I wanted to share some good news in my blog today, but alas, I don't have much. Certainly not on the health goals side, since this month has been one of transition, and some unexpected disruptions have cropped up, getting to the gym has been a near impossibility.  Still, I'm hanging on in the 218-219 range, which isn't overly disappointing, but certainly not encouraging or invigorating.

Trump invited the Clemson football team to the White House this week in order to celebrate their NCAA National Championship. While the government is in shutdown, there is no budget for such festivities, so Trump, being the rich, and generous guy he is, bought them all....  fast food. Yes, these budding professional athletes, who have to focus on health, and their well-being in order to attain their athletic goals, were treated to burgers, and french fries, most likely because: 1. it's cheap, and 2. it's what Trump himself would prefer.

Speaking as someone who hasn't eaten at a national chain fast-food establishment in almost a decade (I have a story where I was stuck at the Las Vegas airport during their renovations and my only food options were Burger King or eating dropped pop-corn from under the slot machines) the entire visual of the spread makes me a bit more than queasy. At least they did provide some salads, but you get an invite to the White House and you get food that you can buy for a buck on any city corner in America? Health concerns aside, that had to be a pretty disappointing turn of events for a lot of these young men. I know I'm disappointed even when SATO Brew Pub is out of the garlic edamame. 

They say you can't outwork a bad diet. I'd like to think my diet isn't all that bad, so I'm just trying to outwork my genetics, which are probably even tougher to outwork.  Diets can change. I don't think I can rework those genes that give me a barrel chest, and a perpetual spare tire, but you won't catch me eating at McDonald's or Wendy's, that's for damn sure.

The Psychology Of The Worst Of Us

Psychology Today  in December posted an article titled, A Complete Psychological Analysis of  Trump's Support. According to the article's author, Bobby Azarian, Ph.D., when analyzing the person Trump is, we do ourselves a disservice by analyzing Trump's psychology, rather than the psychology of those whom support him, and the factors that drive their support of him.

In all, it is a pretty discouraging outline of a significant portion of the American population, but not an unexpected one.

Azarian breaks down his profile into fourteen categories of study, but mostly focuses on how the Trump supporter views politics, their place in politics, their place in the world vs. the places others occupy, and their fear driven responses to external forces.  I want to start looking, first off, at those fear based factors. 

In sections 5, and 6, Azarian points out that the conservative mind is more sensitive to the fears of mortality than more liberal minds. Referencing a 2008 study on the responses to external stimuli,  where subjects were exposed to threatening stimuli, such as sudden loud noises, or threatening visual images. In this study, it was found those with a measured response to such stimuli tended to have more liberal political views, whereas those who were measured with more extreme physiological responses tended to favor more conservative values such as higher defense spending, symbolic patriotism, and other such measures that would traditionally uphold the status quo.  Azarian also details that this psychological tendency goes along with Terror Management Theory , which states since humans have a unique awareness of their own mortality, the inevitability of death causes an existential crisis, and an anxiety that is resident in our psyche. In order to manage this anxiety, we seek out, or create worldviews through religion, political ideologies, and national identities, which are intended to give life meaning, and purpose. When other people don't align with these created worldviews, we tend to perceive them as a threat, act defensively toward them, and/or treat them with hostility. 

If you think about it in those terms, the more we age, and the closer we get to seeing our time in life come to an end, the more conservative we tend to become, unless we have already come to terms with our own mortality. 

The point of these sections is to show how the Trump voter is likely to support Trump based on his ability to use these fear-mongering tactics in order to drive the behavior of his supporters, many of whom will support him no matter how outlandish, or unreasonable his policies become.  Framing immigrants, and Mexicans, and liberals with threatening imagery: rapists, criminals, murderers, terrorists, stealing American jobs, taking away your guns (ability to defend yourself), triggers those mortality based fears that the conservative minded tend to over-respond to.

"But that's not what I wanted to discuss today," he said with a wink.

While many of us who objectively view Trump, and his actions within the chronology of his life, and see the repeating behaviors of lying, cheating, criminal, or nearly criminal activities in an attempt to garner wealth - remember, he once argued in court that it was unfair that native Americans are allowed to put up casinos, and he, a wealthy white man, wasn't allowed to, and started a fake University for the express purpose of defrauding students - we've already seen the behavior patterns within him that shout loudly to us, "This person would not be a good, altruistic, and fair leader in a representative position."  But for those who were already on the conservative side of the spectrum, it isn't difficult for them to ignore his extreme shortcomings, in exchange for perceived protection against the threats Trump has exponentially turned up the volume on, and pledge unyielding support to the person who promises them protection from their fears, regardless of how empty those promises may be, or how banal those perceived threats are in reality. 

Looking into this a little deeper, as we consider the complexity of human psychology, we can see how humans throughout history have bought into parasitic beliefs, and practices that have promised them safety from death, or ultimately, exemption from death via everlasting life after death. It is only when we come to terms with our own mortality that we can get past the fears that direct us toward those harmful, and stunting practices, and behaviors.

The theory of evolution demonstrates clearly how life, and life forms have changed, and adapted to changing environments, or new environments through migration over long periods of time. Our own evolution as a species is too slow in a biological sense for most people to allow them to "believe" it is happening. Our lives are finite, and do not encompass the amount of time necessary to observe significant evolution, but it is happening, both in a biological, and a more artificial adaptation pattern. Biological evolution shows us that in ancient Egyptian times, the average heights of humans were 5'0" for females, and 5'3" for males.  Modern average heights are 5'4" for females, and 5'9" for males. More visibly, we have evolved through our application of knowledge, technology, and social development. Evolution is highly dependent on mating, and procreation for all species, but we're the only ones who have developed Tinder. That is artificial evolution, and adaptation to a changing environment. 

Conservatives tend to be on the side of science denial, and they hold tight to ancient religious ideas. They pine for the "good old days" and their romanticized versions of what life used to be like in what in their minds should be considered a better time. Of course those better times didn't exist for everyone, and their views tend to be skewed. They complain about the newer generations without looking back at their own youth, and both the troubles they had, and the troubles they created.  The very notion of conservativism is based on fear: fear of change, fear of evolution, and the fear of death, and with that, the desire to stop evolution in its tracks. They want time to stand still for them, not realizing that there are generations that exist, and will exist far beyond their own lifetimes, that depend on evolution. Conservatives want to restore some imagined past glory, but stopping evolution means cutting off our future.

Progressivism is the opposite. It is the realization that not only do things change, but they need to change, and with time, they're going to change no matter how we attempt to stop it. If we're not evolving, we're not adapting. Death might still be frightening, but in a larger sense, dying out is even more frightening, and the best way to ensure continuance is to work on significant adaptation, cooperation, and giving every member of the human race a better shot of long term viability.  Hence, liberals are on that list of the people conservatives have the most disdain for: liberals are agents of the very evolution they want to deny exists.

So, if you say to a group of friends, "What if I just went out on the street and shot someone at random?" and your friend responded with disgust, odds are your friends are liberal, and realize that would be a heinous thing to do to someone. But when Trump said he could shoot someone on 5th Ave, and not lose a vote, his supporters' said, "HAHA, that's funny! That's my kind of guy!"  Because they can't envision themselves as the one who is being shot.

And unfortunately, that statement might actually be the last time someone could accuse Trump of being honest.

New Portfolio Section

Look! I created a Portfolio Section for my Video work!

It is still in progress, and will hopefully receive frequent updates, and content addition, but feel free to check out what I have so far! I have so much video work to go through still, and many projects in production currently. I will mention here when new content is added.

Quote Of The Day

"When You're In A Dark Place, You Sometimes Tend to Think You've Been Buried. Perhaps You've Been Planted. BLOOM!"

I don't recommend that you split yourself open, and try to grow by extending your organs out  of what is now your corpse. Remember: we plant people all of the time. Other things tend to bloom from them, if we do it the right way, but you're not a plant. You won't bloom in dirt. Odds are, you're just struggling with something, and need some help. Don't be afraid to ask for it, or seek it.

These inspirational quotes of try to inspire you by taking two very dissimilar concepts, and trying to make them metaphorically relate.  I've been in dark places. I can't say thinking I'm a plant, and eventually I will change from a seed to a flower has ever helped me with my depression, or getting over my failures. Power to you if this helps you, but I don't feel it.

"When Everything Feels Like An Uphill Struggle, Just Think Of The View From The Top."

*insert a photo of one of the many frozen corpses on Mount Everest*

Sometimes life is just a struggle. Just because it feels like it's uphill doesn't mean you're climbing a mountain. Sometimes you're just trying to stand up again, or get out of a hole you've dug. Sometimes you're just trying to be understood. Sometimes you're just trying to get out of bed. There's not always a view to look forward to, but there is usually something to appreciate. This quote makes it sound like everything will be grand, or majestic, when in reality, everything might just be mundane., and you might have a lot further to go.

But at least you're not buried anymore.

"Life's Problems Wouldn't Be Called Hurdles If There Wasn't a Way To Get Over Them."

Who calls all of life's problems "hurdles?" Sometimes they're pole-vaults. Sometimes they're pole-vaults over a 1000ft lake filled with alligators, and you're not given a pole. Sometimes they're not meant to get over, but maybe find a way around them, or simply retreat from them. Sometimes you're just collecting the hurdles, and carrying them with you down the track. It's important to take honest, and realistic looks at what you're dealing with, and understand how you need to attack it. Ask for help. Don't be afraid, or ashamed to seek help. World class hurdle racers don't always clear their hurdles, but their track also never includes a 20ft tall brick wall either. Sometimes your track does. You don't always have to tackle it alone.

I know these are meant to uplift people, and give them something to focus on besides their problems, and for some people these are enough. I have always found motivational sayings to be trite, and pointless. I prefer demotivational quotes, done with a sarcastic humor. They tend to reflect the truth, but putting a twist of humor into them, they create an even better distraction, and clues on how to take new paths. I know it sounds pessimistic, but I truly believe realistic views, and realistic plans do more to motivate than catchy, ever-optimistic quotes.

Gillette didn't say, "The Best A Man SHOULD Be"

Gillette Corp rolled out their new commercial, and ad campaign this week imploring American men to buy their shaving products, and stop being douchebags.  The online only commercial launched on Monday, and has already received a lot of online complaints, including people who believe the ad is talking down to men, by suggesting that men across America stop being douchebags, act with some responsibility for their own actions, and the actions of other men, and of course, start buying Gillette products again since their marketshare has dropped from 70% to less than 50% in the last three years.

Ad campaigns such as this tend to hit a mark, stir some immediate talk, and then fade away rather quickly.  For example, how many people are really still having discussions about #BlackLivesMatter because of Nike's ads with Collin Kaepernick? Not many. The issue still exists, and we're probably no closer to a solution to racism, or police forces having true accountability nation wide with how they treat people, but Nike is selling athletic gear, and a certain (read that: Conservative) segment of our population is still complaining about people kneeling, and "disruhspektin' 'Muricah!"

Gillette's message is great, and always needed. However, as it is with many of these social-consciousness ad attempts, the message will be lost on those who need to hear it, and those who need to change their view on their place in society the most. The #MeToo movement is powerful, and creates solidarity among those who have #MeToo experiences, but is met with contempt by those who most likely are the cause of  many people having #MeToo experiences. In a certain (read that: Conservative) side of the media, #MeToo is a punchline, or seen as "runaway political correctness." I have no doubts Gillette's campaign will probably end up among the discarded punchline trash heap of the conservative right, along side every other social activism exchange that the conservative right feels is meant to disrupt their power-grab based social policies.

Changing how men behave will take much more than a razor ad, which at the heart of it, is designed to sell more razors. Ancient, systemic societal issues such as racism, sexism, patriarchal hierarchies,  parasitic belief systems, trickle-down economics, and the host of other issues that divide us, and pit humans against each other in a quest for resource, and power control will take dozens of generations from where we are today in order to make effective changes.  These are systems that people have been trained to both blindly believe in, and to blindly defend for centuries, and they will only change when each individual says they've had enough of living in the world with so much inequity, and violence, and decides to take personal responsibility for dismantling those power structures in their own lives.

And if we use our current government as a barometer, a vast percentage of Americans are not ready to make those changes yet. Not even close.

Kudos to Gillette for creating an ad campaign that speaks to a higher value within human kind, but I'm still not buying your razors....