I've been an advocate for positive psychology for over 20 years. But I find myself taking a very negative tack when it comes to politics.
I struggle with this contradiction. My spirit wants to be positive, but my gut goes negative.
In the world of psychology, I've worked through this inner conflict. At one point, I argued that it was possible for any "problem" to be dealt with from a positive perspective. You could develop a strategy to move towards a positive mental, emotional, spiritual state, develop positive skills, techniques, etc.
But gradually, I was convinced that, while positive psychology is a great idea, a powerful approach that could make a huge difference in individuals' lives, that could take them to better places and mental emotional states than they'd ever experienced, you still have to deal with the negative. You still have to confront childhood trauma, abuses and suffering. You still have to face fears, anxieties, bad habits and unhealthy mental or behavioral patterns.
In illness, exercise and good nutrition can get you so far, but if you are infected with a pathogen, you have to kill it. You have to identify the pathogen and then treat it with an antibiotic, antiviral-- something that will kill it and stop the infection. Then, the good stuff-- exercise, healthy living, good nutrition can all do their work to make you healthier, more vibrant.
I want to see the United States and the whole earth and all of humanity at peace, healthy, with fairness and justice, absence of suffering, absence of hunger, poverty for all.
I want to see children from all backgrounds given good educations, educations that support diversity, tolerance and understanding and respect for other cultures and beliefs.
I want to see a USA and a world that supports making the environment healthier and safer, that does all it can to treat the earth and all its creatures with respect, that values life, not just unborn fetuses, but all living creatures.
I want to see a USA and a world where living beings are treated better than corporations, where corporations are put in their place as servants and creations of mankind, not as feudal purveyors of favors to humans. I want to be sure that the USA does not participate in any treaties that favor corporations over humans, or that take away human rights or invalidate laws passed by democratic processes-- like the WTO, NAFTA, CAFTA, IMF, WB and others do.
Now Republicans look at my list and use their well worn and effective talking point, saying that I'm complaining, and not suggesting anything new, not coming up with plans. But they say that about any progressive or Democratic idea that is not consistent with their vision of smaller government and pro-corporate environment. They ignore actual proposals, focus on criticism of their destructive, anti-human, soul-less policies and label us negative.
I've realized that we progressives are the new conservatives. We seek to maintain and restore the values of the founders, of the constitution and even of the bible, where the people were reqarded with the land of milk and honey, not oil and de-regulation. We progressives are defenders of the old ways. We also have visions of positive futures, with clean renewable energy, greater freedoms and equality for all, better use of our shared commons-- education, ecology, public areas, natural resources, human resources.
The right wing labels many of these "visions" "big government and they attack or ignore them.
That's where my dark side starts to wake up. Maybe I should reframe it to be my political counterpart to an antibiotic-- an anti-right-wing-extremist-nutcase-corporatist medicine. Maybe I should see it as the strong, aggressive approach one must take if a patient is infected. You kill the pathogen. In this case we're talking about a toxic right wing philosophy that is anti-human, anti-democratic, criminial, thuggish and totally toxic to the American way that millions of brave heroic soldiers fought to uphold.
Yesterday, I watched Al Gore's movie, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, and tears welled up, repeatedly. I kept thinking what a brilliant, heartful, moral man Gore is, that he could have been positively leading the US into the future, and that instead we've had the despicable, pinheaded, shallow, immoral, criminal we've had thanks to the supreme court's coronation of king george. I cried and I grit my teeth in anger, thinking about the stupid white southern men, the dishonest politicians and the members of religious groups-- people who have become traitors to the USA, traitors to the constitution, traitors to the America we've loved.
And it's not that I'm totally anti-corporation. I am, after all, an entrepreneur. I've made my living as a small businessman for the last 25 years. I've written about progressive approaches to business. There are good ways to include businesses big and small in a positive progressive vision. Corporations COULD be a part of the solution, part of the evolutionary progress. But the only way that will happen is if laws-- national and international laws are passed that require corporations to function in ways that benefit humanity. In 1940, master science fiction and science writer Isaac Asimov created his three laws of robotics:
Isaac Asimov's 3 Laws of Rootics (1940) First Law: A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
Anyone who has ever started a corporation knows why she did it. It was to use large quantities of other people's money without any liability. Avoiding liability is accomplished by creating a legal person with all the rights of a human person given by the IV Amendment. This "person" has only one ethic and that is the bottom line. Decision making is done by "cost benefit analysis", that means that if the cars are catching fire will we recall them, or will we simply settle the lawsuits?
The CEO is an employee hired to take the rap for any crimes committed by the corporation that in a normal business would be borne by the owner. That is why he is so highly paid. Read Richard Mokhiber's "Crimes of the corporations".
Corporations have committed murder but get away with a fine. You can't throw a corporation in jail or put it on death row. There is no such thing as a "good" corporation and you can not reform it because that would eliminate its reason for being.
Humans come and go but corporations live on. We can get rid of today's human bastards but they are replaced. We are now faced with the neccesity of outlawing the corporation business form. This is the real unpleasant truth.
by
gramps (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 107 comments) on Saturday, Jul 1, 2006 at 3:13:09 PM
Reply: I agree. RevokiCorporate Personhood should be a major Issue
Just googling the phrase "corporate personhood" brings a wealth of information on the topic. Democrats should be using this as a major theme to separate themselves from republican corporatists.
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Rob Kall (953 articles, 4178 quicklinks, 374 diaries, 2087 comments [45 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Saturday, Jul 1, 2006 at 7:29:21 PM
In the late seventies, I had the good fortune of interviewing the late, great David Brower (who was the closest thing to Jesus in the last century, near as I can tell).
I asked how he dealt with having to appear "negative" so often. He replied, without hesitation, that if you are AGAINST something, you are also FOR something. For example, if you are against a dam, you are FOR a free-flowing river; if you are against nuclear power, you are FOR conservation, efficiency and alternative energy; if you are against the destruction of wilderness, you are FOR the preservation of wilderness. And so on.
Shifting from the wisdom of this extraordinary human being, to that microscopic sliver of ignorance of one of the smallest minds, that of Rush Limbaugh, it's clear that the latter--so symbolic of all too many Americans--is AGAINST everything that would foster survival of our species, AGAINST everything that reason and logic might lead us to, and AGAINST the very notion of a planet on which we might go on living (I often wonder if these guys even know we are on a planet!).
David somehow remained outwardly positive and did not resort to name calling, even regarding all those fuckin' dickheads out there. There's a video about him, which I recommend, titled Monumental.
David's former cohort, Amory Lovins, took Dave's positivism a step further, and I can only marvel at THIS man's greatness and positive approach. Check out Aikido Politics on this link, if you want more food for thought on the subject: http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid154.php
by
Daniel Geery (26 articles, 95 quicklinks, 126 diaries, 912 comments [27 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Jul 8, 2006 at 10:48:27 AM
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