The Psychology of Progressive Tyranny and Immorality
Peter R. Breggin, M.D.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/as/act/inter/icspp/breggin-savage-progressives
"Live Like an American!" Radio Report No. 35 on the Savage Nation
October 14, 2009
Audio available on
www.breggin.com
This report may be circulated provided the author and the source are identified.
Not an exact transcript.
What do all of the following have in common? Presidential apologies to mass murderers, bowing before tyrants, undermining the CIA and America's missile shield, forcing Israel to defend itself and us from nuclear war, pushing budget-busting programs that will turn our children into fiscal chattel, destroying the best healthcare system in the world, subjugating industries to imperial whim and bailout, celebrating a day of infamy with a day of national service, and telling school children to serve their president , and no outcry over recent riots in the streets of Pittsburgh? Other than signaling the collapse of American values, what do all these disasters have in common? And what do they have in common as well with enslaving 13-year-old girls into prostitution (the ACORN tapes) and exonerating the rape of a thirteen-year old girl (liberal defenders of Roman Polanski)? So what do all these things have in common?
The underlying personal psychology that motivates progressivism explains this broad spectrum of irresponsible conduct. Having failed to manage their personal lives in a satisfying manner, progressives try to control their inner emotional pain by managing the world—whether or not the world wants it. When the world won't conform to their expectations, progressives lapse into endless harping criticisms of others and self-justifications about their good intentions. When talk fails, many turn violent.
Obama talks so much, even when it hurts his ratings, because it's all about making himself feel better. And as his frustration grows, Obama turns increasingly to force—pushing coercive legislative programs without regard for the views of American citizens or our Founding values.
Why do progressives continue to pursue endless programs that never succeed, from Roosevelt's New Deal to the War on Poverty and beyond? Why do those who inherit wealth so often become leftists who want to give away the wealth of other rich people? Progressives care more about their good intentions than their bad effects. They assuage their own personal helplessness and guilt by flaunting and even imposing their good intentions on others.
Malicious envy is embedded in this dark psychology that drives progressive theory and practice. Why else would people of seemingly normal intelligence praise Fidel or his latest clones, and imagine that these monsters have been good for their people? Feelings of guilt and helplessness breed envy toward those who succeed in life. Nothing offends a progressive more than someone who has succeeded where he has not. That's why progressives would rather level society than let some people stand out. Meanwhile, they pride themselves in doing good things for the poor merely because they have ruined the rich.
Their psychology also explains why progressives worship their leaders but hate their country. Because of their underlying helplessness, progressives eagerly worship charismatic leaders. They want to adore and to serve a "father" who coddles and protects them, and promises them heaven on Earth without risk and hard work. Because conservatives instead call for responsibility, progressives especially hate and resent them, the way a spoiled or overwhelmed child fears and resents responsibility.
Resentment of responsibility also fuels Ameriphobia. They hate our society because its ideals put a premium on responsibility, independence, and the defense of freedom. They hate Israel not only because it's America's ally but also because it vigorously takes responsibility for itself and its own freedom.
Earlier I mentioned Acorn and Roman Polanski. When you emotionally reject personal responsibility, that's what you'll find at the bottom of your political barrel—Acorn reps encouraging sex trade with thirteen year olds, progressives apologizing for Roman Polanski's rape of a thirteen year old, and liberals condoning the violent riots in Pittsburgh.
Progressives claim the mantle of idealism. It is natural for adolescents to handle their own feelings of helplessness and dependence by trying to fix the world. Feeling guilt about being taken care of, of course they want everyone to be taken care of. Being dependent on their own parents, it's natural for them to imagine a Big Daddy in the Sky called government who will take care of everybody else. And since their schools denigrate capitalism and freedom, of course they have no idea about our nation's founding values and the miraculous progress produced by the free market. This kind of progressive idealism is forgivable in adolescents, but not in grown adults who use political power to impose their own unresolved, unrelenting adolescent fantasies and ignorance on other people.
Ultimately, freedom and responsibility are twin daggers in the heart of progressive psychology.
Our Founders left us a profound political and personal legacy. They made it possible for us to live by the principles of freedom, responsibility, gratitude, and love, including a passionate devotion to the rights of the individual, to the nation, and to God. The Founders gave us the basis of a sound psychology and philosophy of life, and it's wholly incompatible with progressivism.
This is Dr. Peter Breggin hoping you will read my brand new book titled "Wow, I'm an American—How to Live Like Our Heroic Founders." Pre-publication copies of "Wow, I'm an American!" are available on my website
www.Breggin.com where you can also listen to all my Savage nation reports and download the transcripts.
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