And so Wars

Sun 10.22.23,

Let’s look at the United States’ present psychological frame of mind from a psychiatric perspective. I have worked as a Psychiatric Social Worker at Tri-County Mental Health Services in Lewiston, Maine and in that capacity I was on call for nearby St. Mary’s Hospital.  Later, in the same capacity, I worked at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, Maine. My area of expertise was Emergency Services. The job entailed triage for those in crises brought in by the police, concerned family, or of their own volition. My responsibility was to evaluate the nature of the problem presented, make a diagnosis, and arrange for short term hospitalization, counseling, or involuntary commitment to the state hospital as needed.

Let us first examine the three main categories of mental disorders listed in the Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition.  There are a slew of other diagnostic categories, but primarily you have, not including children’s diagnosis:

PSYCHOSIS

Schizophrenia

 Schizoaffective Disorder

  Delusional Disorder

  Brief Psychotic Disorder

  Shared Psychotic Disorder (Folie á Deux)

Quite a number of people labeled psychotic can be, and/or are rational, operating undetected in everyday life and are quite successful rulers as they are not weighted down with the morals and ethics expected in society.  As to Folie á Deux it has evolved to folie á many.

PERSONALITY DISORDERS

  Antisocial personality Disorder

  Avoidant personality Disorder

  Borderline personality Disorder

  Narcissistic personality Disorder

  Obsessive-Compulsive personality Disorder

  Schizotypal personality Disorder 

  Bipolar personality Disorder

Some of the symptomalogy recognized by most are paranoia, schizoid (those with peculiar belief systems,) antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic, avoidant, dependent, obsessive, and those who swing from victim to aggressor and back.  Many with such diagnosis inhabit our prison system.  Unlike neurosis which can be ameliorated with time and improved social conditions, personality disorders cannot.  The afflicted (not their term; many see the “normal” as the afflicted ones.)  These individuals have adapted since early childhood by mimicking society’s expectations on “feelings,” “appropriate behaviors,” etc.  But intrinsically, it is not part of their character and they, when able, will resort to type.

NEUROSIS:

There is no longer a neurosis category because we are all basically neurotic nowadays.  Societies have evolved to such a degree that most are not able to acquire their most basic needs, i.e. shelter, that is land on the planet earth that is theirs and their families/community throughout their life.  Food; there is no way for individuals to attain food without state interference in what may be produced and acquired.  Many of the foods produced and processed have lost most of their nutritive values. The unalienable rights to life, to travel, freedom of expression, to privacy, to property have all been threatened and/or lost.

We are a species of the planet earth, not creations of the state.  Our planet has the wherewithal to provide us with all our needs.  But we have evolved into a system in which we have all become enslaved to a system that is destroying us.  And so, wars.  On the Twitter site presently, folks are claiming that some groups are not worthy of life and should be eradicated, spoken euphemistically, or in moral/ethical terms.  Yes, they say, the Palestinians should and will be destroyed  . . . because Hamas.  And then others call for the destruction of the Jewish state . . . because Netanyahu.  We are held responsible for our rulers.  The U.S. population with its present corrupt, degenerate ruler, its continuous wars, is in for a grievous future if the BRICS nations overthrow America’s hegemonic rule and acquire the reins of global governance. There will be payback for America’s infamy.

Children of late are in grave danger of being killed by poison vaccines, of having their bodies mutilated, of being robbed of their natural development by perverted adults at all levels of society, this, even approved by our “rulers.”   Parents who want to stop this are threatened by a state that says they are terrorists.  And so wars.   American government is corrupt at all three levels.  All three branches seek primarily to enrich themselves, their families and allies and they no longer care to hide their nefarious behavior.   

Were I to make a diagnosis on U.S. society at present, from the highest officials on down it would be Narcissistic Personality Disorder, bi-polar, per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition.  The state swing back and forth from arrogant warmongers to socially conscious double-dealers.  

Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president had this to say when asked if he had any misgivings about ordering the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  No, he said, I sleep quite well at night.  Wars occur, not because of a disagreement between countries, or because of some ruler’s cupidity; it’s because the people have travelled far from their human needs of well-being and generosity of spirit. It simmers for years until it reached boiling point.  And so wars.  

  
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Eight o'clock Sunday morning, the police arrive at her apartment in Greenwich Village, "How long have you been living here?" The roommate Elizabeth, after having accepted her half of the deposit money and rent for their new apartment, has called the police. 

New York City doesn’t open its arms to welcome her, but she’s arrived and the adventure of her life is about to unfold.  She’s come from Maine with an invitation from Sarah Lawrence College to participate in the graduate writing program.

How one becomes a seeress is what this memoir explores. Stories have been specifically selected to illustrate, from the sublime to the practical, a spiritual journey introduced in each chapter by an atout, the Tarot’s major archetypes.   From the Fool, to The World, our human journey with its risk and folly unfolds. There is also an artist here alive to her new world seeking inspiration among artists on the Lower East side, learning the ways and foods of her Chinese neighbors, falling in love.