Calling Out America

Originally Written 05/14/2013

This isn’t about being treasonous. This is about honesty. Let’s face it America needs someone to sit it down, tell it what it’s done wrong, and then put it into time out. The list of wrongs isn’t all that excessive. However, they have become interwoven into our psyche as individuals and its going to take a stern spanking to get them out. As citizens OUR transgressions are bold, in so far as they have become unconsciously routine.

This didn’t happen when we were standing together at the helm of the country, guiding it to a better tomorrow. This happened because we were doing something else entirely. We were in line getting our grande caramel mocha. This happened because we were busy keeping up with the Kardashians. We were distracted by the lights of the city…the depthlessness of the internet…the lure of self-gratification.

           

The first is a slap in the face of the strength this country was founded upon, for America has lost its will. At one time we were a nation of hardened people willing to traverse an unforgiving frontier in covered wagons. This was done without any guarantee of prosperity or profit. No one complained. When men went overseas to fight during World War II, women took up the mantles of the dingy and dangerous jobs they left behind. No one complained. Democrat and Republican alike held each other in mourning when John Kennedy was murdered. No one paused.

            Now we refuse to stand together on whether or not homosexuals can marry. The country complains about shit jobs being done by immigrants, which they themselves wouldn’t perform for 10 times the minimum wage. Today, our grease slathered rotund faces can’t find the energy to go to the gym for twenty minutes a day. We’ve lost our will. Our hunger to produce by need has been replaced with gluttony to consume by greed.

            Some would point the finger at religion for all of this. Claiming that belief in varying Gods, or no belief in God at all, has led us to this point. In a certain light that’s true, but not in the way that spending Sunday morning in a church pew is going to cure. Money is God and credit is His savior son. Therefore the truth is a growing number of people (survey says: all of them) worship every day, all day. But make no mistake; their focus isn’t a typical deity. No, America hasn’t lost its belief, merely shifted it. Once upon a time we believed in ourselves, now we believe in self.

            Americans serve themselves. We delude ourselves into satisfying our every whim. It’s just too damn easy. For several generations, we haven’t had to work hard, and those that do invest their time and money into the greatest commodity; themselves.

Finally, in a time where every side has an agenda, one can’t even tell who the bad guy is anymore. Worst of all is no one is even trying. Arguments made up of inaction of political rants fill our space; everyone that once cared or has the power and means to take action has lost interest.

For the past fifty years, America has claimed the Easy Street of the Earth as its residence. We do so as the rest of the world- a world that hasn’t had much of a view (let alone access) to the high and rolling hills on Easy Street- work harder and more efficiently with less.

            But don’t worry we’re Americans - someone else will pick up the slack.

           

Trauma vs. Resiliency (Resiliency > Trauma, Pt 2 of 2)

Part II - Resiliency > Trauma

In my previous rant, I mean blog, I put forth my views on the focus on microaggressions as sources of trauma. The below entry can be read as a stand alone piece, though If you missed it you can read the previous topic here.

“Innate resiliency trumps the day-to-day microaggressions that we encounter.”

It has been well-documented that those with higher resiliency score (as per the generally accepted Connor-Davidson Resiliency Scale) are better equipped to handle the stresses of life (http://www.connordavidson-resiliencescale.com/about.php ). As more research is done, empirical data shows that the more resilient a person; the stronger their interpersonal relationships. The more likely they are to have a solid sense of self, and they are also more apt to understand when to seek the help of others. Resiliency has even been purported to impact an individual’s sense of humor (http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/prin/ed/2017/00000138/00000001/art00003 ).

The potential exists that if within the helping professions, we over-emphasize the detrimental effects of trauma, as being greater human resiliency we are creating a negative feedback loop of sorts. Meaning, by exerting our expertise as professionals and insisting we highlight only the harming effects of trauma we are short changing the healing attributes of resiliency and the very innate strengths of our clients.

By focusing on the negative aspects of trauma we begin to erode the positive skills that we are supposed to be fostering in our patients. Not only that, we add to the victimhood culture that has recently begun to permeate modern society (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/the-rise-of-victimhood-culture/404794/  ).

The more as professionals that we feed into the thought of trauma, the more we undermine the resilience of those we serve. Further, this process of focusing on microaggressions as the source of toxic trauma becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

As such, rather than being a “Social Justice Warrior”, one who rides the bandwagon and focuses on the negative, I will instead choose to promote the strengths of those that I come into contact with.