THE SLOW CREEP OF AUTHORITARIANISM
As a 75 year old I remember times that were comfortable and safe in the 50's and times that were crazy and horrible like the 60's and 70's with assassinations, the Viet Nam War, and Kent State. During those crazy times most of us had been raised in comfortable homes where both parents who didn't need to work. As kids we played in the streets and had an intuitive sense of safety. When the crazy started happening in the 60's we mobilized more than today because we were healthy and strong and had faith in ourselves.
Today is a different story. Here is a brief perspective. Watergate happened in 1972. I remember when Nixon started the privatization of health care. That was the beginning of a slow accumulation of the degeneration of the "good old days" after FDR. We were all like frogs in the heating up of water. There were the John Birchers but they were marginalized. Then came Reagan who was the anti government president. Then George Bush who cosigned president Reagan's policies. He was succeeded by bill Clinton who praised neoliberalism and capitulated to the republicans by continuing to see the profit motive of privatization. There was a very slow erosion of FDR's policies even with our darling president Barack Obama who came out in the beginning as anti gay in order to get the votes needed. He was a very eloquent charismatic Neoliberal who totally botched the housing crisis and gave money to the banks instead of the people who were threatened with foreclosure. This whole era was a very slow moving crisis which was exemplified by householders who had to work two jobs to survive and provide child care. The safety of union involvement was severely degraded during this period. Colleges became unaffordable for most. When I graduated from CSULA in 1973 with a Masters degree I paid $152.00 per quarter. Today's tuition is between $7000.00 and $20,000 per year depending on whether you are in state or out of state. Down the street USC tuition is $72,000. This is just one example of how trending neoliberalism has eroded our ability to feel safe and comfortable in the period from 1970 to 2020.
After Trumps first presidency, he lost his 2nd term to Joe Biden. Bernie Sanders had been in office of one kind or another since 1981. His democratic socialist message has been consistent for all the years he has been in office. He is an FDR progressive for the people. I believe he could have won but he was replaced by the democratic establishment with Joe Biden who was marginally a very good president and was in serious in decline. His loss in 2024 marks the end of the slow deminishment of FDR's policies.
With Trump's second term we are now frogs feeling the heat and pretty much close to boiling due to his open and very rapid dismantling of our government with the help of the authors of Project 2025. We are scared and traumatized by what is going on and it will only get worse. He has a very strident cult of followers responsible for about 30's of the vote, but who knows if we will even have a vote in the next election.
Those who feel traumatized are tired and afraid and on the verge of just giving up. We are hit with 24/7 frightening news and are tempted to put our collective heads in the sand, especially after experiencing COVID.
COVID
When COVID hit in the early months of 2020 life changed in the world. Children were no longer going to school and in lock down, those who complied were at home working online or losing their jobs. Life radically changed and for many this was a trauma. Many children, especially teens and preteens suffered the most because these are the years when peer group is everything and children are beginning the process of separation from parents for the inevitable change of leaving home and finding their own way either in college or out in the work world. Many children became depressed and became glued to their phones in an effort to have some connection with others.
Adults, especially extroverted adults suffered just as much as they became more isolated and started watching the news where there were daily statistics of the number of dead and hospitalized for the illness. Those who recovered often developed Long COVID which we still don't understand. Vaccines were released and we sat in our cars in long lines to get our first shots of this new MRNA Vaccine. The anti vaxers lead by RFK JR refused the vaccines as all kinds of propaganda appealed to the fear spread by propagandists. Many of these people died or ended up in intensive care in hospitals.
First responders stayed on the job especially hospital workers. They watched powerlessly as patients started dying and then their own colleagues got sick and died. Mask wearing became controversial which only lead to more spread. It took years for the pandemic to be called off in favor of the label endemic. And still people are dying from the illness.
We were all touched by the pandemic and were required to adjust while dealing with PTSD, long COVID, depressed children and teens, little ones who never knew anything different and an economy that was damaged by the lockdowns and the sickness. Many of us are still recovering.
EPSTEIN FILES
It is difficult to estimate the number of people sexually assaulted because over 50% never report. Freud estimated the 70% of females of all ages experience sexual assault. I don't think that number is that far off. Males are not exempt from sexual assault as well.
This new emergence of the Epstein Files are triggering for those who are involved but for those also who were ever sexually abused. I find myself, a survivor, obsessed with the news and am exasperated by the lack of transparency of our government on all levels to release all the files even though the president has the power to release them. The triggers can be subtle like mine or profound leading to fear and anxiety as well as depression and a tendency to self harm.
THE DEGENERATE TIMES
In Buddhism these times we are living in are predicted in teachings to be the degenerate times when teaching about loving kindness, compassion, wisdom, and the interdependence of all things are needed. As Tibet was taken over by the Chinese many Tibetan teachers were moving to the west to teach Buddhist Principles. The Dalai Lama moved to India for refuge. These teachings are antidotes to the trauma experienced on a personal levels as well as the mass traumas above as well as the mass trauma of war and authoritarianism.
I contemplate impermanence every day with the faith that we can recover from all of this. One of my favorite prayers that I recite every day is: (Please refer to part 3 in this series...The answers are in Buddhism)
May the terrible weapons of modern warfare-nuclear weapons, biological weapons and so forth that threaten to destroy the earth, and may all our ill fortune leading to great wars and armed conflict be utterly pacified. May the world enjoy happiness similar to that of the golden age.
Another:
In all countries may disease, war and famine be pacified. May all beings have bliss, happiness and engage in the Dharma.
It is possible to recover from our traumas by developing a healthy relationship to them and by developing compassion to self as well as others. Working with a knowlegeable professional can be very helpful. Community involvement also is a great reminder that we are all connected and interdependent. Stress reduction, healthy sleep patterns, healthy diet, are also important. Nothing is more important than being authentically who we are.
Much love and be well,
Michele Happe MA mhappenow.happe@gmail.com 775 230-1507
Search for my Metabolic Mind Page and my Psychology Today page
Comments are welcomed
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