Court, CRT,banning  books of non-believers etc. or other  non fundamental values and teachings by Jesus Christ ,Paul, Luke etc..  Unfortunately, today’s Christians are troubled and most do not recognize it, and in the process do not employ reason and rationality but Instead denial ,rationalization , projection and displacement in attempting to make sense of their  economic, social, political and religious world. 

Some have turned to  a false messiah for  answers to their anxiety troubles but have not turned  to him because of faith, but as an escape from their insecurities.  They're not identifying with him out of devotion, but to satisfy their insecurity.  They have not been able to choose between a way of life without him and  they remain unable to find security in other dimensions.It’s become easier to hate and  believe in nonsense  against all the many  enemies.

Today, a false sociopathic appeared with messages of punishing, discriminating and restoring America's racist past  (About 100 years ago The Tulsa Race Massacre killed hundreds of residents ,burned more than 1250 homes and erased years of black success; Mississippi's state's voted to send all the states black people back to Africa; and Auburn Cowboys crossed the  American River to hunt Chinese laborers in Pilot Hill.  We want none of this Black Lives Matter, CRT stuff.  We want to ban, and eliminate evil reading materials in our schools and punish teachers who teach that stuff.  We do not want our kids to feel uncomfortable. He was going to build a wall to keep out the undesirable foreigners ; he was going to restore America's greatness; pull out of the Paris climate change agenda as well as the Iran nuclear deal.  He was going to punish China as well..  He was boorish in attitude and verbal behavior by discrediting and putting down foreigners and  others as if they were chattel and not worthy human beings.

This false Messiah appealed to those limited educated without a broad depth or foundation of political, historical, practical information or knowledge ; impoverished judgment in social interactions; absence of a  capacity for  associative  and abstract thinking, and with a narrow or paucity of interests in the world of ideas.  Intellectually, they are impoverished.  Vocationally,  are alienated in repetitive blue-collar capacities.  Others are either on disability or  on some other form of government assistance.  They blame, scapegoat, jealous, envy and hate .  They are stuck without  alternatives .  They not only engage in wish fulfillment, dreams, fantasy and  illusion, they are also receptive to lies, falsehoods and preposterous propaganda with a paranoid content.  Psychologically, their insecure  need structure requires a powerful protector to remake their troubled and insecure world.  They  relish in their anger and hate.

Other followers that have identified with the false Messiah are those that have similar attitude and character tendencies as their leader . They also lie, cheat and exhibit sociopathic tendencies, Their insecurities, inadequacies and emotional deficits drive them to pursue power and profit.  Some know better , but  insecurities and passions for being around power and accumulation of money are passions that  remain unable  for them to control and highlight their character tendencies.

Will this false Messiah be persecuted?  Will this false Messiah be resurrected like the Phoenix or will he just burn ?  Will there be a judgment day? And there was Jonathan Swift who said” A lie can travel halfway around the world, when the truth is still putting on its shoes."

Reference

Fromm, Erich.  The Dogma of Christ.

Marx's Thinking

 

My appreciation goes to T.  B.  Bottomore.  You might ask who ?  That man translated  Marx's brilliant  "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts' ' In 1958  and it was subsequently published in 1959 In the United States. T.B.  was a professor with the London School of Economics and Political Science. His translation into  English was the first.  This disquisition pertains to a few profound principles from Marx’s manuscript.

Much has been written about Marx that comes from individuals that have never read Marx or from gossip from  similar ignoramuses.  His name is associated with socialism and that by many was considered bad, especially when they bring up either Russia or China's political system.  However,  Russia and China have totalitarian economic socialism which is light years away and a misrepresentation of Marx’s ideas.  In fact, much of Marx’s philosophy is related to existential thinking . It is really a protest against man's alienation from his loss of self and by the  transformation of him into a thing. The existential movement philosophy was against the dehumanization and automatization of man that's inherent in the development of Western industrialism.  Moreover, Marx’s  philosophy is rooted in the humanistic Western philosophical tradition from Spinoza  ,the French and German Enlightenment philosophers of the 18th century to Goethe and Hegel.  Essentially, Marx's concern was about man‘s realization for  reaching his potential.  Can man  liberate from the capitalistic slavery,chains and reach his potential? The following is my brief story.

I was born,the oldest of three, in  Detroit, Michigan in 1939.  My father was a government employee and my mother was a homemaker until about 1958 . Then, she went to work as a special assistant to Walter Goodman who managed the Michigan State Fair. My passions were sports and girls, not necessarily in that order.  As a result, I did not focus much on education throughout junior and senior high school. Dad had an interest in law school, but did not complete law school education during the night.  He was quite the politician and was an undefeated President of Letter Carriers in the city of Detroit; undefeated President of the Supervisors in the city of Detroit and met  President FDR in Washington.  By the way, Franklin D.  is my legal birth name.  Mom was extremely smart and was a crossword puzzle whiz; sang and played the piano;  edited and typed my college papers. She played  a mean game of Scrabble and was delighted when she made triple scores. I acknowledged her in my dissertation.

Dad presented powerful messages.  The first message was work with your brain and not your back and the second was no one can take your education away from you.  Even though I was not particularly academically motivated, I was  towards play. I was admitted to the University of Detroit, a Jesuit institution, based on my football performance.In high school,  I liked English, history and especially PE.  I knew I was going to college, even though I didn’t study much.  I was expected to work and had a paper route before my teen years.  During summers, I dug ditches in construction, caddied, dropped off bottles of Mr. Clean on doorsteps, cut grass, etc. Summer vacation  was for  work.

While attending the University of Detroit, Aunt Lilian thought I'd be terrific as a PE teacher .  While at the university, I became  more interested in learning, began thinking about career and making money.  After all, one goes to college so they can earn more money.  While in college, my high school buddy Dave  N. was working for General Motors in a white collar job .  I'm in college, he has a home in Warren, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, and is married to Darlene who attended nearby Dominican High School.  Dave had dogs, cars, and a front  and  backyard.  While at the University, I worked part-time from 10 PM to 2 AM at UPS and made an enormous sum of $2.20 per hour.  I worked on the conveyor belt with Nick S.Nick was married and also had a full time job . We pulled packages off the belt and began sorting them while a stoic looking supervisor looked on without a smile.  I also unloaded trucks by placing packages on the conveyor belt leading out of the truck. The goal was to empty the truck as quickly as possible.   Needless to say, I preferred  sorting packages than unloading those trucks at breakneck speed.

I initially majored in business , took a  course specializing in advertising and found that uninteresting.  I married and that triggered pursuing a career in education.  In 1963 I started teaching in the Detroit public schools, at a salary of $5200.  Teaching was fun , rewarding and I worked at Pattengill Elementary. Years  later  that was a scene of rioting in Detroit . I'm thinking I should get a Masters degree because I would make more money, which was extremely important. I would then  be eligible for an administrative  position.  Making money was the goal.  To supplement a teaching salary,  I worked evenings as well as summers in Parks and Recreation and substitute teaching. With nepotism, mom got me a position in security at the Michigan State Fair. At  the State Fair,  I drove a security car, keeping the peace.  Incidentally, Walter Goodman was  a former educator in the Oak Park Public school system.  I pursued  a Master's degree and received a position as a counselor in the ritzy West Bloomfield Hills School District in Oakland County.Hello Mitt Romney.

While a  junior high counselor, I began part-time teaching  at Oakland Community  College. Subsequently, I became an Assistant Professor.  I'm moving up the ladder making more money.  That's what you're supposed to do .Make more money was the mission. I was patriotic and  bought into the propaganda of the capitalistic system. Earlier, I had talked with Principal Marty H. and Chet the VP about pursuing a second Masters or Phd.  It was all about acquiring more money with more prestige, etc. They told me a second Masters did not make sense, but a Phd did.  I followed their advice and started my Phd at Wayne State University. I’m an assistant professor,  a graduate student,and teaching during the evening making money going up the economic ladder.  What could be better?

Received my Phd in 1973 and loved graduate school. I developed best friends with Denny O. and  reunited with former high school friend Wayne F. also  a graduate student.  During that time,  I remembered studying,  so that I could pass the preliminary examination and of course the qualifying examination.  I read a lot of psychological research.  I knew the good points and the poor points of the studies. I spent all this effort acquiring and assimilating information.  I didn’t spend much time  fully digesting the  information.  My goal was to take in as much information as possible so that I could pass the various testing hurdles that were in front of me.  An example was that I took French.  It was not conversational French but the ability to translate French.  I would go through the flashcards learning the language, learning the tenses, etc. I read Alexandre Dumas’s "The Three Musketeers."  I aced the French qualifying exam and even read French menus while in  Paris, France.  Could I read The Three Musketeers in French today?  Of course not.  I studied and learned to translate French so I could read Jean Piaget and others.   If I have a goal.  I am terrific at meeting that goal.  My goal was to get a Phd so I could earn more money.  I was enslaved; a captive like Sysiphus on a treadmill.  Well, I was in a position to consume all those things. However, my cognitive, aesthetic and physical needs were not fulfilled, Yet, I had a celebration afterwards.  A member of the psychology staff Barry M. presented me with a graduation card.  It was a picture of a graduate with part of his head cut off and with sand being poured filling it..

I started as an Assistant Professor at Cal State San Bernardino.  Then, I left my professorship in search of gold in San Francisco .  I took advantage of the economic opportunities in private practice  that were available to me,  made a considerable amount of money buying and selling houses, ranches, and purchasing Harley’s every other year.  I was living a good life.  By the way, I had to go to the Hawaiian Islands at least 3 to 4 times a year just to lie on the beach and read novels to decompress from being a workaholic , being enslaved while making money.  Buying a new Hurley every other year was an indication of my discontent, but I had wonderful things.  The cliché that the one with the most toys wins, state of the art and the dream house were cognizant slogans.  I was a puppet within this economic system of capitalism.

Divorced, I moved to the foothills at the age of 60.  I decided that I did not want to pursue the mighty dollar anymore.  I was done with the Harleys.  I had a wonderful home  with acreage, horses and so forth.  Yeah. I could now bring to life my passions of play, running, horses and making new friends.  

It wasn't until I retired ,that I eventually learned and realized that I was no longer in bondage.  I was free.  That freedom allowed me to  go after athletic passions of running and being an equestrian.  I could get up in the morning and decide where I am going to run or what I'm going to write .  I really desired to condition my horse and myself.  Being involved in Ride and Tie, I was introduced to the Tevis, the Swanton Pacific 100 mile Ride andTie and Western States.  I had to do it all and I did.  In 2009 I broke some bones in my neck and was advised by the orthopedic surgeon that I couldn't afford to be thrown off a horse again as it might result in paralysis.  He said I could run and if I fell forward, that's fine. I retired from equine activities and focused on running.

 I then decided to write a book while recovering from my equestrian injury.  A few years later , while my dear wife Linda was riding her horse and I was running alongside , we started talking about mental toughness. So that idea was the topic for my second book.  In essence, I was  actualizing my needs of play,achievement,affiliation aggression, exhibition,dominance, sex needs in my 60s. In my 70s, I could more fully actualize my intellectual passions by spending more quality time , in a relaxed environment , meeting my achievement, dominance ,and understanding   needs by reading and writing.  Now, when I read, I am not preparing for a test but I'm actually able to assimilate ,accommodate, synthesize and relate ideas to what's happening in our world today. Furthermore, I  devote and spend  quality and caring time with Linda , spend time running, spend time reading and spend time writing and teaching again.  With the escape, I reentered childhood , adolescence and young adulthood again. I broke free from capitalistic slavery.  In other words, it wasn't until retirement that I started to cut the shackles.  I don't have to earn money.  I don't have to consume.  I  don't have to acquire things.  I'm not driven by those self-defeating pursuits. Living with integrity became more relevant.  Yes , challenges continue.

 Karl Marx, you're correct about the evils of capitalism ,it enslaves.  It alienates and interferes with meeting needs and developing one's potential.  It took me 60 years to re-discover my youth again.   We have a finite amount of psychic energy.  While  providing psychological services, I directed much psychic energy in that endeavor .  As a result, I did not have a sufficient amount of psychic energy for fulfilling my passions.  However, with  leaving the practice of psychology, I now had a sufficient amount of psychic energy,capacity amd ability to pursue my passions in running, riding, writing, friendships ,reading,  and educating The result was I could now actualizing my needs of Achievement  (To accomplish something difficult) ; Affiliation  (To draw near and enjoyably cooperate or reciprocate with an allied other); Aggression (To overcome opposition forcefully); Dominance(To influence or direct the behavior of others by suggestion, subduction, persuasion or command); Exhibition(  To make an impression); Play(To act for fun without further purpose); Sex(To form and further an erotic relationship), and Understanding (To be interested in theory).  I enjoy being physically active  and goal oriented.  Too many in the United States are alienated, unhappy,resentful and angry. The  widespread evil pursuit of money and greed continues.  What a waste. It's clear that we are living in a dysfunctional society. Thank you for the enlightenment  Karl Marx.

PS

How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!

— The Bible, Proverbs 16:16

Reference

Murray, H.  A.  Explorations in  Personality.

Whose Republic?

 

 Socrates believed that  knowing oneself was associated with wisdom and that coupled with rationality along with moral and ethical behavior would lead to happiness.  In essence, if one had the right or correct knowledge that could lead to behavior that was good which would be equated with happiness. However, concepts of unconsciousness, drive, needs, shadow, anxiety, alienation and irrationality put forth by Marx, Kierkegaard, Sartre , Freud, Jung, Horney, Fromm, Murray, Ellis and others have presented a more complete understanding of man’s motives.  Man has clearly exhibited irrational and self-defeating behavior with religious wars, world wars, the bomb, climate change, income inequality, authoritarianism, totalitarianism,  fascism and deplorable statistics on  mental, cognitive and physical health.  This disquisition addresses few  ideas from Claremont Institute patriots that have influenced the  authoritarian party of Trump.

 

Aristotle's philosophy suggested that man can create a well-being society with the pursuit of knowledge , if examined, that knowledge combats evil and ignorance.  Briefly, the pursuit of happiness or rational activity within spirituality is considered a human good and the highest goal in life.   Thomas Jefferson was influenced by Aristotle, Socrates and others, as he wrote in  our Constitution  "The “Pursuit of Happiness “was an inalienable right along with life and liberty”....for white males.

Roughly  160 years ago , Abe Lincoln and Stephen Douglas engaged in presidential debates regarding slavery.  Douglas believed, as Aristotle and Jefferson, that man pursued happiness based on what was good for him.  He advocated that  people knew what's good and therefore the citizens should be the ones deciding on whether slavery, should be abolished or not.  Of course, at that time, that idea appealed to the southern states and for white men that owned property.  It didn't matter to Douglas that our Republic was inhabited by many others. Oh yeah, they were ineligible to vote, but that didn't matter to Douglas.  Thank goodness Abraham Lincoln took a more humane,enlightened Christian morality and realistic point of view. That there existed universal truths like all men are created equal and that certain moral principles are immutable.

Leo Strauss, a German-American philosopher stressed the importance of inculcating one's youth. His teachings influenced  one of his pupils, Harry Jaffa.  Harry Jaffa wrote the classic "Crisis of the House Divided."  That book influenced the online conservative think tank Claremont Institute located in California. Its mission was to keep the founding fathers principles relevant . As a result, the authoritarian establishment’s mission is to have complete control regarding what’s taught in the public schools. They fund their  nominees for school boards across the country.  They were recently successful in  Texas.  Now they can criminalize what is taught and what is not to be taught in certain public schools.They even created a 1776 commission in  an attempted to control and suppress  the 1619 project.School boards have banned teaching  critical race theory; have censored books from authors Toni Morrison, Anne Frank and others; but they have not yet burned books .The Idaho state legislatures are defunding and banning colleges addressing  students to personally affirm, adopt or adhere to tenants associated with critical race theory.  So what if it's a First Amendment violation.

Along with conservative Hillsdale College in Michigan, these Christian right-wingers are reframing American history by going back to what was taught, 75-80 years ago.  This group is asserting that multiculturalism is evil and that it is important to go back to the history and principles of the founding of the United States.  They in fact are characterizing Joe Biden and his voters as non-Americans;  claiming that the left wing of the Democratic Party was responsible for the moral collapse of America; we are not  a racist country nor being  intellectually, morally and spiritually unjust. One can't allow foreigners to come to the country and be involved in the Democratic process because they have no background in the history of freedom. Good is  Christian conservatism and everything else is bad and evil.

Most Claremont Institute disciples thought that California became the most economically unequal and socially divided state in the country . And that It was controlled by the oligarchical power ,concentrated in a handful of industries like big tech and  Hollywood.  California,early on, represented the golden times of Rome and had the greatest middle-class paradise in the history of mankind. However, that was swept away in barely one generation and is now in the point of no return.  Claremont beliefs are patriotic and others non-patriotic.

 John Eastman , a member of the Claremont Institute had his own ideas of authoritarian capitalism  when thinking about the principles of the founding fathers. Perhaps, in his wisdom, he knew that they created the electoral college in an attempt to alter the popular vote. He knew that a Republic was created, not as a total democracy, as Adam Smith warned with pessimism, that the poor  take from the wealthy.  By all means it is just to protect the greed of the wealthy as the poor are just vultures and  bloodsuckers.  However, it's the wealthy that are greedy , exploit and discriminate.  What's wrong with the wealthy donating, giving , sharing with altruism ? Eastman attempted to further the falsification with his plot to have the vice president as "the ultimate arbiter"  and to delay  Congress” counting the electoral college votes.

 The Claremont College conservative elite and others initially knew that Trump was flawed, intellectually ignorant and boorish, yet they were cognizant of his appeal to the same.They figured they could work with him.  They  even  supported the notion of the big lie about the election being stolen with the claim that mail voting was fraudulent.  In fact, many of the Claremont Institute disciples were employed in Trump's White House. Moreover, anything that is favored by the multicultural Democrats results in the propaganda that it is evil, wrong and bad for America.  Anything that Trump says or does. results in propaganda for being patriotic just and good for America.  As a result, the authoritarian party of Trump is unanimous in its messaging. For instance,  Liz Cheney was scapegoated in  the search for  democracy, freedom and liberty.Oh by the way, DeSantis  is now considered one of the most important people on the planet. They are now  questioning whether the Republic should be saved-is it worth it?

Reference

The New York Times. Right Minds.8/7/22.