TRAUMA ON A MASS SCALE PART 7…COVID...AUTHORITARIANISM...EPSTEIN FILES

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 

THE COW BURP MYTH....

For years we have been told that cow burps produce methane which is responsible for global warming so stop eating meat!.   The problem with this concept is that scientists are conflating methane with CO2 in error. CO2 is the primary cause of warming. I will make all this as simple and understandable as I can and I’ll post a very geeky video which explains this with citations.  OK here goes.

Methane is emitted from cow burps...methane has a life span of 10 years and then it is converted to CO2 and is stored in the ground.  CO2 is primarily released from industry like factories, cars, and other fossil fuel burners. This CO2 is released into the atmosphere and has a 1000 year life span.  If cow herds are maintained at current size climate stability is maintained.  Fossil fuel burners are continually feeding the atmosphere so the CO2 rises exponentially.  This takes me back to Al Gores lectures on fossil fuels and the climate.  

If there is an increase in cows then methane  help to increase global warming so we need to be very careful to prevent this.  To go a step further we can reduce the current effect of cow burps by covering lagoons on dairy farms and converting the entrapped methane to fuel that is more sustainable and ecologically healing rather than harming since this step will contribute to global cooling.

here is the very geeky video, trust me its really good.

I am an advocate of regenerative ranching rather than factory farming and ranching.  There are wonderful benefits.  They are:

    Improved soil health and fertility-using rotational grazing, cover crops and no tilling.

    Increased carbon sequestration- rotational grazing and cover crops bolster the soil's organic matter                which stores more carbon that is not released into the atmosphere.

    Reduced input costs-  by decreasing operating expenses, increasing efficiency and profits for the                       rancher.

    Boosting health through enhanced biodiversity-  rotational grazing contributes to balanced                         ecosystems and overall health of pastures, livestock and improved productivity.  This safeguards                 natural resources.  

    Opportunities for soil carbon farming.-Carbon credits can be traded increasing profit margins.

    Cattle welfare- utilizing sustainable ranching benefits cattle by giving them a more nutritious diet, less             disease and stress and a stable habitat giving consistent forage availability

                                        (http://maiagrazing.com)

Well there you go.  Now you are armed with the science that dispels the myth of cow burps!  The erroneous conflation of methane and CO2 seems to be enough to contribute to our mistrust of everything in the media.  The answer is do your own research or read blogs like this one and watch the videos on this subject  

Until then, 

I am Happe to help...call me: 775 230-1507 or email me: mhappenow.happe@gmail.com

Be well, 

Michele

People of the Lie or why people so tenaciously hang on to dis-information…A Buddhist perspective

Michele Happe MA

September 14 2015

I was on the radio recently talking about the work of Brendan Nyhan who is conducting research at Yale Law school.  His experiments indicate that when people have a partisan stance about certain issues like Gun Control, Climate Change, and WMD’s in Iraq that they are very tenacious to their views even when presented with evidence that contradicts these views.  In fact he points out that at times there is a “back fire phenomenon” which causes people to become even more further entrenched in their views.  He says that this is true about both liberals and conservatives when they are partisans.  He says that it is folly to try to convince these individuals using facts and that using this tactic  is generally a waste of time.  

There are many psychological issues that prop up this research.  For one the concept of cognitive dissonance makes it very difficult to change our minds when a paradigm shift is required to accept the contrary evidence.  A book by Thomas Kuhn called the Structure of Scientific Revolution is about how difficult it is for paradigms to be shifted when it necessitates a change in world view.  There is a critical amount of discomfort required for these kinds of fundamental paradigm shifts to occur and before that point, humans will go literally to war and resort to violence to prop up their ill informed views.  

John Dean, former legal adviser to Richard Nixon wrote a book about another psychological tendency around issues.  He talked about the authoritarian type.  This is a type of person who needs to be lead (follower) by another authoritarian (leader).  This psychological condition amounts to being childish and fearful.  Just tell me what to do and I will be ok.  Fox news is full of authoritarian leaders but John Dean used Dick Cheney as a perfect example.  

  I don’t think it is any mistake that a common reaction after 911 was mass fear and many on the right used that fear to prop up their plans to make the conservative agenda popular in order for the Republicans to win into perpetuity.  Of course the supreme court helped out by stopping the vote count  in Florida in the election between George Bush and Al Gore who by the way would have won the popular vote.  Fox news started spreading fear with the imminent possibility of a “mushroom cloud”,  another attack and lack of safety in our “homeland” and they used many other wedge issues such as abortion and immigration to increase peoples fear of xenophobia.  The conservatives also capitalized on nationalism after the attack on the twin towers which also stokes xenophobia and fear of the future.  Jeb Bush, not George bush was a signatory to the Product for a New American Century or PENAC which knew that an attack on our country would sufficiently foment fear so that the conservatives could gain and keep power.  When it happened they were ready.

 I cannot tell you how many women have complained in my private practice that their husbands are obsessed with Fox News and that since listening 24/7, they have become angry and hateful in other words terrified and attached to the lie.  It has even broken up a few relationships due to excessive anger in the partner and attachment to hateful right wing policies.  Fox news has been proven to be very inaccurate in their reporting but the disinformation used by them causes more fear and hatred which in turn causes people to be ultra opinionated and even more attached to their world view(backfire effect)  

We do see this in some on the left as well such as liberal Jews supporting right wing political leaders in Israel, Also extreme attachment to Obama and also to Hilary Clinton even though both support neolibral policies which the supporter might be against.  This is due to partisanship. Here is a definition of partisanship: an  inclination to favor one group or view or opinion over alternatives

  In Buddhism we look at the primary causes of suffering.  Basically they are attachment to opinion, hatred, fear, anger and selfishness.  We are taught over and over that we are instructed to abandon  all views in order to created joy and happiness.  We are instructed to have a neutral mindset regarding all concepts that are the result of the egos beliefs.  This is a very tall order because most of us have fear about so many things from fear of death to fear of another attack like that which happened on September 11, 2001.  When we train our mind suffiiently we are able to better disengage from the emotional attachment that leads to partisanship in the first place.  We are more able to enjoy the ride and be humble about not knowing.  

Most importantly we need to divest ourselves of the need to change other peoples minds.  They have a right to their delusions just as do we.  As the Dali Lama was asked his opinion after meeting president Bush, His response was, “he had very good cookies”.  

Until next time be well

Corruption

Corruption is a human condition, a poison which all humans are capable of. When we are expressing our Buddha nature, we are incapable of corruption because we are motivated by compassion.

So how does corruption come into being. I believe that the basis for this is fear and a poor relationship with our own Buddha nature. We become convinced that the only way we can be happy is to be "better than". This is delusion. A person who violates others for his or her own gain is corrupt. This can occur on an interpersonal level or globally.

Interpersonally corrupt people are motivated to take advantage of others. They feel that they need to prove their "dominance" of others by making others feel small or less than. Unfortunately this feeling can only be fleeting because it is not real. So the corruption escalates or humility takes over when the corrupt person hits a bottom of sorts.

With addiction we get a false sense of power from the sensation of the "high". Most of our using times are spent chasing that original feeling of false equanimity that we feel in the early days of using. Since this is impossible to achieve, we then become ego driven to avoid the feelings of "incomprehensible demoralization" that our using causes. We are in aversion of the pain of our condition and aversion is one of the primary causes of suffering. This is a downward spiral that "gets worse, never better". Usually a person is ready to enter recovery when they realizes that they are living in a hell realm of addiction. They realized that this is not living, and there us usually a moment of clarity which involves a fervent desire to be truly alive. It can come after a near death experience or it can come for just being "sick and tired of being sick and tired".

We learn about the "horse thief" analogy once we find our way in sobriety. We learn that while using most of us are sociopathic. We lie cheat and steal as a way of life. Once we get sober two things can occur. We can become true to the traditions of recovery and become upstanding citizens or we can become a "sober horse thief". This is better known as a person who is a "dry drunk". This person is corrupt. Even though he may not use or drink, she may take advantage of others or will try to exert power and control over others. This person may have other behavioral addictions that have not been addressed such as sex addiction or codependency. These character flaws cause the person to live a life full of resentment and a drivenness to achieve a false kind of happiness devoid of compassion.
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On a social or global level this tendency is just multiplied. It congeals with others of like mind. Sometimes it is called congress or the senate, sometimes it is called the corporation. Humans are drawn to form systems because we are social animals. These systems become corrupt because they are made up of individuals who lack true compassion. Occasionally we see a politician or a corporation that seems to be built upon compassion. It was Dennis Kucinich who proposed the development of a "Department of Peace"...he was laughed at for that. There are many companies who function on a more compassionate basis like Ben and Jerry's Ice cream....but they struggle and often have to sell to a less compassionate corporation who has "success".

The only way to heal from corruption is to understand that it is built upon delusional power and can only bring about unhappiness and suffering. We must become committed to principles of compassion and the end result will be happiness and humor. Just look at the Dalai Lama who most of the time is very goofy and childlike while running his beleaguered nation that was taken over by a corrupt country. He displays wisdom and skill and continues to be healthy and shows very little anger. He is a model for all of us whether we are people in recovery from whatever, or corporations or even nations.