I just have to share it with you, dear Zoners. The knowledge of this gem is too precious to keep it only to myself.
From NYT
All This Anger Against the Rich May Be Unhealthy
By PAUL SULLIVAN
BEATING up on the wealthy seems to be the order of day. I suspected that. But a recent Wealth Matters column touched a particularly raw nerve. It looked at how even people with sizable fortunes were concerned about money in this recession and the impact that could have on the rest of us.
Readers rejected the attempt to understand the concerns of the rich.
“That’s so stupid that you ought to be slapped for it,” one woman wrote. My favorite began: “Bowties and Reaganomics are for losers. You can cry for the rich all you want, the rest of us will be happy to see them get taxed.”
The vehemence in these e-mail messages made me wonder why so many people were furious at those who had more than they did. And why are the rich shouldering the blame for a collective run of bad decision-making? After all, many of the rich got there through hard work. And plenty of not-so-rich people bought homes, cars and electronics they could not afford and then defaulted on the debt, contributing to the crash last year.
But in this recession, anger flows one way. Eric Dammann, a Manhattan psychoanalyst, theorizes that a lot of people are angry that the rules of the game seem to have changed.
“There’s always been envy and hatred toward the rich, but there was also a strong undercurrent of admiration that was holding these people up as a goal,” Mr. Dammann said. “This time it’s different because it feels like it’s a closed club and the rich have an unfair advantage.”
What is troubling is that the anger has hardened for some into a suspicion that all wealthy people are motivated purely by self-interest, said Brad Klontz, a financial psychologist in Hawaii and a co-author of the forthcoming book, “Mind Over Money: Overcoming the Money Disorders That Threaten Our Financial Health” (Random House).
“The script goes like this: Money is bad, rich people are shallow and greedy, and people become rich by taking advantage of others,” Mr. Klontz said. “But the same people who say money is bad say money is connected to their self-worth — they wished they had it and you didn’t.”
In boom or bust, envy is natural, and the desire for a level playing field is understandable. But so too is the desire to do better financially, to the point where it seems at times to be hardwired into our national psyche. “To revile the rich is to revile the American dream,” said Robert Clarfeld, president of the wealth management firm Clarfeld Financial Advisors.
This resentment was so palpable, I started to wonder if it was having any effect — were the wealthy aware of it, and if they were, did they care?
Continue and, whatever you do, stay healthy! Which means do not get angry at the rich. They have enough problems as it is.
====
To help you get healthier, I encourage you to see this Elizabeth Warren's interview where she says that "bank bonuses make (her) speechless." While you are listening to her, remember to breathe deeply and repeat some relaxation mantra -- for example, "I love the Trumps!" or "Goldman Sachs is awesome!" or whatever works for you.
If you can get through the whole segment without blowing a gasket, you are quite healthy, my friends, and you can start focusing your anger on the real culprits here -- the poor, who destroy this wonderful country of ours and its robust economy through their willfully negligent poverty.
If not, we'll think of some more advanced techniques for you.
For example, Dr. Dammonn, the Manhattan psychoanalyst interviewed for the article (an aside: these guys have the highest fees in the helping profession) has this useful advice, should you be ready for the more advanced exploration of your clearly irrational anger at the rich:
People who get caught up in this paranoia spend all night reading these blogs, and six months later they haven’t done anything to better themselves. Even if they’re right, there is a lot of wasted energy put into this. They need to look at the mistakes they’ve made in their life.
Ouch. Paranoia!* And Dr. Dammonn is an expert, so surely he would not throw clinical terms willy-nilly here. If you're angry at the rich for, say, ruining our economy, your lost house and your unemployment, while you watch them pocket unprecedented bonuses yet again, you are obviously paranoid, what else?
Besides, instead of criticizing the poor rich, you should look at yourself and focus on your own mistakes in life. Why, if you didn't make horrendous mistakes, you'd be rich too, just like the rest of us.
Well, OK, the rich are not totally heartless, not all of them. I'm sure Dr. Dammonn would like to help you to uncover your mistakes. But be mindful of the fact that psychoanalytic treatment requires several sessions a week and the fee per session may be as high as your mortgage.
You may also try to uncover those mistakes on your own -- in that case, the book(s) peddled in the article and other services of their authors should be helpful too. IF you can afford them.
And whatever you do, think of the children! Listen to the good psychologists, they know what they are talking about:
Mr. Klontz is even more concerned that this obsession with money and blame will affect children. He said the risk is creating a generation that distrusts investing and associates wealth with greed.
“People in their 20s have watched their parents lose their money and now they think, ‘You can’t trust banks, you can’t trust anyone.' ”Oh no, we certainly would not our young people to distrust banks! Because if you can't trust banks, whom can you trust?
And this quote, from yet another expert, quite possibly beats them all:
“To revile the rich is to revile the American dream,” said Robert Clarfeld, president of the wealth management firm Clarfeld Financial Advisors.
Damn right. But why stop there? Let's just tell it like it is: To revile the rich is un-American and unpatriotic. Downright treasonous.
*That takes me back to the good old days of the Soviet psychiatry, where dissidents and most of those who had a beef with the system and did not believe the official propaganda telling people that they lived in the best of all worlds, were officially diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and other assorted mental maladies. The diagnosis was often followed by mandatory inpatient treatment designed to cure the "sick" of his or her dangerous delusions.
This piece, so heavily and readily supported by the opinions of mental health experts is no different in its shameless pandering to the established ideology and attempts at pathologizing those who do not buy it.
Cross-posted at The Middle of Nowhere.
