Search

This brief paper addresses two issues relevant to the phenomenon of climate change. The first involves examining some of the motives that have and continue to contribute to the current situation--both global warming and the broader issue of the ecological damage that our species has done and is doing to the planet. The strongest of these motives is fueled by the ideology of free-market capitalism, which holds that restrictions to the pursuit of economic gain are anathema. The second issue is the question of the relation between overpopulation and the amount of damage being done to our environment; and the motivations for the resistance to acknowledging that overpopulation plays a role in the human produced pollution and environmental degradation we are experiencing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about trying to use a psychohistorical and psychoanalytic perspective to understand how and why we have gotten to the point where the world we live in is governed by our current economic system of free market capitalism. It seeks to explain how this economic and political reality has come to be and what might account for how entrenched it has become. It emphasizes the motivational strength of what has become an ideology of the free market which conflates economic with political freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting with Heinz Kohut's insights about narcissistic injury, narcissistic rage, and the desire for revenge this paper examines terrorism, both on the part of state and non-state entities, through the lens of Kohut's theory. The role played by humiliation in the creation of narcissistic injury is discussed emphasizing how important this is to understanding how terrorism arises and from where it gets its strength, fury, and desperation. There is a description of how this process can feed vicious cycles of violence and war as one group's humiliation at the hands of another group leads to acts of vengeance directed at those who are seen as responsible for their group's humiliation. There is a brief historical survey of the ways in which Muslims have been humiliated at the hands of Western powers and the suggestion that this is the main factor which has and is driving "Jihadi" terrorism directed against the United States and its allies. The response of the United States to the September 11 terrorist attacks is explored as an example of the same process of narcissistic injury generating feelings of humiliation leading in turn to acts of violent retaliation. The paper concludes with suggestions for disrupting this cycle of humiliation and revenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the significance of racism in fueling the recent rise of the Tea Party and related Right-Wing political groups and activity. It briefly explores some of the history of racism in this country that has been directed toward African Americans and how it has influenced political developments from Colonial times to the present. It suggests that this racist resurgence can be seen, in part, as a re-enactment of the trauma of the Civil War by the descendants, and those who identify with them, who were on the losing side of that conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author recalls his memories of psychoanalyst Lloyd deMause. He mentions his initial meeting with deMause at the annual International Psychoanalytical Association conferences in 1980. He describes deMause as an active voice for nonpunitive parenting and children's rights. He relates deMause's examination of the links between childhood trauma and sacrifice as part of war.