Showing posts with label healthy behaviour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthy behaviour. Show all posts

The Problem of Adversarial Politics.


The Problem of Adversarial Politics - Bullying as a modus operandi.

a brief overview


Adversarial dynamics and struggles for power tend towards bullying as an underlay for the flooring of 'debate' - the point is to win, rather than to arrive at an accurate understanding that informs and reassures all involved.


"In good conversation, there is neither victor nor vanquished - there is only better informed and reassured participants."


quote from Tim Field.


https://www3.gmu.edu/programs/icar/ijps/vol1_1/Burton.htm


"The party political system is historically adversarial. It evolved out of past feudal landlord and commoner confrontations. 


It became even more politically divisive with industrialization. 


It retained consensus support and remained viable as long as its authorities were in effective control.


The hierarchie's political adversaries and grass roots activists could be criminalised and exiled. Poverty and poverty based crime could be contained by criminalising the impoverished, building more jails and by 'transportation' of the convicted poor and many more impoverished people as indentured workers to build colonies on foreign lands, at the expense of the native peoples.


But with communications that help to establish a separate culture for the under privileged, and with the availability of weapons, effective control of the alienated became ever more difficult.


With economic growth in industrialisation and their democracies there has evolved a dominant middle class. Its members have no desire to be caught in the cross fire of any historical we-they confrontation. 


The press, radio and television and, more recently, social media have brought to its attention the absurdities of party political debate as a decision making process. 


Furthermore, the members of the dominant `capital' and `labour' parties are now seen to be in conflict largely for personal career reasons, not because of policy differences. 


There is a growing consensus that the problems civilization face must be tackled by less adversarial processes in which analysis and reason prevail."

Political Grooming and 'wedge' politics are designed to exacerbate the adversarial dynamics.


Use of dehumanising language targeted the perceived adversaries and marginalised groups within society is evident everywhere.


The 10 stages of Genocide - Sprouts Schools


The term 'sheeple' is a good example of that process, in that it inspires a sense of superiority among those who would use the term to describe others, who are deemed inferior.

We are all familiar with political and vernacular use of the words animal, cockroach, rat, vermin, monster, ape, snake, infestation, parasite, alien, savage and 'hate marches' as weapons. 


The lack of humane understanding, the lack of empathy and the reliance on incomplete or inaccurate 'information' bias and curated bigotry are all stimulated by the term 'sheeple'.


This is one example familiar to me within my own situation and I cite it here because so many among my contemporaries, left and right, feel it is fine to use that term. I have always been appalled by that term.


I find that when I challenge it, I experience push back, dismissal and derision and an unwillingness to explore the meaning of use of such terms.


'Sheeple' is no less dehumanising than 'towel heads' or 'faggots' or 'dykes' or any number of similar terms.

Debate or Discourse?

Adversarial dynamics and struggles for power tend towards bullying as a underlay for the flooring of 'debate' - the point is to win, rather than to arrive at an accurate understanding that informs and reassures all involved.


"In good conversation, there is neither victor nor vanquished - there is only better informed and reassured participants."

How bullying works: projection and scapegoating.

Written by Kitty S Jones

https://politicsandinsights.org/2015/01/22/how-bullying-works-projection-and-scapegoating/


"Very few people, when put to the test, have the integrity and moral courage to stand up against bullying, harassment, abuse, threats and corruption. The targets of adult bullying are selected often because they DO have the moral courage to challenge; many people will pass by on the other side.


A target of adult bullying is most often chosen because of their strength, not their weakness. Research shows that targets of bullying tend to have highly developed empathy, and sensitivity for others, a high degree of perceptiveness, high moral values, a well-developed integrity, a strong sense of fair play and reasonableness, a low propensity to violence, a reluctance to pursue grievance, disciplinary or legal action, a strong forgiving streak and a mature understanding of the need to resolve conflict with dialogue. 


Often, targets of bullying are independent, self-reliant and “different” in some way. Weak people often disingenuously confuse these hallmarks of character with weakness.


Bullies aim to inflict psychological injury more often than physical injury. Their main aim is to control, discredit, isolate and eliminate their target.


The word “victim” also allows disingenuous people to tap into and stimulate other people’s misconceptions and prejudices of victimhood which include the inference that the person was somehow complicit in the abuse. (See just-world fallacy and victim-blame narrative). 


I use the word “target”, which is also accurate because bullying involves the intentional singling out of a person or group for abuse.


Bullies, who have no integrity, are vindictive, aggressive, demanding, and regularly violate others’ boundaries; displaying aggression does not respect peoples’ rights, and a bully’s “requests” come with a negative consequence if the course of action demanded by the bully is declined. 


A bully’s bad behaviour is entirely his or her responsibility, they intend to cause their targets harm, to undermine them and damage them socially, emotionally, psychologically and sometimes, physically. And they often do."

Corbyn - making an example

Jeremy Corbyn and the false anti-Semitism, ‘friend of terrorists’, ‘communist spy’, ‘protest politician’ and ‘he’s unelectable’ charges laid against him present a recent and very well documented example of this dreadful behavioural dynamic. It’s sole purpose was to prevent a genuinely honest politician with a track record for integrity, honesty, empathy and a good understanding of the issues facing the body politic and society at large from gaining the position of Prime Minister, with  a majority in the House of Commons.

That bullying campaign was perpetrated within the Labour Party by a group who were aligned with Blairism (and its wars) and this was replicated throughout the News Media and online, through social media micro targeting campaigns, funded and supported by those concerned with Wealth Extraction and their power to protect Wealth Extraction from accountability for the avoidable harms it refuses, repeatedly, to avoid. 


Healthy Governance - avoiding avoidable harms.

The function of a healthy governance system is to maintain and support the population in living well and at peace.

Part of that process is the deployment collective resources to avoid avoidable harm and to prevent preventable harms.

There are harms that cannot be avoided and there are harms that can be avoided.

War can be avoided. War can be prevented. 


However as we see, again and again War is not avoided and we know too well that within war the murder of civilians and the destruction of civil infrastructure which form the essentials for ‘living well’  - schools, health care facilities, housing, roads, utilities - which are the basic human right of a civilian population caught in the crossfire of warfare - tends not to be avoided, more often than not by conscious choice.  The destruction is intentional, not accidental.


Collateral Damage :  A euphemism designed to throw a veil over the realities of warfare.

We cannot stop a violent hurricane from causing destruction - we can however build infrastructure designed to withstand the impact of such natural catastrophes. We could deploy resources to protecting the affected people’s welfare, supporting them in the recovery process. 


Resilience

Rather than raw personal human resilience,  we could choose to build in resilience as an infrastructure policy and thus offer more effective and efficient support for the people made vulnerable by the storm.

Likewise, regards Climate Disruption, we cannot stop the process underway because it is the result of a few centuries of build up of Carbon Dioxide and other pollutants into the atmosphere that will take centuries to reverse. We can reduce or stop further pollution yet the effect of such action will take decades to be felt.

What we can do is design resilience into infrastructure, social care, wealth sharing, aid systems and so on to offer best support and protection of the people made most vulnerable by Climate Disruption - that would be a matter of avoiding avoidable harms in the near, medium and long term.


Bullying in politics is lethal.


Bullying in politics undermines all these objectives and more by at attacking the proponents of equitable industrial, social and economic policy as a method of defending the status quo, a status quo born of adversarial violence as described in the beginning of this piece.


Kindest regards

Corneilius

Thank you for reading this blog.

"Do what you love, it is your gift to universe."

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What is Egalitarian Culture? What Do Babies Want? Alloparenting?

Four videos looking at elements of human cultural behaviour variations.... with information and wisdom to offer terms of nurturing ourselves, our families, our communities, our land.

The how to maintain a healthy sustainable culture problem is mostly a matter of human to human relationships than it is of a question of technology. 


Power Hierarchy culture generates unhealthy behaviour at scale. This is well evidenced and incontrovertible. This is because Power becomes the means to maintain Power. 


Those who occupy positions of Power will tend to internalise the positions root values which are power and maintenance of power. 'L'Etate, c'est Moi!' and so on. "I represent the institution, not myself, yet I have internalised the institution." That is a profoundly unhealthy psychological state to be in.


Over time, and with wealth the Ruling Hierarchy culture have extracted the ruling class have worked to institutionalise the population into instruments to promote and maintain those values, do the work, fight in the battles. All the time understanding fully that this is oppressive cruelty, that it generates resistance, naturally enough. 


They understand the injustice. And so they live fearful of the majority population, and the maintenance of dominance becomes an endless end in itself, a way of life. 


That is a behavioural and cultural problem.

We have brilliant minds and imaginations set to solve problems by understanding them correctly, these are innate critical thinking skills. 


If those minds are deeply rooted in healthy relationships that nurture, then their efforts will produce nurturing resolutions, if that is materially possible, to avoid avoidable harms. 


We're literally born with that in mind, in evolutionary terms. That is what our DNA and biochemistry is in : a default setting to learn behaviour that is healthy.


To cooperate and live mutual aid is optimally healthy for human species.




An egalitarian culture on a gathering mission, at play. In spite of being surrounded by extinction level threats.

~
Two Videos :
~
1. What is Egalitarian Culture? The evidence. A talk, and a Q&A.

~


2. 

What Babies Want - Evolved for Nurturing Brain Development - a moving, inspiring documentary.



3
Allan Schore: the study of neurobiology of brain development.

The carer brain to infant brain relationship and the biology of healthy brain and endocrine development.

No species is evolved for less than optimal biological health of each organism, and for the species.


In my mind, these three subjects intersect to inform a more radical understanding of human health presenting as nurturant behaviour as the biological optimally healthy state, psycho-socially and practically.

~

In addition, Mothers and Others. Alloparenting and human behavioural evolution.
What are the behavioural implications of evolving for alloparenting?



Alloparenting is when all the members of a group care for all the children, collectively.
It is close correlated with Egalitarian culture.
Healthy human relationships.
Peace.


Corneilius

Thank you for reading this blog.

"Do what you love, it is your gift to universe."

This blog, like all my other content creation work is not monetised via advertising. If you like what I present, consider sharing my content. If you can afford the price of a cup of coffee or a pint of beer/ale/cider for a few months, please donate via my Patreon account.

https://patreon.com/corneilius - donations gratefully received

https://www.reverbnation.com/corneilius - .mp3 songs

https://www.soundcloud.com/coreluminous - .wav Songs

https://www.corneilius.net - Archive

#folkmusic
#singersongwriter
#blogger
#music

Optimal Human Bioloigical Health over behaviourally modified organisms.



From a purely biological social observation, one would notice that an optimally biologically healthy human being will express the following attitudes or sensitivities, as evolved for living as an effective or competent and unique individual within a co-operative community that knows how to live in the habitat in which they find themselves, without harming it; and in so doing they permaculture the habitat like all other creatures do.


They will demonstrate these qualities in abundance, and in varying degrees, we are all unique,  and it is also true that some days are bad hair days and others quite awful, as moods are a genuine flow of variations in sensitivity. In among all the lovely stuff!


1. Respectful self awareness, and a respectful awareness of others.


2. Self empathy and empathy for others.


3. Sense of self, sense of community.


4. Willing co-operation and sharing of skills and resources for the community,


5. Excellence in areas of adult responsibility, in skills and abilities that suit the individual's temperament.


6. Robust physical health.


7. Egalitarian approach to social organisation, no genderism or hierarchy of violence.


8 An ability to read the environment, accurately.


9. Life long ability to learn, through self motivation and mentoring.


10. Sense of gratitude towards ancestors, sense of duty of care to future generations.


11. Generally adept at conflict resolution, abides with a deep sense of justice


12. Cries when hurting, all emotions are felt and all feelings expressed.


13. Heals well.


14. Laughs and loves much, and is loved and respected by peers.


15. Would learn most of this without any hierarchically mandated instruction. by observing adult communities behaving as above, and working to that model, because it works and everyone loves each other, though some might not like each other so much. They can handle that. Shit happens.


NOTE : A chronically stressed individual will present a symptom set and behavioural picture as far removed from this optimal as the stressors he or she is enduring are distant to the natural biological background levels within which optimal biological health emerges as an evolutionary outcome.

All of the above is supported by a mass of evidence, going back 2 million years, at least.

Domesticated animals are behaviourally modified organisms. So too, in a different way, all wild creatures of all sizes, ever. The difference is that domestication of animals is done to control them as a food source. Wild behaviour is largely learned by observation and testing. A lot like Science.

Here is my base point.

Healthy human behaviour best adpated to the habitat from which we, as a species, emerged. Which just happens to be a complex and dynamic habitat that is constantly changing. Sometimes subtly, sometimes in acute events.


We are, of course, individual unique and complex eco-systems, with billion of companion species assisting us in every manner.  Each of us. Populated by billions of organisms upon whose efforts, minute as each organism is, are at the very base of our body functioning.

Just like Trees. Just like everything else that is alive on Earth, of Earth.

So the health of any individual is webbed in all directions into the community and habitat.

Biologically we are all in this together.


Chronic stressors such as war, displacement, poverty, living under duress,
experiencing long term bullying, debt, lack of services, vulnerability, disease, psychological stress all tend to corrode the optimal biological health stasis for the human organism.

Those stressors alter the endocrine systems of the adults, the youth, the children, the unborn babies in utero. Everyone is afflicted to one degree or another. There is variety in the reaction/response just as we are all unique people, and within any group some patterns will readily emerged, or become visible.

Patterns are merely aggregates, and cannot be safely applied to the individual case, where exact data and evidence is needed, due to the unique person presenting a case that demands a personal evidence based diagnosis and from that then a plan to meet the patient/person as a whole can be created.

I think at core of my perception is the concept of a return to balance, rather than any utopian futurist ideal.

The balance is in our behaviour, our motivation, in seeing our vulnerability and sensitivity as a gift. Work on the behaviour, and the rest will follow, as we bring our minds less cluttered by chaff to the problems we face.

Healing is a recovery. Step by step.

Far better we engineer a genuine recovery than fall for that old seduction of The Revolution’.




Kindest regards

Corneilius

"Do what you love, it's Your Gift to Universe"

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