Trump, and coping with dystopia

[Jayhawker Soule]

I just came across a blog titled:

How to stay sane if Trump is driving you insane: Advice from a therapist.​

It's very long but, in my opinion, also quite good. Note, for example, ...

Our anxious minds are caught in the dissonance between our belief in progress and our current political hellscape. We must understand that the belief in human progress is a myth, with historical and religious context, and it is no longer serving us. Its roots trace back to "); background-size: 1px 1px; background-position: 0px calc(1em + 1px);">Enlightenment philosophy, whose major thinkers believed civilization would progress toward perfection if humans were free to use their reason.

Optimism is also a coping mechanism. It can buoy us from the dark waters of suffering. When harsh reality is too much to take, clinging to a better future can help us carry on.​

Let me know what you think.

 

[Revoltingest]

Optimism works for me.
But also...
Hope for the best, & plan for the worst.

 

[joe1776]

From the blog:

CLIENT: “I feel like I’ve lost faith in humanity, in our country, in myself,” a client told me recently. “Is this depression, or is this the election?”

THERAPIST: “Good question,” I replied. The truth is, individual psychology is hugely influenced by political realities. Many of us feel insane right now because our world is not sane. Current events are very much at odds with our natural optimism, and our belief in human goodness and progress."

I think the client's question indicates insecurity. People with genuine self-confidence would not be affected by a swing up or down in current world events. They try to see these events realistically but they don't worry about things they can't control.

The therapist is wrong. Americans do not have a "natural optimism." In 2007, a Pew survey found that 78% of Americans pessimistically saw humanity declining morally (They're wrong about that).

We humans are making moral progress but that progress would be represented on a graph by a jagged line trending upward. If personalities were as tuned into world events as the therapist suggests, we'd all be bipolar.

 

[joe1776]

...

Optimism is also a coping mechanism. It can buoy us from the dark waters of suffering. When harsh reality is too much to take, clinging to a better future can help us carry on.​

Let me know what you think.

I think one should become an optimist or a pessimist based on a realistic view of the evidence.

For example, a German Jew who read Hitler's Mein Kampf should have been an alarmed pessimist, concerned for his near future, when Hitler rose to power. At the same time, based on the evidence, he might have been a long-term optimist about the future of humanity.

 

[Stevicus]

When I first started learning about the presidency and the political system, Nixon was president. So, I think my formative years and first impressions of US politics were pretty jaded right from the start. So, not much really bugs me about politics.

I still pay attention to it and comment on it, but it's nothing I really take personally or have any great attachment to it that it would necessitate seeing a psychiatrist.

 

[Stanyon]

Are there really people that are this mentally and emotionally fragile? It doesn't matter what president is in power, we live in the United States so they will have four years, eight years tops if reelected. I'd say anyone that is having that hard of a time with who is president then they really need to get a grip and find out what the real underlying issues are with them as I am sure it goes far deeper than who is in office.