A Formulation

 

 A few weeks ago, Linda ,Teddy and I went on one of our  mourning walks and talked about dependency during aging. After completing our walk, I continued  on my morning run. I thought more about  our recent conversation, and the concepts of succorance , affiliation,separation, and stranger anxiety surfaced.  This essay incorporates those  motivational concepts.

 Homo sapiens come into this world anxious and dependent . According to Otto Rank, the trauma of birth becomes the prototype for later  significant separations and attachments . Rank postulated there was an unconscious desire or wish to return to the bliss of the womb, an attachment  Further, It's not uncommon for the repeated pursuit of an illusion  for that perfect union,  in the wish for  eternal happiness.  Don Quixote’s  behavior illustrates one example as we are unique in ours.. 

.Anxiety , present at birth ,remains with us throughout our lives.  We  also remain dependent for survival .Furthermore, there has been research on  dependency  .Henry Murray  brilliantly   postulated  and suggested that needs  are  motivational tension systems that can be weak,intense, momentary or enduring. Adding  to our understanding of dependency , he defined Succorance : "To have one's needs gratified by a sympathetic aid of an allied object.: To be nursed, supported , sustained, surrounded, protected, loved, advised, guided, indulged, forgiven , consoled.  To remain close to a devoted protector.  To always have a supporter. And, he  defined Affiliation :"To draw near and enjoyably  cooperate or reciprocate with an allied other.  To  please  and win the affection of another. To adhere and remain loyal to a friend.” Murray  broadened our understanding  and importance of dependency behaviors . 

With that being said, let's return to the  stage of infancy.  That newborn, aside from being traumatized and anxious, becomes totally dependent on  the mother for the meeting of the physiological and psychological  needs  for safety, security, warmth etc. Can the baby's physiological requirements  be  consistently and appropriately met for food and water as well as for the psychological requirements  as  with regularity of being  held ,cuddled etc. ?  The demands on the caretaker or mother are  enormous and constant.  In fact,  Erik Erickson in his psychosocial stages of man ,suggested that the ability to develop a sense of trust is necessary for healthy  psychological development and that developing  a sense of mistrust impairs that development.  Of course there are ratios of both that occur. In fact, with severe mistrust, the infant's development becomes compromised.  Later on, suspiciousness ,not being able to count on others becomes expressed.  With  distrust and suspicion, paranoia enters which results in scapegoating behaviors for not being able to take responsibility for one's failures, disappointments, or actions.

Stanley Schechter conducted a number of experiments that studied the  motivational relationship of affiliative behavior to anxiety.  In one experiment, he divided his subjects into a high anxiety group in which the girls were told they would receive  a severe , but not  painful or harmful shock.  In the other group of female college students, they were told they would receive mild shocks that would feel more like a trickle and would be harmless.  Before proceeding ,the anxiety of the girls was measured and then the girls were delayed before the experiment began.  They could  either wait a long time, alone, in   a comfortable room which had books and magazines  or be with other girls in  a classroom . 20 out of /32 girls in the high anxiety group chose to wait with others compared to 10 of the 30 girls in the low anxiety group.  Statistically, the differences were significant . The experiment suggested anxiety leads to affiliative behavior in college women  or misery loves company.

Back to infancy, it's clear that infants become very attached to their mother or caretakers.  The mother meets the infant's physiological and psychological requirements  in order for  physical and psychological growth to occur.  The  infant’s  dependence on the mother is paramount.  Initially, the infant is unable to distinguish himself from the mother.  However, that changes as the infant becomes able to differentiate and become attached to that mother.  About 6 to 8 months, the infant begins to develop a schemata or representation of the mothers face.  The face becomes familiar , recognizable and positive. Stranger anxiety research has demonstrated the importance and familiarity of the face being primary . Later on, the face remains a powerful  ,enduring motivational desire  or wish in the search  for  a Madonna, Helen of Troy, Olivia Newton John  or our own  type etc.  Back to the infant, during research,  the mother would leave the room and a newcomer would enter.  A different ,unfamiliar face.entered and the infant's response  was  of distress, anxiety, and crying.  Familiarity of” the face” likely becomes our own prototype  for future interactions. of safety  or insecurity . In other words,  when we first see the face of an individual or stranger that  often affects or determines our  motivational approach or avoidance.  Add mistrust when  meeting an unfamiliar face, and  It  results in more  fear , dislike and avoidance for many irrational reasons .  We  either like or dislike a face.  In other words,  when we are attracted to someone's face, we call that beautiful ,gorgeous etc..  If we are repelled by a face we call that  ugly as sin or some other disparaging remark.It’s all about the face- the perception ,or eye , of the beholder.

Real or imagined fear of strangers becomes the norm. For example throughout  life, we develop many attitudes that relate to liking and disliking.  Our likes and dislikes include preferences for food, clothes, shoes, hairstyles, and so forth.  We learn to like or dislike individuals based on skin preference,  political and religious beliefs.  We even like our favorite teams and dislike and hate our rivalries.  We learned early on that communism, socialism, and Russia, were the enemy and dangerous. Political types are excellent communicators , propaganda, for good and bad.

We also have needs that interfere , change with intensity and go against other individuals.  Our needs get in the way of satisfying  pleasurable relationships..  Needs like aggression, abasement , achievement, autonomy,  defendance,  dominance and other needs interfere with certain unions.  Remember both individuals have psychological needs that may be similar or dissimilar. In fact, depending upon that early history ,one can have many  psychological deficits and attempt to compensate ,not take responsibility for their  failures  by blaming and scapegoating others.  When that happens ,it's not too surprising that  love becomes hate  and  emerges with anxiety.

At about a year,  Infants enter another phase or prototype  called separation anxiety.  John Bowlby, hypothesized that the goal of an infant’s attachment behaviors are to keep him close to his mother. If that attachment becomes physically distant from the parent, the infant child experiences fear or distress.  Thus at about twelve months of age, the infant  becomes anxious when physically separated from the parent or primary caretaker.  The significant emotional attachment becomes severed by the withdrawal.  Certainly, the mother has to leave the baby with  food preparation, cleaning the house, going to work, caring for other siblings, and so forth.  So it's common for the baby to express his distress or anxiety  by crying when mother leaves his presence or separation anxiety.

Aside from the  motivational needs for affiliation,  and succurance , Homo sapiens have other needs that can be met with others such as play, sex,understanding, nurturance  etc. on the positive side . On the negative side,  the needs of defendance, dominance ,aggression etc. also come into play. Therefore,  one individual cannot  possibly meet all of man's changing preferences ,intensities ,goals and needs .  Just ponder the many interactions with the variety of friends and associates.  Specifically, think first of family members; neighborhood folks; school chums; girlfriends;boyfriends; teammates; school and college buddies; work friends and so forth.  Further,  think of all the encounters with health providers ,attending concerts , stage  plays, football games , social media,and so forth.  During our lifetime, we encounter and interact with so many expecting to meet our  many psychological needs..We have successes and failures as a result of good and poor choices. Even so, the succorance and affiliative  needs remain primary  are necessary for healthy survival. 

With some, like lovers, spouses,  deep friendships, and animals, we develop strong emotional bonds, connections and goals .  Throughout one's life, there are many  unions,separations and losses.  With aging, anxiety increases, succorance  increases and separations and losses increase as well.  Our contacts diminish and our succorance needs become a challenge within a world of strangers .   As a result, we experience, in our own way, separation anxiety, grief, and sometimes depression on a regular basis..  Just think of the hardship felt  when one has to put down their animal or pet.  The separation and pain from those losses are very stressful.  Yet ,we continue to develop strong emotional bonds and know  that they  all come to an end.  In fact, some couples stay together to avoid that separation anxiety from being alone and die shortly after their spouse.  Some children remain with their parents  into adulthood.  After military service, some join law enforcement, some joint hate groups ,some return physically and/ or psychologically damaged and others commit suicide.Teamsters  statistically pass 3 years after retirement. Many go to great lengths to avoid retirement as well.  Loneliness  is scary and  is considered an epidemic in Great Britain .No one likes to experience the anxiety from  a separation, loss or death.

A few lyrics from "Alone Again(Naturally)  Left unattended   .  What do we do  , What do we do  ,Alone again, naturally   Looking back over the years  And whatever else appears   I remember,  I cried when my father died  Never wishing to hide the tears  And at 65 years old  My mother, God rest her soul   Couldn't understand why the only man  She had ever loved had been taken  Leaving her to start  With a heart so badly broken   Despite encouragement from me   No words were ever   And when she passed away  I cried and cried all day   Alone again, naturally  ,  Alone again, naturally. These lyrics suggest despair and correspond to Erickson's last stage of the lifespan.  On the other hand, aging highlights difficulties in meeting our needs because we have to confront and experience our most painful losses.

In essence, we are anxious and are  uniquely motivated  with a priority of different goals and needs to  interact with others .  The dynamics of stranger and separation anxiety coupled with our enduring  motivational needs for succorance , affiliation and other needs are affected by  various  barriers pertaining to physiological and psychological health as well as environmental factors.  Thus, our  succorance needs are not only enduring but become more intense and our preference rather than our needs for play and sex which are  weakened because of the additional separations, losses ,  attachments , biological and environmental  changes occurring.  We pursue  many activities  in an attempt to mitigate being alone,  and/or  being separate .Thus , we  have tendencies that move toward  as in loving and against as in aggression .  Our statistics with marriage , spousal abuse,  divorce, sadism and murder demonstrate the  difficulties between and among human beings.  And anxiety, succorance,, affiliation, stranger and  separation anxiety  formulates various  motivational  goals  seeking distinctive directions for Homo sapiens. Everything flows, and nothing abides, everything gives way, and nothing stays fixed, said Heraclitus.

Reference

Murray, Henry .Explorations in Personality.

No Deliverance

 Last week's essay pertaining to  sadistic violence was one of the themes found in the movie Deliverance.  This movie had four city folks  Lewis, Ed, Bobby and Drew  going on a canoe trip in  an untamed  Cahulawassee River, in Georgia, that was about  to be damned.The  4  men encountered  2  mountain men with rifles.  One  mountain men sadistically raped  Bobby and the other was about to sexually rape Ed  . However, Lewis killed  the man while  the other fled.  A moral crisis occurred . Should the incident be reported to the police or should the body be buried ?  Later, Drew was shot and Lewis broke his leg traversing through the rough rapids.  Ed ,Lewis and Bobby become trapped  knowing that the  escaped mountain man was motivated to kill all three, Ed made a difficult rock climb and killed that mountain man . They sank the body of Drew and the body of the mountain man and proceeded on their journey.  Ed, Lewis and Bobby covered up their crime  . This essay  Illustrates principles of group identification under conditions of external danger  .

Situations of external danger demonstrate increased  group solidarity.  Individuals become willing( transference) to engage in hazardous situations that depend largely on group identification especially in dangerous circumstances.  For example, group solidarity comes from strong emotional bonds established( a transference,) between  members and the leader.  Lewis ,based on his characteristics of physique, knowledge and macho  behavior , became the leader. The other three are non-muscular, not knowledgeable about canoeing and have limited survival skills at the onset.  When Lewis killed the mountain man after the  rape of Bobby,   the group  had to decide what to do .  Drew  knew right from wrong and morally wanted to obey the law by going to the police to report what happened.  However, his sense of morality was put in abeyance . Lewis , exhibited no moral quandary, no remorse and told them that they would not get a fair jury trial because of the inbreeding in Appalachia.  Bobby shamed and humiliated ( narcissistic injury) does not want his personal traumatic  incident revealed .  His feelings of hate trumped morality and he wanted revenge. Ed’s sense of morality was held in abeyance . He wanted Lewis’ approval and went along with the plan.  However, his feelings of shame and guilt remained with him.  With group cohesiveness, the entire group buried the body per Lewis’ idea .

The  reality of  white water rapids  and  the sexual abuse by the mountain man, resulted in a transference reaction to the leader .They become dependent on Lewis for what to do during each of the dangerous situations that confronted them. One example was observing how Lewis navigated the white water rapids. When Lewis broke his leg, Bobby’s  transference goes to Ed to climb and  kill the threat.  At that point, Ed became leader as Lewis was immobilized.  Ed takes over the leadership role , was  anxious, somewhat fearless, and put aside moral principles in killing that mountain man. He also  lied to the sheriff at the end of their trip.

Lewis was  the  most delinquent among the four.  He didn't fear anyone.  He negotiated  with the people from  Appalachia;  cut them off while driving to the river to be first and  killed.  His actions had contagious effects.  He had no trouble killing, he was fearless and guiltless in covering up the murder.  He was business like- matter of fact.  Actually, the other three also went along with Lewis and  also engaged in delinquent behavior. Ed and Drew ' moral code became non-existent.   Bobby  was more overt .He had his revenge working for him.  He wanted to commit sadistic brutality to that dead man for what he had done to him.

Furthermore, group identification results in mutual support for a behavior that’s not likely to be committed when alone.  It's  the obedience to the leader that  results in their  conscience  surrendering and being put out of action .  It's almost like the creation of a different conscience or superego.  Drew is firmly against the cover-up.  However, he goes along with the other three comrades.  During the digging of the grave, his guilt was expressed  by  aggressively digging  the grave  in order for it to be over , accomplished quickly and  out of sight.  Drew was the gentle musician that engaged in Duelling Banjos with the young mountain boy and was the most gentile man in the group.  However, he went along with the  cover up.  Bobby was sadistically  raped ,made to squeal like a pig, and was mounted by the mountain man.  Bobby was totally subservient  ,helpless and at the whim of the other.  He wanted revenge and had no trouble going after that  dead  mountain man's body.

Within a psychodynamic framework,  transference results from strong emotional dependency needs.  In one scene, Ed with his bow and arrow went into the forest.  He was excellent with the bow and arrow  when practicing at a shooting range. However, in the forest, he encountered a deer.  He took aim and had difficulty letting go as his arm shaked from fear and anxiety.  He was not able  to slay that deer.  His arrow clearly missed  the mark and the deer got away.  Previously, Lewis, excellent with the bow and arrow, killed fish for  their dinner and talked about the difference between practice and actually killing. After the missed shot, Ed returned to camp.  He doesn't dare tell Lewis that he choked and couldn't kill the deer.  He lied and said he didn't come across any game.  Clearly Ed was fearful that Lewis would withdraw and change his attitude from liking and respecting to putting him down as a loser , incompetent , a failure and worthless .  He didn't dare admit his inadequacies to the macho leader  Lewis. He feared disapproval and rejection.  Unconsciously, separation anxiety from the past becomes significant. Early in life, children fear of being abandoned by their parents .This common unconscious dynamic becomes  exacerbated specially with  the unexpected, not being in control and with   obstacles of nature as well as man. Separation anxiety surfaced for Ed . He was anxious and fearful of losing Lewis.

Reassurance is another dependency that surfaces with  danger.  At the end of the film, Ed ,the new leader, created  a different  story than   Lewis’ to tell to the authorities.  Ed didn't want them to  look upstream because of the  2  drowned bodies.  The new story was that Drew drowned in the rapids and Lewis got injured in the rapids with no mention of the mountain man.  Yes, they had 4 life vests but Drew didn't wear his.  When asked why, Ed said he didn't know.  He was  fearful that the rock tied  bodies would be found .  Ed demanded that Bobby stick to the story and Bobby did as agreed.  Bobby was fearful but was strongly dependent on Ed.  He therefore suppressed any idea that went against Ed.  Even Lewis, when told that story was changed by Ed, agreed and told the sheriff he didn't remember anything.

At the end of the film, Ed visits Drew's family. He was remorseful  and experienced guilt when he lied about Drew’s death. He was the only one that demonstrated  overt guilt. He sobbed, placed his head against his wife;s breast,  rationalized his actions, but was unable to tell his wife the truth  This trip ,by the four ,was not a deliverance from evil but conflictual .    Bobby was sadistically raped,  Drew  was murdered , Lewis seriously injured  and Ed  murdered , experienced guilt and could not admit the cover up.  Bobby was ashamed , humiliated and could not admit  his experience to anyone .  There was no deliverance from evil . On the positive, there was  group cohesiveness, bonding, teamwork, physical prowess and survival.  On the negative,there was sadism ,rape, amorality , guilt and murder .

Sadism

 Five members of the Memphis Police Department sadistically murdered Tyre Nichols.  A couple of these officers are Scorpion Division members.  That division was recently formed to police street crimes operating in certain areas of that city.  It's been reported that they are faced with car thefts, gang investigations, narcotics and guns.  This unit has been credited with about 2000 arrests .  40 officers divided into four teams make up this unit.  To be clear, anxiety, fear, aggression,  irrationality, sadism, impaired morality and violence are exhibited under conditions of real or imagined  danger or threats  frequently to  their well-being for this group of men .  This essay provides reasons for violence  occurrences .

Special units like The Seals , the Rangers; and various other law enforcement units have been  created  to disarm, capture , and kill various targets.  Specifically, certain character types are drawn to serve  In these units and they undergo specialized  violence training .  They learn how to protect themselves and how to subdue others.  In other words, violence behaviors are taught and learned.

 Learning violent  behavioral techniques are taught  by Imitation and Modeling .  This teaching technique physically demonstrates strategies and/ or techniques designed to  hurt, damage, disarm, capture and even kill . In other words, violence can be taught, employing a number of methods or the how to.

Violence can also be described as playful. Playful Violence  occurs when displaying a skill.  The aim or goal is not to injure or to kill one's opponent.  For example, Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills tackled the Cincinnati ball carrier. A violent collision resulted in Hamlin collapsing as a result of a cardiac issue.  Hamlin's goal was to tackle and bring down that ball carrier.  His goal was not to injure or kill that player.  Sports, especially football, have many examples of violent behavior.  In an attempt to minimize injury , the players wear special helmets, shoulder pads etc. and even have referees handing out penalties for unsportsmanlike actions.

 Reactive Violence also occurs.  Reactive Violence is related to defending one's life, dignity,  property that’s perceived by real or imaginary fears.  Often that threat, but not always, is based on external  manipulating messages from  politicians.  It's  a culture , with  an attitude  toward violence.  Police units like Scorpion are designed to enter specific areas of the community that are classified as dangerous.  As a result of entering a potentially dangerous confrontation or situation, they become anxious or fearful.  In other words, the job, the assignment is associated with stress, anxiety and fear regardless of training or having weapons.  These individuals are ready to defend themselves at all times.  Regarding Nichols, were these policemen sadistically reacting based on threats to their well-being ?

One aspect  of Reactive Violence is the result of frustration.  Frustration can be the result of some goal not being met; a narcissistic injury; not being able to perform; etc. Frustration can be related and pertain to  interactions with  one's spouse, children, job, finances, and so forth.  Frustration can be immediate or it can be repressed based on earlier  goal  failures .  Were these police officers acting out their frustration when dealing with Nichols  and/ or were Nichols actions  the reason ?

 Violence frustration  and action  is also  based on envy, jealousy and hate.  This means someone else has what you want and /or  the other person is favored and  has some advantage . Paul Pelosi had much more going for him than his despicable attacker.  Were these policemen envious or jealous of something related to Nichols or his family ? Envy ,jealousy  and hate are psychological deficits. 

Revengeful Violence is a common theme in many current dramas and even has a special place in the Bible with the  Eye for Eye reference.  Gandhi cleverly remarked that this behavior can lead to the world going blind.  Essentially, revenge is based on some injury that has already occurred.  That  reaction is an irrational response that functions to somehow  magically undo what has already occurred.  It's really an attempt to restore  self-esteem, narcissism that has been threatened by having been injured or being deprived of something. It’s  not only common in primitive cultures, when the  tribe feels obliged to avenge the injury that was inflicted upon someone in their group . Jan 6 comes to mind. Were these officers inflicting some kind of “revenge” on Nichols or some other social ,cultural  present or past issue of revenge ?

A  Loss of Faith begins very early in life. For some,  there appears to be a life space filled with  goodness, love, justice, truth, and so forth.  Then as one  ages  that faith , that illusion  or trust in father, mother or God  becomes shattered.  Was the father truthful; does the mother favor another sibling and so forth?  The loss of trust, faith, ideals and being disappointed or betrayed result from a number of experiences.  Depending upon the amount, degree, frequency  of the negatives of the shaking of that foundation,  can result in tendencies becoming negative and skeptical.  As a rule, negative, skeptical individuals identify with some “powerful “ authority. That authority can be the church, political party ,leader or even a police force. It’s an unconscious attempt  to regain some faith in justice, fair play, or even law and order. Also,  seeking power, prestige, and possessions are other unconscious tendencies to magically undo  earlier disappointments.

Related to the shattering of faith, a deeply deceived, mistrustful individual often has tendencies toward hate and destruction . With despair, disappointments in life  lead to  hating self, scapegoating others, and self harm. Unfortunately, scapegoating is not only irrational , but it also becomes a defensive barrier and blocks a person's ability to take responsibility for aggressive and violent behavior while not admitting one's   flaws, failures, disturbed morality and misery. Scapegoating  with hate has been used for centuries by both the powerful and their followers.

Compensatory Violence is unconscious and is a substitute for productive activity occurring in the impotent.  It could be social forces and/or circumstances that seem to get in the way of mastery, achievement or success .It's easy to find scapegoats to blame for feelings of misery and impotence.  Generally, man wants to transform ,change, and have some form of  meaningful impact on the world. It’s difficult to accomplish  realistic change  when one's will is compromised by reasons of weakness, anxiety, incompetence, Intellectual deficits, and moral failings. It becomes very difficult to accept being powerless and the unconscious motivation is to attempt to restore those  deficiencies.  Often these individuals submit and identify to persons or groups having more  effectance and power. That substitution often results in disappointment ,frustration, doom  , gloom.and incarnation.  Submitting and being part of a powerful group does not mitigate feelings of  hate, low self esteem and impotence. They, in turn, become victims.

Related to Compensatory Violence is the drive for complete and absolute control over anything living. This is  Sadistic Violence which amounts to having complete mastery and dominance over  the living .  The goal is to make the  individual helpless because of our will; the drive to humiliate him ; and have him suffer without him being able to defend himself.  The pleasure is for complete domination to transform ,so that the individual loses his freedom, his quality of life.  This occurs because these sadists are crippled  with hate. This malignancy is  a result of many factors. However, despite their neurosis, these individuals still  have the potential for destructive and sadistic behaviors.  Sadism can be suppressed by fear of punishment but when submission weakens, the brutal inhumane behavior  becomes manifest.  These five policemen exhibited  malignant Sadistic Violence.  Tyree Nichols was dominated and treated without any dignity. These policemen had complete control and with sadistic brutality as he was beaten  and murdered . The Judeo-Christian morality of love thy neighbor,  thou shall not kill,  law and order was not present.  There was no opposition to  these murderers.

Another element, but beyond the scope of this essay, relates to  violence activated by group dynamics.  With special forces, a leader emerged.  Did the leader model  hateful Sadistic behavior ?  Did other members of the group engage in Sadistic behavior because of  their identification  with him   ?  Was  being one of the gang ;  membership with  the Scorpions and/or to the rest of the Memphis police force and/or law enforcement in general- with their uncontrolled  culture of sadistic behavior toward Blacks ?

Within group dynamics, the formation of a team becomes extremely important.  With  group cohesion, power, loyalty and a sense of brotherhood  emerges.  With group cohesion, team members rely on each other to the fullest.  In combat, it's not uncommon for one team member to perform some  heroic act to save another.  The goal is to acknowledge that you want that team member in the same foxhole as you.  Attitudes, feelings and goals become clear.  When there is  loss, PTSD symptoms occur.  The goal is the team, the team.  Did these external and situational factors of conformity , group goals  create behaviors  which otherwise might not be expressed ?

In summary, there are different motives  and amorality for engaging in  malignant sadistic behavior. The  amoral  police have a sadistic code of   hate, discrimination, oppression , not respecting  nor  being perceived as a full human and killing  blacks.There was no opposition to  these murders. It's clear that Tyree Nichols was the recipient of sadistic actions .   In any event, Nichols was the victim.  Statistics show that additional funding for the police does not  correlate with much less cause or result in less crime.  Therefore, a special police unit does not appear to be the solution for reducing crime.  Arrests, drug issues, car thefts  require a special unit ? Maybe less is better than more? 

Reference

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

US Exceptionalism

 

Morality leads to  the writings and research provided by Freud, Piaget and Kohlberg.Lying , for example, appears to be  the norm especially in politics.  Only when lying to Congress, under oath,and the FBI  appears to result in consequences.  Even the 10 Commandments:  "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor" identifies lying as wrong.  In any event, to lie is based on the perception of the beholder.  A myth is also a lie and defined as a widely held but  false belief or idea.  It's been said"  The tension between myth and reality does not undermine the country, it defines it."  New York Times, January 8, 2023. This disposition pertains to lies and myths related to  the R political party .

Lying behavior begins  early in children.  Developmentally , at about 4 to 6 years of age , a child's notion of  good  or bad  behavior is based upon rewards and punishments administered by father and/or mother  based on their  standards within their superego. Telling a lie, for example, is likely to be followed by some form of physical or emotional punishment such as fear of disapproval or loss of love  . Then while entering middle childhood, behaviors considered good or bad tend to be based on conscience development  or an internal source.  With  conscience development , prohibitions against specific behaviors become less determined by external rewards and punishment, but by internal prohibitions  with cognitive maturity and development .

 It has been demonstrated, by Piaget and Kohlberg, that moral and cognitive abilities  develop.  A five-year-old does not have the same moral and cognitive capacities as an adolescent.  The five-year-old determines right and wrong, good and bad based on praise and punishment from an external source.  The adolescent, on the other hand, has the more mature moral, and cognitive development.  As a result, right and wrong, good and bad begins to be determined by abstract thinking , generalized standards as opposed to highly specific, concrete prohibitions.  Adolescents are more capable of shifting from absolutely rigid standards to more flexible  with motivational intent, rather than simply the act itself . They also are capable of  taking into account in assessing blame or determining guilt.  Many cognitive functions play a role in conscience development such as time, future gratifications, consequences of right and wrong..Also, values and ideals assist so that they may become increasingly more aware of the effect of their actions as well as the perception about the feelings of others .  They begin to see the logical necessity for people to cooperate with one another in the interest of all.  Conscience development through maturation allows them to become more aware of values and standards, commitment to following them depending upon other factors such as identifications and probability of experiencing guilt for  violations. 

  In other words, abstract reasoning, societal influences, parental identification, and ability to experience guilt also become factors in  behavioral actions. As an adult, however, loss of love, approval ,disapproval ,and/or  positive expectations for gain based on  deceit, falsification, manipulation  in one's quest for power, prestige, and possession are other reasons for lying with or without excessive guilt.

Historically, a story  published in 1806, nearly 7 years after George Washington passed, was that George at about six years of age, was given a hatchet and one morning he cut down a cherry tree. That never  happened and is just one of the myths about George Washington .

 Returning to the present, is the voter fraud lie about the 2020 presidential election. One lie was that  Dominion Voting Machine and the software firm Smartmatic were responsible for  irregularities that cost Trump the election.  Currently, there is a lawsuit of over $1 billion against Rupert Murdoch and associates scheduled to go to trial in April of this year.

On January 6, 2021, there was an attack on the capital called  patriotic and a spontaneous reaction by attorneys representing the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.  The Justice Department said no, their behavior was not spontaneous, it was a planned sedition.  They were found  guilty of sedition which is a conspiracy defined by Title 18 US Code of Justice.  Chapter 15.  It's essentially a federal crime for an uprising against or overthrowing the government through speech, publication  or organization.

About 70 years or so ago, the Republican Party made deliberate efforts to bring white Southerners to its side as the  Democratic Party grew more active and supportive of civil rights.  The growth of right-wing media platforms,  the Republican Party's declining commitment to truth have fostered  lies .  The reference to reshape the narrative about US history became a central theme of this Darkside movement in general and the Trump administration in  particular. From  Gingrich and now to DeSantis are efforts to change the reality around Critical Race Theory.  CRT is a multidisciplinary review by social civil rights scholars, activists, of  laws, social and political movements that are shaped by social conceptions of race and ethnicity.  CRT is more than 40 years old and points out that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice but also something to do with our legal systems and policies.  White supremacy lies about our reality of what happened to black slaves and Native Americans, in both pre-and post Lincoln's executive order and the Civil War.

One example was an article titled” Taking Liberties,” also found in the New York Times, illustrated the “Dark Side” in which  white Southerners were free to brutalize, plunder, lay waste and call sadistic behavior peace to rape and humiliate, invade, conquer, uproot and degrade.  These behaviors were propelled by J.W, Comer , a plantation owner, who in the late 19th century became the architect of the vast sadistic and extremely lucrative system of convict labor.  In fact, Pres. Andrew Jackson attempted  to bring order to the Creek Indian settlement of Alabama. However, a surge of whites  into the new state became one of the fiercest tides of human migration in human history.  There was an invasion of Creek  homes, burned crops, and  families being driven out and killings of these native Americans.  It was simply an excuse for  white entitlement . Alabama essentially made a mockery of the treaties with the Creek Indians as federal troops  turned their backs and did not contain the white wave of hate and destruction.  Instead, the  Federal presence touched off a series of violent reprisals, created a cast of martyrs, heroes that gave rise to the mythology of white victimization ,self-rule by local authority. This will to power became articles of faith ,fervid as any religious belief  that Alabama was wrought and consecrated through a bitter sacrament of blood, wrote one historian.

Later, George Wallace , of Alabama, entered  politics against the "ungodly government"and the persecution of whites.  Blacks were the perfect scapegoat for whites under strain and looking for someone to blame with their overt and covert  reaction against the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act . Racism was central to Wallace's appeal. His grievance, and enemies  included the  elites, press and the federal government.  Wallace declared “ Being a Southerner is no longer geographic,  It's a philosophy and attitude.” Now we hear the same from DeSantis, who won his reelection in 2022 by banning CRT in classrooms  and/or discussion of gender etc.. He  called this individual freedom ?

Another myth was called American Exceptionalism.  Exceptional can be defined as unusual, not typical ,abnormal and so forth.  Roughly 20 years ago,  politicians like Newt Gingrich popularized and hailed the United States as "the most unique civilization in history."  However, they assailed  anyone who did not bow before that concept.  Yes, America has exceptional athletes like Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Tom Brady, Jim Brown and others .  Our NFL players are predominantly from this country.  However, when it comes to basketball, three of the leading players for MVP are Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Doncic, all born on foreign soil .  Nobel Prize winners  Linus Pauling, Ernest Hemingway, Martin Luther King, Bob Dylan, Barack Obama, Doris Lessing and others are without question  exceptional human beings.  The list of individuals goes on and on.

  However, there are  other statistics that challenge and suggest hypocrisy regarding  US exceptionalism: 1.  We have about 121 guns per individual.  Yes, that's an  unusual statistic that I would call abnormal.  2.  Our Defense costs are more than all our major  allies combined.  That number is not typical but abnormal.  3.  We have tremendous income inequality and many became billionaires during the pandemic. Roughly 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and income inequality is growing faster than ever .  Those numbers are not typical but abnormal.  4.  We have tremendous incarceration  rates per population exceeding other countries.  These numbers are not typical but abnormal 5.  Our school age children have lower academic scores for reading, math and science compared to other countries.  These facts are abnormal.  6.  A pathological liar, was elected president, and recently another elected to Congress.  On the front page of the January 15, 2023  The New York Times was an article titled "Santos's Deceits Weren't a Secret in GOP Circles" "Red Flags Seen  In ' 21.   These facts are not normal but abnormal 7.  Healthcare costs are more than  other developed countries.  These facts are not normal but abnormal. 8.  When was the last time two Wasp college football teams played for a national championship?  9.  When was the last time a Wasp won the Boston Marathon?  10.  Never has an all Wasp professional  football team won the Super Bowl. In the 1960s, the football gods said that a black man wasn't smart enough to play quarterback.  This year's Super Bowl has two black quarterbacks. Yes, we are exceptional, but ,sadly ,not in a  positive way .

Conservative is defined as adverse to change, innovation and holding traditional values.  Racism has been a traditional value in this country since Jefferson referred to Blacks as being 3/5 of a white male human.  They were not given a chance for life, liberty, happiness and justice in this country. This is  fact, not a myth.

 Another example of R racism relates to abortion as  "Abortion Opponents Attacked the Spread of Information" found in the December 4, 2002  edition of the New York Times.The GOP dismantled Roe v Wade.  With abortion being banned in more than a dozen states ,abortion opponents still have confusion about the legality of not just having an abortion but even discussing the procedure.  The ultimate goal seems to be ensuring that women are unclear about their options to obtain abortion or contraception in their home state or elsewhere  .A few examples: 1.  Nebraska law enforcement obtained a warrant to search a teenager's private Facebook messages. She told her mother of her urgent desire to end her pregnancy.  Mother is now being prosecuted on charges of helping her daughter abort the pregnancy by giving advice about abortion pills  2.  Proposed legislation in South Carolina would've made it unlawful to provide information about abortions.  3.  In September, the University of Idaho issued guidance that it might be illegal for employees to promote birth control or abortion 4.  In Texas , two abortion groups-groups that help people pay and travel for abortion this year received  deposition demand letters from people tied to anti abortion lawmakers for information on anyone who has aided and abetted the procedure.  5.  In Oklahoma, some library workers were warned about helping patrons find information about abortion, even uttering the word.  In an  Email, the employees were told they could face a $10,000 fine , jail time or even lose their jobs If they didn't comply.

Covid-19 and vaccination misinformation lies have been conveyed and boggles the mind.  Covid-19 is easily transmissible.  There is no vaccine that provides 100% protection from a virus, let alone the one in question.  However, research has found that by receiving vaccination and or booster, one is not going to die or likely wind up in the hospital with serious symptoms.  One recent lie was that Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills, who collapsed on the field,  was not of cardiac arrest or heart arrhythmia, but caused by the vaccine.  I also heard that a vaccinated person can  infect another-the vaccine somehow  jumps from one body into someone else's body to infect another ?

In conclusion, some voting R, have a primitive authoritarian conscience and cognitive development similar to young children .  They please, fearful of disappointing, are obedient,  obey and follow the authoritarian father figure . They are irrational, concrete  and do not have the ability for mature abstract thinking in order to synthesize and assimilate dissonant information.  Unfortunately, the truth, for them, is based on the external provided by the authoritarian leader  and/or the lies provided  by TV and social media platforms . Being a pathological liar and the spreading of misinformation does not matter-facts do not matter.  Lies distort reality in one's favor.  Motives  vary and individuals are easily misled and believe all types of supernatural and preposterous things as man's history has shown us.  The R party  holds on to its power by its lies .Others , in power, associated with the R party, lie , falsify information and express hate with their masterful and sophisticated ability to fool and deceive the less intelligent and morally weak.  Follow the money as millions are collected from online donations (extremists have raised at least $6.2 million between 2016 and 2022; Jones  etc.), and  find those that seek the gods of power, prestige, and possession. The means justify the ends. In other words, lying is the first commandment.