After one has learned how to listen, he must learn what to listen for. From the psychiatric point of view, there are four basic vocal signals: sounds, accents, voices, and vocabulary. The commonest breathing sounds and their usual meanings are as follows: coughs (nobody loves me), sighs (if only), yawns (buzz off), grunts (you said it), and sobs (you got me); and various kinds of laughs such as jollies, chuckles, snickers, and titters. The three most important types of laughs, known colloquially as Ho Ho, Ha Ha, and He He, will be discussed further on. Culture has very little to do with scripts. There are winners and losers in every layer of society and in every country, and they go about fulfilling their destinies in much the same way all over the world. To further highlight this situation, the prevalence of mental illness in any large group of people is pretty much the same all over, and there are suicides everywhere. As the late Tupac said in the lyrics of his song, “So Many Tears,” “I’m suicidal, so don’t stand near me. My every move is a calculated step to bring me closer to embrace an early death. Now there’s nothin’ left.” Every large group in the world also has its leaders and its rich men. Nevertheless, foreign accents do have some meaning for the script analyst. First, they make possible educated guesses about early Parental precepts, and that is where culture does come in: “Do as you are told,” in Germany, “Be quiet,” in France, and “Do not be naughty,” in Britain. #RandolphHarris 1 of 31
Secondly, accents indicate the flexibility of the script. A German who has been in this country for twenty years and still speaks with a thick accent probably has a less flexible life plan than a Dane who speaks good American after only two years. Thirdly, if the therapist can speak that language, the script is written in the native language of the Child, and script analysis is swifter and more effective. A foreigner living out his script in America is the equivalent of putting on Hamlet in Japanese in the Kabuki theater. If the critic does not have the original at hand, a great deal is going to be lost or misunderstood. Particularly if they are affected, native accents are also informative. A man who speaks with a Brooklyn accent but throws in a few Boston or Broadway broad a’s clearly shows the influence of a hero or a parental person he is carrying around in his head. Even if the patient denies it, that person must be tracked down, because his influence is probably widespread. “She passed a remok, or I should say an epigram,” or “We left oily, but did not get to the game until hof time,” clearly indicates a splint in the Parental directives. Each patient has at least three different voices, Parent, Adult, and Child. He may keep one, or even two of them carefully hidden for a long time, but they will slip out sooner or later. Usually, a careful listener can hear at least two of them in any fifteen minutes. #RandolphHarris 2 of 31
The patient may say a whole Parental paragraph with only one Child whine, or a whole Adult paragraph with only one Parental scold, but an alert listener will pick up the key phrase. Other patients change voices from one sentence to another, or even use two or three voices in a single sentence. Each of the voices reveals something about the script. A Parental voice, speaking to another person, uses Parental slogans and precepts, and duplicates what the father or mother would have said in the same situation: “Does everybody not?” “Look who is talking,” “You have got to keep your mind occupied,” “Why do you not try harder?,” “You cannot trust anybody.” An unanswering Adult voice usually means that the Child is being suppressed by Parental command in favor of some humorless pedantic pattern, perhaps loaded with a few “official” or anal jokes. This indicates that the Child will therefore find devious ways of expression or periodically explode, giving rise to the nonadaptive behavior and waste of energy which makes a loser. The Child voice indicates the script role: “Cute Kid,” “Little Old Me,” “Clinging Whine,” for example. Thus, the parental voice tells the counterscript, The Adult voice gives the pattern, and the Child voice takes the script role. Each ego state may also have its own vocabulary. Parental words, such as “bad,” “stupid,” “coward,” and “ridiculous,” tell what Jeder is most afraid of being, and tries hardest to avoid. #RandolphHarris 3 of 31
A persistent Adult technical vocabulary may be simply a way of avoiding people, as is common in engineering, aviation, and finance, under a script directive of “Do great things but do not get involved personally.” The Adult “helpnik” vocabularies (PTA, psychology, psychoanalysis, social science) may be used in an intellectual Rite of Spring, where the victim’s dismembered psyche is left scattered over the floor on the theory that he will eventually join himself together and be more fertile afterward. The storyline of this script reads: “I will tear you apart, and remember I am only trying to help you. However, you will have to put yourself together, since nobody else can do it for you.” Sometimes the patient is his own favorite Ritual victim. The Child vocabulary may be the obscene words of revolt, the clichés of compliance, or the sweet phrases of charming innocence. A typical triad often found in the same person is Parental marshmallow-throwing, Adult dissection, and Child obscenity. To further highlight this illustration: “We all have our ups and downs; I think you are handling it beautifully. Of course, you must split off your autonomous ego from your identification with your mother. After all, it is a harsh world.” This script comes right out of Dante’s Inferno: “How to keep smiling while reading a textbook when you are up to your neck in sewage.” #RandolphHarris 4 of 31
Adjectives and abstract nouns are name-calling. The correct response to a person who says that he suffers from “passive dependency” or that he is “an insecure sociopath” is “What names did your parents call you when you were little?” Action euphemisms such as “aggressive expression” or “pleasures of the flesh,” should be eliminated by asking, “What did you call that when you were little?” “Expressive aggression” is a pure artifact and means that Pat has gone to a modern dance class or been wrestled by a Gestalt therapist, while being involved in “pleasures of the flesh” means that he attends meetings of the Sexual Freedom League.” Adverbs are a little more intimate. Thus, “I sometimes feel sexual excitement” is over there in the vague distance, while “I sometimes get sexually excited” is over here. The precise psychological significance of adverbs, however, remains to be clarified. Pronouns, verbs, and concrete nouns are the most real parts of speech, and “tell it like it is.” Telling it like it is may mean that the patient is ready to get well. Thus, a woman who is afraid of the pleasures of the flesh often stresses adjectives and abstract nouns: “I had a satisfactory sexual experience.” Later, she may emphasize pronouns and verbs: “We really turned on.” One woman went to the hospital the first time to have “an obstetrical experience.” The second time, she went to have a baby. Patients “express hostility against authority figures.” When they become real people, they just swear or tear up the papers. #RandolphHarris 5 of 31
On the therapist’s side, the one who reports: “We initiated the interview by exchanging beneficial greetings. The patient then related that he had expressed hostility by performing an act of physical aggression against his wife,” is having a harder time than the one who says: “The patient said Hello and told me that he hit his wife.” In one case, the therapist maintained that a boy “attended a residential school setting in the private area,” while the boy said that he merely “went to boarding school.” The most important single word in script language is the particle “but,” which means “According to my script, I do not have permission to do that.” Real people say: “I will,” or “I will not,” or “I won,” or “I lost,” while “I will but…” “I will not but…” “I won but…” or “I lost but…” are all scripty. Various women live in worlds populated by wolves, beasts, charmers, cats, creeps, suckers, and pricks, and their menfolk see them as dishes, b*tches, grooves, chicks, foxes, chicks, broads, whores, and some other unpleasant terms. All these are script words which emerge in the course of conversation on group treatment. The script scenes are usually centered around one or other room of the house: the nursery, the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room, and the bedroom, and these are located in such expressions “plenty to drink,” “all that crap,” “a regular fest,” “all those people,” and “sock it to them.” #RandolphHarris 6 of 31
Each of these rooms has its own vocabulary, and the person stuck in any of these chambers will use the appropriate expressions over and over. Equally common is the workroom, signified by “Get your kiester over there.” Closely allied to script words are metaphors. Thus, Mary had two different and separate vocabularies of metaphors. In one, she was all at sea, could not fathom anything, could hardly keep her head above water, had stormy days, and waves of feelings. At other times, life was a feast, she could eat her words, she had lots of goodies, or she might feel sour or bitter because that was the way the cookie crumbled. She married a sailor and complained of obesity. When she felt at sea, all her lingo was maritime, and when she was overeating, it was culinary. Thus, she fell from the ocean to the kitchen and back again, and the therapist’s problem was to get her feet on the ground. Metaphors are an extension of the script scene, and a change in metaphors means a change of scene. In her case, the stormy waters turned out to be a sea of anger. Some people must go through certain rituals or make certain gestures before they begin to talk, in order to protect themselves or apologize for speaking. These rituals are addressed to their Parents. Abelard, to further highlight this illustration, always slid his hands under his belt before he began to talk. It was evident that he was protecting his testicles from some inner assailant who was scheduled to attack him when he was off guard because he was speaking to somebody, so he always took care of that danger before he ventured to speak. #RandolphHarris 7 of 31
To tell people the simple, if subtle, truth is to provoke them to partisan wrath. To such unintelligent objections, we may well answer with old Dr. Johnson, “I have found you a reason, sir—I am not bound to find you an understanding.” These people possess a remarkable talent for finding out difficulty in what is perfectly plain. They complain about our arguments because, in brief, the latter have been directed to a higher intellectual level than that of a boy of ten. Argument can be refined, dignified, and courteous and still remain argument. However, the crude and immature think it necessary to express themselves by abuse and vilification in order to prove their points! The pompous pedantry of some academic circles is not less unbalanced than the illiterate inarticulateness of those who scorn them. These lopsided characters who make intellect their sole judge, guide, and support have imprisoned themselves in it and refuse to leave their jail. Are they not foolish? They use their minds only to deal with matters and to answer questions arising from their personal desires and social situations, only for the private satisfaction of their earthly interests. A higher use of it makes no appeal. We must not only renounce such an unsatisfactory doctrine, but also denounce it. In the new loyalty to a narrower view of truth, they abandon the High, the Holy, the Beautiful, and the Refined. The practical benefits of their education are plain, but why become a dwarf to get them? #RandolphHarris 8 of 31
They are imprisoned by their own illusory concepts, and unless something or someone from outside comes to release them, they will continue to be captive, limited, and unnecessarily lost in illusions. The meaning of a word or phrase may be multiple, which is why translations vary, why interpretations are disputed, and why statements in bureaucratic jargon leave some persons uncertain and others unclear. Hence, lawyers are hired, teachers of semantics arise, and sects flourish. However, turn to numbers and one knows precisely what one is dealing with. They fulfill their function without debate. No mist arises. So Pythagoras can boldly assert: “The universe is founded upon numbers.” The power of abstract thought has characterized the best class of minds since time immemorial. Joseph de Maistre refutes Jacobinism and Calvinism, two doctrines which summed up for him, “everything bad that has been thought for centuries,” in the name of a Christian philosophy of history. To counter schisms and heresies, he wanted to re-create “the robe without a seam” of a really catholic Church. His aim—and this can be seen at the period of his Masonic adventures—is the universal Christian city. Maistre dreams of the protoplatic Adam, or the Universal Man, of Fabre d’Olivet, who will be the rallying-point of individual souls, and the Adam Kadmon of the cabalists, who preceded the Fall and who must now be brought to life again. When the Church has reclaimed the world, she will endow this first and last Adam with a body. #RandolphHarris 9 of 31
In the Soirees in St. Petersburg there is a mass of formulas on this subject which bear a striking resemblance to the Messianic formulas of Hegal and Marx. In both the terrestrial and the celestial Jerusalem that Maistre imagines, “all the inhabitants pervaded by the same spirit will pervade one another and will reflect one another’s happiness.” Maistre does not go so far as to deny personal survival after death; he only dreams of having been annihilated, there will be no more passion nor self-interest,” and where “man will be reunited with himself when his double standard will be obliterated and his two centers unified.” In the city of absolute knowledge, where the eyes of the mind and the eyes of the body became as one, Hegel also reconciled contradictions. However, Maistre’s vision again coincides with that of Marx, who proclaims “the end of the quarrel between essence and existence, between freedom and necessity.” Evil, for Maistre, is nothing but the destruction of unity. However, humanity must rediscover its unity on earth as in heaven. By what means? Maistre who is an ancient regime reactionary, is less explicit on this point than Marx. Meanwhile, he was waiting for a great religious revolution of which 1789 was only the “appalling preface.” He quotes Saint John, who asks that we make truth, which is exactly the program of the modern revolutionary mind, and Saint Paul, who announces that “the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Humanity marches, by way of crimes, violence, and death, toward this final consummation, which will justify everything. The earth for Maistre is nothing but “an immense altar on which all the living must be sacrificed, without end, without limit, without respite, until the end of time, until the extinction of evil, until the death of death. His fatalism, however, is active as well as passive. “Man must act as if he were capable of all things and resign himself as if he were capable of nothing.” We find in Marx the same sort of creative fatalism. Maistre undoubtedly justifies the established order. #RandolphHarris 10 of 31
In dreams, we are closer to the reality of ourselves. And this dream in particular seemed to emerge from a great depth, and to present a profound and square insight into the danger of the dreamer’s particular self-destructiveness. The reaction of pity for self, in this instance as in many others, was at that time not constructive: it did not move her to do anything in her own behalf. Only when the hopelessness and the intensity of self-contempt abates, can the unconstructive self-pity turn into a constructive sympathy with self. And this indeed is a forward move of great significance for anybody in the clutches of self-hate. It goes with a beginning feeling for his real self and a beginning wish for inner salvation. The reaction to the deteriorating process can also be stark terror. And, considering the formidable danger of self-destructiveness, this reaction is completely adequate as long as one continues to feel a helpless prey to these merciless forces. In dreams and associations, they may appear in many succinct symbols, such as a homicidal maniac, Dracula, monsters, a white whale, or ghosts. This terror is the nucleus of many fears otherwise inexplicable, such as the fear of the unknown and of the dangerous depth of the sea; the fear of ghosts; of anything mysterious; of any destructive process within the body, such as poison, worms, cancer. It is a part of the terror many patients feel toward anything that is unconscious, and, therefore, mysterious. It may be the center of panic without an apparent reason. #RandolphHarris 11 of 31
If it were always present and alive, it would be impossible for anybody to love with such a terror. He must and does find ways to assuage it. Surveying self-hate and its ravaging force, we cannot help but see in it a great tragedy, perhaps the greatest tragedy of the human mind. Man in reaching out for the Infinite and Absolute also starts destroying himself. When he makes a pact with the devil, who promises him glory, he must go to hell—to hell within himself. Dr. Darwin dealt with man’s biological origins. His achievement, and his sin, was a theory that made man a part of nature. To accomplish this, and only for this, he was able to put his neurosis aside. Dr. Freud, however, had to “appoint his own neurosis that angel who was to be wrestled with and not to be let go, until he would bless the observer.” Dr. Freud’s wrestling with the angel who was to be wrestled with and not to be let go, until he would bless the observer.” Dr. Freud’s wrestling with the angel was his working through of his own father complex which at first had led him astray in his search for the origins of the neuroses in childhood. Once he understood his own relationship to his father, he could establish the existence of the universal father image in man, break through to the mother image as well, and finally arrive at the Oediups complex, the formulation of which made him one of the most controversial figures in the history of ideas. In The Interpretation of Dreams, Dr. Freud gave psychoanalysis its orientation as the study of unconscious motivation in the normal as well as the pathological, in society as well as the individual. At the same time, he freed his own creativity by self-analysis and was able to combine strict observation with disciplined intuition and literary craftsmanship. #RandolphHarris 12 of 31
Language, which may be defined here as a system of vocal signs, is the most important sign system of human society. Its foundation is, of course, in the intrinsic capacity of the human organism for vocal expressivity, but we can begin to speak of language only when vocal expressions have become capable of detachment from the immediate “here and now” of subjective states. If I snarl, grunt, howl, or hiss, although these vocal expressions are capable of becoming linguistic insofar as they are integrated into an objectively available sign system, it is not yet language. The common objectivations of everyday life are maintained primarily by linguistic signification. Everyday life is, above all, life with and by means of the language I share with my fellowmen. An understanding of language is thus essential for any understanding of the reality of everyday life. Language has its origins in the face-to-face situation, but can be readily detached from it. This is not only because I can shout in the dark or across a distance, speak on the telephone or via the radio, or convey linguistic signification by means of writing (the latter constituting, as it were, a sign system of the second degree). The detachment of language lies much more basically in its capacity to communicate meanings that are not direct expressions of subjectivity “here and now.” It shares this capacity with other sign systems, but its immense variety and complexity make it much more readily detachable from the face-to-face situation, including matters I never have and never will experience directly. #RandolphHarris 13 of 31
In this way, language is capable of becoming the objective repository of vast accumulations of meaning and experience, which it can then preserve in time and transmit to following generations. The mechanisms of defense might just as legitimately be called mechanisms for increasing self-alienation or methods of evading growth, for such are their consequences. They are modes of behavior undertaken by a person with a relatively weak ego when a threat to the self-structure arises. If they are effective, they reduce anxiety and guilt, but whenever the defenses are themselves weakened, threat is again experienced, for its causes continue to be operative. A defense is like a drug; it must be kept operative if it is to reduce discomfort. However, a defense, like a drug, does not remove the conditions responsible for the pain and discomfort. What are the major patterns of defensive behavior and how may they be recognized? The individual can seldom recognize his or her own defensiveness, except under special conditions. The observer may be able to infer, from certain signs, the nature of the defense, the consequences of the defense, and the aspects of the real self that are being defended against. Repression is the most basic defense. It consists in actively excluding from awareness any thought, feeling, memory, or wish that would threaten the self-structure. Dr. Freud introduced the concept of repression to explain some phenomena that he regularly observed in his efforts to treat neurotic patients. He found that his patients displayed resistance to the injunction that they say everything that came to mind. #RandolphHarris 14 of 31
Dr. Freud used the term resistance to describe any deviation from unselected, uncensored talking. The term repression was invoked to explain the efforts of the person to avoid not merely speaking about embarrassing topics, but even thinking about these topics. Repression manifests itself by the omission in a person’s speech, emotion, and behavior repertoire of responses that might ordinarily be expected under given circumstances. To further highlight this illustration, if a person has been deeply insulted by someone and displays no overt signs of hostility, the hypothesis can be entertained that the person has repressed these feelings. It should not be assumed that because some thought, feeling, or need has been repressed, it simply fades out of existence altogether. Rather, what appears to occur is that the repressed feelings and tensions continue to operate as unconscious determiners of behavior because the causes of these feelings persist in life itself. The represser may betray many signs of the repressed feelings to a keen observer—in dreams, accidents, slips of the tongue, and so on. Repression also manifests itself as chronic tensing of various muscle groupings. If a person has repressed rage, yet lives continuously among the people who provoke it, that person may chronically display tension in the muscles of the jaw, the neck, and the shoulders. When a set of muscles has relaxed, in response to the therapist’s manipulations, the patient would express rage, or tears, and convulsions sobbing; moreover, the patient might then recall with vividness some childhood events related to the original repression. #RandolphHarris 15 of 31
An important indicator of repression is a refusal by the person to examine and consider any other motives for a given action than the one he or she presently admits. Thus, a parent may spank his or her children quite severely, may forget their birthdays, never spend time with them at enjoyable activity, and continually scold them. An observer may gather the impression that such behavior expresses hatred and dislike for the children and asks the parent why he or she treats the children so. The parent says, “Because I love them, and I am trying not to spoil them. I am trying to raise them right.” If the observer asks, “Could it be that you do not like your children?” the parent might become quite indignant and refuse to explore the possibility that this might be true. This person is repressing hostility to the children. For the parent to admit disliking the children might threaten his or her self-structure to a profound degree. Another important indicator of repression is selective recall of the past. In relating aspects of the past, much may be omitted from the account. If the observer knows what has been omitted, he or she may confront the person with these details, only to have the person deny that the events occurred. It is as if this person had a vested interest in forgetting these details, in order to preserve the present concept of self. Many experimental studies have shown how our recall and our forgetting are determined to a high degree by the need to maintain self-esteem and to preserve the present self-concept. #RandolphHarris 16 of 31
Many experimental studies have shown how our recall and our forgetting are determined to a high degree by the need to maintain self-esteem and to preserve the present self-concept. In principle, a person can repress any aspect of the real self, whether it is socially desirable or socially reprehensible. Thus, a person may repress antisocial sexual urges and hostility but may also repress feelings of attraction, his or her own intellect, and strength and resources if these aspects of the real self imply some threat to the self-structure. The authoritarian character who exaggerates personal weakness and the strength of the hero or boss is repressing his or her own powers and ascribing them (projecting them) to the authority figure in question. Dr. Fromm has detailed this point in his discussion of authoritarianism in everyday life and even in religion; he has suggested that the image of an all-powerful God, in contrast with weak, powerless humans, rests on our repression of our own powers and the ascription of these very powers to the deity. Repression is quite an unstable mechanism, calling as it does for unremitting (but unconscious) effort from the person. Whenever there is any reduction in the energy devoted to repression, there is likely to be a breakthrough of the repressed aspects of the real self. When this occurs, the person may be incredibly threatened by feelings and impulses that he did not know he possessed. #RandolphHarris 17 of 31
The feelings may be so intense that he explodes into uncontrolled activity—for instance, sexual or hostile violence. Probably many of the sex and homicide crimes which one reads about in the papers (“Nobody would have expected him to do that, he was always so nice, so moral”) illustrate the breakthrough of repressed feelings and impulses. When a person is fatigued, or ill, he may be overwhelmed with fantasies, feelings, and impulses that are shocking to him and to those who know him. Although repression is usually involuntary and unconscious, it can be conscious and deliberate. Every reader will recall occasions when they have had thoughts that were fully conscious, but quite repugnant. On those occasions, they may have striven to get rid of the unwanted thoughts by just putting them out of my mind or by trying to change the subject of thinking, in order to think of more pleasant things. Such efforts, if successful, may be called voluntary and conscious repression. They are analogous with the conversation between two persons; when an unpleasant subject comes up, the person who finds it is unpleasant will ask that the subject be changed, or else may skillfully guide the conversation so that the dangerous topics are avoided. Typically, few venture to do more than peep beyond the portals, for they are unable to bear the hard strain of prolonged philosophical thinking. However noble they may be morally or however abstract they may be metaphysically, it is not by living in the ideas in his mind that a man can ever live in his true self. Somewhere in his field of consciousness, all thinking must be transcended if he is ever to do this. The logic of your thinking must be as universally valid as mathematics. Nobody can cheat mathematics. #RandolphHarris 18 of 31
It is not difficult to prevent or abort a heroic act. Sometimes this results from the confluence of situational circumstances; sometimes it is a calculated effort motivated by selfish factors. It apparently may also occur through the mere acknowledgement that the person has done something laudatory. Given society’s continued need for heroes, we need to know how to better protect heroism against these influences. The award-winning Sacramento Fire Department heroes are celebrated and remembered by the community based on their exceptional and dramatic performance in critical situations. At approximately 2.45 on a hot, sunny afternoon, a small fire was discovered in a pile of wrapping paper near the rear of a store. An employee spotted the fire near the wrapping counter and called for a manager nearby. He began to fight the rapidly expanding blaze, while another employee ran to the basement for water. By the time he returned, the manager had already called the fire department, was fruitlessly battling the flames that had spread to the nearby elevator shaft and were spreading rapidly to the second floor. Several employees fled to the front of the store to escape the now roaring fire that was being fed by a current of air from the outside through the open doors at both the front and rear of the store. As they reached the front door, the fire had created a tremendous draft into the store that it sucked the doors shut, catching the manager’s foot and trapping a few other employees inside the store. The employees struggled with the doors for a few seconds but managed to escape just as the firefighters arrived. “The door was shut when I reached it,” said one employee later. “It was all I could do to pull it open, so strong was the pressure…neither of us could have stood it a minute longer in the building.” #RandolphHarris 19 of 31
The fire department arrived just as the occupants were leaving the building. The Fire Chief immediately ordered three hydrants tapped, and the fight to contain the fire began. As the firemen deployed five streams around the building, the blaze vented itself by shattering all of the windows and shooting through the roof. Despite the intense heat, the Fire Chief led several men with a lead hose into the building, but little progress was made, and they pulled back as the roof and upper floors were about to collapse. Although there was little or no wind, the danger to surrounding buildings was incredible due to the flying embers and the extreme radiant heat from the store. As the heat shattered the front windows, the large plate glass windows in the building directly across the street cracked, but they did not shatter, and the fire did not gain entrance to the building. The flying sparks and embers wreaked havoc on other businesses. The first fire was extinguished quickly, but another building received considerable damage to the second floor and roof. Eventually, the roof collapsed in the store that initially caught fire. There were three firemen injured during the blaze, but none were seriously. The Fire Chief had a cut on his stomach, but remained on the scene until the fire was out. By chance, the Assistant Fire Chief was traveling through the street on an outing with his wife when he spotted the fire and offered his assistance. After the fire was under control, he was water-soaked, and his new suit was ruined from the heat. #RandolphHarris 20 of 31
If you see a fire truck stopped in the street without the lights on, be very careful. Sometimes there is an emergency, and you should not pass the fire truck. It might be a good idea to safely turn around and go another way because if you hit someone and they happen to die, you could be charged with manslaughter. Sometimes fire firefighters are getting back into their vehicle, and if you pass the apparatus, you may collide with a firefighter who is on foot. Also, be sure to look at their signals; sometimes emergency vehicles are in motion, albeit slowly, and drivers try to pass them, and this could lead to a dangerous situation. Also, if you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other people’s problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation, and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. #RandolphHarris 21 of 31
California is the third most expensive state in the nation. In 37 percent of counties, a family of four living on a six-figure income is now considered low-income. The average home price in California is nearly $1,000,000.00 USD, while the average salary is $96,036.00, meaning that most Californians cannot even afford to buy a home. California is having an affordability crisis. A single person making an income above $100,000 is now considered low-income in five counties in California. This distinction now applies to individuals living in Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, and Marin counties. The maximum percentage of your gross income that you should earmark for a monthly mortgage payment is calculated at 28 percent, and no more than 36 percent of your gross income to all debts, including mortgage. If you take 28 percent of the median household income per home in Sacramento County, homeowners can only afford a mortgage of $2,070.23 per month. And if you take 36 percent of their gross income to all debts, including mortgage, they should be devoting no more than $2,661.72 a month to these debts. The mortgage lenders must be using some kind of sorcery to get buyers into these expensive homes. To afford one of these homes using traditional guidelines, a household would need to gross $11,280.24 per month or $135,362.88 per year, but the median household in Sacramento County is grossing $7,393.67 a month or $88,724.00 annually, and that typically means two to four people in the home are working and contributing to the mortgage. Home prices in Sacramento County are rivaling the Bay Area, and in some cases, homes in the Bay Area are more affordable. Historically, homes in the Bay Area have been more expensive because they have higher-paying jobs, a larger population, and the Bay Area is a tourist destination. Contributing to the housing affordability crisis is Gavin Newsom, who has been lavishing illegal immigrants with taxpayer-funded resources and cash aid, when state workers should be receiving a 25 percent wage increase instead. #RandolphHarris 22 of 31
In 2025, many people in California saw their bills increase by an estimated $500 a month. This includes items such as food, automobile insurance, homeowners’ insurance, and electricity. In fact, more than 3 million people in California are facing household hardship, and more than 300,000 of them are facing eviction soon. This comes at a time when California is having a shortage of affordable housing. The crisis is caused by nearly half a century-old laws that discourage home sales and encourage higher rents. The incompetence in California is very easy to see. From 2018 to 2023, California received $24 billion, which they used to fund 30 homeless and housing programs. These programs created 100,000 units. That is an average cost of $240,000 per unit. In comparison, Roger Lucas, owner of Grand Castle, LLC, spent $50 million to build The Grand Castle, which is a 522-unit residential apartment community in Grandville, Michigan. The community includes studios, 1 bedroom, 2 bedrooms, 3 bedrooms, and even a multi-level penthouse. Rents generally range from $1,000 to $2,500. The community is a 23.6-acre site. It features 750 covered parking spaces, a clubhouse, a resort-style swimming pool, and was built over a period of 12 to 18 months. The average cost was about $95,785.45 per unit, which is $144,214.55 less per unit than California spent. California also has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 5.4 percent, while the national average is 4.5 percent. As people are seeing their bills skyrocket, and minimum wage has increased to $20 an hour, people on Social Security retirement are really bearing the burden with the checks the typically equate to $5-$7 an hour. Furthermore, while Americans are struggling to find and afford housing, Gavin Newsom, Democrat governor of California, signed two bills into law on February 7, 2025, to protect illegal immigrants. Bills SBX 1 1: Budget Act of 2024, and SBX 1 2: Budget Act of 2024, allocates $50 million to protect illegal immigrants from deportation. Governor Gavin Newsom also granted 700,000 illegal immigrants free health care, which costs taxpayers $3 billion annually. At the same time, Newsom cut vital programs for veterans, school children, the disabled, and the homeless. The California crisis created by Democrats is driving up home prices and mortgages, and rents all over the nation and the world, making living unaffordable for all, and advocates say the crisis is far from over. #RandolphHarris 23 of 31
Meanwhile, China, where we are sending all our jobs and money, has more than 50 ghost cities, with 65 million vacant homes. Ghost cities are regions where housing has been overdeveloped to the point that these places are uninhabited. If they are all officially counted, California has approximately 4 million homeless people. The highest home prices in the nation, the highest taxes, and the most unfriendly business regulations known to man. Because California is so hostile towards people and businesses, more than 360 companies have fled the state since 2020. Businesses like Chevron, SpaceX, Oracle, and Hewlett-Packard are among the names on that list. Also, more than 500,000 people a year are abandoning California because it is too expensive to live in, Gavin Newsom has criminalized homelessness and actually started arresting people without homes, crime is out of control, and they are losing their jobs due to companies relocating. More than 100 companies have announced layoffs in California for 2025. Intel is cutting 15,000 jobs, PayPal is cutting 2,500, and Meta has terminated 4,000 employees. California also has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 5.4 percent, while the national average is 4.1 percent. The California crisis created by Democrats is driving up home prices and mortgages, and rents all over the nation and the world, making living unaffordable for all, and advocates say the crisis is far from over. Accordingly, California has more than 3.5 million illegal immigrants. Having the Southern American border open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce, and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security-relevant alerts, such as the end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. #RandolphHarris 24 of 31
Additionally, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom seems to be uneducated about economics. Newsom has spent $300 million to try to stop proposition 50. Proposition 50 would replace the maps drawn by the state’s independent commission with districts drawn by legislators solely to gain or protect Democratic seats. Newsom only cares about the environment when his policies allow him to raise taxes and restrict freedoms. To further highlight this illustration of incompetence by Governor Gavin Newsom, Mexico has been causing one of America’s worst environmental disasters. Fifty million gallons a day of industrial chemicals, untreated sewage, and trash flow from Tijuana, Mexico, into southern San Diego County daily. This toxic waste has been turning up on Imperial Beach and is causing the miles of white sands to become polluted and the ocean breeze to smell of feces, which has been sickening residents and wildlife and costing San Diego millions in the form of lost tourism and health problems. The problem has been going on for more than a century, and by 2030, Mexico plans to dump one hundred and twenty million gallons of sewage a day into Imperial Beach. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure such as the 2025 Palisades fire. Southern California ran out of water because Newsom is totally neglecting the state and the American people. And while the fire departments in California are critically understaffed and underfunded, Governor Newsom vetoed firefighter pay raise. The Palisades fire cost $275 billion, which is money that could have been used to insure the State of California had the resources it needed. Furthermore, when Southern California is located next to an ocean, Newsom should have invested in desalination plants to help with the water shortage in California. The water in the ocean is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. Desalination has been identified as one technology that will help solve California’s water scarcity problem. Desalination is a cost-effective technology that can transform an abundance of salt water into a reliable supply of potable, fresh water, which is a great way to fight climate change and have enough water for our region’s water requirements. Ras Al Khair, Saudi Arabia, is producing 1,036,000 meters (273,682,192) per day of desalinated water. #RandolphHarris 25 of 31
America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care for its infrastructure, provide adequate resources, or end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last are considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. As a result, the American automobile trade deficit with Japan was $39 billion. Additionally, Japan exported 1.4 million cars to the United States of America, but only imported 16,000 American-built automobiles. However, Japan imported approximately 143 thousand motor vehicles from the European Union. This is why President Trump created tariffs. We need to balance the trade deficit that America faces with other nations so we are not taken advantage of and so America can go bank to being a creditor nation, instead of borrowing money for other countries. Each year, President Trump is bringing $400 Billion in Tariff revenue into America and hundreds of thousands of new jobs. With this money, America is paying down debt, and with a portion of it, President Trump plans to send Americans a stimulus check anywhere in the range of $1,000 to $2,000. However, if President Trump’s Tariffs are deemed illegal by the Supreme Court, taxpayers will have to pay back trillions and trillions of dollars. As we literally and /or figuratively see gangs, federal judges, and Governor Gavin Newsom fighting with federal law enforcement and President Trump– states and cities refusing to honor federal laws. Politicians are also showing an utter disregard for the Constitution of the United States of America, and anarchy is becoming increasingly common. #RandolphHarris 26 of 31
Anarchism is a cluster of doctrines and attitudes centered on the belief that government is both harmful and unnecessary. Derived from the Greek root anarchos, meaning “without authority,” anarchism, anarchist, and anarchy are used to express both approval and disapproval. The anarchist denies man-made laws, regards property as a means of tyranny, and believes that crimes are merely the product of property and authority. However, the anarchist would argue that their denial of constitutions and governments leads not to “no justice” but to the real justice inherent in the free development of human sociality—the natural inclination, when unfettered by laws, to live according to the principles and practice of mutual aid. Anarchism is also a form of treason. Treason, the crime of betraying a nation or a sovereign by acts considered dangerous to security. In English law, treason includes the levying of war against the government and the giving of aid and comfort to the monarch’s enemies. In the United States of America, treason was defined restrictively by the framers of the Constitution. Treason against the United States of America “shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them aid and comfort,” which is something that many politicians are currently guilty of. The American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them before the situation becomes a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state, or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. #RandolphHarris 27 of 31
Drug cartels have been threatening the health and safety of Native American communities. The trafficking of dangerous and illegal drugs into their territories is leading to a second genocide. The overdose rate for Indigenous people is 42 percent higher than the national average. A recent bust on Montana’s Blackfeet Nation’s Tribal Reservation resulted in the seizure of more than 700,000 fentanyl pills, which was the largest bust in Montana history. Recently, the Blackfeet Nation had to declare a state of emergency after facing 17 overdoses in just one week. There are only 6.8 million Native Americans left in the world, which is 2 percent of the American population. We should be doing more to protect these proud and honorable people; they should not want for anything. People rush and give away resources to illegal immigrants, but totally disregard the Indigenous people of this land, as their race silently fades away into extinction. We must secure our borders and increase federal funding to Native American tribes so we can save this precious population. Meanwhile, Gavin Newsom has given billions of taxpayer dollars away to illegal immigrants and protected them from law enforcement, while arresting law-abiding Americans because they cannot afford to pay rent or mortgage, and the homeless shelters are unsafe, overcrowded, and have restrictions on who is allowed inside. He has also totally ignored the cartel problems on American lands. Clean air, water, land, and preserving our heritage are extremely important. We cannot just allow criminals to kill off the people who are native to this land and do nothing about it. Wars have been started over governments that tax citizens without representation. Taxation without representation is what led to the American Revolution. #RandolphHarris 28 of 31
Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and can support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever. And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrate to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in America, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. #RandolphHarris 29 of 31
When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in America which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt. When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the national debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by sending more money overseas. Buying American-made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards on pollution. American companies must be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Under President Trump’s administration, he has make America a priority. President Trump has closed the southern border, illegal crossings have fallen to an all time low, and are 90 percent lower than under the previous administration. Since President Trump’s crack down on crime, violent crimes in Washington D.C. have dropped by approximately 80 percent. He has stopped thousands of pounds of drugs from entering America and killing citizens. And since President Trump took office, investments in America have increased by trillions of dollars in U.S.A. manufacturing, production, and innovation. As you can see, President Donald Trump and his pledge to “Make America Great Again” is exactly what America needs to save the country and the American people. And yes, diversity is important, so you can see why it is also important to preserve blonde hair and blue eyes, as the people with these characteristics are becoming a minority in America. #RandolphHarris 30 of 31
We must think before we can understand the soul’s existence; we must understand before we can realize it. The earliest beginnings of thought, as apart from instinct, when it was itself still but a lurking tendency, belong far back in primeval time. The human intellect as we find it today, so rich and developed an instrument for the consciousness of the ego, did not arrive at this fullness without a series of graduated stages. We have had plenty of scientific thinking, business thinking, and political thinking long enough, but we have had very little inspired thinking. That is the world’s need. The intellect is cradled in selfishness but runs the evolutionary track into reason, where it will one day finish at the winning-post of selflessness. As a reminder, parents, please teach your children to love America and be patriotic citizens, and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. It is inborn in the human mind to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. Therefore, remember to take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. Also, to make sure they have all the resources required, please donate to the Sacramento Fire Department to help improve our national security. “Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand between their loved home and the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause is just, and this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’ And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” #RandolphHarris 31 of 31
According to locals, over a century ago, the land that houses The Winchester Mansion had been vacant forever. Then, sometime in the early afternoon of Saturday, March 13, 1886, Sheriff Angel Camilio began getting reports that a massive castle made of wood had suddenly appeared. Gables rose, towers peaked into the sky as the mansion mushroomed into a labyrinth overnight.
The house’s sudden manifestation had been both disconcerting and fascinating to the community. Some felt dark curses flowing from the estate, and things moving around in the darkness. Others saw a fairytale castle glimmering in the spring sunlight. Perhaps this is why there are no records of construction, no blueprints, and no permits filed with the county. And then one day, a hearse came tearing through the gates, and in that hearse was a coffin, some believed it contained Mrs. Winchester.
According to legend, when Sarah Lockwood Pardee (Winchester) married William Wirt Winchester in 1862, she enjoyed a life of extravagant luxury. William Winchester, President of the Winchester repeating rifle, became a very wealthy man through the sale of his guns, and the couple were among the elite New England society.
However, in 1866, the death of their infant daughter drove Mrs. Sarah Winchester into a deep depression from which many thought she would never emerged. Several years later, she lost her husband to tuberculosis, and her grief was overwhelming. Mrs. Winchester sought the counsel of a Boston medium to reach her beloved dead family members. The medium told the grieving widow that she was cursed and demons straight from hades had sought revenge by ending the lives of her beloved husband and darling baby girl.
She also told Mrs. Winchester they would kill her too, unless she moved out West and built a great house for the spirits. In addition, Mrs. Winchester was told construction on the house must never end in order to appease the spirits and keep her alive, perhaps even give her eternal life. Mrs. Winchester followed the medium’s suggestions, and in 1886, she moved to the Santa Clara valley just outside San Jose, where she bought an 18-room farmhouse and property to build her mansion. At its peak, the Mansion once stood 9-stories tall and had as many as 600-rooms. Today, the stately mansion is 4-storys, and over 100,000 square feet.
Experience an unforgettable journey back to the time of kings and queens with this entry ticket for The Winchester Mansion in Santa Clara, California, which was the residence of Heiress Sarah L. Winchester. Come and see what secrets this so-called, “Winchester Mystery House” may hold. Take advantage of this fascinating experience. After the tour, there will be time to enjoy the mansion’s splendor at your own pace. You might even discover secret passages that lead to hidden chambers within the mansion. These chambers served as safe places for valuables, precious documents, and as private sanctuaries for Mrs. Winchester, and allowed her to move stealthily throughout her home. At one time, there were even secret tunnels that extended beyond the mansion, leading to nearby Victorian houses that were also on the property, and other structures, creating a network of escape routes or hidden pathways.
Please come and enjoy a delicious meal at Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, which once spanned 740 acres, all the way down to Stevens Creek Boulevard; wander through the miles of hallways in the world’s most mysterious mansion.
For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available for purchase. https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/
Harris Plumbing, Heating, Air, & Electric has been in business for 30 years. How many businesses can say that? We take pride in everything we do – no matter how big or small the service call might be. We’re here to help your home be as safe and comfortable as possible for you and your family. We take that responsibility very seriously as a company.
Harris will ensure you have the information you need to decide what to do next, whatever your home is facing. We’ll perform a diagnosis and detail what issues are present before starting any work. This gives you a personalized quote and service plan specific to your home’s needs, not some random quote based on the best guess. The only way we can do our best work is to make sure we handle the issues at hand. https://www.callharrisnow.com/about-us/
With its top ranking in Consumer Reports’ Auto Brand Report Card and consistent market share growth, BMW, The Ultimate Driving Experience, has demonstrated its ability to produce high-performing, reliable vehicles that meet consumer demands. BMW stands out due to its focus on driving dynamics and engineering excellence. While other luxury brands prioritize comfort and opulence, BMW is known for creating cars that are fun to drive and offer a unique connection between the driver and the machine. This is why BMW is known as The Ultimate Driving Machine. https://www.brianharrisbmw.com/
Randolph Harris San Francisco Taxation & Mergers
Building strong and lasting client relationships is crucial for a successful legal career. Many lawyers mistakenly believe that mastering legal skills alone ensures success, but law is fundamentally a service industry—our job is to solve problems through the time we sell. To build long-term relationships, attorneys must focus on three core elements: knowing their clients, understanding how their legal issues fit into a larger context, and consistently delivering exceptional service.
Randy advises clients with regard to business transition, taxable and tax-deferred mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructuring, integrated tax planning, federal and state tax controversy resolution, and real estate transactions. Trust is the cornerstone of any client relationship. Ultimately, my clients feel they are in capable hands with someone who genuinely understands their problems and goals. https://www.jmbm.com/l-randolph-harris.html
At Millhaven Homes our professionals bring extensive experience in creating custom luxury properties. Your needs are the central focus.
We savor the sanctuary of awe-inspiring spaces, unique architectural details and fine craftsmanship. The key to a successful relationship is communication. We will incorporate your thoughts and ideas into your new home.
With vast experience in all types of custom home construction, our premier services are created for you, so you can get the most out of the function and design of your dream home.
Discover Millhaven Homes today. Let us design and build a custom home that reflects your style, comfort, and aspirations. We are here to bring your vision to life with creativity, care, and attention to every detail.
Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. Whether you are considering building a dream home or simply fascinated by architectural marvels, Millhaven Homes is the builder for you.
“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.” -President Abraham Lincoln
America is a nation founded on godly principles, by God-fearing men. As a nation, we have convinced ourselves of our uniqueness with concepts such as Manifest Destiny and American exceptionalism. Manifest destiny was the imperialist belief in the 19th-century United States that American settlers were destined to expand from sea to shining sea.
American exceptionalism, idea that the United States of America is a unique and even morally superior country for historical, ideological, or religious reasons. As a nation we appear favored and blessed by the Lord with success and prosperity unparalleled in human history.
America has a lot of amazing things – its beautiful natural scenery, vibrant cities, unique culture, and some of the world’s most iconic landmarks — it us no wonder many choose to make America their home.
Randolph Harris II International 