[Paleopsych] liberal/conservative

[Steve Hovland]

The so-called "swing to the right," in my view,
is really the last gasp of the Reptilian mentality.

Even as empathy arises from a newer part of
the brain, so do Empaths represent the new
order, and Reptilians will go the way of the
Neanderthal.


Steve Hovland
www.stevehovland.net


-----Original Message-----
From:	Michael Christopher [SMTP:anonymous_animus at yahoo.com]
Sent:	Saturday, January 01, 2005 1:47 PM
To:	paleopsych at paleopsych.org
Subject:	[Paleopsych] liberal/conservative


>>For the immediate dangers in the Middle East, the
best-informed people I know point to the simple belief
that "dialogue" is unnecessary, unproductive
and essentially evil. That's one hell of an axiom to
try to cope with.<<

--Indeed. The leap from "You can't stop hardcore
fanatics with dialog" (probably true) to "You can't
have a dialog with anyone who is not on our side"
(gross generalization) is all too easy. 

>>Yet fundamentalists in the US or fanatics of almost
any stripe tend to share that same axiom, an axiom
which almost REQUIRES either a nervous breakdown or
gross hypocrisy in the end, if the people are really
committed to the axiom.<<

--Very true. The belief that doubt is treason does
lead to nervous breakdown, and when a culture is
locked into an extreme position and unable to see its
own dysfunctional side, a fall is inevitable. The
schizophrenia within the Islamic community is easily
noticed by Westerners, but the schizophrenia within
our own society is harder for us to see, because we
are committed to a worldview based on unconscious
compartmentalization. Nature does not
compartmentalize, and we are eventually forced to see
what we thought were very simple, black and white
situations, in full color, with all the feelings and
perceptions we denied. When a hard-line anti-liberal
deplores the "hand-wringing" of liberals, it is an
indication that if he were to question his own
position, it would lead to guilt and self-doubt. When
a leftist deplores the black and white thinking of
some conservatives, he cannot see that he is engaging
in the same fallacy. Each projects his own shadow onto
the other, and eventually there is a role-reversal
before balance is reached. The pendulum swing against
liberalism, which many conservatives believe is a
"return to sanity" will not be permanent. Hopefully
the next swing will be toward a harmonious blend of
liberal and conservative thinking, instead of
reactionary socialism or blind anti-conservatism.

michael 





		
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