AMERICAN ENIGMA

01/19/2008
ENIGMA

One of the problems of the modern age is knowledge. Yes, it is knowledge, as in knowing things, like knowing about the other people.
With new communications, movies, television, the inter net and even books, and not to forget psychology, we not only think that we know and understand human behavior, we are starting to expect the others to behave in ways that we can predict, in ways that we KNOW that they should/would/could. The governments make projections based upon assumptions of how you will behave, the corporations know and want to know more about what you want, how you will behave, and we oblige. Hell there are websites claiming they can know what kind of a “soul mate” you will be happiest with. We are becoming a cookie cutter humanity, we have become a cookie cutter humanity.
I was at the airport when I saw Dr. Phil talking about ”In the mind of Chester Yates”, I am sure a lot of people watching were impressed, while I was silently screaming how can this guy know anything about someone he has never even seen face to face, but there he was, luckily for me the sound on the monitor was off.

Sadly though, the governments and the super markets are right in assuming that they can predict our behavior. In as much as with all the information available to all, our behaviors and character have become homogenized . The more we try to be individualistic; the more we become like the sheep in a flock.
Let me give you a couple of examples, the psychologists say that the young teens are developing their own personality, finding their place, blah blah, then we are told that our teens are under a lot of peer pressure, excuse me! Are they trying to become individuals or are they trying to be like the others and trying to please others, which???
Then we have the Scientologists, they will tell you that they a not a cult, and also that they are anti psychology and that psychology is a fake science, (in the interest of a full disclosure let me tell you that I have a Masters in Psychology my self, and I personally believe that many if not most psychologists, counselors, and social workers are total idiots without any ability of rational thinking or any common sense). Now then, the Scientologists lambaste the psychologists but at the same time they use pseudo psychology ( a form of Freudian analysis, one talking about his own self) to perform “clear” they use bio feed back, and programming.
What is psychology and what is pseudo psychology? The difference here is between the truth and make believe, between the reality and the excuses. Back in the eighties I came across a comic strip of “Calvin and Hobbs”, to paraphrase, it was about a bunch of kids sitting on a fallen tree trunk pretending to be on a space ship etc. except Calvin who said that we are a bunch of kids sitting on a fallen tree truck and going no where, reality bites! We are told today that making cars and televisions and bicycles and shirts is beneath us, so we call foot massaging and coffee brewing professions now, we are a services economy, it is sad.
And then the psychologists convince us, and the politicians and the educators and the anthropologists tell us that in the Untied States it takes a person twenty six years now to grow up, (and twenty more I guess to make a total ass of him or herself). Being a loser is not a sign of being mentally screwed it is a sign of being normal, it is par for the course.
We are told to follow our dreams, follow our hearts and to do what ever pleases us, never warned of the consequences or drastic effects of such crap on our own lives or the lives of the others close and far from us. Nowhere is such asinine advice is preceded by any such warnings, and the end result is the slow destruction of our society and the country. No one to say that stop letting babies make babies, it destroys lives, that you must be able to support a family, mentally physically and financially before we will allow you to date and have sex. The older we get the more moronic is our out outlook.
And why? As we are no longer required to grow and become mature, (thanks to our psychologists and our drug pushers(makers), mind you) we go through life half blind and mainly stupid. And when we finally find our selves lost at some point in life we can always pick up a self help book or watch Oprah, or lose our selves in some other mindless TV show, join a meditation group or a religion that forgives us all our failures, we have even outsourced our thinking, or may be the truth is we are no longer capable of using our brains. Sadly we are also communicating this, our disease, the world over, at the light speed. Forget that, that in the “dark ages” teenagers were able to rule the nations and lead armies, they were also able to raise and support families. WE ARE ALL AN ENIGMA.
Why I blame the psychologists, when it can also be shown that just as likely, the deficit spending by the United States government (as started under Reagan) is responsible for things from the break down of the American family to the global warming,( see “Being Like America“) and to the credit crunch (please see “Braking the Banks“). It is because as Psychologists are supposed to understand and predict human behavior, they should have been warning us about the consequences and results of our follies, but as it has occurred the goof balls have become victims of secularism and humanism and the stupid ideals of being non-judgmental that they have failed to warn us of dangers of our idiotic mannerisms.
If I am smart and knowledgeable, then I should be able to warn you and protect you from harm. Then why the psychologist not be held for this mal practice. And what mal practice am I talking about?
By definition, by DSM-IV, Narcissism and Sociopathic behaviors are diseases that need to be treated. If it is such than why is not the psychologists, the psychiatrists and social workers up in arms against the media and the corporations that promote self-aggrandizement, self satisfaction and self involvement, where does it leave the community, the family, the country. Like I have said it before, if it all about me , then me is an ass. Make-up, dieting, cars, clothes, just do your thing, just do it, leave your family for a romp, we don’t care about anyone, we are sick in the head. Narcissism is “normal behavior at infantile level” as defined by DSM-IV.
All else in our lives failing, we join religions that promise us heavens on the cheap, just believe in such and such and you are redeemed, you are saved, no matter your failings or short comings you can be delivered, just no seventy two virgins but hey what the heck, you may not be saved in the here after, but you can unload all the crap your live has been or all the crap you did to screw up your own life and the lives of others, “father” forgives, we are all saved, send a check.
The psychologists, social workers, anthropologists of today are busy finding excuses for our immoralities in our genes, or at least in findings as to how the people behaved in the stone age or such. The need state also the as man evolved from primitive societies in communities, cities nations and such, he set rules and guidelines for appropriate behavior so the society could function in peace. These were called crimes and misdemeanors, then as man invented God, these same infractions became sins . Even the ancients knew that a societies can not function without boundaries of behavior, they also knew that a society can only exist where all are committed to the common good, of the family and the society overall. What we have here, what we are doing is counter to the normal model for the development and continuation of a cohesive community. If what we are reverting to is ancient or genetic themes of the stone age then we will soon revert back to the stone age, real soon.
Knowledge in the hands of the unprepared to receive it is dangerous. We do not allow eight year olds to play with matches and knives, we do not allow fifteen year olds to drive alone, we do not allow eighteen year olds to smoke, or twenty year olds to drink, but we allow twelve year olds to have internet with web cam in their rooms, are we freaking stupid?? We allow fourteen year olds to go on dates without supervision and expect what? And why in the hell is child pornography illegal while we allow our teens and preteens to screw, are we that ignorant? If I were to come to your house, I would hope that you will not allow your fourteen year old daughter to come in front of me in her under wear, I hope you have enough sense, but you allow the same daughter to go out in even less to the beach, are you gone mad people? Why does one need porn when he can just look in your front yard and look at your daughter, or your wife or your mother or sister???