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.
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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.
Where's our Ayn Rand cultist? I want a spirited defense of the superior human's right to squeeze every penny out of the poor. It's their own fault they're poor, right? Because they haven't made themselves rich. Yeah, that's the ticket.
ReplyDeleteHey poor people? I've got some bad news for you... It's your own fucking fault you're poor. And because you are poor when you get sick well too fucking bad.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth I bet you made the mistake of not being born into a family with the name Hilton or Bush.
As a teacher you know the It's the Rich got Rich by being inherently better. Only a socialist would want to upset the god appointed order of the Nation.
Matt and GeG, of course the poor are solely responsible for their misery. They always have been. This is the land of opportunity, after all. It's indeed their own mistake -- of being born in the ghetto.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that was my mistake too (not exactly the ghetto, but pretty close). So now, as the good doctors advise, instead of harping on social injustices -- or, God forbid, trying to do something about them -- I will be a good peasant and go into my hut to contemplate my mistakes. And you should too.
More seriously, I thought at first that this NYT piece was a satire. But no. We really have mental health "experts" telling us directly that anger at the rich is misplaced and unhealthy for us, the non-rich. They say this with straight faces as our economy is crumbling thanks to insatiable greed of our wealthy elites.
This is the stuff -- the arrogant disregard for non-privileged masses -- that in other countries sparks revolutions.
BTW, thanks for the interesting link, GeG.
"the arrogant disregard for non-privileged masses -- that in other countries sparks revolutions."
ReplyDeleteWhich in turn make things far worse. If we have to make everything binary with mutually exclusive poles, it's an argument not worth having because it's been had and goes nowhere.
There are no societies where everyone has the same amount of wealth and without some overwhelming tyranny, there never will be - and even then the tyrants will themselves have more.
There is a lot of room between worlds where one man has it all and the rest have nothing and a world where everyone has the same amount and there's an area of health - a wide one - in between.
Wealth, particularly in a world where there are other assets than land, is not a zero sum game and self-serving descriptions of either the rich or poor or the in-between are the basic fabric of bigotry and hate-mongery, leading nowhere worth going.
Take someone like Bill Gates. As wealthy as he is, he's created an amount of wealth for others that's hard to overestimate and opened a world of possibility for things that couldn't otherwise have happened. Does that make him a bad guy?
To insist that all gains are misbegotten and the only road to prosperity is paved with greed and contempt for others sounds as contrived as the world of Ayn Rand and every bit as much the product of bitterness and greed.
I too think we need to make a distinction between those who are self made from those who have made their money at the expense of others.
ReplyDeleteI have no rancor toward Trump, Gates or any of their kind of wealthy. They are self made men.
One can argue that those who inherit from self made men but have actually done nothing for it don't "deserve it" but I would have to argue that by accident of birth, they are entitled. Hopefully they will do good things and not squander it, but, either way, it is their right.
The only time I get angry about wealth is in situations that involve my money, such as the dastardly, bastardly bailouts that created a sky full of golden parachutes. Thier lines should have been cut 5,000 ft above ground and let them fall where they may. And people like Bernie Madoff; all those who have found a way to obtain money that is not rightfully theirs.
For me that is righteous indignation - not jealousy.
I am not a wealthy woman, but I am a happy woman, living a simple life and trying to make it even simpler.
A favorite quote from Buddah: "The key to happiness is letting go."
Letting go of frustrations, jealousies and regret, that resonates with me.
Elizabeth, of course you knew in advance that Octopus would be charmed and fall sucker for such a topic. The subject is both amusing and provocative.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand, there is nothing like a clever satire to puncture the arrogant political dissembling as we are witnessing in the current healthcare debate.
On the other hand, as you point out, we should always be acutely suspicious of psychological constructs and practices whose sole purpose is NOT to help people but to be wielded as instruments of oppression.
I am equally suspicious of popularized press accounts of psychological opinion, which inevitably default on the side of sensationalism and fall short on academic rigor. The NYT article certainly rises to the level of suspicion. For instance, this caught my attention:
“ They’re [the rich] very concerned about taxes going up,” said William Woodson, managing director at the Family Wealth Management group at Credit Suisse. “The percent that goes to taxes is significant if it’s a 15 percent capital gains vs. 25 percent capital gains. It makes a big difference.”
When a hedge fund trader earns $1 billion a year but pays only 15% capital gains, while others earning far less are trapped in the 35% income tax bracket, it is damn hard to have sympathy for the billionaires. Warren Buffett, case in point, revealed inequities in our tax system when he admitted to paying 15% on earnings whereas his secretary paid the higher marginal rate on far less income
We read of banking executives awarding themselves bonuses paid from TARP funds. We read of corporate cartels buying influence in Washington at a time when marginally middle-class workers are losing homes and retirement assets. There is a general perception that the rich hold power and influence, whereas the poor and marginally middle-class are powerless.
Although the NYT article has its amusing side, it lacks balance by failing to touch on these painfully real and justified resentments.
BTW, I like the picture. I should mention that you can order custom imprinted toilet paper with images of your least favorite politician or poison ivy; but I understand the ink runs and I wouldn’t want, say residual amounts of Dick Cheney, clinging to my you-know-what.
ReplyDeleteCapt., I don't advocate a revolution, just observe that continuing to dismiss growing social inequities while telling the dispossessed to bear them with a smile (or at least no anger toward those who are either responsible or contributing to their dispossession) leads to social upheavals. There is only so much people can take.
ReplyDeleteRocky (and Capt.), yes, there are wealthy folks who got where they are through honest work, and do good deeds, understanding that with money and power comes responsibility toward others and common good in general.
But the populist anger, brewing in the US now, both on the left and right, is not really directed at those folks (or if it is, that's because they are "collateral damage"), but at people from Goldman Sachs etc., who are pocketing record earnings doled out from our money, while thousands of folks are losing their homes and jobs every day.
In light of this, having "experts" tell us that being angry at the rich is "unhealthy," is adding insult to injury.
A semi-useful analogy: it is like telling an abused wife not to be angry at her abusive husband, and instead look inward to assess what mistakes she's made, in this relationship and in life in general. While there may be time and place for that introspective assessment, it isn't now, when she is suffering the abuse.
On the other hand, as you point out, we should always be acutely suspicious of psychological constructs and practices whose sole purpose is NOT to help people but to be wielded as instruments of oppression.
ReplyDeleteThis is the most galling aspect of the piece for me, Octo.
Having American psych "experts" offer negative assessments of mental health of those who object to the societal status quo is not terribly different from the abuses perpetrated by the Soviet and Chinese psychiatry. Granted, we don't (yet?) lock up our dissidents in asylums, but the "expertly" opinions rendered by these "specialists" do what psychiatry (and psychology) in totalitarian systems does so well: stigmatize and pathologize dissent (even though in subtler and much more palatable ways: anger at the rich may not be healthy for you. Perhaps there is some truth in your complaints, but you'd use your time better reflecting on your own mistakes... Etc. Almost sounds like a gentle admonishment of a benevolent parent. See, child, you are only hurting yourself. It's time to give up this silliness -- for your own good. Yes, that phrase again. I'm referring to Alice Miller's work, of course.)
"it is like telling an abused wife not to be angry at her abusive husband"
ReplyDeleteI disagree - it sounds more like making an excuse for generalized misanthropy because some men are abusive. Do we really have evidence that rich people ( whatever that means) are nasty exploiters who need to be sent to re-education camps -- or is that just a convenient assessment allowing us to dress up jealousy as justice? Aren't we stigmatizing and pathologizing prosperity rather than being angry at people who rigged the system to benefit themselves while we stood by and cheered and attacked those pinko liberal commies who opposed it?
Who elected Reagan and the Bush's if it wasn't the common man with his uncommon greed? Think the trolls who love to fling dung at us are making ten million a year? It's the middle class who want the same preferred treatment as the 1 percenters who laugh at them. The same middle class so insanely afraid that somebody will get a nickel's benefit more than they will, the same middle class thinks the liberals are burdening him with social responsibility when it's the really rich holding him back and laughing at him and his damn fool tea parties.
We have a system that increasingly favors the top 1% and that allows corporations to lie, cheat, steal and propagandize ad libidum. We voted for it however, because we bought the lies and thought we could prosper from the table scraps. It wasn't forced on us from above.
There's nothing evil or pathological about wanting to live better or to have more financial security or to profit from building something or creating something or producing something or even from investing wisely -- while recognizing the responsibility to the country that made it possible. Raising the top bracket to 50% or above would work nicely and so would indexing capital gains, but nobody is going to volunteer - rich or poor or in-between. The government needs to do it and we need to support it.
There is something bad about a society that is stupid enough to buy into all the lies it's bought into all these years; the idiocy about socialism and communism and Ayn Rand's supermen and all the rest. Let's not make the mistake that's always made and look for scapegoats and cheap vengeance. Let's just accept responsibility for what we did and undo it.
Well, I don't know about anyone else but these "experts" need to get over themselves! I'm sure they consider themselves part of that wealthy elite and somehow see it as their mission to save their class.
ReplyDeleteIt is disturbing to see people in the mental health profession whoring themselves so shamelessly, though.
They really need professional help - Elizabeth, perhaps you have some room on your couch? (You could charge them a lot of money; they would be insulted if you didn't!)
And Fogg, I wouldn't be too hard on the mass populace. The desire for wealth and power seems to be deeply ingrained in the human race since the beginning of time.
I think the point Elizabeth makes about these clown pych-whatever-they-call-themselves is a valid one.
And reforming the tax system so that those who have enjoyed such good fortune pay a reasonable portion is hardly a mental disease and not necessarily anger at their wealth either. This country has long favored those that have, using the have nots to pay for that favor.
"The desire for wealth and power seems to be deeply ingrained in the human race since the beginning of time." So said Alfred Adler, I think.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I was trying to say, but it's been perverted and people are voting against their own interests and not recognizing it.
Yes, it is a good point and we're suffering from bad science in many other respects too and because the public can't tell real from fake from propaganda.
All I'm asking for is not to stereotype people. The rich aren't really different at all - they just have more money and yes we need to get the rules back, not to round them up and send them to the camps.
No need to worry, Captain. Assuming all human beings have an innate lust for wealth and power, eventually the species will exhaust all earth's resources and exhaust themselves like fabled lemmings. For rich and poor alike, Malthus is an equal opportunity exterminator. Then the cephalopods take over!
ReplyDeleteYes and no - sure we'll use it all up and ruin it all but in the process everything in the sea and on land will be eaten.
ReplyDelete7 billion we are and it was 6 only a few years ago and soon to be 10, 15, 20. Save the earth by using florescent bulbs? Hahahahahahahaha!