PERSONAL HEALTH  
JoeBageant.com / By Joe Bageant
comments_imageCOMMENTS: 178

Only in America Could Misery Be Turned Into a Commodity

Stress, depression and loneliness permeate daily life in America. Yet psychiatrists try to sell us on the idea that the pain is ours alone.
February 11, 2009  |  
 
 
LIKE THIS ARTICLE ?
Join our mailing list:

Sign up to stay up to date on the latest Personal Health headlines via email.

 
 
Advertisement
 

HOPKINS VILLAGE, Belize -- Sitting down here in Central America, happily abusing my health, occasionally, between the hangovers and the bouts with sand fleas and mosquitoes comes an insight or two, or at least what passes for insight in my lowbrow take on life.

One of these is just how damned lucky the Third World is that it cannot afford a sophisticated mental health system. By that I mean the kind like in the "developed countries," where murder and suicide rates are quintuple what they are here in this village. Not that we are without own village resources.

My Garifuna buddy Eljay, was in what we would call a depressed state a few months ago and went to a local "spirit doctor." The wizened old spirit mojo man cured Eljay with a single utterance: "Quit smokin' da ganja for one month." It worked. Total cost: About $2.50 and a pound of red beans.

They say the old spirit doctor also treats such things as sexual dysfunction, although I sure as hell cannot detect much evidence of dysfunction, judging from the noises in the village cabanas and under beachside palms at night.

In any case, it causes me to wonder why is there enough pain and alienation to sustain America's umpteen-billion-dollar mental health business and its 400-plus specialties, not to mention the inner self-help industry and Deepak Chopra's royal court. Why is it that during the months I spend in America, I meet so many obviously sick fuckers, some successfully practicing law or politics, others homeless and schizophrenic?

You need not be Marcus or R.D. Lang to feel the stress, depression, boredom and loneliness permeating everyday life up there in Gringolia. But to get an overview, it does help to be a couple thousand miles outside the place. Kind of like being high in the stands at the racetrack with binoculars rather than down at the rail next to the paddock.

Matters seem especially acute of late, with the entire American anthill in turmoil as its common god, the almighty economy, waves bye-bye while being noisily sucked down the global gurgler. Hell, 20 years ago, mental health problems were already being described as "epidemic," despite the joys of Facebook, iPod and the consumption of some 25 million pounds of hot wings on Super Bowl Sunday. A place where "normal" life includes Viagra, all the fried chicken you can stuff, around-the-clock televised crotch shots and HDTV as national mandate.

I used to think it was just some melancholic germ of my own that made me see a slowly increasing American alienation, anxiety and inner sadness over the span of my 62 years. Now however, I'm pretty convinced there is a national pathology at work, one that author Arthur Barsky called the "pathology of American normalcy." Sounds accurate to me.

In fact, this psychic poverty has been around so long that it has become something of a norm. Despite that we have not resorted to cannibalism, single-payer health care, or god forbid, socialism, we long ago passed into the realm of what we like to call an "unhealthy society."

Might not America's psychological malaise be the result of knowing deep inside that life can hold more meaning -- be more joyful? More emotionally rewarding and fulfilling? In a word, healthier?

Americans who can afford to be, are obsessed with health of any kind. The rest of us chain smoke in despair. All of which tosses fresh red meat to the politicians, who offer "plans,” all of which come down to the same thing -- we pay for corporate expansion of both the insurance and "medical industry," but through insignificantly different methods.

Interestingly, despite our pursuit of constant medical attention and the construction of the planet's largest and most profitable health machinery, treatment factories for every real and imagined or industry-manufactured ailment, surveys show, Americans do not trust doctors. They feel physicians are primarily businessmen or businesswomen who happen to practice medicine because that's where the real grease, the big bucks are.

This may or may not be true, but we see little evidence to counter their suspicions. Even the closest physician friend I have in the States insists on a $125 office visit -- cash at the front desk on the way out, please -- before he will refill a blood-pressure prescription I've been taking for 15 years. He knows I do not have health insurance, but hey, what's a bill-and-a-quarter between friends? Well, it's a month's grub for some of us, or dinner and drinks for two at the country club for others.


View as a single page
 
Joe Bageant is author of the book, Deer Hunting With Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War (Random House Crown), about working-class America. A complete archive of his online work, along with the thoughts of many working Americans on the subject of class may be found on his Web site.
Email
Print
Share
Post on reddit
Post on stumbleupon
Post on facebook
Post on digg
Post on twitter
Post on delicious
LIKED THIS ARTICLE? JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST
Stay up to date with the latest Personal Health headlines via email
See more stories tagged with: mental health, psychology, psychiatry

comments COMMENTS ( 178 )
READ COMMENTS
LOGIN OR REGISTER TO POST A COMMENT
 

Comments are closed-

Only in America?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: MerrynS on Feb 11, 2009 1:10 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Most statements that begin "only in America" are solipsistic and demonstrably false. This is a good example.
America and "the Third World" do not make up the entire planet.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Is that a logical axiom? Posted by: and_abottleofrum
» RE: Only in America? Posted by: Parcival01
» RE: Only in America? Posted by: geneven

Comments are closed-

Why are we subject to these chronic bad vibes.....
[Report this comment]
Posted by: gellero1 on Feb 11, 2009 1:18 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Why must we be subject to this downer tone article.??

Please....go spend some time in the Third World......see what life is like there.


We are a moral, advanced culture. We are chauvanistic....and rightly so.

Save you angst for your next meeting.

Pick up another white chip, please. And give alms to the poor....

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

None of these Doctors require appointments.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: gellero1 on Feb 11, 2009 1:31 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
So you say in your article.That's cool....a laid back environment.....smoke a doob.....have a shot of tequila. It's all good. Having the money to live with the masses.

But this is a big LIE. The doctors you like to hang with....and perhaps they practice good medicine.....CANNOT OPERATE ON YOUR LUNG TUMOR.!!

That takes a high degree of commitment, and you will NEVER be able to see that type of person 'without an appointment'.

Your head is in the AlterClouds.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Jesus, man, take a breath! Posted by: BobKincaid
» RE: Jesus, man, take a breath! Posted by: Parcival01

Comments are closed-

Excellent article
[Report this comment]
Posted by: maxfactor on Feb 11, 2009 2:27 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
US is mostly third world. 100 milion people not having access to health service is Northafrica times 3...
3 million people incarcerated would make Stalin pround.
2/3rds depressed - the american way, I guess.
American exceptionalism need not apply.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Not so simple
[Report this comment]
Posted by: edgar1 on Feb 11, 2009 2:49 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Do psychiatrists "blame the patinet"? On what studies is this ideological assault on the medical profession based? People have biological issues; they have family issues, they suffer because of economic and social pressure and stress. It's a complex matter. Each patient is different while having as all humans do, similarities with other patients. A bit over the head of the political "good" "bad" dichotomy Alternet and other political sites and blogs thrive upon.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Legalize weed Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

Expat carpetbaggers
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Zeugitai on Feb 11, 2009 3:09 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Expatriate American carpetbaggers living Pitcairn-island lifestyles in clouds of smoke, drugs, and debauchery nevertheless are not unqualified to observe America with enlightening objectivity.

Good article.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: xpat carpetbaggers Posted by: richholland
» RE: xpat carpetbaggers Posted by: intrigued
» RE: Expat carpetbaggers Posted by: intrigued
» enlightened debauchery Posted by: Quasar
» RE: xpat carpetbaggers Posted by: StrayCat

Comments are closed-

thousands of packaged potions and lotions but no lavender...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Suzon on Feb 11, 2009 4:18 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Lavender has been recognized as theraputic for centuries. Its aroma soothes and relaxes. I have grown my own in the past but last year it was smothered between the sage and rosemary in my allotment.

That is why I was seeking it in Boots, England's best known "chemist", on Monday. All I wanted was a small bag of dried herbs but I would have settled for those herbs in an eye mask, if that was available.

No luck, of course. I surveyed the huge shop and its aisles loaded with thousands of items and felt rather impoverished, unable to acquire a few sprigs of what a hundred years ago the poorest English farm laborer could have easily plucked and tucked into his hat band.

Of course there are manufactured products which actually do alleviate aches and pains, but our world is primarily composed of things designed to make a profit. If we were able to eliminate the manufacture of things unnecessary to sustain human life, that to me would be a huge step in the right direction.

I'm not suggesting that we uninvent anything but that we examine what is worth producing and worth having. All the rest is what is ruining lives and the planet.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» So many good herbs Posted by: Beck
» RE: So many good herbs Posted by: superfeduphoosier

Comments are closed-

I couldn't say I'd have been any happier living in rural Misery (MO) than in St Louis.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Jennifer Bedingfield on Feb 11, 2009 4:40 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Sure, my folks would think I was unhappy as a city girl single instead of conceding to country girl housewife status and ignoring the world around me. It just saddens me that the more I know, the more depressing it really is out there. Every time I visit my parents out in the rurals, these small towns look worse than the last time I saw them which would be enough to bring tears to my eyes. Of course, I have to not look sad or else my parents, brothers, and all their friends will start lecturing me on why I should have stayed instead of moved as they don't trust the idea of living in the big cities despite my making a living there. Maybe I was wrong according to some to put higher education and career first even though it would cost me marriage. Once in a while I can get that lonely feeling as a single but I often remind myself based on what some of my married friends go through all too often that it's better to be single than get stuck with someone I don't like. Like politics, Eugene Debs's quote "It is better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don’t want and get it" can just as well apply to marriages and relationships.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» That list is NOT complete. Posted by: GuitarBill
» Ok, thanks for clarification. Posted by: Jennifer Bedingfield

Comments are closed-

Context is all...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Sherry M. on Feb 11, 2009 4:45 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
..and systems can determine our perception/perspective if we are unaware of their effects. The author makes some good points, but there's some contradiction: we're living in systems, as separate and lonely individuals, and we need to live in systems, connected to each other. As long as competition is the norm, we're at war. I became a psychologist in my fifties -- the author overgeneralizes about the profession, but having my first therapist suicide might have traumatized me too. I am constantly alerting my patients/clients (neither word fits and we're teacher/student to each other) to the toxic culture around them and their freedom to change it or leave it. He seems unaware of the consciousness movement here. Read Richard Moss or visit his website at www.richardmoss.com.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Context is all... Posted by: Beck
» RE: Context is all... Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: Context is all... Posted by: StrayCat

Comments are closed-

The Next Step
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Revolutionary (Direct) Democracy on Feb 11, 2009 4:47 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Only in America can the illusion of liberty be turned into reality.


FREE AMERICA

REVOLUTIONARY (DIRECT) DEMOCRACY

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: The Next Step Posted by: Beck

Comments are closed-

This article broaches the core topic of civilization's affect on human psychology: anomie.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: and_abottleofrum on Feb 11, 2009 4:51 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The social formations in which we as a species did most of our evolving were highly communal, egalitarian bands of foragers where there was virtually no surplus wealth to be monopolized by ambitious cohorts. Aside from a certain degree of labor specialization based on gender and age, and relatively minor differentials of prestige between some competitive individuals - which wouldn't in any case translate into greatly different survival prospects for those individuals or their offspring - the norms of the group applied equally to all members.

In the rise of complex societies (surplus economies) we see a strong specialization of labor and a stratification of social cohorts, whereby the legal codes and moral claims of a society reflected disproportionately the values and interests of the ruling class. Thus alienation of large portions of the population began, as society was no longer structured to serve the interests of all, but rather the majority were meant to serve the interests of the few.

With industrialization divisions of labor and disparities in wealth and power (which are essentially the same thing: control of resources both natural and human) are exacerbated.

The more complex a society becomes, the more normless it becomes, and legal enforcement of behavioral standards supplants social enforcement. This is because social checks on many behaviors become impractical as large sections of the society have little interest in behaviors when they mainly affect other cohorts, and the ultimate function of laws is to uphold a status quo that serves the populace unequally. For example if a beggar steals food from a market, many people would condone this action and find punishment inappropriate given the circumstances. In order to protect the better off market owner, a legal prohibition must be created and enforced.

With increased social complexity, people are less able to identity with the whole of the society of which they find themselves a supposed member, especially the people at the bottom of the hierarchy. People in general become hesitant to interact with others because it is more difficult to predict which values and norms the other person has adopted, thus there is a greater chance of incurring a social rebuke or even initiating some form of conflict.

The pressure to internalize the values of distinct segments of society, especially those of higher-status groups, leads to a warping of a person's understanding of self-interest. In this way it becomes possible for normally empathetic people to believe, artificially, that it is right to send a desperate person to jail for stealing food, or in a previous society maybe flog that person publicly or cut off his or her hand. Believing such punishments to be right runs against the social instinct of most humans, and even when they have internalized the prescriptions of a legal code there is still a part of their basic nature that feels alienated from their society.

Complex societies have wrought a tremendous impact on human psychology. I wouldn't be surprised to someday learn that during the earliest years of civilizations there may have been a systemic need to cull the less obedient and pliable variations of human psychology through high rates of execution or warfare. But that issue is speculative. The psychological affects of social formations are not often discussed, however the topic deserves much more attention.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: No, Beck is not my wife. (!?!?!?!?!) Posted by: Jennifer Bedingfield

Comments are closed-

Joe Bageant
[Report this comment]
Posted by: mwildfire on Feb 11, 2009 5:40 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As a person from elsewhere living in West Virginia, I found his Deer Hunting With Jesus book very useful. As a person who worked a couple years as a case manager in the local community mental health agency. I found this perspective equally interesting.
In one line, however, he says "except for clearly organic conditions..." But there's the rub. Which are those? He failed to fault our mental health system for its obsession with labelling everyone it treats with DSM codes--his would be Major Depression, recurrent, moderate, perhaps--but the reality is that no one really knows which conditions are organic, or genetic, and which are a result of experiences (sexual abuse being a top cause of problems). Or more likely, in any individual or any particular condition, how much is a genetic predisposition, perhaps exacerbated by physical factors (drinking too much soda and eating junk food, or alcohol abuse) and how much is environmental? He's quite right that the establishment insists on treating depression as a personal issue, with no acknowledgement that our society has a bad case of not only major depression but serious personality disorders--and also that the doctors, therapists, psychiatrists and even case managers see themselves collectively as a very separate class above the clients. I was admonished by all not to treat my clients as friends, advice I ignored. Another problem is the focus on drugs as the solution for nearly everything. I do have to say--if depression is his problem alcohol is a bad idea. Not that he should never touch the stuff, but lots of it is only likely to worsen depression. Whereas heading for a friendly, emotionally healthy place where he can hang with friends and get plenty of winter sunshine, that sounds like a good idea. And exercise.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

melusine
[Report this comment]
Posted by: melusine on Feb 11, 2009 5:57 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Joe, read Wilhelm Reich regarding "the emotional plague." He pointed this out in the 30s. "Listen, Little Man" covered this ground also. Hope you stay well! Ignore the madness of crowds wherever you go!

Leslie devries, sacramento, hellifornia

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Orgones?? Posted by: Parcival01
» Reich was a nut??? Posted by: whathaway
» RE: Orgones?? Posted by: melusine

Comments are closed-

Isolation
[Report this comment]
Posted by: taxidriver on Feb 11, 2009 5:58 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Yes, many Americans are atomistic and isolated. Perhaps that's one big reason why Obama caught fire: His message wasn't "Yes, I can," it was "Yes, we can."

I think Americans are looking for a savior precisely because so many of us feel alone. After all, Jesus is advertised as being "my personal savior," a God of love, and Lord knows most of us need more love.

Technology seems to be isolating people even more; many older people are reluctant to use it, perhaps for good reason. I'm amazed at the number of people with their faces stuck in cell phones and laptops, or isolated by their I-pods. They walk around in their own virtual reality, detached from the people around them, just like the humans on that spaceship in Wall-E.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Your immaturity is showing. Posted by: Karina
Sorry, this comment has been removed from the system.

Comments are closed-

bob
[Report this comment]
Posted by: davy on Feb 11, 2009 6:12 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The comments regarding this article certainly seem to verify the truth in it. Ahhh America, the land of comfortably numb.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» You're missing the point. Posted by: superfeduphoosier

Comments are closed-

3 cheers for Joe Bageant
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Parcival01 on Feb 11, 2009 6:45 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As the spouse of a "clinical social worker" from whom I frequently hear pretty silly jargon disguised as wisdom, I couldn't wait to read this article. Joe didn't let me down.

Incidentally, I note that some comments challenge Joe's "objectivity," are offended, for example, at his drawing a distinction between the US and the rest of the world. As he said after "Deer Hunting With Jesus," a fine book by the way, he sees himself as kind of a gonzo journalist (like Hunter Thompson). So don't take it too seriously. Certainly, don't examine it, and become one of the over-academic, self-absorbed types to whom Joe refers.

And as I peruse the comments on this page, too many of them are clear demonstrations of what Joe is talking about. (Someone even suggested reading Wilhelm Reich!)

By the way, I'm approaching the later years of my life--I'm almost Joe's age--and have never really "fit it." So I know of the aloneness of which Joe speaks. At the same time, I will NEVER become the corporate puppets who are my in-laws. (Better dead than...what?) But they, who've always made much, much more than I, will fall back on the psychological "practices," too stupid to acknowledge their contributions to what's causing this whole country to fall apart.

It's enough to make a guy laugh....

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: 3 cheers for Joe Bageant Posted by: blondesprite
» RE: 3 cheers for Joe Bageant Posted by: Parcival01

Comments are closed-

Boy, did he nail it with this:
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Beck on Feb 11, 2009 7:13 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"Unfortunately, Americans get laughed off the map for being overly human these days, dubbed emotional wimps, part of the Kumbaya crowd, unrealistic utopians … and if you are sincerely human enough, you get your ass kicked by the system"

And you get called idiots and sheep and told your enthusiasm means you are deluded and blind. Truly baffling.

Time to ease up on that. We are all Americans, and can be in this together, or can stay divided by culture and by our own continuing choices and ideologies, and therefore continue to be conquerable.

Thanks, Joe, once again, and thanks for the kind words about Obama, both now and previously

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

ba
[Report this comment]
Posted by: mnstra on Feb 11, 2009 7:18 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The writer writes like a 20 year old. Very sophomoric. Yet the grain of truth in the article is the one about privatizing my mental illness. that is so true. I recall going to the Doctor
for treatment of depression, and he made me feel like it was only I who harbored these feelings and it was a fault my my own individuality. Yet the American culture produces depressions through its regimentation, abuse of taxpayers and its alienation. It was like trying to dry myself off while still in the river.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Yup
[Report this comment]
Posted by: beanboyz on Feb 11, 2009 7:58 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I'd say the title sums it all up. Only in America!

RT
Privacy Center

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

The century of the self-absorbed
[Report this comment]
Posted by: advancedatheist on Feb 11, 2009 8:06 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You might want to look up Tony Curtis's four part documentary (available several places on the internet) about how the ruling class latched onto psychoanalysis a new tool to keep the sheep in line:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_the_Self

Curtis points out that our culture's obsession with expressing one's feelings even in inappropriate contexts would have sounded strange and perverse to people living before the 20th Century.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Lets Face It America is Extremely Strange
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Feb 11, 2009 8:29 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
My niece was a Professor at Louisiana State University when Katrina hit.

She personally helped turn the campus into an emergency rescue centre for the victims

She came to see me later that year at Christmas

She went back to America after failing to get a job in Europe and gave birth to her American Child

And is now living in Germany

And you still haven't cleaned up the mess.

This compares with what happenned with the Tsunami

I was out there a few months after it happenned

What the hell is wrong with Americans?

You can't even clear up your own mess in your own country

Weren't you ashamed to be offerred immediate help from Cuba whilst your federal Government was still partying - and then responded by sending in snipers

YOU ARE MAD

Sure I am as well - but I know how to help people

Tony

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

You don't have to go to Belize ...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: stellabloo on Feb 11, 2009 8:32 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
... to realize how crazy some american "ideals" have become.

Take gun laws, for example ... mention something like "mandatory waiting periods and criminal checks" and wow, you are handing the civilization over to the darkies :.(

Same with healthcare, try explaining that good prenatal and early childhood healthcare pays for itself in the long run by creating healthy adults less likely to fall into the same ol dysfunctional patterns.

Speaking of dysfunctional, how about a story on the link between antidepressants, violence and suicide? Now there's a side effect that the APA has lobbied very vigorously to suppress ... If consumer society hasn't made you crazy yet, there's a good chance prozac might push you over the edge :.?

Yes, the consumer rat race is mind-numbingly pointless. That was what the pyschedelic revolution was all about. Why do you suppose that Nixon (Reagan/Bush/Bush) hated marijuana so much? Because all the little rats quit pushing their buttons like they were supposed to. The other problem, the one NEVER mentioned, is that the pyschedelic "reality" doesn't go away after a certain point because it is a truer reality than the one most of us have grown up to believe in.

I think of my 5 year old daughter, growing up in a town of 800 people. When we go to the city, everyone is a potential new friend with a story to tell. She doesn't understand why some city people pass by her with closed faces. Would that we could all reclaim our lost innocence.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

He does have a point, though
[Report this comment]
Posted by: QuestionAuthority on Feb 11, 2009 8:42 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I think that, given the current state of the US, a thinking, feeling person will have a hard time avoiding depression. And rightly so. It's even worse for those that, like me, were born in the US and brought up through our formative years overseas.

This is not the America that I was brought up to believe in or was born in back in the 1950's. Especially America as it has become in the last 10 years.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Pretty Accurate Joe
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Robert Wales, Ph.D. on Feb 11, 2009 8:55 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Enjoyed your wriing. Thank you. Yes, yes, I am a psychologist, albeit retired at a young age, thank you. But not one of the kind who feels threatened by such writings as this born of experiential and observational aspects of simply living. I would like to say the largest provider of 'mental health' in the US is the prison system. Not only is that alone a sorry state of affairs but the quality is so poor as to be harmful and routinely turns suffering back upon the individual creating yet another deficit in society. Shameful stuff. The good news in CA is they are running out of money to create suffering and are having to release thousands of 'low-level' offenders. Something good from something 'bad'. Too bad it has to come from economic distress but, ok, fine, just allow change to happen already in whatever form it takes. Less money for the state is a blessing in so many ways.
And, yes, who needs the APA with their parsing of torture. How can you parse such an event? I am also suprised how many health 'professionals' are writing in with egoic objections that frequently begin with, 'yes, but!' or, 'you said!'. Viewing the world through the ego-the mind-is truly problematic. My colleagues often miss this uually trading it in for a nice suit,status and the like. Guess they feel they went to school for a long time and 'deserve' something from the system, from society. Keep writin' Joe with one eye on-the-ocean.,..

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Robert Wales, PhD
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Robert Wales, Ph.D. on Feb 11, 2009 9:09 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Yes, yes I am a psychologist albeit reired young. Thank you. Good article. I want to add the largest provider of mental health in the US is the prison system which, in CA, is running out of money and being foced to release thousands of low-level offenders. The state running out of money is such a blessing in so many ways. Sad to see it born of economic distress but good to see change come in whatever form it comes. Keep writing with one eye on the water Joe.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Robert Wales, PhD Posted by: tony_opmoc

Comments are closed-

Cut-throat, laissez-faire capitalism, that "best of all systems," sucks.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: monkeywrench on Feb 11, 2009 9:42 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"... corporately produced biochemicals, tranqs, mind-numbing antidepressants and the like have been successfully used privately on individuals to squelch the psychic anguish produced in the Darwinian workhouse America has become."

I agree, "Darwinian workhouse America" is the problem. A winner-take-all, hyper-competitive society makes fabulous winners out of a few, and losers out of everybody else – AND, these days, leaves so few spoils for the "everybody else" that there now is widespread anxiety over just being able to survive in the future. The negative effects of this insecurity cannot be overstated.

Add to that that in our "every man for himself" society, EVERYBODY seems to be angling to take as much as they can from you in any way they can (because the "losers" don't have enough or the greedy "winners" can never get enough, no matter how much they have), and simple trust in our fellow man (and woman) is lost. Day-to-day life under these conditions loses its luster and begins to feel more like a minimum-security prison than a vibrant and relaxed adventure.

Many, many mental illnesses can be traced to just a handful of influences: lack of security, lack of community, and lack of trust. We suffer all of these things in America today, and that is why so many of us are so sick.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Ever wonder about my screen name?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: improperly_sedated on Feb 11, 2009 10:00 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"If you feel you are not properly sedated, call 348-844 immediately. Failure to do so may result in prosecution for criminal drug evasion."

--Talking Medicine Cabinet from the film THX-1138.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Only In America
[Report this comment]
Posted by: renticy on Feb 11, 2009 10:07 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Great title for the article. Yes, many of the emotional difficulties of today's culture are uniquely American born. We are taught from birth to run faster, push harder, climb higher, to expect greater, and too many folks have actually taken it to heart.

We value and cherish our money and stuff over family, friends and community, and I believe we're the only culture to do so. The breakdown of family and community is truly reflected in the breakdown of the individual.

Someone earlier wrote the cure for depression as (sorry, can't recall the exact words):
Someone to love; work to do; something to look forward to.

So simple, yet so difficult. The collection of stuff is not, and never has been, a part of the equation -- except "Only In America."

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

WHAT EXACTLY IS "FEELING FINE" ?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: VZEQICVA on Feb 11, 2009 10:32 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We overshoot the runway on "how we feel". Sometimes it's normal to feel disappointed, rejected, just plain crappy. I have to point a finger at TV on this one. Commercials in particular. Some of these people take something or buy somethng and they feel so damned good it's scary. Our frame of reference is unrealistic. We demand things of ourselves and each other that we simply cannot live up to. Anything less than this imaginary "normal" has some deep meaning. Something's wrong. Must be depression. I don't think it is. It's time we cut ourselves and each other a break. If nothing else, when this bank/Wall St. fiasco settles we will have redefined the way we live. The "bubble" permeated every corner of our lives and it burst. It's Miller Time. A sure was to feel better is to find someone who needs a hand and help out. You won't have to look far. Thanks, ANNA

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Some good points, but overlooking others
[Report this comment]
Posted by: metallarissa on Feb 11, 2009 11:19 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As a grad student seeking a Counseling degree, according to your article, I should be one of those drones who are going to tell people that happiness rests within them, and thus, being a perfect government advocate. But several major counseling theories ADDRESS SYSTEMATIC SOCIETAL FACTORS AS A POSSIBLE CAUSE of discontent, whether you're going into counseling, clinical psych, or social work. Thus, I don't plan on just ignoring the fact that there are systems in place that are detrimental to individuals. I agree that a sense of unity is critical to mental health.
I also completely agree that mental illness is, in large part, a result of a civilization gone awry. I am familiar with ecological anthropology and have deep respect for cultures that have maintained balance with nature. It is no coincidence that mental illness is almost entirely unheard of in foragers (hunter/gatherers), but these cultures are disappearing and being forced to assimilate with "civilization."
Having said that, as a future counselor, I won't be afraid to address these types of issues or questions, and since I believe that society has a large role in our daily lives, that is something I will not ignore (read Ivey and Ivey's Interviewing Techniques if you think that counselors aren't aware of societal factors).
Those in the mental health professions around me (friends and colleagues) have good intentions and DO help others, despite your allegation that they often propagate mental illness rather than ease it.
Regardless of what you say, the reality is, if I keep someone from committing suicide, or ease one person's suffering, then I will not regret it and I certainly won't chalk it up to a government-sponsored propaganda program. We can help others without being in denial, you know.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Another great essay Joe Bageant
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Alenna on Feb 11, 2009 3:55 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Americans, with our standard of living, should be about the happiest people in the world. Even our poorest (except maybe some of the homeless on the street) generally have access to electricity, clean water, basic food, education, legal help, religion of choice etc. Imagine living in a country with dictator rule, or religious Taliban (Afghanistan), or terror rape gangs (Congo, Nigeria), or millions of people making 50-cents per hour.

Yet we are constantly told by our media that something is "wrong" with us. We're not skinny enough, we're not sexy enough, our breasts are too small, our butt is too big, our penis is not big enough, we have yellow teeth and body hair where it shouldn't be, and we are ignorant and uneducated and unpopular, and we need a bigger house, and a greener car, and our clothes are out-of-style, and our hair is out-of-style, and we need to keep up with the "in" crowd and get an IPOD and a Blackberry, and our blood pressure is too high and our vitamin D level is too low, and our cholesterol is too high, and we have premature ejaculation, and incontinence, and restless leg syndrome, and attention deficit hyperactive disorder, and we drink too much alcohol, and need to drink more water and take vitamins and drugs to make everything better.

We will probably get bald and divorced and cancer and anxiety disorder and manic-depression. Our children will probably have hyper-active disorder and get pregnant or get molested by child predators. We cannot be happy, because that would mean we aren't paying attention to the news. We aren't individual enough, but we don't fit in. We watch too much TV and don't get enough exercise. Our lives just suck. So just shut up and shop.....

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Big thumbs up
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Blue Heron on Feb 11, 2009 5:09 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This is very beautifully written... and liberating.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

best thing I've ever read on Alternet
[Report this comment]
Posted by: deborama on Feb 11, 2009 6:31 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Right on Joe. I'm shocked so many posters are defending the very sick US society and the very evil mental health industry (for it sure IS an industry, and like every industry, they need to create customers!) I recommend Thomas Szasz's The Myth of Mental Illness, which I was assigned in a very progressive graduate school (Sarah Lawrence). It explains exactly why our sick society needs to label some people as mentally ill, and who benefits (and who doesn't) from this totally artificial designation.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Karl Marx called this alienation-Bertel Ollman
[Report this comment]
Posted by: RR#1 on Feb 11, 2009 8:26 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
an Amcerican Marxist wrote a book called Marx's theory of human nature. He describes the alienation we feel in a society that produces commodities-products for sale. The produces for sale also have a use value. In human history most societies produced products for use and this use was communal. That is what made up our culture-how we defined ourselves what we made was a reflection of ourselves and our way of life. Moreover it is our nature to transform non-human nature, that is what makes us unique as a species. When we stop seeing the fruits of our labour as a reflection of ourselves and our collective society, when we produce only commodities for sale including our labour power (which is all most of us have to exchange in the marketplace and this and not income is what defines your class status) and the products that we produce are no longer our own-we alienate ourselves from our labour and from each other and the world around us. In any case, it is a shame that most in America do not have the tools to grapple with the issues of the day that Marx provided for us. His prognostications for the capitalist system have largely been born out. That is another reason why it is verboten to speak of the working-class in America-anything else but, we are all in some mythical middle. WE can discuss-sexism raceism to no end but class, that fundemental divide, has been erased from the academy and those who do speak of it are harrassed to no end if they do-this author is on to more than he realizes.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

ages old understandings.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: talkville on Feb 12, 2009 3:23 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When the body receives a battering, it must recover. When the psyche and its related processes, which are part of the body receive a battering, it must recover.

For ages, priests and magicians of all kinds have known these (priests, 'the first psychologists' Nietzsche called them). Suffering and misery are of critical and immense usefulness in matters of social control, bondage and relations of gain and profit. The more depression, the more the business of therapists, psychologists, pharmaceuticals and religious authorities grows. The more 'mental illness' the more these sectors thrive. What possible interest could all those individuals involved in careers of this sort have in minimizing or counter-acting the conditions that bring these states to individuals?? On the contrary, the more misery and suffering exists, the better!

Anyone who believes that, in capitalism, the objective is a whole and happy individual is harboring a terrible Illusion. That is the last thing any capitalist would like to realize. No money in it. Moreover, this would make it immensely difficult to maintain the hierarchic social order as it is -- serving a minuscule portion of the population that self-designates itself as entitled to rule. Misery and Necessity are the True Friends of Bondage. Besides the capitalists, the moralists among us know this well also; they have for more than 2000 years.

The advances in knowledge about our psychological mechanisms and processes has little to do with advancing our human development and our social relations. It has everything to do with the accumulation of capital.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Thank you . . .
[Report this comment]
Posted by: yesman on Feb 12, 2009 5:42 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
. . . so much for stating so much of the truth so entertainingly. The deep truth of your insights is attested to by the horrified reactions of those posters who are still enthralled by the Machine.

The only antidote for pervasive, grinding American misery is the joy of revolution, the joy of making together the world we want to live in. The Obama campaign was only a pale precursor to this much more desperately-needed project. Yes we can!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Capitalism is a Sick, Sick Society
[Report this comment]
Posted by: susan rosenthal1 on Feb 14, 2009 2:58 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's sick to deny the majority any control over their lives and insist that this condition is “normal.”

To contain those who protest, psychiatry extracts the individual from society, splits the brain from the body, severs the mind from the brain and drugs the brain. Mental Illness or Social Sickness?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Szasz
[Report this comment]
Posted by: paganpat on Feb 14, 2009 9:33 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You have been reading Thomas S.Szasz,M.D. Me thinks. Great stuff, more please. Most people are now aware that psychiatry is our way of avoiding confrontations with conflicts within society. Thomas called it "Psychiatric Slavery" some other books are " The Myth of Mental Illness", "The Manufacture of Madness","Schizophrenia:The Sacred Symbol of Psychiatry". Need I go on? These books are 40 and 50 yrs old but still great stuff as he was way ahead of his time.I love your essay and will look for your book.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Szasz Posted by: Dixie Dawg

Comments are closed-

hmmm...I won't join one
[Report this comment]
Posted by: blondesprite on Feb 15, 2009 2:44 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
but I might invite a few friends..*sweet smile*

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Bageant broke the code
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Dixie Dawg on Feb 15, 2009 8:14 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Sounds like the distilled version of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds meets Psychology As Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship.

Bageant broke the code. Good stuff.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Alternet Comments:

Comments are closed-

Only in America?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: MerrynS on Feb 11, 2009 1:10 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Most statements that begin "only in America" are solipsistic and demonstrably false. This is a good example.
America and "the Third World" do not make up the entire planet.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Is that a logical axiom? Posted by: and_abottleofrum
» RE: Only in America? Posted by: Parcival01
» RE: Only in America? Posted by: geneven

Comments are closed-

Why are we subject to these chronic bad vibes.....
[Report this comment]
Posted by: gellero1 on Feb 11, 2009 1:18 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Why must we be subject to this downer tone article.??

Please....go spend some time in the Third World......see what life is like there.


We are a moral, advanced culture. We are chauvanistic....and rightly so.

Save you angst for your next meeting.

Pick up another white chip, please. And give alms to the poor....

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

None of these Doctors require appointments.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: gellero1 on Feb 11, 2009 1:31 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
So you say in your article.That's cool....a laid back environment.....smoke a doob.....have a shot of tequila. It's all good. Having the money to live with the masses.

But this is a big LIE. The doctors you like to hang with....and perhaps they practice good medicine.....CANNOT OPERATE ON YOUR LUNG TUMOR.!!

That takes a high degree of commitment, and you will NEVER be able to see that type of person 'without an appointment'.

Your head is in the AlterClouds.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Jesus, man, take a breath! Posted by: BobKincaid
» RE: Jesus, man, take a breath! Posted by: Parcival01

Comments are closed-

Excellent article
[Report this comment]
Posted by: maxfactor on Feb 11, 2009 2:27 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
US is mostly third world. 100 milion people not having access to health service is Northafrica times 3...
3 million people incarcerated would make Stalin pround.
2/3rds depressed - the american way, I guess.
American exceptionalism need not apply.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Not so simple
[Report this comment]
Posted by: edgar1 on Feb 11, 2009 2:49 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Do psychiatrists "blame the patinet"? On what studies is this ideological assault on the medical profession based? People have biological issues; they have family issues, they suffer because of economic and social pressure and stress. It's a complex matter. Each patient is different while having as all humans do, similarities with other patients. A bit over the head of the political "good" "bad" dichotomy Alternet and other political sites and blogs thrive upon.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Legalize weed Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

Expat carpetbaggers
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Zeugitai on Feb 11, 2009 3:09 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Expatriate American carpetbaggers living Pitcairn-island lifestyles in clouds of smoke, drugs, and debauchery nevertheless are not unqualified to observe America with enlightening objectivity.

Good article.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: xpat carpetbaggers Posted by: richholland
» RE: xpat carpetbaggers Posted by: intrigued
» RE: Expat carpetbaggers Posted by: intrigued
» enlightened debauchery Posted by: Quasar
» RE: xpat carpetbaggers Posted by: StrayCat

Comments are closed-

thousands of packaged potions and lotions but no lavender...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Suzon on Feb 11, 2009 4:18 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Lavender has been recognized as theraputic for centuries. Its aroma soothes and relaxes. I have grown my own in the past but last year it was smothered between the sage and rosemary in my allotment.

That is why I was seeking it in Boots, England's best known "chemist", on Monday. All I wanted was a small bag of dried herbs but I would have settled for those herbs in an eye mask, if that was available.

No luck, of course. I surveyed the huge shop and its aisles loaded with thousands of items and felt rather impoverished, unable to acquire a few sprigs of what a hundred years ago the poorest English farm laborer could have easily plucked and tucked into his hat band.

Of course there are manufactured products which actually do alleviate aches and pains, but our world is primarily composed of things designed to make a profit. If we were able to eliminate the manufacture of things unnecessary to sustain human life, that to me would be a huge step in the right direction.

I'm not suggesting that we uninvent anything but that we examine what is worth producing and worth having. All the rest is what is ruining lives and the planet.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» So many good herbs Posted by: Beck
» RE: So many good herbs Posted by: superfeduphoosier

Comments are closed-

I couldn't say I'd have been any happier living in rural Misery (MO) than in St Louis.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Jennifer Bedingfield on Feb 11, 2009 4:40 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Sure, my folks would think I was unhappy as a city girl single instead of conceding to country girl housewife status and ignoring the world around me. It just saddens me that the more I know, the more depressing it really is out there. Every time I visit my parents out in the rurals, these small towns look worse than the last time I saw them which would be enough to bring tears to my eyes. Of course, I have to not look sad or else my parents, brothers, and all their friends will start lecturing me on why I should have stayed instead of moved as they don't trust the idea of living in the big cities despite my making a living there. Maybe I was wrong according to some to put higher education and career first even though it would cost me marriage. Once in a while I can get that lonely feeling as a single but I often remind myself based on what some of my married friends go through all too often that it's better to be single than get stuck with someone I don't like. Like politics, Eugene Debs's quote "It is better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don’t want and get it" can just as well apply to marriages and relationships.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» That list is NOT complete. Posted by: GuitarBill
» Ok, thanks for clarification. Posted by: Jennifer Bedingfield

Comments are closed-

Context is all...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Sherry M. on Feb 11, 2009 4:45 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
..and systems can determine our perception/perspective if we are unaware of their effects. The author makes some good points, but there's some contradiction: we're living in systems, as separate and lonely individuals, and we need to live in systems, connected to each other. As long as competition is the norm, we're at war. I became a psychologist in my fifties -- the author overgeneralizes about the profession, but having my first therapist suicide might have traumatized me too. I am constantly alerting my patients/clients (neither word fits and we're teacher/student to each other) to the toxic culture around them and their freedom to change it or leave it. He seems unaware of the consciousness movement here. Read Richard Moss or visit his website at www.richardmoss.com.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Context is all... Posted by: Beck
» RE: Context is all... Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: Context is all... Posted by: StrayCat

Comments are closed-

The Next Step
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Revolutionary (Direct) Democracy on Feb 11, 2009 4:47 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Only in America can the illusion of liberty be turned into reality.


FREE AMERICA

REVOLUTIONARY (DIRECT) DEMOCRACY

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: The Next Step Posted by: Beck

Comments are closed-

This article broaches the core topic of civilization's affect on human psychology: anomie.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: and_abottleofrum on Feb 11, 2009 4:51 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The social formations in which we as a species did most of our evolving were highly communal, egalitarian bands of foragers where there was virtually no surplus wealth to be monopolized by ambitious cohorts. Aside from a certain degree of labor specialization based on gender and age, and relatively minor differentials of prestige between some competitive individuals - which wouldn't in any case translate into greatly different survival prospects for those individuals or their offspring - the norms of the group applied equally to all members.

In the rise of complex societies (surplus economies) we see a strong specialization of labor and a stratification of social cohorts, whereby the legal codes and moral claims of a society reflected disproportionately the values and interests of the ruling class. Thus alienation of large portions of the population began, as society was no longer structured to serve the interests of all, but rather the majority were meant to serve the interests of the few.

With industrialization divisions of labor and disparities in wealth and power (which are essentially the same thing: control of resources both natural and human) are exacerbated.

The more complex a society becomes, the more normless it becomes, and legal enforcement of behavioral standards supplants social enforcement. This is because social checks on many behaviors become impractical as large sections of the society have little interest in behaviors when they mainly affect other cohorts, and the ultimate function of laws is to uphold a status quo that serves the populace unequally. For example if a beggar steals food from a market, many people would condone this action and find punishment inappropriate given the circumstances. In order to protect the better off market owner, a legal prohibition must be created and enforced.

With increased social complexity, people are less able to identity with the whole of the society of which they find themselves a supposed member, especially the people at the bottom of the hierarchy. People in general become hesitant to interact with others because it is more difficult to predict which values and norms the other person has adopted, thus there is a greater chance of incurring a social rebuke or even initiating some form of conflict.

The pressure to internalize the values of distinct segments of society, especially those of higher-status groups, leads to a warping of a person's understanding of self-interest. In this way it becomes possible for normally empathetic people to believe, artificially, that it is right to send a desperate person to jail for stealing food, or in a previous society maybe flog that person publicly or cut off his or her hand. Believing such punishments to be right runs against the social instinct of most humans, and even when they have internalized the prescriptions of a legal code there is still a part of their basic nature that feels alienated from their society.

Complex societies have wrought a tremendous impact on human psychology. I wouldn't be surprised to someday learn that during the earliest years of civilizations there may have been a systemic need to cull the less obedient and pliable variations of human psychology through high rates of execution or warfare. But that issue is speculative. The psychological affects of social formations are not often discussed, however the topic deserves much more attention.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: No, Beck is not my wife. (!?!?!?!?!) Posted by: Jennifer Bedingfield

Comments are closed-

Joe Bageant
[Report this comment]
Posted by: mwildfire on Feb 11, 2009 5:40 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As a person from elsewhere living in West Virginia, I found his Deer Hunting With Jesus book very useful. As a person who worked a couple years as a case manager in the local community mental health agency. I found this perspective equally interesting.
In one line, however, he says "except for clearly organic conditions..." But there's the rub. Which are those? He failed to fault our mental health system for its obsession with labelling everyone it treats with DSM codes--his would be Major Depression, recurrent, moderate, perhaps--but the reality is that no one really knows which conditions are organic, or genetic, and which are a result of experiences (sexual abuse being a top cause of problems). Or more likely, in any individual or any particular condition, how much is a genetic predisposition, perhaps exacerbated by physical factors (drinking too much soda and eating junk food, or alcohol abuse) and how much is environmental? He's quite right that the establishment insists on treating depression as a personal issue, with no acknowledgement that our society has a bad case of not only major depression but serious personality disorders--and also that the doctors, therapists, psychiatrists and even case managers see themselves collectively as a very separate class above the clients. I was admonished by all not to treat my clients as friends, advice I ignored. Another problem is the focus on drugs as the solution for nearly everything. I do have to say--if depression is his problem alcohol is a bad idea. Not that he should never touch the stuff, but lots of it is only likely to worsen depression. Whereas heading for a friendly, emotionally healthy place where he can hang with friends and get plenty of winter sunshine, that sounds like a good idea. And exercise.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

melusine
[Report this comment]
Posted by: melusine on Feb 11, 2009 5:57 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Joe, read Wilhelm Reich regarding "the emotional plague." He pointed this out in the 30s. "Listen, Little Man" covered this ground also. Hope you stay well! Ignore the madness of crowds wherever you go!

Leslie devries, sacramento, hellifornia

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Orgones?? Posted by: Parcival01
» Reich was a nut??? Posted by: whathaway
» RE: Orgones?? Posted by: melusine

Comments are closed-

Isolation
[Report this comment]
Posted by: taxidriver on Feb 11, 2009 5:58 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Yes, many Americans are atomistic and isolated. Perhaps that's one big reason why Obama caught fire: His message wasn't "Yes, I can," it was "Yes, we can."

I think Americans are looking for a savior precisely because so many of us feel alone. After all, Jesus is advertised as being "my personal savior," a God of love, and Lord knows most of us need more love.

Technology seems to be isolating people even more; many older people are reluctant to use it, perhaps for good reason. I'm amazed at the number of people with their faces stuck in cell phones and laptops, or isolated by their I-pods. They walk around in their own virtual reality, detached from the people around them, just like the humans on that spaceship in Wall-E.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Your immaturity is showing. Posted by: Karina
Sorry, this comment has been removed from the system.

Comments are closed-

bob
[Report this comment]
Posted by: davy on Feb 11, 2009 6:12 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The comments regarding this article certainly seem to verify the truth in it. Ahhh America, the land of comfortably numb.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» You're missing the point. Posted by: superfeduphoosier

Comments are closed-

3 cheers for Joe Bageant
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Parcival01 on Feb 11, 2009 6:45 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As the spouse of a "clinical social worker" from whom I frequently hear pretty silly jargon disguised as wisdom, I couldn't wait to read this article. Joe didn't let me down.

Incidentally, I note that some comments challenge Joe's "objectivity," are offended, for example, at his drawing a distinction between the US and the rest of the world. As he said after "Deer Hunting With Jesus," a fine book by the way, he sees himself as kind of a gonzo journalist (like Hunter Thompson). So don't take it too seriously. Certainly, don't examine it, and become one of the over-academic, self-absorbed types to whom Joe refers.

And as I peruse the comments on this page, too many of them are clear demonstrations of what Joe is talking about. (Someone even suggested reading Wilhelm Reich!)

By the way, I'm approaching the later years of my life--I'm almost Joe's age--and have never really "fit it." So I know of the aloneness of which Joe speaks. At the same time, I will NEVER become the corporate puppets who are my in-laws. (Better dead than...what?) But they, who've always made much, much more than I, will fall back on the psychological "practices," too stupid to acknowledge their contributions to what's causing this whole country to fall apart.

It's enough to make a guy laugh....

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: 3 cheers for Joe Bageant Posted by: blondesprite
» RE: 3 cheers for Joe Bageant Posted by: Parcival01

Comments are closed-

Boy, did he nail it with this:
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Beck on Feb 11, 2009 7:13 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"Unfortunately, Americans get laughed off the map for being overly human these days, dubbed emotional wimps, part of the Kumbaya crowd, unrealistic utopians … and if you are sincerely human enough, you get your ass kicked by the system"

And you get called idiots and sheep and told your enthusiasm means you are deluded and blind. Truly baffling.

Time to ease up on that. We are all Americans, and can be in this together, or can stay divided by culture and by our own continuing choices and ideologies, and therefore continue to be conquerable.

Thanks, Joe, once again, and thanks for the kind words about Obama, both now and previously

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

ba
[Report this comment]
Posted by: mnstra on Feb 11, 2009 7:18 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The writer writes like a 20 year old. Very sophomoric. Yet the grain of truth in the article is the one about privatizing my mental illness. that is so true. I recall going to the Doctor
for treatment of depression, and he made me feel like it was only I who harbored these feelings and it was a fault my my own individuality. Yet the American culture produces depressions through its regimentation, abuse of taxpayers and its alienation. It was like trying to dry myself off while still in the river.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Yup
[Report this comment]
Posted by: beanboyz on Feb 11, 2009 7:58 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I'd say the title sums it all up. Only in America!

RT
Privacy Center

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

The century of the self-absorbed
[Report this comment]
Posted by: advancedatheist on Feb 11, 2009 8:06 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You might want to look up Tony Curtis's four part documentary (available several places on the internet) about how the ruling class latched onto psychoanalysis a new tool to keep the sheep in line:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_the_Self

Curtis points out that our culture's obsession with expressing one's feelings even in inappropriate contexts would have sounded strange and perverse to people living before the 20th Century.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Lets Face It America is Extremely Strange
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Feb 11, 2009 8:29 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
My niece was a Professor at Louisiana State University when Katrina hit.

She personally helped turn the campus into an emergency rescue centre for the victims

She came to see me later that year at Christmas

She went back to America after failing to get a job in Europe and gave birth to her American Child

And is now living in Germany

And you still haven't cleaned up the mess.

This compares with what happenned with the Tsunami

I was out there a few months after it happenned

What the hell is wrong with Americans?

You can't even clear up your own mess in your own country

Weren't you ashamed to be offerred immediate help from Cuba whilst your federal Government was still partying - and then responded by sending in snipers

YOU ARE MAD

Sure I am as well - but I know how to help people

Tony

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

You don't have to go to Belize ...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: stellabloo on Feb 11, 2009 8:32 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
... to realize how crazy some american "ideals" have become.

Take gun laws, for example ... mention something like "mandatory waiting periods and criminal checks" and wow, you are handing the civilization over to the darkies :.(

Same with healthcare, try explaining that good prenatal and early childhood healthcare pays for itself in the long run by creating healthy adults less likely to fall into the same ol dysfunctional patterns.

Speaking of dysfunctional, how about a story on the link between antidepressants, violence and suicide? Now there's a side effect that the APA has lobbied very vigorously to suppress ... If consumer society hasn't made you crazy yet, there's a good chance prozac might push you over the edge :.?

Yes, the consumer rat race is mind-numbingly pointless. That was what the pyschedelic revolution was all about. Why do you suppose that Nixon (Reagan/Bush/Bush) hated marijuana so much? Because all the little rats quit pushing their buttons like they were supposed to. The other problem, the one NEVER mentioned, is that the pyschedelic "reality" doesn't go away after a certain point because it is a truer reality than the one most of us have grown up to believe in.

I think of my 5 year old daughter, growing up in a town of 800 people. When we go to the city, everyone is a potential new friend with a story to tell. She doesn't understand why some city people pass by her with closed faces. Would that we could all reclaim our lost innocence.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

He does have a point, though
[Report this comment]
Posted by: QuestionAuthority on Feb 11, 2009 8:42 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I think that, given the current state of the US, a thinking, feeling person will have a hard time avoiding depression. And rightly so. It's even worse for those that, like me, were born in the US and brought up through our formative years overseas.

This is not the America that I was brought up to believe in or was born in back in the 1950's. Especially America as it has become in the last 10 years.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Pretty Accurate Joe
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Robert Wales, Ph.D. on Feb 11, 2009 8:55 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Enjoyed your wriing. Thank you. Yes, yes, I am a psychologist, albeit retired at a young age, thank you. But not one of the kind who feels threatened by such writings as this born of experiential and observational aspects of simply living. I would like to say the largest provider of 'mental health' in the US is the prison system. Not only is that alone a sorry state of affairs but the quality is so poor as to be harmful and routinely turns suffering back upon the individual creating yet another deficit in society. Shameful stuff. The good news in CA is they are running out of money to create suffering and are having to release thousands of 'low-level' offenders. Something good from something 'bad'. Too bad it has to come from economic distress but, ok, fine, just allow change to happen already in whatever form it takes. Less money for the state is a blessing in so many ways.
And, yes, who needs the APA with their parsing of torture. How can you parse such an event? I am also suprised how many health 'professionals' are writing in with egoic objections that frequently begin with, 'yes, but!' or, 'you said!'. Viewing the world through the ego-the mind-is truly problematic. My colleagues often miss this uually trading it in for a nice suit,status and the like. Guess they feel they went to school for a long time and 'deserve' something from the system, from society. Keep writin' Joe with one eye on-the-ocean.,..

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Robert Wales, PhD
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Robert Wales, Ph.D. on Feb 11, 2009 9:09 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Yes, yes I am a psychologist albeit reired young. Thank you. Good article. I want to add the largest provider of mental health in the US is the prison system which, in CA, is running out of money and being foced to release thousands of low-level offenders. The state running out of money is such a blessing in so many ways. Sad to see it born of economic distress but good to see change come in whatever form it comes. Keep writing with one eye on the water Joe.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Robert Wales, PhD Posted by: tony_opmoc

Comments are closed-

Cut-throat, laissez-faire capitalism, that "best of all systems," sucks.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: monkeywrench on Feb 11, 2009 9:42 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"... corporately produced biochemicals, tranqs, mind-numbing antidepressants and the like have been successfully used privately on individuals to squelch the psychic anguish produced in the Darwinian workhouse America has become."

I agree, "Darwinian workhouse America" is the problem. A winner-take-all, hyper-competitive society makes fabulous winners out of a few, and losers out of everybody else – AND, these days, leaves so few spoils for the "everybody else" that there now is widespread anxiety over just being able to survive in the future. The negative effects of this insecurity cannot be overstated.

Add to that that in our "every man for himself" society, EVERYBODY seems to be angling to take as much as they can from you in any way they can (because the "losers" don't have enough or the greedy "winners" can never get enough, no matter how much they have), and simple trust in our fellow man (and woman) is lost. Day-to-day life under these conditions loses its luster and begins to feel more like a minimum-security prison than a vibrant and relaxed adventure.

Many, many mental illnesses can be traced to just a handful of influences: lack of security, lack of community, and lack of trust. We suffer all of these things in America today, and that is why so many of us are so sick.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Ever wonder about my screen name?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: improperly_sedated on Feb 11, 2009 10:00 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"If you feel you are not properly sedated, call 348-844 immediately. Failure to do so may result in prosecution for criminal drug evasion."

--Talking Medicine Cabinet from the film THX-1138.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Only In America
[Report this comment]
Posted by: renticy on Feb 11, 2009 10:07 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Great title for the article. Yes, many of the emotional difficulties of today's culture are uniquely American born. We are taught from birth to run faster, push harder, climb higher, to expect greater, and too many folks have actually taken it to heart.

We value and cherish our money and stuff over family, friends and community, and I believe we're the only culture to do so. The breakdown of family and community is truly reflected in the breakdown of the individual.

Someone earlier wrote the cure for depression as (sorry, can't recall the exact words):
Someone to love; work to do; something to look forward to.

So simple, yet so difficult. The collection of stuff is not, and never has been, a part of the equation -- except "Only In America."

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

WHAT EXACTLY IS "FEELING FINE" ?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: VZEQICVA on Feb 11, 2009 10:32 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We overshoot the runway on "how we feel". Sometimes it's normal to feel disappointed, rejected, just plain crappy. I have to point a finger at TV on this one. Commercials in particular. Some of these people take something or buy somethng and they feel so damned good it's scary. Our frame of reference is unrealistic. We demand things of ourselves and each other that we simply cannot live up to. Anything less than this imaginary "normal" has some deep meaning. Something's wrong. Must be depression. I don't think it is. It's time we cut ourselves and each other a break. If nothing else, when this bank/Wall St. fiasco settles we will have redefined the way we live. The "bubble" permeated every corner of our lives and it burst. It's Miller Time. A sure was to feel better is to find someone who needs a hand and help out. You won't have to look far. Thanks, ANNA

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Some good points, but overlooking others
[Report this comment]
Posted by: metallarissa on Feb 11, 2009 11:19 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As a grad student seeking a Counseling degree, according to your article, I should be one of those drones who are going to tell people that happiness rests within them, and thus, being a perfect government advocate. But several major counseling theories ADDRESS SYSTEMATIC SOCIETAL FACTORS AS A POSSIBLE CAUSE of discontent, whether you're going into counseling, clinical psych, or social work. Thus, I don't plan on just ignoring the fact that there are systems in place that are detrimental to individuals. I agree that a sense of unity is critical to mental health.
I also completely agree that mental illness is, in large part, a result of a civilization gone awry. I am familiar with ecological anthropology and have deep respect for cultures that have maintained balance with nature. It is no coincidence that mental illness is almost entirely unheard of in foragers (hunter/gatherers), but these cultures are disappearing and being forced to assimilate with "civilization."
Having said that, as a future counselor, I won't be afraid to address these types of issues or questions, and since I believe that society has a large role in our daily lives, that is something I will not ignore (read Ivey and Ivey's Interviewing Techniques if you think that counselors aren't aware of societal factors).
Those in the mental health professions around me (friends and colleagues) have good intentions and DO help others, despite your allegation that they often propagate mental illness rather than ease it.
Regardless of what you say, the reality is, if I keep someone from committing suicide, or ease one person's suffering, then I will not regret it and I certainly won't chalk it up to a government-sponsored propaganda program. We can help others without being in denial, you know.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Another great essay Joe Bageant
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Alenna on Feb 11, 2009 3:55 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Americans, with our standard of living, should be about the happiest people in the world. Even our poorest (except maybe some of the homeless on the street) generally have access to electricity, clean water, basic food, education, legal help, religion of choice etc. Imagine living in a country with dictator rule, or religious Taliban (Afghanistan), or terror rape gangs (Congo, Nigeria), or millions of people making 50-cents per hour.

Yet we are constantly told by our media that something is "wrong" with us. We're not skinny enough, we're not sexy enough, our breasts are too small, our butt is too big, our penis is not big enough, we have yellow teeth and body hair where it shouldn't be, and we are ignorant and uneducated and unpopular, and we need a bigger house, and a greener car, and our clothes are out-of-style, and our hair is out-of-style, and we need to keep up with the "in" crowd and get an IPOD and a Blackberry, and our blood pressure is too high and our vitamin D level is too low, and our cholesterol is too high, and we have premature ejaculation, and incontinence, and restless leg syndrome, and attention deficit hyperactive disorder, and we drink too much alcohol, and need to drink more water and take vitamins and drugs to make everything better.

We will probably get bald and divorced and cancer and anxiety disorder and manic-depression. Our children will probably have hyper-active disorder and get pregnant or get molested by child predators. We cannot be happy, because that would mean we aren't paying attention to the news. We aren't individual enough, but we don't fit in. We watch too much TV and don't get enough exercise. Our lives just suck. So just shut up and shop.....

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Big thumbs up
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Blue Heron on Feb 11, 2009 5:09 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This is very beautifully written... and liberating.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

best thing I've ever read on Alternet
[Report this comment]
Posted by: deborama on Feb 11, 2009 6:31 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Right on Joe. I'm shocked so many posters are defending the very sick US society and the very evil mental health industry (for it sure IS an industry, and like every industry, they need to create customers!) I recommend Thomas Szasz's The Myth of Mental Illness, which I was assigned in a very progressive graduate school (Sarah Lawrence). It explains exactly why our sick society needs to label some people as mentally ill, and who benefits (and who doesn't) from this totally artificial designation.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Karl Marx called this alienation-Bertel Ollman
[Report this comment]
Posted by: RR#1 on Feb 11, 2009 8:26 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
an Amcerican Marxist wrote a book called Marx's theory of human nature. He describes the alienation we feel in a society that produces commodities-products for sale. The produces for sale also have a use value. In human history most societies produced products for use and this use was communal. That is what made up our culture-how we defined ourselves what we made was a reflection of ourselves and our way of life. Moreover it is our nature to transform non-human nature, that is what makes us unique as a species. When we stop seeing the fruits of our labour as a reflection of ourselves and our collective society, when we produce only commodities for sale including our labour power (which is all most of us have to exchange in the marketplace and this and not income is what defines your class status) and the products that we produce are no longer our own-we alienate ourselves from our labour and from each other and the world around us. In any case, it is a shame that most in America do not have the tools to grapple with the issues of the day that Marx provided for us. His prognostications for the capitalist system have largely been born out. That is another reason why it is verboten to speak of the working-class in America-anything else but, we are all in some mythical middle. WE can discuss-sexism raceism to no end but class, that fundemental divide, has been erased from the academy and those who do speak of it are harrassed to no end if they do-this author is on to more than he realizes.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

ages old understandings.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: talkville on Feb 12, 2009 3:23 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When the body receives a battering, it must recover. When the psyche and its related processes, which are part of the body receive a battering, it must recover.

For ages, priests and magicians of all kinds have known these (priests, 'the first psychologists' Nietzsche called them). Suffering and misery are of critical and immense usefulness in matters of social control, bondage and relations of gain and profit. The more depression, the more the business of therapists, psychologists, pharmaceuticals and religious authorities grows. The more 'mental illness' the more these sectors thrive. What possible interest could all those individuals involved in careers of this sort have in minimizing or counter-acting the conditions that bring these states to individuals?? On the contrary, the more misery and suffering exists, the better!

Anyone who believes that, in capitalism, the objective is a whole and happy individual is harboring a terrible Illusion. That is the last thing any capitalist would like to realize. No money in it. Moreover, this would make it immensely difficult to maintain the hierarchic social order as it is -- serving a minuscule portion of the population that self-designates itself as entitled to rule. Misery and Necessity are the True Friends of Bondage. Besides the capitalists, the moralists among us know this well also; they have for more than 2000 years.

The advances in knowledge about our psychological mechanisms and processes has little to do with advancing our human development and our social relations. It has everything to do with the accumulation of capital.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Thank you . . .
[Report this comment]
Posted by: yesman on Feb 12, 2009 5:42 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
. . . so much for stating so much of the truth so entertainingly. The deep truth of your insights is attested to by the horrified reactions of those posters who are still enthralled by the Machine.

The only antidote for pervasive, grinding American misery is the joy of revolution, the joy of making together the world we want to live in. The Obama campaign was only a pale precursor to this much more desperately-needed project. Yes we can!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Capitalism is a Sick, Sick Society
[Report this comment]
Posted by: susan rosenthal1 on Feb 14, 2009 2:58 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's sick to deny the majority any control over their lives and insist that this condition is “normal.”

To contain those who protest, psychiatry extracts the individual from society, splits the brain from the body, severs the mind from the brain and drugs the brain. Mental Illness or Social Sickness?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Szasz
[Report this comment]
Posted by: paganpat on Feb 14, 2009 9:33 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You have been reading Thomas S.Szasz,M.D. Me thinks. Great stuff, more please. Most people are now aware that psychiatry is our way of avoiding confrontations with conflicts within society. Thomas called it "Psychiatric Slavery" some other books are " The Myth of Mental Illness", "The Manufacture of Madness","Schizophrenia:The Sacred Symbol of Psychiatry". Need I go on? These books are 40 and 50 yrs old but still great stuff as he was way ahead of his time.I love your essay and will look for your book.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Szasz Posted by: Dixie Dawg

Comments are closed-

hmmm...I won't join one
[Report this comment]
Posted by: blondesprite on Feb 15, 2009 2:44 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
but I might invite a few friends..*sweet smile*

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Bageant broke the code
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Dixie Dawg on Feb 15, 2009 8:14 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Sounds like the distilled version of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds meets Psychology As Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship.

Bageant broke the code. Good stuff.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

 
Advertisement
From The Blog
 
The Hollywood Double Standard: Tiger gets cooked, Charlie Sheen gets another free pass
 
Is Greece the New AIG?
 
Confused About Nutrition? Eat Food!
 
Insurer Denies Life-Prolonging Treatment To Five-Year-Old Boy With Cancer
 
Budget Paranoia
 
Why Does the U.S. Assassinate Americans?
 
Jon Stewart: Why Does Sarah Palin Need a Cheat Sheet?
 
We Must Lift the Veil on US Troops in Pakistan
 
Pushing for “Zero Tolerance” on Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo
 
Updated: Obama Calls GOP Bluff on Health-Care Reform
 
MORE 
ALL BLOGS 
 
 
Most Read
Most Emailed
Most Discussed
On REDDIT
On DIGG
 
  1. Why Are Americans Passive as Millions Lose Their Homes, Jobs, Families and the American Dream?
  2. 5 Ways Techno-Gadgetry Is Bringing Out the Worst in Humanity
  3. Why Has the FDA Allowed a Drug Marked 'Not Safe for Use in Humans' to Be Fed to Livestock Right Before Slaughter?
  4. Shadow Elite: How the World's New Power Brokers Are Upending Our Democracy
  5. New Poll Results Are Proof That Republicans Don't Think
  6. White "Savior-Afflicted" Christians, Black Haitian Babies: This Won't End Well
  7. Why I Had to Stop Making Hardcore Porn
  8. It's Now More Dangerous to Give Birth in California Than It Is in Kuwait or Bosnia
  9. Sarah Palin Aims to Bust Up the Republican Party -- And the Tea Party Movement
  10. The Newest Diet Trend: What Would Jesus Eat?
loading ...
POWERED BY DIGG'S USERS
ABOUT DIGG