From the book "The Psychology of Self-Esteem" by Nathaniel Branden, circa 1969...recommended by a friend. The essence of the book is that, like food, water, shelter, security, etc. "self-esteem" is also a vital human need and that if goes unmet in many regards, pathological behaviors and tendencies ultimately arise. Anyway, the passage of particular interest was this:
pp 167-8: "Then there are the persons who are basically lacking in intellectual sovereignty. The worst guilt is reserved for this psychological type, i.e., those whose approach to moral judgments is authoritarian. In such cases, the force of their moral beliefs derives, not from rational understanding, but from the say-so of "significant others" [sic "experts/authorities"]. And when the authorities' rules are breached, there is no healthy core of inner sovereignty to protect the transgressors from feelings of metaphysical worthlessness. To themselves they are nothing but their bad actions. This is one of the reasons why pathological anxiety is often experienced as fear of the disapproval of others. "Others" are perceived as the voice of objective reality--calling them to judgment. It is among such persons that guilt is most often a conscious part of the anxiety experience. Also, it is among such persons that the anxiety itself is likely to be most severe."
This matches up very well with David Hawkins' work on developing his scale of consciousness in which he suggests that the lowest rungs of the scale are shame and guilt in which the person locked in these emotions is unable to properly apprehend reality and distinguish truth from falsehood.
What I found most interesting in this passage was the feelings of "Metaphysical Worthlessness". I'm translating this as a sense of purposelessness emanating deeply from within.
My rough translation of our current predicament is: The cabal is deliberately trying to create these pathological disorders through popular culture and then preying upon these people by creating the appearance of "Popular causes" (I support the next thing) that then temporarily fills the void of the NPCs/SJWs "metaphysical worthlessness" for a short while. In short, these people are 'adrift at sea' with a deep sense of purposelessness that are easily recruited to sustain the next "insane" thing they throw at us.
I'm curious as to what you all think of this...please share/discuss!
Yes, self-esteem is a vital need, and real self-esteem comes from proper treatment in childhood (and earlier, actually).
People who are treated with love and respect in childhood have a natural, deeply grounded, life-long self-esteem that helps them deal with harsh truths and other negative experiences with grace and strength. When you've grown up being loved and esteemed (given freedom, respect, agency) you don't suddenly develop self-esteem issues as an adult. Nor are you cruel to others, with bizarre moral authoritarianism or anything else.
We've all known or at least met people with deep-seated self-esteem -- the kind that doesn't have a tense or grim overtone, that is generous and compassionate without being saccharine, that respects others and life generally but is, nonetheless, awake to those who are toxic.
For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence by Alice Miller describes the relevant dynamics in great detail, including a look at the childhoods of mass-murderers. Miller makes it clear that violence isn't the only problem stemming from cruelty in childhood, and that cruelty-free childhoods create very different and healthier personalities. For example:
Consider Jesus' ministry in this light:
Matthew 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
18:5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
and
John: 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
For specifics about the kinds of damage and symptoms created by trauma in childhood (from not only cruelty but from whatever source, such as loss of a parent), consider the ACE Study, with a cohort of over 17,000 people. You will be stunned at the findings, both in terms of how common such traumas are and the wide spectrum of harmful outcomes they create.
https://pinetreeinstitute.org/aces/
Great comments. Childhood traumas are incredibly devastating. I'm now evaluating solutions, both practical and spiritual in nature, to help them out of the darkness. Your comments are duly noted and integrated. Thanks!
I'd be interested to hear what you come up with, because this is a very tough nut to crack.
Repairing damage from trauma is notoriously difficult. Nearly all psychotherapy and self-help approaches involve STRENGTHENING defenses (i.e., making the person even MORE neurotic, because neurosis IS the repression of feeling).
That can lead to a CHANGE of defenses / symptoms which can be an improvement (more focus on exercise, less focus on alcohol for instance) but can just as easily be the reverse. And defenses / symptoms include things like high blood pressure that aren't usually visible or noticed, but which can have health effects.
Recidivism among psych patients, or for that matter those trying to eat less to lose weight or otherwise change their own behavior, is very high, and I don't know of anything that has a magic-bullet effect on reducing negative defenses / symptoms from emotional damage.
Alcoholics Anonymous is probably among the more effective approaches and even here, opinions, information, and study results are all over the map. But the format of people with a common problem coming together supportively with the same goal of changing a particular behavior problem is sound, I believe, either as a stand-alone approach or an adjunct to something else. Church is a similar example, which has of course been around far longer than AA. Such approaches don't work magic (they can't remove the trauma driving unhealthy behavior) but they CAN help, to one extent or another, millions of people to remove or at least lower the amount of unhealthy behavior they express and thus improve their lives.
These are all good points. I certainly don't think it's going to be easy. But I'm honed in on one simple concept at the moment. All these people feel unworthy, lacking a purpose in life, so they seek ways to escape these existential feelings.
Escapism from reality....put as simply as possible.
They need to re-engage with what's here and now, not with what was or what might be. This would include processing and INTEGRATING traumas, which isn't easy I understand. But failure to do so leads to further degradation, further DIS-INTEGRATION, further fragmentation of the mind (neuroses, psychoses).
So there are really only two choices. To integrate or to continue to disintegrate.
I'm just trying to get my mind wrapped around the ESSENCE at this stage. But I'm interested in your take on where I'm at thus far. I realize major, serious trauma is a difficult situation, no matter what. I don't think there's any "quick fix" other than facing it head-on, which many are not ready to do.
P.S. BTW, I think psychiatry and popular psychology are mistaken about a great many things. Not to say this sort of counseling doesn't work out for some people. But my hunch is, for those where traditional counseling, or AA or other mainstream approaches actually worked out well, it was the individual who ultimately had to make the choice of integration over continued disintegration. Just an early hunch. I could be wrong.
Yes, absolutely. I'll have more to say about your overall comment later, when I have a bigger chunk of time to work with.