Going for the Gold

The Dark Night Rises

The horrific incident in Colorado last week brought the sick state of our society to the forefront of our national attention.

Over the past few decades, higher human values of compassion and selflessness have been replaced by the Gods of greed, narcissism, and violence.  Investment banks ruin the lives of millions of people as they rake in record profits and then pass on huge losses to those same people.  Defense contractors lobby for wars that destroy countless lives.  The healthcare industry fights tooth and nail to prevent legislation that will provide medical care to millions and the oil and coal companies destroy the environment in their insatiable desire for even more money.  And in a testament to how much we've fallen from grace, a psychopathic corporate raider has the support of about 50% of the electorate and may become the next president. 

Except for unusual cases such as major scandals or catastrophic accidents, it is difficult to see the degree to which greed and selfishness have come to dominate because their expression is usually subtle and in the form of business decisions made in board rooms.

But the latest manifestation of that narcissism, selfishness, and lack of empathy, however, came in the form of a young man dressed in black and wearing a gas mask opening fire on a crowd in a theatre, killing and wounding scores.  Upon careful inspection, it will become clear that the same motivations and thought-processes that drove James Holmes to commit mass murder are in actuality not very different from what is driving many of the key players in our society today.  As such, the tragic incident in Aurora, Colorado last Thursday is but merely a symptom of a much larger illness.

The Psychology of the Mass Shooter

The following was taken from a blog post entitled 'The Common Motive of a Mass Shooter Attacker: Immortality"on the Washington Post's website:


Dr. Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist who is chairman of The Forensic Panel, a practice in New York City, has worked on mass-shooting cases for many years and shared some general thoughts about these kinds of incidents:


“Mass shooting cases have the common motive of an attacker seeking immortality. Each of the attackers have different degrees of paranoia and resentment of the broader community. Some are so paranoid that they’re psychotic. Others are paranoid in a generally resentful way but have no significant psychiatric illness. But you have to hate everyone in order to kill anyone. The threshold that the mass shooter crosses is one in which he decides that his righteous indignation and entitlement to destroy is more important than the life of any random person that he might kill.” 

“This is why mass shooting are invariably, invariably carried out by people who have had high self esteem. They are people who had high expectations of themselves. It’s not at all surprising to hear about these crimes in people who either valued their own intelligence or their own career prospects at one time.” 

“They’re people who are unfailingly unable to form satisfying sexual attachments and their masculinity essentially gets replaced with their fascination for destruction.”

“The overwhelming majority of folks who do this are male because of how, in our culture, masculine identity is so closely tied to the capacity to destroy.”


The motivation underlying the killer's behavior is a desire for immortality -- a fundamentally narcissistic goal that he is selfishly willing to achieve at the expense of other people's lives.

Greed is Good: The Psychology of the Capitalist

The same can be said for the Uber-capitalist.  He is willing to ravage everything is his path for the sake of power and wealth, hoping that in some way, he may attain the immortality of the Gods.  In his case, however, he does not open fire in a crowded theatre; he lobbies legislatures so that environmental regulations that prevented him from drilling and destroying a natural habitat are repealed, he finds ways to sabotage and avoid laws that make it illegal for him to gamble with other people's retirement money and capitalizes off the profits or leaves them holding the bag if he bets wrong, and he deviously spreads lies about critical legislation that would actually make millions of people healthier and save them billions of dollars -- all because they will cut into his bottom line.

A killer in a $5,000 suit

The behavior of the mass shooter and the Uber-capitalist are different in form but not in fundamental nature.  Both are driven by greed and narcissism and unconcerned about the effects of their actions on others.  In the past few decades those values have not been held in check by greater values of co-operation and the fundamental value of all life.
  
Not all power-hungry, selfish people are in a position to run an investment bank or an oil company.  Some are only able to buy a few guns from the local Walmart and kill their neighbors in a movie theatre.  But in a society that has glorified the pursuit of power and self-promotion they've got to make a name for themselves somehow.

So why should we be surprised when they do?

Over the Top

"What's the matter, Dillon?  CIA got you pushing too many pencils?"

Bushido

Gretzky:  Hello, Marty.

Castillo: It's been a long time.

Gretzky:  Are you the same man I used to know, Marty?

Castillo:  We change.

Gretzky:  Not you.


- Miami Vice

The Ultimate Question

Algren:  What do you want from me?

Katsumoto:  What do you want for yourself?


- The Last Samurai

Views of Taisekiji - Small Bench

Small bench near the Demon Gate, Taiseki-ji Temple, Japan

Contact

"The universe was made on purpose, the circle said.  In whatever galaxy you happen to find yourself, you take the circumference of a circle, divide it by its diameter, measure closely enough and uncover a miracle -- another circle drawn kilometers downstream of the decimal point.  There would be richer messages farther in.  It doesn't matter what you look like, or what you're made of, or where you come from.  As long as you live in this universe, and have a modest talent for mathematics, sooner or later you'll find it.  It's already here.  It's inside everything.  You don't have to leave your planet to find it.  In the fabric of space and in the nature of matter, as in a great work of art, there is, written small, the artist's signature.  Standing over humans, gods, and demons, subsuming Caretakers and Tunnel builders, there is an intelligence that antedates the universe."

- Carl Sagan, Contact

The Wall (live), World Tour, San Francisco, 2012

Who says things don't get better?

Then

 and...

Now

Rat in a Cage

Speak to me in a language I can hear
Humour me before I have to go
Deep in thought I forgive everyone
As the cluttered streets greet me once again
I know I can't be late, supper's waiting on the table
Tomorrow's just an excuse away
So I pull my collar up and face the cold, on my own
 
The earth laughs beneath my heavy feet
At the blasphemy in my old jangly walk
Steeple guide me to my heart and home
The sun is out and up and down again
I know I'll make it, love can last forever
Graceful swans of never topple to the earth
And you can make it last, forever you
You can make it last, forever you
 
And for a moment I lose myself
Wrapped up in the pleasures of the world
I've journeyed here and there and back again
But in the same old haunts I still find my friends
Mysteries not ready to reveal
Sympathies I'm ready to return
I'll make the effort, love can last forever
Graceful swans of never topple to the earth
Tomorrow's just an excuse
And you can make it last, forever you
You can make it last, forever you 


- Thirty Three, The Smashing Pumpkins

Dr. Don Logan

Don Logan: Talk to me, Gal. I'm here for you. I'm a good listener.

Gal: What can I say, Don? I've said it all. I'm retired.

Don Logan: Shut up.


- Sexy Beast


Watch the full scene here.

Key Dates in the History of Banking

Mesopotamia, 3,000 B.C. - Banking developed

Lydia, 640 B.C. - First coins produced

China, 1024 A.D. - First state-backed paper money introduced

Amsterdam, 1602 - Establishment of first stock exchange

Sweden, 1668 - First central bank founded

Osaka, 1700 - First commodities futures trading (rice)

Netherlands, 1774 - First mutual fund created

Massachusetts, 1780 - First inflation-linked bonds issued

London, 1967 - First ATM installed

1994 - First credit-default swap

"My name is H.I. McDonnough. Call me Hi"

"Now, y'all without sin cast the first stone."

"There's what's right and there's what's right and never the twain shall meet."

"Prison life is structured - more'n some people care for."

"Sometimes it's a hard world for small things."

"I tried to stand up and fly straight but it wasn't easy with that sumbitch Reagan in the White House. I dunno. They say he's a decent man, so maybe his advisors are confused."

"Honey, I'm ok, you're ok, and that there's what it is!"

"Well, it ain't Ozzie and Harriet."

"And here's the T.V. Two hours a day, either educational or football, so you don't ruin your appreciation of the finer things."


- H.I. McDonnough, Raising Arizona

Masking the Truth

In all of the talk about the Trayvon Martin shooting, what I have not heard discussed is how the non-verbal communication present in the encounter may have played a major role in the calculation made by George Zimmerman and possibly largely contributed to the outcome. Specifically, I'm talking about the wearing of a hood.

Putting racism aside, the wearing of a hood communicates danger because the wearer's identity and insights into his psychological state are hidden. That lack of information taps into primordial fears of the Unknown that have roots in the human psyche that go back to neolithic times.

Not surprisingly, in every culture and as far back as the earliest recorded histories and stories, figures attempting to generate fear in their prey have concealed their identities through the wearing of hoods and masks. Ninja assassins wore masks partly to strike fear and hopefully temporarily paralyze their targets. Medieval knights wore helmets that betrayed nothing of the wearer's psychological state. Warriors painted their faces to de-humanize their identity and strike terror in their opponents.

Today, hockey goalies wear masks partly for protection and also partly to intimidate players on the opposing side. The faceless, anonymous foe is far scarier than the one which can be read. The use of a hockey mask by the Jason character is the Friday the 13th movies is not a coincidence.

A modern hood

Whether or not Trayvon Martin understood the non-verbal signals communicated by the wearing of a hoodie is unclear. Perhaps it didn't, as many believe, have associations for him that are linked to the urban gangster culture. But it seems hard to believe that something so hard-wired into the human psyche was not within his awareness and, therefore, it must be assumed that at some level he was willing to communicate the message that hoods convey.

So perhaps Trayvon Martin wasn't "suspicious" because he was black but rather because of the fact that he was wearing a piece of clothing that since ancient times has been worn to generate fear and signal danger.

As such, if the "Justice for Trayvon" movement adopts the wearing of a hoodie as its symbol, it will have to do so in opposition to psychological patterns that have existed for at least a few hundred thousand years.

National Good Day Day

Through a Glass, Darkly is urging its readers to support a proposition to have January 20 named National Good Day Day.

On that day in 1992, Ice Cube had the "Good Day." The exact date was calculated by Donovan who determined that January 20, 1992 was the only date that met all the following criteria (laid out by Ice Cube in the song, "Today was a Good Day."):

- Yo MTV Raps was on the air
- It was a clear and smog-less day in Los Angeles
- Beepers were widely available
- The Lakers beat the SuperSonics
- Ice Cube had no event to attend that day

To listen to Ice Cube describe the "Good Day" in his own words, click here.

So please help make this dream a reality by lobbying your local Congressman to have January 20 designated as National Good Day Day.

Once Were Warriors

"Our people once were warriors. But unlike you, Jake, they were people with mana, pride, people with spirit."


-Beth Heke, Once Were Warriors

The Aviator

"The way of the future..."

Stand by Me

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me, stand by me-e, yeah

Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

Darlin', darlin', stand by me-e, stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

Speed

"Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast."


- Motorcycle racing proverb

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