Thursday, September 27, 2018

REFLECTIONS FOR OCTOBER 2018





THE PAST AND THE PRESENT ARE THE PARENTS OF THE FUTURE




DEAR READERS

This is the birthday month for me and I want to celebrate the future of young men. I have two lovely sons – one will be 40 next year and we are celebrating his birthday next July in Lviv Ukraine, the other son will be 11 next year and will finish his middle school and enter grade 7 in a high school.

As the old sages say: “the past and present are the parents of the future”. So, in the past, for the young men the future was mainly entering the military and die for your country and then the future of these men ended on the “Flanders Fields”. The present political correctness or what I call war on men because it is mainly focusing on men and it has created an environment of blame that is leading to a possible victimhood culture where young me are heading to escape from this “witch hunt”.

The writer Lisa Marchiano states: “Personal or collective attitudes that create an invitation to victimhood and infirmity can alter what we expect for ourselves. Embracing a status of oppression or affliction can be helpful, as it marshals needed care. However, when held onto too long, it can invite disengagement from life, and an avoidance of one’s fate. Worryingly, it also has negative implications for personal mental health, as it may foster a sense of helplessness." She adds that:

“Some current cultural trends award increased social status to those perceived as victims. Sociologists have posited that a new moral culture of victimhood is developing on college campuses. In such a culture, being a victim raises one’s standing and confers virtue, in part because it mobilizes protection and support from powerful third parties. The increased status of victimhood may account for the rise in “digital self-harm” that researchers have identified when teens cyber-bully themselves.

Victimhood culture rewards us when we are aggrieved, helpless, and weak. It therefore encourages us to experience ourselves as being at the mercy of external forces beyond our control, which, as we have seen, may have negative consequences for mental well-being”.

How can a free society like Australia and Canada stop this so called ‘cultural wars’ against men of all backgrounds? For example; Last week in Australia illiberal censors tried to stop Nigel Farange (a British politician) from speaking at a popular gathering by describing him as a racist. They failed. They attacked cartoonist Mark Knight depicting the angry Serena Willimas giving a big temper tantrum and blaming the umpire Carlos Ramos for her loss to the Japanese player Naomi Osaka. Much negativity is depicted in the social media about Dr. Jordan Peterson, the Canadian professor for openly challenging the self-appointed ‘culture warriors’. This virulent movement is creating a bad future in the minds of young men and as early as 12-year-old boys are suffering of extreme anxiety.

An October 2017 New York Times article entitled “Why Are More American Teenagers Than Ever Suffering from Extreme Anxiety?” looked at the rising tide of teen anxiety in the United States. Increasing academic pressures, the advent of smart phones, and ubiquitous social media use were explored as potential contributors to increasing teen anxiety, but the article implicated another factor as well – school cultures that enable young people to avoid those things that make them uncomfortable. Special educational plans address student anxieties by allowing kids to leave class early, use special entrances, and seek out 'safe spaces' when they are feeling overwhelmed. A therapist interviewed for the Times article worries that these kinds of “avoidance-based” accommodations only make anxiety worse by sending the message to kids that they are too fragile to handle things that make them uncomfortable.

That is the ‘solution’ that children are adopting not only by feeling outside the flow but also unconsciously registering the general hate of the anti-male culture today.

What is the actual clear choice for a better future? Jonathan David Haidt, an American political psychologist and Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business offers ideas for resolving this crisis of youth today: He suggests that we need to open young minds to the wonder of new and challenging ideas that support and help counteract against the many ‘false news’ and blaming games. He developed the OPEN MIND app to stop the victim mentality that creates so much anxiety in the young men. He is behind the Heterodox Academy that has called upon 1,400 academics that are standing for free thinking and positive psychology.

Such projects are aiming at developing greater resiliency in the young people thus allowing them to navigate the present world more freely. I recommend the LetGrow.org web page set up by Lenore Skenazy to connect free thinking parents and teachers to the possible new future for our world.

Creating a society in which we are encouraged to confront anxiety and face difficult realities matters not just for the mental health of individuals, but also for our collective well-being. In the world that soon awaits us, humankind will desperately need those individuals willing to rise from their beds. The challenges that loom ahead will require us to set aside timidity, weakness, and victimhood and claim instead agency and boldness, no matter how grim the odds.
Lisa Marchiano

See youtube speech by Dr. Jonathan David Haidt

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H20jwYq8WI