Conflicts & Solutions
Headline from nypost.com: “Budding market: NJ rakes in over $24M in first month of recreational pot sales.” How ‘bout lowering taxes by that much so people won’t move away? Population in the garden state dropped by 12,613 people between July 2020 and July 2021.
Headline from foxnews.com: “Russia forced to deploy 50-year-old T-62 tanks after 1,000 other tanks destroyed.” May they too be pulverized.
Ponerology is the study of evil. Political Ponerology by Andrew M. Lobaczewski, psychiatrist, details the author’s beliefs on how evil may be curbed significantly. Published in 2007, it’s a tough slog I forced myself to read. Filled with technical terms, it is geared toward those in the field, students and academics. 95% of it went in one ear and out the other or over my head. Still, I find it valuable. I agree with the main premise: the world is in dire need of a more effective way of dealing with the problem, and needs to create “psychological immunization” from the call of the wild. According to the author, the pool of psychopaths varies from country to country, falling into a range of 4–9%. It may sit dormant like a Trojan Horse. The main problem is the tiny percentage capable of leadership, persuasion. He also believes many have suffered brain trauma either in the womb or early childhood. They learn to recognize each other. Here are nuggets: “An effective measure would be teaching both proper thought and skillful errors in thought.” “…depth and breadth of human psychological variations is crucial.” “Practicing psychotherapy on the world will therefore demand that the results of such evil be eliminated as skillfully as possible.” “Such training is also a common man’s university.” “If societies are furnished an understanding of the pathological nature of evil they will be able to effect concerted action based on moral and naturalistic criteria.” The author touts a broad forgiveness that many would find difficult: “… fulfill the commandment of loving one’s neighbor, including even those who have committed substantial evil.” I’ve reached the point where I am able to forgive all but violent crime. I doubt I will ever go beyond that… There is another side of the book — Bush bashing. The cover features Stalin and cronies at the top, and Dubya and his neo-cons at the bottom, as if they are similar, all psychopaths. Taking Bush to task for the war on terror is fair game. Attributing it to mental illness seems silly. Folly, misbegotten, wrong, egregious — all may be argued. If W is psycho, what about Truman (Korea), JFK & LBJ (Vietnam), Obama (Afghanistan, the “good war”)? Lately, there is a dearth of news coming out of Iraq. Is no news good news? Anyway, here’s an example of the publishers’ viewpoint: “…It won’t be long before such articles are censored in the U.S….” Did that happen? Are Bush and the neo-cons responsible for the murder of millions of its own citizens as were Stalin and company? Not counting those killed in battle overseas, was even one citizen killed on American soil for opposing the war on terror? Bush was replaced after eight years. Stalin ruled for 30. I think Bush was a failed president because he tilted left economically, not because of his response to 9/11. Anyway, 211 users at Amazon have rated Political Ponerology, forging to a consensus of 4.2 on a scale of five. I’ll got with 2.5. Lobaczewski suffered under communist rule in Poland and emigrated to America. He burned early drafts of the book in the fear of it being discovered by apparatchiks. He rewrote it from memory.
Appropriate FN headline supporting the above: “Uvalde mayor: Time to invest in America’s mental health, stop giving billions to countries that don’t like us.”
My thanks to the kind folks who donated and bought books on this gorgeous day. Here’s what sold: Hannibal by Thomas Harris; a large Word Search; The Birthday Party: A Memoir of Survival by Stanley N. Alpert; a hardcover edition of The Godfather by Mario Puzo, sans jacket; Death in the Air: The True Story of a Serial Killer, the Great London Smog, and the Strangling of a City by Kate Winkler Dawson; In Pieces, a memoir by Sally Field; and my Class of ’67, purchased by a gentleman who recently bought Lawrence Grobel’s Al Pacino, an interview with the legendary actor. The guy had said he’d worked with the actor on The Irishman (2019), and I regretted not having asked for info. I corrected that today. Born in 1956, Bensonhurst’s Ron Guercio has four other titles under his name at IMDb. He appeared in three episodes on Blue City, character’s last name Masiello; one episode of Matchless; three of Street Smart, character’s last name Manzo; and V.I.P., a series listed as being in “pre-production,” character’s last name Calo. Well done, sir. Continued success.
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