Narcissism, a requirement for peace of mind and the soul

     During discussion, we were looking at the works of cartoonist Schultz in Peanuts!  The character was truly narcissistic. I pointed out that some psychoanalysts contend being in love with oneself is a prerequisite for peace of mind and true contentment.  And the latter is a requirement for staving off illness in the body, it is further contended.  This is like in Eastern Philosophy meditation, where the contemplator focuses on the supposed shakra regions, thereby confessing to himself, "I love my lungs; I love my kidneys; and I love my heart!"  Such mantras are uttered in an attempt to assure each bodily function is at rest, i.e., emotionally neutral--neither enraged nor ignored, simply accepted with gratitude in admitting the continuance of his life.    .

Technocrary In Government & Leadership Qualifications

    In our discussions this past week in the OLLI class I'm taking at UC-Davis, it became obvious that the qualifications for political leadership has markedly changed.  What we now expect from those in leadership is what Dwight Eisenhower was known for possessing--the quality of relying upon his staff and those under them to supply options in the decision-making process and for sound reasoning to back the options up with facts and data supporting each one. Thereupon, as commander-in-chief and President, Ike would decide upon the course of action to pursue.
     That is to say, today's leader must rely upon those under him, i.e., underling technocrats, to do the arguing armed with data to support their own points of view.  The leader then simply must decide upon what to do and make his decision transparent to the electorate and the nation.  Today's political leader is sort of a marketing strategist rather than a skillful tactician. The path he chooses has already been supplied him by his staff and advisers, who have been trained in the graduate schools to weigh technical data judiciously.  They are the true advocates, the lawyers before the judge--their boss (as it were)!
      This profound change is ever-present when one reviews how the US has become the technical adviser to governments and their military all over the world!  The US must present a rational plan to assist the politicians in their own governments to maintain control and effectively pursue peace.  The goal of US involvement in governments abroad, I believe, is to bring about the political stability that harmonizes the various groups and parties extant in their region.  What a profound change!  To realize that universal aim, the US must also assure that those political agencies it seeks to affect will be capable of controlling their people!  That implies the latter's intensive training in marketing and sales, e.g., Obama's experience as community organizer.
   

We're Being Hounded not by Ads but by Signals

     At a recent OLLI class, we took up the effects of marketing research upon our decision-making.  Marketing as a scientific study is an offshoot of psychology, and as such is just as devoted to Jeremy Bentham's pleasure principle, a fundamental proposition in psychology, that mankind searches the pleasurable and avoids the painful.
     As applied to our buying habits, we want items that give us pleasure, i.e., stimulate in our brains feelings of pleasure. We buy the shirt whose color patterns we take delight in.  But the same line of reasoning applies to the tenets and beliefs we hold.  Thus, a listener calls in to a radio personality whose views make him popular over the airwaves in order to agree with him!  Together, they are sharing a pleasurable moment because they hold to something, some belief, they both cherish  for whatever reason. It is important to stress that the reason that the psychologist may attribute to the moment of pleasure shared by host and listener will differ markedly from that the participants will proffer.  That is because the psychologist qua scientist provides a psychological reason while those involved offer an experiential, reasoning account.
     The point being that the scientific explanation for the sharing is not that the experiencers would give.  What makes Snowden so important is that he offers an explanation for supposed underhanded snooping by such agencies as the NSA, which those who may be victimized have no knowledge of.  It's closer to psychological explanation of human action and belief but far removed from "his reasons" offered by espousers of the belief.
      Bentham's acknowledged aim in urging psychological research is to provide mankind a wealth of pleasurable experiences during his lifetime.  Ultimately, he will enjoy being alive to its greatest extent.  But then that raises the question whether mankind would also experience great joy at some time in the ending of his own life, as did those who drank the Kool-Aid as their final act.