Language plays a great part in our life. Perhaps because of its familiarity, we rarely observe it, taking it rather for granted, as we do breathing or walking. The effects of language are remarkable, and include much of what distinguishes man from other terrestrial beings. Language originates in and has its primary reference to everyday life; it refers above all to the reality I experience in wide-awake consciousness, which is dominated by the pragmatic motive (that is, the cluster of meanings directly pertaining to present or future actions) and which I share with others in a taken-for-granted manner. Although language can also be employed to refer to other realities, it even then retains its rootage in the commonsense reality of everyday life. As a sign system, language has the quality of objectivity. I encounter language as a facticity external to myself and it is coercive in its effect on me. Language forces me into its patterns. I cannot use the rules of German syntax when I speak English; If I want to communicate outside the family, I cannot use word invented by my three-year-old son; even if I would prefer my “improper” ones, I must consider prevailing standards of proper speech for various occasions. Language also typifies experiences, allowing me to subsume them under broad categories in terms of which they have meaning not only to myself but also to my fellow men. As it typifies, it also anonymizes experiences, for the typified experience can, in principle, be duplicated by anyone falling into the category in question. #RandolphHarris 1 of 28
For instance, I have a quarrel with my mother-in-law. This concrete and subjectively unique experience is typified linguistically under the category of “mother-in-law trouble.” In this typification, it makes sense to myself, to others, and, presumably, to my mother-in-law. The same typification, however, entails anonymity. Not only I but anyone (more accurately, anyone in the category of son-in-law) can have “mother-in-law trouble.” In this way, my biographical experiences are ongoingly subsumed under general orders of meaning that are both objectively and subjectively real. Because of its capacity to transcend the “here and now,” language bridges different zones within the reality of everyday life and integrates them into a meaningful whole. The transcendences have spatial, temporal, and social dimensions. Through language, I can transcend the gap between my manipulatory zone and that of the other; I can synchronize my biographical time sequence with his; and I can converse with him about individuals and collectivities with whom we are not at present in face-to-face interaction. As a result of these transcendences language is capable of “making present” a variety of objects that are spatially, temporally, and socially absent from the “here and now.” Put simply, through language an entire world can be actualized at any moment. This transcending and integrating power of language is retained when I am not actually conversing with another. Through linguistic objectification, even when “talking to myself” in solitary thought, an entire world can be appresented to me at any moment. As far as social relations are concerned, language “makes me present” for me not only fellowmen who are physically absent at the moment, but fellowmen in the remembered or reconstructed past, as well as fellowmen projected as imaginary figures into the future. All these “presences” can be highly meaningful, of course, in the ongoing reality of everyday life. #RandolphHarris 2 of 28
Moreover, language is capable of transcending the reality of everyday life altogether. It can refer to experiences pertaining to finite provinces of meaning, and it can span discrete spheres of reality. For instance, I can interpret “the meaning” of a dream by integrating it linguistically within the order of everyday life. Such integration transposes the discrete reality of the dream into the reality of everyday life by making it an enclave within the latter. The dream is now meaningful in terms of the reality of everyday life rather than of its own discrete reality. Enclaves produced by such transposition belong, in a sense, to both spheres of reality. They are “located” in one reality, but “refer” to another. Any significative theme that thus spans spheres of reality may be defined as a symbol, and the linguistic mode by which such transcendence is achieved may be called symbolic language. On the level of symbolism, then, linguistic signification attains the maximum detachment from the “here and now” of everyday life, and language soars into regions that are not only de facto but a priori unavailable to everyday experience. Language now constructs immense edifices of symbolic representations that appear to tower over the reality of everyday life like gigantic presences from another world. Religion, philosophy, art, and science are the historically most important symbol systems of this kind. To name these is already to say that, despite the maximal detachment from everyday experience that the construction of these systems requires, they can be of very great importance indeed for the reality of everyday life. #RandolphHarris 3 of 28
Language is capable not only of constructing symbols that are highly abstracted from everyday experience, but also of “brining back” these symbols and appresenting them as objectively real elements in everyday life. In this manner, symbolism and symbolic language become essential constituents of the reality of everyday life and of the commonsense apprehension of this reality. I live in a world of signs and symbols every day. It can be fairly said that script analysts and their groups have more fun than anybody, even though they do refrain from laughing at the hanging or when someone gets his feet dirty. There are several kinds of laughs which are of interest in script analysis. “Heh Heh Heh” is the Parental chuckle of the witch mother or ogre father who is leading someone, usually his own offspring, down the primrose path of derision and defeat. “How much weight did you put on, heh heh heh?” (Sometimes written “ha ha.”) This is the scripty laugh. “Ha Ha Ha” is the Adult’s chuckle of rueful humor. As in Jeff’s case, it signifies a superficial insight. From his recent experiences, Jeff had learned not to trust ghost writers, but he had not learned much about himself and his own weaknesses, which would again and again lead him into similar traps until the final one was sprung. This is the gallows laugh. “He He He” is the Child’s laugh when he is going to pull a fast one. He is really getting into a game of “Let’s Pull a Fast One on Joey,” a true con game where he is enticed into thinking that he is going to fool somebody, but he himself ends up being the victim instead. For example, Jeff said “He He He!” when a ghost writer explained how they could pull a fast one on the English professor, but then Come to Find Out, Jeff ended up as the victim. This is the gamy laugh. #RandolphHarris 4 of 28
Healthy laughs. “Ho Ho Ho” is the Parent’s laugh at the Child’s struggle to succeed. It is patronizing, benevolent, and helpful, at least as far as the immediate problem is concerned. It usually comes from people who are not too heavily involved and can turn over the final responsibility to someone else. It demonstrates to the child that there are rewards for nonscripty behavior. This is the granddad or Santa Claus laugh. There is another kind of “Ha Ha Ha” which is much heartier and more meaningful. This signifies true insight on the part of the Adult as to how he has been conned, not by external figures, but by his own Parent and Child. It is similar to what psychologists call an “aha experience” (although I personally have never anyone except a psychologist say “aha” on such occasions). This is the laugh of insight. “Wow Wow” is the Child laugh of sheer fun or the belly laugh of older people who have bellies. It only comes to people who are script free or can put their scripts aside for the occasion. This is the spontaneous laugh of healthy people. Even if she herself was one, no one who has ever known his grandmother is an atheists, for all grandmothers, good or evil, are watching somewhere out there, usually on pass from Heaven. During group meetings (and often during poker games as well) she hovers in the corner of the room by the ceiling. If a patient’s Child does not have complete confidence in his Parent, in time of need, he usually feels that he can still trust grandmother, and he will gaze up at the ceiling in her direction to get protection and guidance from her invisible presence. #RandolphHarris 5 of 28
It should be remembered that grandmothers are even more powerful than mothers, although they may appear but seldom on the scene. However, when they do, they have the final say. This is well known to readers of fairy tales, where the old crone can put a blessing or a curse on the baby prince of princess, and the bad fairy or the fairy godmother cannot take it away, but can only tone it down. Thus, in “Sleeping Beauty” the old crone condemns the princess to die. The good fairy modifies this to sleeping for one hundred years. That is the best she can do, for as she says: “I have no power to undo entirely what my elder has done.” Thus grandmother, for good or evil, is the court of last appeal, and if the therapist succeeds in breaking the curse put on the patient by her mother, he still has grandmother to reckon with. A good therapist, therefore, must learn how to deal with antagonistic grandmothers as well as with mothers. In therapeutic situations, grandmothers always think they are right, and justified. The therapist must talk firmly to them: “Do you really want Zoe to be a failure?” If you tell them the truth, do you really think your complaint will be well received at Headquarters? The truth is that I am not seducing your granddaughter into bad ways, but I am actually giving her permission to be happy. Whatever you tell them, remember that psychiatrists come from Headquarters, too, and will also be heard there. Zoe cannot speak for herself against you, but I can speak for her.” In most cases, it is grandmother who decides which cards Jeder will get when he plays poker. If he keeps in good with her, her will certainly not lose, and will usually win. If he offends her by thought or deed, he is bound to lose. However, he must remember that the other players have grandmothers, too, and they may be just as powerful as his. In addition, they may be in better standing with their grandmothers than he is with his. #RandolphHarris 6 of 28
What, then, are the effects that alienation from self has on an individual’s personality and on his life? Offhand, it would seem difficult to say anything about the capacity to feel or the awareness of feelings that is valid for all neuroses. Some are overemotional in their joy, enthusiasm, or suffering; others appear to be cold, or at any rate hide behind a façade of impassivity; again, in others feelings seem to have lost their intensity and are dulled and flattened out. Despite endless variations, however, one characteristic seems to be pertinent for all neuroses of any severity. Awareness, strength, and kind of feelings are determined mainly by the pride system. Genuine feelings for self are dampened or diminished, sometimes to a vanishing point. In short, pride governs feelings. The neurotic is liable to play down those feelings which run counter to his particular pride and to overemphasize those which add to it. If in his arrogance, he feels vastly superior to others, he cannot allow himself to feel envy. His pride in asceticism may put a lid on feelings of enjoyment. If he is proud of his vindictiveness, vindictiveness is glorified and rationalized in terms of dealing out “justice,” he does not experience vindictive rage as such, although it is so freely expressed that nobody else has any doubt about it. Pride in absolute endurance may prohibit any feeling of suffering. However, if suffering plays an important part within the pride system—as a vehicle for expressing resentment and as a basis for neurotic claims—it is not only emphasized in front of others but actually felt more deeply. If it is regarded as a weakness, a feeling of compassion may be choked off, but if it is registered as a godlike attribute, it may be fully experienced. If pride is mainly focused on self-sufficiency, in the sense of not needing anything or anybody, then to own to any feelings or needs is like an “unbearable bowing down to go through a narrow gate…If I like anything, I might get dependent on it.” #RandolphHarris 7 of 28
Sometimes in analysis, we can observe directly how pride interferes with genuine feelings. A may respond in a spontaneously friendly way to a friendly approach of Z, although he usually resents Z, mainly on the grounds of injured pride. Then, a minute later, something in him says, “You are a fool to be taken in by friendliness.” So, the friendly feelings go by the board. Or a picture may awaken a warm, glowing enthusiasm in him. However, his pride mars it when he thinks so himself, “Nobody else can appreciate pictures as you do.” Up to this point, pride acts as a kind of censorship, encouraging or forbidding feelings to come to awareness. However, it may govern feelings in a still more basic way. The more pride has taken over, the more a person can respond emotionally to life only with his pride. It is as if he had shut away his real self in a soundproof room and could hear the voice of pride alone. His feeling satisfied or dissatisfied, dejected, or elated, his likes or dislikes of people, then, are mainly a suffering of his pride. This is not apparent on the surface. It feels convincingly real to him that he suffers from failures, from feelings of guilt, loneliness, and unrequited love. And he does indeed. However, the question is: who suffers? In analysis, it turns out that it is mainly his proud self. He suffers because he feels that he has failed to achieve supreme success, to do things to ultimate perfection, to be so irresistibly attractive as to be sought out always, to make everybody love him. Or, he suffers because he feels entitled to success, popularity, et cetera, which is not forthcoming. #RandolphHarris 8 of 28
Only when the pride system is considerably undermined does he begin to feel true suffering. Only then can he feel sympathy for this suffering self of his, a sympathy that can move him to do something constructive for himself. The self-pity he felt before was rather a maudlin writhing of the proud self for feeling abused. He who has not experienced the difference may shrug his shoulders and think that it is irrelevant—that suffering is suffering. However, it is true suffering alone that has the power to broaden and deepen our range of feelings and to open our hearts for the suffering of others. In Dr Profundis Oscar Wilde has described the liberation he felt when, instead of suffering from injured vanity, he started to experience true suffering. Sometimes the neurotic can experience even his pride responses only through others. He may not feel humiliated by the arrogance or the neglect of a friend, but he feels ashamed at the thought that his brother or his colleagues would regard it as a humiliation. There are, of course, variations in the degree to which pride governs feelings. Even a neurotic who is severely cripped emotionally may have certain feelings which are strong and sincere, such as feelings for nature or for music. These, then, are not touched by his neurosis. One might say that his real self is allowed this much freedom. Or, even though his likes and dislikes are mainly determined by his pride, genuine elements also may be present. Nevertheless, as a result of these trends, there is in neurosis a general impoverishment of the emotional life showing in a diminished sincerity, spontaneity, and depth of feelings, or at least in a restricted range of possible feelings. #RandolphHarris 9 of 28
A clinician’s training permits, and in fact forces him to recognize major trends even where the facts are not all available; at any point in a treatment, he can and must be able to make meaningful predictions as to what will prove to have happened; and he must be able to sift even questionable sources in such a way that a coherent predictive hypothesis emerges. The proof of the validity of this approach lies in everyday psychoanalytic work, in the way that a whole episode, whole life period, or even of a whole life trend is gradually clarified in therapeutic crises leading to decisive advances or setbacks sufficiently circumscribed to suggest future strategies. In biography, the validity of any relevant theme can only lie in its crucial recurrence in a man’s development, and in its relevance to the balance sheet of his victories and defeats. A long time ago, in Germany, older sons had to yield a paternal from to the youngest brother; and older son could either become the youngest brother’s sharecropper, marry into another farm, or leave and seek work elsewhere. Cultural evolution, although long an unfashionable concept, has commanded renewed interest in the last two decades. Growth and change in a particular locality result from adopting elements from other cultures through contacts. If a culture is isolated, change takes place very slowly indeed. However, if lines of communication are opened between a hitherto isolated culture and various other different cultures, changes will occur because of cultural diffusion. #RandolphHarris 10 of 28
Psychoanalysis realized early that all memories must pass through a number of screens; because of these screens, earlier years appear in a haze which distorts form and modifies color. The period of language development forms one screen; going to school (the post-oedipal period) another. To these we must add the period of the completion of identity development at adolescence, which results in a massive glorification of some of the individual’s constituent elements, and repudiation of others. In the life of a man, another screen is strongly suggested: the beginning of an official identity, the moment when life suddenly becomes biography. In work with veterans discharged from the armed forces as psychoneurotic before the end of hostilities, we became familiar with the recurring symptoms of partial loss of ego synthesis. Many of these men, indeed, regressed to the “stage of unlearned function.” The boundaries of their egos had lost their shock-absorbing delineation. Anxiety and anger were provoked by anything too sudden or too intense, a sudden sensory impression from outside, an impulse, or a memory. A constantly “startled: sensory system was attacked by external stimuli as well as by somatic sensations: heat flashes, palpitation, cutting headaches. Insomnia hindered the nightly restoration of sensory screening by sleep and that of emotional rebinding by dreaming. Amnesia, neurotic pseudologia, and confusion showed the partial loss of time-binding and of spatial orientation. As if the ego could not even accomplish an organized neurosis, what definable symptoms and remnants of “peacetime neuroses” there were had a fragmentary and false quality. #RandolphHarris 11 of 28
In some cases, this ego impairment seemed to have had its origin in violent events, in others in the gradual grind of a million annoyances. Obviously, the men were worn out by too many changes, in too many respects at once. Somatic tension and social panic and ego anxiety were always present. Above all, the men felt that they “did not know any more who they were”: there was a distinct loss of ego identity. The sense of sameness and continuity and the belief in one’s social role were gone. In this field of clinical observation, I first found the assumption of a central loss of s sense of identity both inescapable and immediately clarifying. A sense of identity was most enhanced in the armed forced among the recipients of promising commissions and members of teams in highly mechanized units. Yet, men whose ego identity did thrive in miliary service sometimes broke down after discharge, when it appeared that the war had provoked them into more ambitious self-images than their more restricted peacetime identities could afford to sustain. For many others, however, the restraint and discipline of army life itself provided dew ideal prototypes. For the American group identity supports an individual’s ego identity as long as he can preserve a certain element of deliberate tentativeness, as long as he can convince himself that the next step is up to him and that no matter where he is staying or going, he always has the choice of leaving or turning in the opposite direction. In this country, the migrant does not want to be told to move on nor the sedentary man to stay where he is, for the lifestyle of each contains the opposite element as an alternative which he wishes to consider for his most private and individual decisions. To quite a few soldiers, then, the military identity represented the despicable prototype of the sucker, of one who lets himself be sidetracked and stalled while others are free to pursue what could have been his chance and his girl. However, in America, to be a sucker means to be a social and sexual castrate. If you are a sucker, not even a mother’s pity will be with you. #RandolphHarris 12 of 28
In the often-profuse utterances of psychoneurotic veterans’ memories and anticipations, consistently reappeared which permitted them to blame circumstances for their failures as soldiers and as men, and thus helped them to deny a sense of personal inferiority. Their ego identities had fallen apart into bodily, sexual, social, occupational fragments, each having to overcome again the danger of its evil prototype. Their traumatized egos fought and fled from such images as the crying baby, the menstruating female, the stifled African American, the sexual sissy, the economic sucker, the mental moron—all prototypes the mere allusion to which could bring these men close to homicidal or suicidal rage, followed by varying degrees of irritability or apathy. Their exaggerated attempts to blame their dilemma on circumstances and individuals gave their childhood histories a more sordid character and themselves the appearance of more malignant psychopathy than was clinically justified. And an exaggerated diagnosis, once entered into the record, can only aggravate vicious cycles of blame and self-blame. If the clinical investigation focused on the patient’s shattered life plan, and if advice tended to strengthen the resynthesis of the elements on which the patient’s ego identity was based, only then could rehabilitation work become effective and economical. In addition to the several hundred thousand men who lost and only gradually or partially regained their ego identity in the war, and the tens of thousands whose acute loss of ego identity was falsely diagnosed and treated as psychopathy, an untold number experienced to the core the threat of a traumatic loss of ego identity as a result of radical historical change. #RandolphHarris 13 of 28
The fact, however, that these men, their physicians, and their contemporaries in increasing numbers turned to the bitter truths of psychoanalytic psychiatry is in itself a historical development which calls for critical appraisal. It expresses an increased acceptance of psychoanalytic insights insofar as they concern the meaning of anxiety and disease in the individual case history. Yet, this partial acceptance of painful unconscious determinants of human failure and this emphasis on individual treatment, even where the patient seemed anything but introspective and verbal, can also be seen as a widespread resistance against the awareness of a failure of social mechanisms under radically changing historical determinants. Historical change has reached a coercive universality and a global acceleration which is experienced as a threat to the traditional American identity. It seems to devaluate the vigorous conviction that this nation can afford mistakes; that this nation, by definition, is always so far ahead of the rest of the world in inexhaustible reserves, in vision of planning, in freedom of action, and in tempo of progress that there are unlimited space and endless time in which to develop, test, and complete her social experiments. The difficulties met in the attempt to integrate this old image of insulated spaciousness with the new image of explosive global closeness are deeply disquieting. They are characteristically first met with the application of traditional methods to a new space-time. #RandolphHarris 14 of 28
The psychotherapist, in disregarding the contribution of such developments to neurotic discomfort, is apt not only to miss much of the specific dynamics in contemporary life cycles; he is apt also to deflect individual energy from the collective tasks at hand. A large-scale decrease of mental discomfort can be envisaged only by equal clinical attention to conditions as well as to cases, to the emerging design for the future as well as to the fixation on the past, to the unsafe surface and to the grumbling depths. In this connection, it is worth noting that the popular use of the word “ego” in this country has, of course, little to do with the psychoanalytic concept of the same name; it commonly denotes unqualified, if perhaps unjustified, self-esteem. Bolstering, bantering, boisterousness, and other “ego-inflating” behavior is, of course, part of the American folkways. As such, it pervades speech and gesture and enters into all interpersonal relations. Without it, a therapeutic relationship in this country would remain outlandish and nonspecific. Another problem altogether is the systematic exploitation of the national practice of “bolstering” for the sake of making people “feel better,” or of submerging their anxiety and tension so as to make them function better. A weak ego does not gain substantial strength from being persistently bolstered. A strong ego, secured in its identity by a strong society, does not need and in fact is immune to any deliberate attempt at artificial inflation. Its tendency is toward the testing of what feels real, the mastery of that which works, the understanding of that which proves necessary, the enjoyment of the vital, and the overcoming of the morbid. At the same time, it tends towards the creation of a strong mutual reinforcement with others in a group ego, which will transmit its purpose to the next generation. #RandolphHarris 15 of 28
The effectiveness of the psychoanalytic contribution to this development is guaranteed solely by the persistent humanist intention, beyond the mere adjustment of patients to limiting conditions, to apply clinical experience to the end of making man aware of human potentialities which are clouded by archaic fear. However, there are also the historical determinants of psychoanalytic concept formation, and more: if in the field of human motivation, the same terms have been used over a period of over a century, they cannot but reflect the ideologies of their day of origin and absorb the connotations of contemporary social changes. Ideological connotation is the inevitable historical equations in the use of conceptual tools which concerns the ego, man’s organ of reality testing. Persons may defend themselves against unwanted thoughts, feelings, and wishes, first by repressing them and then by compulsively thinking and striving to feel the opposite. It is as if it were not sufficient for them to free themselves of the threat by merely eliminating the unwanted thoughts and feelings from the mind. They can only convince themselves (and others?) that they are not that kind of person if and only if, they display the opposite kinds of behavior in the extreme degree. Reaction formation reveals itself through the compulsive and exaggerated nature of the behavior and attitudes that the person manifests; yet, the repressed aspects of the real self may still leak out. #RandolphHarris 16 of 28
Thus, a compulsively generous person may betray repressed egocentricity and selfishness by giving gifts that the receiver does not like or cannot use, such as giving S.T. Dupont Ligne 2 Haute Creation cigarette lighter as a gift to nonsmokers and The Macallan “The Reach” 81-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky to teetotalers. The person who is compulsively kind to animals betrays underlying sadism by the brutality with which invective is leveled against those who experiment with animals. The devoted, overprotective parents keeps the child from grown by exaggerated overconcern with his or her health and safety. The guilty, philandering husband showers his wife with lavish gifts and with surprising and unusual tenderness and solicitude. The woman with repressed dependency strivings displays exaggerated self-reliance until she gets sick, when she becomes a virtual baby. In striving to master their earthly surroundings, people must learn to do nothing wrong. Materialism must begin and grow, as the moral, the metaphysical-intuitive, and the religious points of view are submerged and misplaced. As the intellect is analyzing this experience, judging it by science’s light and with science’s critical rigor, the subtle essence must not be lost. Even with all our scientific knowledge and technical skills, we know little of our subconscious self, less of our spiritual self, and we are unable to control thoughts, and even less able to concentrate attention, and this also must be improved upon. #RandolphHarris 17 of 28
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 18 of 28
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 19 of 28
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 20 of 28
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 21 of 28
Additionally, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom seems to be uneducated about economics. Newsom has spent $1 billion taxpayer dollars renovating the State Capitol building and $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 22 of 28
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 23 of 28
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 24 of 28
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 25 of 28
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 26 of 28
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 27 of 28
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 28 of 28
101 years ago, famed magician Harry Houdini was invited to the Winchester Mystery House by a tour guide who admired his magic. Mr. Houdini accepted the invitation and visited on a late-night private tour, exploring the mansion’s twisting halls, as shadows lurked and snarled at the edge of light. Despite the cold, Mr. Houdini could not stop perspiring. As he walked toward the bedroom Mrs. Winchester said her good-bye in, he pushed open the door. He stood frozen for the space of one deep, shuddering breath. Hanging from the light fixture, head titled as if questioning, was a woman dressed in a maid’s uniform. Mr. Houdini picked up the fallen chair and set it aside. He reached out to touch her, hesitated, then changed his mind.
Her neck and lips were a deep blue. The maid opened her eyes. She looked at him wordlessly. She reached up her hands to loosen the noose, slipped out of it, dropped and vanished into the floor. His throat felt caked with dust and his stomach was an empty, aching pit. The impressions of what he had seen filtered into his consciousness, and caused him to wonder, “How long have I been in the mansion? Days? Weeks? Surely not weeks;” he thought, “I would have died of thirst by now.” He did not have much energy left. Mr. Houdini left with more questions than answers.
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. 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
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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.
“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.
“We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty. Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country .” -President John F. Kennedy
Randolph Harris II International 