So, hang with me here. Sometimes I have a thought. And it frequently takes over my life. (Kind of obsessive, no?) Lately, I have been thinking quite a bit about hate. I am very aware of the connection between hate and fear. You need look no further than the rise of the NAZI's in Germany to understand that hate and fear are related. That led me to the idea that 'ism' thinking...racism and sexism for example...have a great deal of fear in the core. What is the fear? That somehow if someone is successful or lives a good life of their own choosing, they will take away from you? Maybe that's it. I don't know. That fear leads to blame and hate. For the Germans, the fear led to blame of the Jews. In their view, the Jews were responsible for Germany's misery. You see much of this kind of thinking when you hear fundamentalist Christians tell us that the newest hurricane is due to the fact that we allow 'Gays' to live their "ungodly" lifestyle.
In terms of stigma regarding mental illness, I suppose there is also a core of fear. The mentally ill are "different". And because they are different, they are seen to be something that we should fear. The recent high-profile incidents of mass violence contribute to that fear. They make the mentally ill the enemy. And the NRA uses the mentally ill as the reason for our high levels of gun violence in this country. So, instead of discussing other potentially important factors in gun violence...such as our addiction to guns...they encourage us to continue arming ourselves. Of course, they advocate preventing the mentally ill from obtaining firearms. But then they tell us that we can't do background checks to know whether someone shouldn't have a gun. Instead of a realistic examination of the actual patterns of violence in our country, we are treated to soundbite solutions that don't do a whole lot to help us deal with the reality of the issue. Fear and hate make us dumb down. 'Ism' thinking prevents our recognition of real solutions. And it allows for the victimization of vasts numbers of people. The fact is that the mentally ill aren't usually dangerous. Here is the link to a SAMSHA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) publication discussing this: http://1.usa.gov/HNqMad.
What exactly is my point? We have to battle the narrow views of idealogues in order to come up with the solutions that actually work. If you are under the influence of 'ism' thinking, you won't be clear enough to contribute materially to the discussion. Solutions don't lie in blaming one group of people or another for the problem. The problems are more complex than you recognize. And require the same complexity in terms of solutions. Today, I will focus on looking honestly at issues and battle 'ism' thinking. What about you?
In terms of stigma regarding mental illness, I suppose there is also a core of fear. The mentally ill are "different". And because they are different, they are seen to be something that we should fear. The recent high-profile incidents of mass violence contribute to that fear. They make the mentally ill the enemy. And the NRA uses the mentally ill as the reason for our high levels of gun violence in this country. So, instead of discussing other potentially important factors in gun violence...such as our addiction to guns...they encourage us to continue arming ourselves. Of course, they advocate preventing the mentally ill from obtaining firearms. But then they tell us that we can't do background checks to know whether someone shouldn't have a gun. Instead of a realistic examination of the actual patterns of violence in our country, we are treated to soundbite solutions that don't do a whole lot to help us deal with the reality of the issue. Fear and hate make us dumb down. 'Ism' thinking prevents our recognition of real solutions. And it allows for the victimization of vasts numbers of people. The fact is that the mentally ill aren't usually dangerous. Here is the link to a SAMSHA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) publication discussing this: http://1.usa.gov/HNqMad.
What exactly is my point? We have to battle the narrow views of idealogues in order to come up with the solutions that actually work. If you are under the influence of 'ism' thinking, you won't be clear enough to contribute materially to the discussion. Solutions don't lie in blaming one group of people or another for the problem. The problems are more complex than you recognize. And require the same complexity in terms of solutions. Today, I will focus on looking honestly at issues and battle 'ism' thinking. What about you?
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