[FRIAM] Is the new president mentally ill?

Thu Jan 12 08:07:39 EST 2017

The comparison of Meryl Streep to Klemperer or von Galen seems more
baffling to me than the original conversation. As some on social media have
been pointing out, she stood in a room full of like minded people, and
spoke their collective mind, with no risk to her career or her person. She
didn't say anything not being chanted from the rooftops by hundreds of
thousands of other people, and said publically, by prominent celebrities
and members of the press every day.

Are we really worried Meryl will be disappeared in the coming weeks, and
gassed? Are we worried she will be hit with false charges, arrested without
trial, and have her properties become forfeit to the state? Are we even
worried she might be blacklisted and never act again? And even if she did,
are we worried she won't be able to get by in this world and support her
family with the $75 million she already has? Those are honest questions.

Maybe I'm very confused about what "courageous" means. I would consider the
average BLM marcher, or women's march participant, more courageous. They
could be attacked by police or counter protesters, they could be
arrested, they could be fired from their jobs, they could become ostracized
by their communities, etc. Heck, Jill Stein got herself arrested at
Standing Rock and hardly anyone seemed to notice. I'm not saying Meryl
didn't give a good speech, or that it was unimportant, but I honestly
wonder what risk we really think she faces as a result of that speech,
which leads us to dub her act so courageous, and to compare it to the
actions of the other individuals mentioned.

-----------
Eric P. Charles, Ph.D.
Supervisory Survey Statistician
U.S. Marine Corps
<echarles at american.edu>

On Thu, Jan 12, 2017 at 2:24 AM, Jochen Fromm <jofr at cas-group.net> wrote:

> Meryl Streep reminds me of Clemens August Graf von Galen, who was one of
> the few bishops that had the courage to criticize the Nazi regime. He was a
> bishop in my hometown Münster near the Dutch border. In his sermons he
> criticized that the Nazis were killing innocent disabled people. The
> program was named T4. The Nazis let him live because he was too popular
> among the people.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clemens_August_Graf_von_Galen
>
> Many other priests and bishops were imprisoned by the Gestapo  (the secret
> state police) in concentration camps and died. In St. Hedwig's cathedral in
> Berlin many of those are mentioned on memorial plagues. While it may be
> futile to resist, those who have the courage to do it are not forgotten.
>
> It can also help to document the things that are unfolding, the violations
> of human rights, the corruption, and the injustice. In Dresden there was a
> Jewish professor Victor Klemperer who covered the actions of the Nazi
> regime in his diaries and journals. He was an important witness of all the
> injustice that happened.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Klemperer
>
> -J.
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: glen ☣ <gepropella at gmail.com>
> Date: 1/12/17 02:07 (GMT+01:00)
> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com>
>
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Is the new president mentally ill?
>
>
> But the question is what actions are guided by remote diagnosis?  I admit
> that I hope high visibility shaming like that from Streep, when added to
> the rest of the stress he will be / has been under, will make him go away.
> But it's not likely for the same reasons Steve cites that blame and stigma
> won't really work on him.
>
> I suppose if we could really confirm that he's a particular type of
> narcissist, then we could build models of what he may or may not do and
> choose actions based on their expected efficacy.  But because, almost by
> definition, everyone who willingly runs for President is a narcissist of
> some sort or other and to differing extent, that diagnosis isn't helpful.
>
> Listening to the confirmation hearings is more helpful, I think.  Take
> note of all the (many) issues where Trump and his appointees express
> diametrically opposite positions.  Focus on those fissures.  At best, his
> administration will shatter.  At worst, the more distance you can put
> between the incompetent Cheeto and the competent people surrounding him,
> the more likely we'll end up with a Bush2 or a late-stage-Reagan ... maybe
> not good, but not catastrophic.
>
> On 01/11/2017 03:34 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:
> > Eric I believe you are wrong if you believe you can have a narcissistic
> person on your site. A narcissist cares only for himself. The policy of
> Trump boils down to "I'm great and you're not unless you are like me,
> myself and I, you loser". There is no way how he can make the country great
> again. As Paul Krugman said America will turn into some form of
> authoritarianism, into a Trumpistan nightmare at best.
> > Mr. Trump does not only have a brand, he *is* a brand, a brand that says
> "I'm great". If you stay in this Trump hotel you are great. If you play on
> this Trump golf course you are great, too. But it is just a facade. It is
> based on lies, and there is nothing behind the shiny facade except
> emptiness. Therefore he seems to hit back immediately if someone damages
> his image and his brand, because he ceases to exist if his image is
> destroyed. He and his brand have become undistinguishable.
> > Marketing is no way to make America great again, Google has already an
> OS for ads, and the American corporations excel in marketing, especially
> the fast food chains. What will he do, build a Trump hotel in every city, a
> Trump golf course in every national park? This would be a total Trumpistan
> nightmare. Better than the nuclear apocalypse, but who would want such a
> future...
>
>
> --
> ☣ glen
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/attachments/20170112/0e0f1f23/attachment-0002.html>