It’s so true! The way I digested this info was by invoking Dickens. His insane villain Miss Havisham - a bitter spinster deliberately poisoning the younger generation - seemed in Dickens’ day to be a cartoonish, unbelievable exaggeration of villainy; today, it seems totally normal! Havishams are now everywhere, more here:
Another fascinating aspect of this, to me, is the power of pharmaceuticals. When 25-30-40% of a demographic is on psych meds, is this the real life version of Marx’s “opiate of the masses” remark, or of Huxley’s soma? That is, if it weren’t for these drugs numbing a quarter of the population to the insanity of modern life, would people be more willing to revolt (and stop voting for the same people all the time)?
In 19th century, we didn’t have powerful big pharma drugs, so treating millions of women for “hysteria” failed, and they instead had to escape chauvinistic oppression in real life, without drugs, and boom… hysteria disappeared. Had Prozac been around in 1870, would women have the vote today?
Politicians have always tried to manipulate voters, but the Dems of today have really perfected the art. On one hand, they teach the youth that mass extinction is right around the corner, and simultaneously, only they can and will keep you safe. So for the vulnerable, it's toxic, and you get the post-teen political disorder that closely resembles the pre-teen hysterias.
Didn't Woody Allen say all neurosis is fear of death? So far I don't know one young person TDS sufferer who can answer me when I ask, what do you think of the Abraham Accords? So it's not policy, it's emotion, and yes it's purposeful.
There's a reason that FDR coined "Freedom from Fear." Whether a neurosis, some other -osis or some flavor of "disorder," fear sweeps through entire populations. "Safety" is 2023's translation of this "freedom." People fear and become positively violent when told their fear is baseless or exaggerated. I was stunned by the reactions of long-time friends during peak Covid; people who believed themselves to be highly educated, non-violent, "data driven" etc. just flipped out when images of unmasked gatherings appeared on the Internet and openly fantasized about getting guns (and these are anti-gun types) and shooting such persons. Far too many people have come to hold as an article of political faith that it is the foremost job of government to see to it that you never don't feel safe, that you never feel fear. Fear is believed to be evidence that government action is required and its sole necessary justification. I never felt less safe than during peak Covid when surrounded by a multitude of excessively fearful people.
America's emergency rooms are being flooded by children suffering from psychiatric emergencies like anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts or attempts, a new joint report from three leading medical associations warns. Unfortunately, the kids coming to the ER are less likely to receive the ongoing mental health care they truly need…
THIS LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR MORE GOVERNMENT DOLLARS FOR MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENTS TO CARE FOR EDUCATORS AND DEMOCRAT PARENTS FAILURES!
Hysteria explains so much, but Donald doesn't seem like the one to soothe them back to reality. Mr. Rogers has left the building. Hysteria is so much easier to create than to destroy. If we could just take a peek at that manifesto we might learn a bit more about this disease. If only our mental health professionals weren't so.....indoctrinated.
One thing to bear in mind--and it's been a while since I reviewed the statistics--but the percentage of single black women is higher than the percentage of single white women, though of course both have risen dramatically in the nearly sixty years since the Moynihan Report. And since blacks vote disproportionately Democratic, it seems likely that there is some connection between the two.
If black women are disproportionately represented among single women more generally, logically we could always expect that demographic to be more heavily Democratic.
Yes, safetyism. Somewhere along the way "Merry Christmas" became "Have a safe holiday."
I think this safetyism is a manifestation of the decline of national purpose. Historians say that once a nation defeats its enemies and becomes affluent and safe, the energies of the people turn upon themselves and their own national identity. Hence, millions of depressed people in therapy and studying anti-Americanism in college.
But idk if hitting rock bottom is inevitable, esp. with out culture of dissent and individualism. Look at Japan: Godzilla Minus One is about many things. One theme is the rebirth and renewal of the country's national ethos. They came back and succeeded, using our tenets of free speech and rule of law, so I think we can too.
As a wise commenter on modern life is wont to say “Yes. Next question.” If an ideological group keeps using the phrase “by any means necessary,” believe them. This is a deliberate approach, amplified to great effect in the academic echo chamber.
If the technique of making people more fearful, depressed, and neurotic works for the left, then why wouldn't it also work with the right? And what if mental illness (if that's what this is) begets mental illness?
"Depressed, neurotic people (especially single women) are more likely to support Democrats"...maybe the arrow of causation also runs the other way....perhaps the relentlessly negative messaging of the Democrats (the planet is on fire, don't have children because everything is awful, if you're white you're bad, if you're nonwhite the cards are stacked against you, etc etc) tends to drive people to neuroticism and depression.
It’s so true! The way I digested this info was by invoking Dickens. His insane villain Miss Havisham - a bitter spinster deliberately poisoning the younger generation - seemed in Dickens’ day to be a cartoonish, unbelievable exaggeration of villainy; today, it seems totally normal! Havishams are now everywhere, more here:
https://gaty.substack.com/p/miss-havisham-modern-hero
Another fascinating aspect of this, to me, is the power of pharmaceuticals. When 25-30-40% of a demographic is on psych meds, is this the real life version of Marx’s “opiate of the masses” remark, or of Huxley’s soma? That is, if it weren’t for these drugs numbing a quarter of the population to the insanity of modern life, would people be more willing to revolt (and stop voting for the same people all the time)?
In 19th century, we didn’t have powerful big pharma drugs, so treating millions of women for “hysteria” failed, and they instead had to escape chauvinistic oppression in real life, without drugs, and boom… hysteria disappeared. Had Prozac been around in 1870, would women have the vote today?
More on this in my recent interview here:
https://twitter.com/DrMcFillin/status/1693684641260068976
Thank you for this great topic!
Politicians have always tried to manipulate voters, but the Dems of today have really perfected the art. On one hand, they teach the youth that mass extinction is right around the corner, and simultaneously, only they can and will keep you safe. So for the vulnerable, it's toxic, and you get the post-teen political disorder that closely resembles the pre-teen hysterias.
Didn't Woody Allen say all neurosis is fear of death? So far I don't know one young person TDS sufferer who can answer me when I ask, what do you think of the Abraham Accords? So it's not policy, it's emotion, and yes it's purposeful.
There's a reason that FDR coined "Freedom from Fear." Whether a neurosis, some other -osis or some flavor of "disorder," fear sweeps through entire populations. "Safety" is 2023's translation of this "freedom." People fear and become positively violent when told their fear is baseless or exaggerated. I was stunned by the reactions of long-time friends during peak Covid; people who believed themselves to be highly educated, non-violent, "data driven" etc. just flipped out when images of unmasked gatherings appeared on the Internet and openly fantasized about getting guns (and these are anti-gun types) and shooting such persons. Far too many people have come to hold as an article of political faith that it is the foremost job of government to see to it that you never don't feel safe, that you never feel fear. Fear is believed to be evidence that government action is required and its sole necessary justification. I never felt less safe than during peak Covid when surrounded by a multitude of excessively fearful people.
It would be interesting to know how many of these single women also have children
OH NOES, THE CYCLE IS GROWING!
Pediatric mental health emergencies surge at U.S. hospitals: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2023/08/17/emergency-rooms-mental-health-children/1861692214123/
America's emergency rooms are being flooded by children suffering from psychiatric emergencies like anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts or attempts, a new joint report from three leading medical associations warns. Unfortunately, the kids coming to the ER are less likely to receive the ongoing mental health care they truly need…
THIS LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR MORE GOVERNMENT DOLLARS FOR MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENTS TO CARE FOR EDUCATORS AND DEMOCRAT PARENTS FAILURES!
Hysteria explains so much, but Donald doesn't seem like the one to soothe them back to reality. Mr. Rogers has left the building. Hysteria is so much easier to create than to destroy. If we could just take a peek at that manifesto we might learn a bit more about this disease. If only our mental health professionals weren't so.....indoctrinated.
One thing to bear in mind--and it's been a while since I reviewed the statistics--but the percentage of single black women is higher than the percentage of single white women, though of course both have risen dramatically in the nearly sixty years since the Moynihan Report. And since blacks vote disproportionately Democratic, it seems likely that there is some connection between the two.
If black women are disproportionately represented among single women more generally, logically we could always expect that demographic to be more heavily Democratic.
Yes, safetyism. Somewhere along the way "Merry Christmas" became "Have a safe holiday."
I think this safetyism is a manifestation of the decline of national purpose. Historians say that once a nation defeats its enemies and becomes affluent and safe, the energies of the people turn upon themselves and their own national identity. Hence, millions of depressed people in therapy and studying anti-Americanism in college.
But idk if hitting rock bottom is inevitable, esp. with out culture of dissent and individualism. Look at Japan: Godzilla Minus One is about many things. One theme is the rebirth and renewal of the country's national ethos. They came back and succeeded, using our tenets of free speech and rule of law, so I think we can too.
As a wise commenter on modern life is wont to say “Yes. Next question.” If an ideological group keeps using the phrase “by any means necessary,” believe them. This is a deliberate approach, amplified to great effect in the academic echo chamber.
If the technique of making people more fearful, depressed, and neurotic works for the left, then why wouldn't it also work with the right? And what if mental illness (if that's what this is) begets mental illness?
"Depressed, neurotic people (especially single women) are more likely to support Democrats"...maybe the arrow of causation also runs the other way....perhaps the relentlessly negative messaging of the Democrats (the planet is on fire, don't have children because everything is awful, if you're white you're bad, if you're nonwhite the cards are stacked against you, etc etc) tends to drive people to neuroticism and depression.
I suspect doctors have given up telling their older patients that they may have mental health conditions. At some point, it’s just a waste of breath.