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Adversity is Part of Our Mortal Experience
Knowing that opposition and adversity are a common part of life, we can meet and overcome these challenges by remaining faithful to the Lord and trusting Him to help us. As we rise above adversity, our weaknesses are turned into strengths. “And if men come unto me, I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in men, then will I make weak things become strong unto them,” reports Ether 12.27. The neurotic process is a special form of human development, and—because of the waste of constructive energies which it involves—is a particularly unfortunate one. It is not only different in quality from healthy human growth but, to a greater extent than we have realized, antithetical to it in many ways. Under favourable conditions man’s energies are put into the realization of his own potentialities. Such a development is far from uniform. According to his particular temperament, faculties, propensities, and the conditions of his earlier and later life, he may become softer or harder, more cautious or more trusting, more or less self-reliant, more contemplative or more outgoing; and he may develop his special gifts. However, whenever his course takes him, it will be his given potentialities which he develops. #RandolphHarris 1 of 24
Under inner stress, however, a person may become alienated from his real self. He will then shift the major part of his energies to the task of molding himself, by a rigid system of inner dictates, into a being of absolute perfection. For nothing short of godlike perfection can fulfill his idealized image of himself and satisfy his pride in the exalted attributes which (so he feels) he has, could have, or should have. This trend in neurotic development engages our attention over and beyond the clinical or theoretical interest in pathological phenomena. For it involves a fundamental problem of morality—that of man’s desire, drive, or religious obligation to attain perfection. No serious student concerned with man’s development will doubt the undesirability of pride or arrogance, or that of the drive for perfection when pride is the motivating force. However, there is a wide divergence of opinion about the desirability or necessity of a disciplinary inner control system for the sake of insuring moral conduct. Granted that these inner dictates have a cramping effect upon man’s spontaneity, should we not, in accordance with the Christian injunction (“Be ye perfect…”), strive for perfection? Would it not be hazardous, indeed ruinous, to man’s moral and social life to dispense with such dictates? #RandolphHarris 2 of 24
There are three major concepts of the goal of mortality which rests upon these different interpretations of essential human nature. Superimposed checks and controls cannot be relinquished by anyone who believes—in whatever terms—that man is by nature sinful or ridden by primitive instincts (Dr. Freud). The goal of morality must then be the taming or overcoming of the status naturae and not its development. The goal must be different for those who believe that there is inherent in human nature both something essentially “good” and something “bad,” sinful, or destructive. It will center upon the insurance of the eventual victory of the inherent good, as refined, directed, or reinforced by such elements as faith, reason, will, or grace—in accordance with the particular dominating religious or ethical concept. Here the emphasis is not exclusively upon combatting and suppressing evil, since there is also a beneficial program. Yet the beneficial program rests either upon supernatural assistance of some sort or upon a strenuous ideal of reason or will, which in itself suggests the use of prohibitive and checking inner dictates. The problem of morality is again different when we believe that inherent in man are evolutionary constructive forces, which urge him to realize his given potentialities. This belief does not mean that man is essentially good—which would presuppose a given knowledge of what is good or bad. It means that man, by his very nature and of his own accord, strives toward self-realization, and that his set of values evolves from such striving. #RandolphHarris 3 of 24
Apparently, he cannot, for example, develop his full human potentialities unless he is truthful to himself; unless he is active and productive; unless he relates himself to others in the spirit of mutuality. If he indulges in a “dark idolatry of self” (Shelley) and consistently attributes all his own shortcomings to the deficiencies of others, apparently, he cannot grow. If he assumes responsibility for himself, he can grow, in the true sense. Many women have all sorts of residuals of the double standards, attitudes that some have gotten from their peers. Fantasizing is merely their way of breaking that down. However, all of us use fantasy, to a greater or lesser degree. It is a form of self-stimulation. It helps us move from where we are to where we want to be, when the occasion warrants. In that sense it is a bridge and can be very useful. If we apply it to what we have been discussing, we can see the guilt of the double standard. Some women’s fantasies help them advance from the old double standard thou-shalt-not morality to a single standard of permissibility. In this respect, some women symbolize what is happening in society at large, Social changes are unquestionably altering the traditional relationship of pleasures of the flesh between the male and female. #RandolphHarris 4 of 24
The female is achieving greater equality, although I suspect at a much slower rate than most young people think. Traditions that evolve over centuries do not disappear overnight. However, if today’s changes are to continue and become culturally entrenched, it is up to young people to incorporate these changes in their own marriage patterns. As the woman seeks to become a more active partner, she must understand and accept the nature of response dealing with pleasures of the flesh. Any woman who demands the right to her climax involving intimate passions the way she demands equal job rights is simply unaware of the physiology of intimate passions. In achieving equality, she must preserve those aspects of herself as a female that the male has learned to value—because his physiological response is dependent on them. This does not mean that she has to pretend or tease or manipulate or submit or play any of the thousand and one roles written for her in the past. Instead of playing parts, she must be herself—the female self. Ans since pleasures of the flesh is not a matter of one person but of two, she has to be the kind of woman who appeals to the man who appeals to her. If together they are to get the pleasure from each other that they both seek, she has to give, as he has to give. What the man must understand is that he has everything to gain. #RandolphHarris 5 of 24
Until now he has been playing a stereotyped part too-whether he felt like it or not, he was supposed to be tough, unemotional, giving orders and assuming all responsibility. Well, if you translate those terms into the relationships involving pleasures of the flesh, they may—and often do—work against him. To some extent they can deprive him of enjoyment. They diminish his chances of experiencing the kind of total body response that intercourse offers. If he has never experienced it, of course, he does not know what he is missing. However, once he does, he is jolly well likely to want it again. In the long run, the trend toward equality in pleasures of the flesh should mean a great deal for both male and female. As she assumes a share of the responsibility for making something happen between them, her self-esteem should rise, and with that should come an intensified capacity for pleasure. And as the male is relieved of some of the pressure his pleasure too should be increased—and, within physiological limits, his performance as well! Some people expect every encounter with pleasures of the flesh to be exciting and enjoyable and perfect, but sometimes people are just doing the best they can while dealing with all of the other responsibilities that they have. Pleasures of the flesh should not be categorized, should not be made into a “thing” that is reserved for a specific occasion or a specific use. #RandolphHarris 6 of 24
Some people are always postponing pleasures of the flesh because there is too much work with the family, their job, and other responsibilities that need to be handled. In fact, it would amaze you to know how many husbands and wives become dysfunctional with intimate passions as a result of the so-called work ethic. There is nothing that can be done about it. However, a couple can have a medical consultation. They might say something along these lines: “We believe we are faced with a problem of sexual incompatibility. We would like to consult a physician about this matter. Are there any individual physicians in this area who have dealt with such problems in the past? If so, we would like a recommendation. If not, can you direct us to any other professional person who can be of assistance or who can put us in touch with a reliable authority?” You may be referred to a psychiatrist, an obstetrician, a gynecologist, generalist or urologist or to someone in some other field of medicine. However, the single greatest mistake any distressed couple can make is to discuss their problems with friends or neighbour. Also, no matter how difficult the search for help may be and despite the fact that even professional help is no guarantee that a couple problems with pleasures of the flesh can be resolved, the effort should be made. What are the other choices, after all? Either to love out the years in a miserable marriage or to get a divorce—or to solve the problem and enjoy the pleasure, in bed and out, that the couple expected to have when they got married. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24
What we deal with in society has a huge impact of us. For instance, so far as advertising uses its powers of suggestion and repetition to increase the desires for food, clothes, and things which are basically harmful, it becomes a means of debasing or perverting people. Today, they are legalizing abortion in several countries and making it easier for the act to be committed than it ever was before. Nevertheless, it remains what it is. On its own level it is an act of murder, even though that level is an early one in the life of the human being in the foetus. There is, there must be, a bad karma connected with such an act. To abort a foetus is to destroy a child, to take its like. This is an act which must carry its own karmic penalty. And for a woman, whose very function in Nature is to bring a child into the World, such an act is doubly strange. How sad that, though ignorance of higher laws, such mistakes made in judgment and conduct have to be paid for—sometimes with many years of unhappiness or suffering, sometimes with recurring regrets over opportunity missed and gone. It is not enough to try to secure peace between the nations. We must also try to secure it between men by ceasing to slaughter them. To take advantage of the helplessness of so many people when confronted by man’s deadly weapons, cruel snares, or powerful contrivances is a sin. The karmic scales of life will read off an appropriate penalty for it. Ordinary human brutality to these creatures is bad enough but scientific brutality by vivisection is worse. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24
The map of African reveals that the principle of neighbour-antagonism exists. What the political map does not show is the fact that within African countries, which were arbitrarily defined by European colonists, tribal enmities continue to rage on. African is a checkerboard of mammalian wardom. Ninety percent of African countries are ruled by assassins and military chiefs. Mafia capos. Look north to Europe. Until World War II, Europe was also a checkerboard of quarreling neighbours, each ruled by a feudal chief. The technological quantum leap taken in World War II forced a change in territoriality. Technology always increases the size of the gene pool territory. The Eastern Bloc nations were forced together into a monolithic entity confronting the union of West European states transferring border-tensions from between individual nations to the divine between East and West—the Iron Curtain. Interestingly, ninety percent of Western European countries are ruled, not by military dictators, but by elected representatives. Like brain hemispheres, the North-South bifurcation of the genetic highway has produced a fascinating left-right division which perfectly parallels the cerebral hemispheric split. Like those who are right-handed, the northern countries excel at logic, rationality, and manipulation of artifacts and symbols. The new technologies require larger networks of harmonious collaboration. The energies of thousands of people must be linked-up to maintain an automotive business or a Coca-Cola industry. Technology creates larger and more intelligent gene-colony units. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24
Europe, the right-hand-continent developed the technology and carried the freedom-gene upward. By contrast, the left-hand continent, Africa, failed to produce mobility-freedom-gene pools. Africa developed slavery and Europe developed capitalist-democracy. The genetic highway veered north instead of south when it burst out of the Middle East—the midbrain. The northern Mediterranean centers lighted up in sequence—Greece, Rome, Venice, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon, London. There must be a basic neuro-geographical principle that explains why African swarms with slavery and Paleolithic primitivism, while at the right-hand-northern lobe has provided the centers and pathways along which the species has evolved. We can only speculate as to why the freedom-genes clustered along the North Atlantic beaches and why the intelligence-technology breakout occurred from West Europe and not West Africa. Think of evolution as an ascent-literally a climb, a series of intelligence tests which activate velocity-altitude-freedom circuits. From the Mid-East-the midbrain—there are two pathways. The Southern route is the easiest. The Arabs took it and slid off along the low road. Insectoid armies oozing from the East, sending, not gene pools, but soldiers and military bureaucrats. By contrast, the highroad North was a ladder, a series of ledges to be scaled. Look at the map. First the Dardenelles to be crossed. Then the pricky mountains of Greece, the fingered peninsulas, the Balkan Mountains and the high Alps—rugged land, uninviting to Mid-Eastern sultans. Choked with geographic barters offering refuge to ascending gene pools. The story of evolution is the ascent of Celtic out-caste gene pools standing on the shoulders of the teeming Eastern autonomic-involuntary centers. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24
What is interesting about humans, when some have tried to please everyone, not just the majority, but everyone with their work, there will still be discord amongst the group and it will render the person working hard to please them all to feel worthless. Not only that, but the individual will assume that because you do not like their work or their attempt to please you that you do not like him because so much of a person’s self goes into what they produce. And a person has to be liked. He has to live in society. If he makes nothing but enemies, he cannot do that. Most people do not want people hating them. Instead, they want to be loved by people. When someone’s work is not appreciated, the creator may choose to destroy it. There are certain people who quickly make it clear that they do not trust anybody. That is, they talk about life that way, but their behaviour is not entirely consistent with what they say, because actually they are continually “trusting” people, but it usually turns out badly. The concept of sweatshirts has an advantage over the more naïve approached of “character defense,” “attitude,” and “lifestyle” because they tend to take things at face value, while the transactional analyst is accustomed to look first of all for the con or paradox, and is gratified rather than surprised when he finds it. That is what he looks for when he finds a sweatshirt, and that is what gives him his therapeutic advantage. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24
To put it another way, character analysts analyze the front of the sweatshirt very effectively, but fail to look at the back where the game slogan or “kicker” is written, or at least it takes them a long time to get around to it, while the game analyst looks there right at the beginning. The sweatshirt “You Cannot Trust Anybody” (or “You Cannot Trust Anybody Nowadays,” YOCTAN) is therefore not taken at face value. It does not mean that the wearer will avoid entanglement with people because he does not trust them. Quite the contrary. It means that he will seek entanglements for the express purpose of proving his slogan and reinforcing his position (I am Okay—They are not-Okay). Hence the YOCTAN player picks untrustworthy people, makes ambiguous contracts with them, and then gratefully, or even gleefully, collects brown stamps when something goes wrong, thus confirming his position that “You Cannot Trust Anybody.” In extreme cases he may feel entitled to a “free” homicide, justified by repeated betrayal at the hands of people carefully chosen for their untrustworthiness. Once having collected enough brown stamps for such a payoff, the YOCTAN player may pick as his victim someone he has never met, perhaps a public figure whose murder rates the label of “assassination.” Other YOCTAN players may seize upon such an event to prove that the “authorities,” such as the police who arrest the assassin, are untrustworthy. The police, of course, are paid for YOCTAN. It is part of their job not to be too trusting. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24
Thus, a tournament is started in which amateur or semi-professional YOCTAN players are pitted against professionals. The battle cries of such a tournament, “frame-up,” “codes,” and “conspiracy,” may go on for years or even centuries, the object beings to prove such propositions as: “Homer was not really Homer, but another man of the same name,” “Raisuli loved Perdicaris,” and “Gavrilo Princip was not really Gavrilo Princip, but another man of the same name.” The YOCTAN sweatshirt gives the following information about the wearer. His favourite pastime is discussing double-crosses. His favourite feeling is triumph: “Now I Have Got You, You Male Chauvinistic Pig.” His nickname is Cagey, and the critical sphincter is his anus (“Keep a tight a** hole or you will get screwed.”) His hero is the man who proves that “the authorities” are untrustworthy. What he does in the front room comes on in a blandly righteous or ingenuous way, while in the back room he is scheming and untrustworthy (like the landlady who self-righteously said: “You cannot trust any of your tenants nowadays. Only the other day I was going through the desk of one of them, and you will never guess what I found!”) His mental World is a self-righteous one in which he is entitled to do all sorts of shady things, provided the aim is to uncover the untrustworthiness of others. His script calls for him to be done in by someone he trusts so that with his dying breath he can call out his slogan: “I knew it. You cannot trust anybody nowadays.” #RandolphHarris 13 of 24
Thus, the front of his sweatshirt, “You Cannot Trust Anybody Nowadays,” is a bland invitation to well-meaning people, such as unwary therapists, to prove that they are exceptions. If they do not take the trouble to look, ahead of time, it is only after the dust of battle settles down and the victorious player walks away, that they see what is written on the back: “Now Maybe You Will Believe Me.” If the therapist is alert, however, he still must be careful not to move too son, or the patient will say: “See, I cannot even trust you.” Then when he walks away, the kicker is still valid, so he wins either way. Some will wonder at the similarities of this region of normal experience and the hallucinations of schizophrenics. There are both consistent similarities and difference. Hallucinations reported by patents are much louder or more visible than the majority of hypnogogic experiences. A phrase said in the normal hypnogogic is as faint as a whispered notion, whereas most schizophrenic auditory hallucinations are as loud as a normal spoken voice. Things seen are often indistinguishable from reality. Hallucinations often have no fixed identity or slippery changing identity similar to the hypnogogic. The normal experiences are usually momentary whole hallucinations can keep up for years. Both states appear to be different from dreams, id est, a person tormented by a set of hallucinatory tormentors will usually have no sign of them in dreams. Hallucinations are unanticipated, often frame of reference, id est, the innermost subjective of the person. #RandolphHarris 14 of 24
I have chosen patients who can distinguish between themselves and their hallucinations. I strike up a relationship with the patient and the hallucinated figures. Then it is possible to question the hallucinations directly, and the patient reveals their response. In this way it is possible to do a psychological examination of voices and the patient as separate entities. Curiously, hallucinations seem to be sicker than the patient on psychological tests! One patient’s hallucinations said they were from Washington D.C. near Virginia or were they at the seat of the government of the patient. They affirmed it was the latter. I have a good deal of evidence, too lengthy to cite, the hallucinations have this same inner subjective frame of reference. The patient is often fooled by subjective frame of reference. The patient is often fooled by it because it sounds as though the hallucinations felt they were his government. They commented for years how he was in their power. Hence, they are from his Washington, D.C. The man who exulted under torture, who hurled curses at God and at beauty, who hardened himself in the harsh atmosphere of crime, now only wants to marry someone “with a future.” The mage, the seer, the convict who lived perpetually in the shadow of the penal colony, the man-king on a godless Earth, always carried seventeen pounds of gold in a belt worn uncomfortably round his stomach, while he complained gave him dysentery. #RandolphHarris 15 of 24
Is this mythical hero, worshipped by so many young men who, though they do not spit in the face of a belt? To maintain the myth, those decisive letters must be ignored. It is easy to see why they have been so little commented on. They are a sacrilege, as truth sometimes is. Sometimes persons who themselves are uncomfortable with genuine emotional expression, especially of pain, embarrassment, or sorrow, find it necessary to avoid dealing with such expressions in friends, relatives, children, or others. This makes for non-genuine interactions, since both are pretending to be or feel some way that is not authentic. Someone with a poker face in the midst of an expression of deep emotional feeling on the part of another leaves that person with a feeling of being drastically misunderstood. Concern for another’s feelings is characteristic of a “person-centered” society. We can assure communication of feeling through the reflection of feeling. This is a useful techniques in psychotherapy, as it is in all human relationships. One reflects back to the other the sensitive awareness of the other’s feelings: “I know you are upset with me” or “You feel very angry, extremely angry.” This technique of course requires that the “understander” be fully able to accept the feeling without shock or other negative, basic feelings. Because of the demonstrated difficult in determining the nature of an emotion from the facial communication only seem even more important to make use of the reflection as a check on one’s understanding of another person. #RandolphHarris 16 of 24
The temper tantrums is perhaps the most manipulative of all emotions, and although it is often thought of as characteristic of the “spoiled” child, it can also be found in the spoiled adult. Someone who learns to het his or her way through exaggeration of emotion becomes an emotional tyrant who does damage to his or her own emotional life as well as to that of others. Philosophy is as opposed to violence and bloodshed as a method of ending conflicts as is pacifism but it stops where the latter walks obstinately on. It makes a clear distinction between aggression and self-defense, and justifies the use of force in the second instance. He will defend himself and others against evil aggression, but he will not retaliate against it. Justice often demands that force be used in order to implement is decisions. Philosophy sets up justice as one of the guiding principles of personal and national conduct. Therefore, philosophy has no use for pacificism or nonviolence. The resistance of evil is a social duty. Its strongest expression heretofore has been defensive war against a criminally aggressive offending nation. If resistance is itself an evil, war is the evilest form of that evil. The appearance of the atomic bomb is a sign that a new approach must be found today, that the old way of defensive war will not meet the new problems which have arisen. If man is to end war once and for all and find peace, he must do so both internally and externally. He cannot do the one by ending the rule of the animal aggressive emotions within himself such as greed, anger, revenge, and hatred, and he can do the other by abandoning the slaying of others. He may take whatever defensive preparations he pleases, but he must stop short at the point of killing other men. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24
The Sacramento Fire Department puts the welfare of the nation, and the City of Sacramento before their own. As a firefighter, selfless service means doing what is right for the nation, the Sacramento Fire Department, and the citizens of Sacramento. While the needs of the City of Sacramento should come first, it does not imply neglect for firefighters nor their families, nor themselves. To the contrary, such neglect of these important elements weakens a firefighter and can cause the fire department more harm than good. A strong but harnessed ego, high self-esteem, and a healthy ambition can be compatible with self service, as long as a firefighter treats people fairly and gives team members credit when they deserve it. They Sacramento Fire Department cannot function except as a team. Fore a team to excel, everyone must give up self-interest for the good of the whole. Honor provides a moral compass for character and personal conduct in the Sacramento Fire Department. It means that they live by words and actions consistent with high ideals. Honor is the glue that holds the Sacramento Fire Department’s Values together. Honor requires that firefighters and EMTs always demonstrate an understanding of what is right. The Sacramento Fire Department and EMTs demonstrate an understanding of what is right and take pride in that reputation by living up to the fire department’s values. By living honorably, members of the Sacramento Fire Department set an example for others to follow. #RandolphHarris 18 of 24
“I was married in 1996 to the high school gal I ran with all the time. Her family was one of the original settlers in this valley. She was a little hesitant about the fire department. You know how women are, maybe they’ve read of some big fire where somebody got hurt, and they go along with that part of it. Then I got involved putting in a lot of hours, and she got pushed out of shape, because she thought that the fire department was competing with our lives…which actually it was. We have two adult children, a daughter and a son. My son never cared about firefighting, and, of course, my daughter never did. My wife and I are into golfing. She’s an excellent golfer, and I’m not a hacker. We enjoy taking off for a few days and play different courses. And we still do quite a bit with our kids. They are not far away. We’ve helped them buy houses, do clean up work and build fences, things like that. My wife is a pretty fair artist, she does a lot of water colors, so she’s out in the wilds quite a bit taking pictures for her painting, and I go with her. I enjoy that. Basically, that’s about it. I’ve never had time to develop any hobbies, I was always seventy, eighty hours a week in my business. And since I’ve been chief here, I put in about nine, ten hours a day. I love it, you know?” The Sacramento Fire Department is older than the City of Sacramento. On 5 February 2025, the Sacramento Fire Department will be celebrating their 175th birthday. This is a very important milestone. Understanding the expectations and applying the attributes and competencies prepares the Sacramento Fire Department for situations they are likely to encounter. Fire fighters who gain expertise through operational assignments, institutional learning, and self-development will be versatile enough to adapt to most situations and grow into greater responsibilities. All members of the Sacramento Fire Department are loyal, dedicated to duty, respectful, selfless, honorable, possess a great deal of integrity and display personal courage in the face of danger and adversity. You can save lives by making a donation to the Sacramento Fire Department. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children 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. #RandolphHarris 19 of 24
“You can measure the strength of a nation and the strength of its families, and you study the struggles of a nation and the struggles of its working people. And right now, our families and our working people in the country are struggling,” Senator Josh Hawley. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. In an effort to help America pull through the massive national deficit, please buy American made cars. American made cars used to be the envy of the World and because American car brands are offering a wide range of options, from family SUVs to electric vehicles and luxury sedans, we are now seeing a resurging interest. American made cars are equal or superior to those made overseas. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, not having country of origin labels on our meat, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks 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 end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24
American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming 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. 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 their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor 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 is 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. In an effort to help America pull through the massive national deficit, please buy American made cars. American made cars used to be the envy of the World and because American car brands are offering a wide range of options, from family SUVs to electric vehicles and luxury sedans, we are now seeing a resurging interest. #RandolphHarris 21 of 24
American made cars are equal or superior to those made overseas. The Chevrolet Trax, for instance, is a well-designed, fuel efficient, and safe SUV. And as you know, there is no better car on Earth than 1950-1970s American Muscle Car. Americans make sure superior product, but we are buying things from other nations. American food imports have risen by 300 percent since 1999. American farmland declined by nearly 20 million acres between 2017 and 2022. As of 2022, there were 880.1 million acres of land dedicated to farming, compared to 900.1 million in 2017. The data shows there are now little more than 1.9 million farms in the country. Americans and American corporations spent $136 billion on food and beverages from other countries. It is a national security risk to lose American Farms and farmers. If there is a war, and most of our meat, produce, poultry, dairy, and fruit is coming from foreign counties, we stand the risk of starving. With war breaking out all over the World, in these uncertain times, it is very important to bring American farms back. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. 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 for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24
Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a populations 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 American, 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. 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 American 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 nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. #RandolphHarris 23 of 24
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 in regard to pollution. American companies have to be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds 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. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children 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. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. #RandolphHarris 24 of 24
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Contracts Which God Was Never Consulted About Which He Never Signed
The origins of schizophrenic almost certainly encompass both genetic and environmental factors, which through both independent and interactive neurodevelopmental mechanisms, appear to play important roles in this disorder. In recent years, evidence has accumulated in support of a role for neurodevelopment insults in the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia. The dramatic changes in brain structure and function from conception to birth underscore the particular vulnerability to both short and long-term disease outcomes. Hence, the determinations of fetal brain development—both genes and environmental factors—deserve consideration as potential risk factors for schizophrenia. Among many putative environmental risk factors that have been investigated in studies of schizophrenia, infection is generally deemed as one of the most plausible, because microbial pathogens are well-documented causes of congenital brain anomalies and behavioural disorders. For example, prenatal exposure to ruvella, toxoplasmoisis, herpes simplex virus type 2 , and other infections are known causes of developmental disorders that include, mental retardation, learning disabilities, sensorineural dysfunction, and several structural brain anomalies. There is also a relatively high prevalence documentation of schizophrenia in populations with influenza during pregnancy. Associations between schizophrenia and epidemics of maternal respiratory viral infections, measles, varicella-zoster, and polio have been reported. #RandolphHarris 1 of 19
Schizophrenia is a psychosis. That it to say, it is a severe mental disorder in which the person’s emotions, thinking, judgment, and grasp of reality are so disturbed that his or her functioning is seriously impaired. The symptoms of schizophrenia are often divided into “positive” and “negative.” Positive symptoms are abnormal experiences and perceptions like delusions, hallucinations, illogical and disorganized thinking and inappropriate behaviour. Negative symptoms are the absence of normal thoughts, emotions and behaviour such as blunted emotions, loss of drive, poverty of thought, and social withdrawal. The two most common functional psychoses around in defining schizophrenia are schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (also known as manic-depressive illness). Bipolar disorder is an episodic disorder in which psychotic symptoms are associated with severe alternations in mood—at times elated, agitated episodes of mania, at other times depression, with physical and mental slowing, despair, guilt and low self-esteem. On the other hand, the course of schizophrenia, though fluctuating, tends to be more continuous, and the person’s display of emotion is likely to be incongruous or lacking in spontaneity. Markedly illogical thinking is common in schizophrenia. Auditory hallucinations may occur in either manic-depressive illness or schizophrenia, but in schizophrenia they are more likely to be commenting on the person’s actions or to be conversing one with another. #RandolphHarris 2 of 19
Delusions, also, can occur in both conditions; in schizophrenia they may hive the individual the sense the he or she is being controlled by outside forces of that his or her thoughts are being broadcast or interfered with. Despite common features, different forms of schizophrenia are quite dissimilar. One person, for example, may be paranoid but show good judgment and high functioning in many areas of life. Another may be bizarre in manner and appearance, preoccupied with delusions of bodily disorder, passive and withdrawn. So marked are the differences, in fact, that many experts believe that, when the causes of schizophrenia are worked out, the illness will prove to be a set of different conditions which lead, via a final common pathway of biochemical interactions, to similar consequences. In the 2001 film, “The Cave Man’s Valentine,” starring Samuel L. Jackson, Romulus Ledbetter is a character who is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. At times, he has a beautiful mind and is able to play the piano as well as Beethoven. At other times, demons are attacking his mind, and he becomes confused and dangerous and loses touch with reality. He seriously believes that people are putting thoughts into his mind. Not all schizophrenics are dangerous, nor are they out of touch with reality. In the 2001 film, “A Beautiful Mind,” starring Russell Crow, John Nash is an extremely intelligent character who is a genius in mathematics and even works with the Pentagon to help decode messages. #RandolphHarris 3 of 19
As we have been challenged by the difficulties of working with a particular group of schizophrenics, we have learned new behaviours which are facilitative. How can we initiate a relationship with such individuals? One way which most of us have come to use is the expression by the therapist of his own immediate feelings, in a way which does not impose on the client. Thus, with a very silent man, I have voiced such feelings as these: “I feel quite content with our silence this morning. Sometimes when we are not talking, I feel sort of impatient and wanting to know what is going on but this morning it feels good just to be with you, quietly.” Or with another client, “I feel that you are angry at me. I am not sure, of course, because you have not said so. However, I keep wondering why you are angry with me.” Such statements are expressed as inward musings, not as questions or demands. They may be much more extensive than these brief examples. They tend to put the therapist as a person into the relationship, without threatening the client by demands. They keep repeating in a variety of ways, “I am here. I am offering a relationship. I am a person with feelings, with perceptions. I am sensitive to you and anything you are willing to reveal about yourself.” The therapist can draw on his own momentary experiencing and find there an ever-present reservoir from which he can draw, and with which he can initiate, deepen, and carry-on therapeutic interaction even with an unmotivated, silent, or externalizing person.” However, when dealing with people who are mentally ill and making threats of brandishing sharp objects, it is best to not make any sudden moves and get to safety and to take their threats seriously because they have a tendency to snap without notice. #RandolphHarris 4 of 19
Some of our therapists go further in their behaviour. One in particular is moving more and more toward allying himself with the hidden and unrevealed person in the schizophrenic, and openly “clobbering” the defensive shell. In his work, there is a real similarity to Rosen or Whitaker. He is sensitively and obviously committed to the person who is in hiding, of the psychotic symptoms, the fear of relating, the defenses and avoidances. Perhaps partly because this approach is congenial to him as a person, he is finding it effective. As we listen to the recorded interviews of the various therapists in our group, we are gradually broadening the repertoire of behaviours which are real for each of us in dealing with our psychotic clients, and are slowly hammering out ways of facilitating movement in the unmotivated person. There is another lesson which we as therapists have learned, and that is the patience which is necessary to elicit what Dr. Otto Rank has called the “positive will,” in an individual in whom it has never been exercised. We have come to realize that almost none of the individuals with whom we have been working have ever been affirmed themselves. “They have never, in any meaningful way, said, “I feel,” “I live,” “I have a right to be.” They have instead been passive receivers of life’s hurts, blows, and events. It takes great patience to wait for the germination and budding of the will to say, “I am, I deserve to be.” Yet the phenomenon of growth is in some respects all the more exciting because it has been so long dormant. #RandolphHarris 5 of 19
Coming, as a number of our therapist did, from work with non-hospitalized individuals, the development of our feeling about the significance of psychotic content in our contacts is of interest. The simplest way of stating our present attitude is to day that we have learned how relatively unimportant is psychotic material. This could easily be misunderstood. The hallucination, the delusion, the bizarre language or posture has of course its significance in the psychological dynamics of the schizophrenic individual. However, in the therapeutic relationship it simply forms a more difficult language of communication. Working with a child in play therapy, his language is his behaviour, and this is often difficult to understand. Or in working with a foreign-born client, garbled phrases and mispronunciations make understanding more difficult. So it is, it seems to us, with the schizophrenic. His scrambled incoherencies, his paranoid ideas, his hearing of voices, simply represent a mode of communicating himself which is often very difficult to understand. However, we have found the difference one of degree rather than kind, and do not attach special importance, nor use special procedures when dealing with the person who is frankly psychotic in his way of expressing himself. In my first few meetings with Charles, I was very impressed. He was bright, interested and had a good grasp of psychology. In group, he was helpful, using his knowledge to lead other members to some insights. Seeing his ability, I decided he would make an ideal group assistant. #RandolphHarris 6 of 19
The group assistant is someone who takes charge in my absence and leads discussion when I feel it is best for me to be out of the room. I thought Charles, the amateur psychologist, was a natural for the job. It was a serious mistake. In my absence, Charles began to run the group like his own private kingdom. He chose the topics, limited the times others could talk, and reprimanded those who digressed from the subject. Using his knowledge of psychology, he “psyched out” the others and called his diagnoses into play when he wanted to put someone down. Yet whenever he digressed or showed his own weaknesses, he either may lame excuses or flatly said that the group had no right to “nail” him. The other group members became furious. Sessions which started out with open sharing soon deteriorated into shouting matches. Charles often locked horns with John, a man with a short fuse and sharp tongue. Whenever John challenged his point of view, Charles would become the intellectual, backing up his arguments with “facts” and logic. In one such discussion, John angrily shouted, “I might not be able to crack your logic, twerp, but I can sure crack your head!” Finally, the problem was brought up while I was in the room. In her shy, forgiving way, Victoria said, “I really appreciate how willing Charles is to lead the group, but I sometimes think he isn’t going by the same rules we are. Don’t the rules apply to him too?” Before I could reply, John snapped, “Damn right.” #RandolphHarris 7 of 19
The therapist, with full humanity and poignancy, and with the patient’s explicit and voluntary consent, may have to perform a similar task: not torture, but surgery. In order for the patient to get better, his illusions, upon which is whole life is based, must be undermined so that he can live in the World which is here today, rather than in his “If Only” or “Some Day.” This is the most painful task which the script analyst has to perform: to tell his patients finally that there is no Santa Claus. However, by careful preparation, the blow can be softened and the patient may, in the long run, forgive him. One of the favourite illusions of later childhood is shaken when Jeder finds out where babies come from. In order to maintain the fiction of his parents’ purity, he has to make the reservation: “All right, but my parents do not do that.” It is difficult for the therapist to avoid seeming crass and cynical when he confronts Jeder with the fact that he was not a virgin birth, so they must have done it at least once, and if he has brothers and sisters, several times. This is equivalent to telling him that his mother betrayed him, something no man should tell another unless the other pays him to do just that. Sometimes he has the opposite task of restoring to some semblance of decency the picture which mother herself or external circumstances have smeared into degradation. And for millions of children, this illusion is an unattainable luxury, and they must exist in a bare state of psychological as well as material subsistence. The beliefs in Satan Claus, Death, and mother’s virginity may be regarded as normal because they are eagerly grasped and give spiritual nourishment to idealistic or weaker spirits whenever they are made available. #RandolphHarris 8 of 19
On the other hand, confused people are betwixt because they have their own special illusions. These range from, “If you take a colonic irrigation every day, you will be health and happy,” (they could cause micro tears in your colonic lining and lead to more serious health conditions) to “If you get sick, you can prevent your father from dying. If he dies, it is because you did not get sick enough.” There are also private contracts with God, contracts God was never consulted about which He never signed; and which He could in fact refuse to sign: “If I sacrifice my children, my mother will stay healthy” is a common example, or “If I do not have any climaxes, God will send me a miracle.” The latter was institutionalized among the women of the evening of Paris as “No matter how many men I have pleasures of the flesh with, or even knowingly infect with disease, I can still go to Heaven as long as it is done in the course of business and I do not enjoy it.” A classic ploy by which the hive stimulates stupidity is the Immortality Placebo—usually sexual or financial. First, the gene-pool sets up a Moral Taboo. Moral Taboos are Magnificent Intelligent Qualification (IQ) devices because they get everyone in the hive hung up on virtue-sin. The Moral Taboo must interfere with some normal, natural, caste-behaviour. It must perversely prevent some castes from getting something that they neurologically are wired to want. Once brought into focus by prescription the Taboo becomes charged with artificial cop-sinner magnetism. #RandolphHarris 9 of 19
Genesis, the first chapter in the Judeo-Christian Bible, clearly sets out the strategy of the Immorality Placebo—using good verses evil as fascinating distraction, a front ploy. There are two forbidden trees in the Garden of Edan. The serpent—now exposed as an agent provocateur—gets Eve and Adam to eat the fruit of the first tree, which provides the knowledge—substitute the word “hang-up”—of Good and Evil, thus forgetting about the second tree, which bears the fruit of self-actualization and immortality. Interestingly, the Immorality Placebo has been formalized by Pynchon as one of his “Proverbs for Paranoids—If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they do not have to worry about answers.” Caught between unjustifiable virtue and unacceptable crime, consumed with pity and incapable of love, a recluse deprived of the benefits of cynicism, the man of supreme intelligence is killed by contradiction. “My mind is of this World,” Ivan said; “what good is it to try to understand what is not of the World?” However, he lived only for what is not of this World, and his proud search for the absolute is precisely what removed him from the World of which he loved no part. The fact that Ivan was defeated does not obviate the fact that once the problem is posed, the consequence must follow: rebellion is henceforth on the march toward action. This has been demonstrated by Dostoievsky, with prophetic intensity, in his legend of the Gran Inquisitor. #RandolphHarris 10 of 19
Ivan, finally, does not distinguish the creator from his creation. “It is not God whom I reject,” he says, “it is creation.” In other words, it is God the father, indistinguishable from what He has created. (Ivan allows his father to be killed and thus chooses a direct attack against nature and procreation. Moreover, this particular father is infamous. The repugnant figure of old Karamazov is continually coming between Ivan and the God of Aliosha.) His plot to usurp the throne, therefore, remains completely moral. He does not want to reform anything in creation. However, creation being what it is, he claims the right to free himself morally and to free all the rest of mankind with him. On the other hand, from the moment when the spirit of rebellion, having accepted the concept of “everything is permitted” and “Everyone or no one,” aims at reconstructing creation in order to assert the sovereignty and divinity of man, and from the moment when metaphysical rebellion extends itself from ethics to politics, a new undertaking, of incalculable import, begins, which also springs from the same nihilism. Dostoievsky, the prophet of the new religion, had foreseen and announced it: “If Aliosha had come to the conclusion that neither God nor immortality existed, he would immediately have become an atheist and a socialist. For socialism is not only a question of the working classes; it is above all, in its contemporary incarnation, a question of atheism, a question of the tower of Babel, which is constructed without God’s help, not to reach to the Heavens, but to bring the Heavens down to Earth.” #RandolphHarris 11 of 19
After that, Aliosha can, in fact, treat Ivan with compassion as a “real simpleton.” The latter only made an attempt at self-control and failed. Others will appear, with more serious intentions, who, on the basis of the same despairing nihilism, will insist on ruling the World. These are the Grand Inquisitors who imprison Christ and come to tell Him that His method is not correct, that universal happiness cannot be achieved by the immediate freedom of choosing between good and evil, but by the domination and unification of the World. The first step is to conquer and rule. The kingdom of Heaven will, in fact, appear on Earth, but it will be ruled over by men—a mere handful to begin with, who will be the Caesars, because they were the first to understand—and later, with time, by all men. The unity of all creation will be achieved by every possible means, since everything is permitted. The Grand Inquisitor is old and tired, for the knowledge he possesses is bitter. He knows that men are lazy rather than cowardly and that they prefer peace and death to the liberty of discerning between good and evil. He has pity, a cold pity, for the silent prisoner who history endlessly deceives. He urges him to speak, to recognize his misdeeds, and, in one sense, to approve the actions of the Inquisitors and of the Caesars. However, the prisoner does not speak. The enterprise will continue, therefore, without him; he will be killed. #RandolphHarris 12 of 19
Legitimacy will come at the end of time, when the kingdom of men is assured. “The affair has only just begun, it is far from being terminated, and the World has many other things to suffer, but we shall achieve our aim, we shall be Caesar, and then we shall begin to think about Universal happiness.” By then, the prisoner has been executed; the Grand Inquisitor reign alone, listening to “the profound spirit, the spirit of destruction and death.” The Grand Inquisitors proudly refuse freedom and the bread of Heaven and offer the bread of this Earth without freedom. “Come down from the cross and we will believe in you,” their police agents are already crying on Golgotha. However, He did not come down and, even at the most tortured moment of His agony, He protested to God at having been forsaken. There are, thus, no longer any proofs, but faith and the mystery that the rebels reject and at which the Grand Inquisitors scoff. Everything is permitted and centuries of crime are prepared in that cataclysmic moment. From Paul to Stalin, the popes who have chosen Caesar have prepared the way for Caesars who quickly learn to despise popes. The unity of the World, which was not achieved with God, will henceforth be attempted in defiance of God. However, we have not yet reached that point. For the moment, Ivan offers us only the tortured face of the revel plunged in the abyss, incapable of action, torn between the idea of his own innocence and the desire to kill. He hates the death penalty because it is the image of the human condition, and, at the same time, he is drawn to crime. Because he has taken the side of mankind, solitude is his lot. With him the rebellion of reason culminates in madness. #RandolphHarris 13 of 19
When one is hungry, it feels good to eat. When one is thirsty, it feels good to drink water. When the time to do so has come, it feels good to urinate and to empty one’s bowels. Physical massage and the sheer sensuality of being caressed yield pleasure not overshadowed by a climax, which is viewed by most humans as the acme of human pleasure. Although pleasure as such cannot serve as the chief purpose of life—the reality principle discussed by Dr. Freud tells us that the quest for pleasure can endanger life itself—a life without pleasure is hardly worth living. Gratification of basic needs is pleasurable in and for itself, and the capacity to feel such pleasure is one of the rewards of healthy personality. Although it may seem surprising, many persons actually dread the experience of pleasure and repress it. Such repression is most likely in person reared under puritanical regimes in which “self-indulgence” is regarded as a sin. Pleasure comes not only from the fact of satisfying basic needs, however. There is joy to be found in contemplation of beauty in music, art, and nature; in sound of birds; the sight of a child taking its first steps; the smell of new-mown hay. Another source of pleasure is to be found in the zest of accompanying action. When people engage in activities that will challenge, but not overwhelm them, zest is engendered. Thus, when a game of tennis or handball, surfing along the perfect wave, skiing down a fast slope, yield pleasure no less than that afforded by sensuous, passive massage. #RandolphHarris 14 of 19
Similar zest arises in those who love their work, whether it be that of an artist in the studio, a scientist in the laboratory, or a businessperson planning a sales campaign. People who experience pleasure in living do not develop the uptight, armoured bodies and grim facial expressions of those whose lives have been hard and joyless or whose religious orientation proscribes pleasure as a sin. And those who find zest in their work and play appear “childlike” or ageless—they do not grow old. Pleasure engulfs the experience of persons who have just had their hopes fulfilled, or who have just completed a valued project. The delights of winning a prize or receiving an unexpected gift are among the “highs” in life, as are the joys of finishing a difficult mountain climb or writing a book. Pleasure—whether occasioned by sensuality, physical activity, or consummation of projects—is a goal and reward of healthy personality. I cannot recall any statement by mystics—ancient, medieval, or modern—that one aspect of spiritual union is exquisite refinement. Everyone writes of its moral fruits, its religious insights—even its creativity, artistic or intellectual—but who seems to note this aesthetic effect on manners, feelings, speech, and living? That breeding and culture can contribute to spirituality may not be evident to the ascetically mystic mind or the simpler religious mind. That fastidious refinement (but not arrogant snobbish refinement) can come with inner growth may be likewise obscure. However, the long association of holiness with asceticism or with bareness of living has confused the understanding of truth. #RandolphHarris 15 of 19
A lifestyle touched with beauty in manners, surroundings, character, or taste, can better express what philosophy means than an ugly and unclean one. That lack of opportunity is responsible for a parts of crudeness and inferiority and immaturity is, however, obvious enough. However, it is a fact which ought not be used to cover up the correct view of these things. Good manners are not only an end in themselves, emblems of a finer personality, tokens of willingness to be of service, but also part of a means to higher spiritual attainment—the ultimate courtesy and supreme generosity of human behaviour. Ill-mannered conduct is ordinarily incompatible with spiritual realization: the cases of those Christian masters who historically behaved badly towards would-be disciples are special cases, and ought not to be taken as guides. Refinement is as valuable a quality, and as spiritual, as truth-seeking. Good manners and finer feelings, courtesy and graciousness—these inhere in one who possesses a true spirituality. It is true that many aspirants consider this to be mere surface polish, unimportant, a cloak of quite often for hypocrisy and falseness. That may be so in a number of cases. However, even it if were correct of all cases, the fact remains that the manners which aspirants adopt, the code of behaviour which they practise, possess a definite place on this quests. The Christians who regarded and used etiquette as part of their way toward inner unfoldment, as part of their path, were not wrong. #RandolphHarris 16 of 19
For etiquette creates forms of conduct which not only refine and uplift the practiser’s character, but also can be used to defend his inner life—where he is developed enough to possess one—against society’s onslaughts. There is a moral element in it, too. For where etiquette trains a man sympathetically to consider the emotional reactions of other persons to his own behaviour, it transfers his point of view from an habitual selfish one to a more impersonal one. Again, by smoothing the relations between both of them, it puts the others not only more at peace with themselves but also with him. Lastly, it requires and fosters some measure of self-control. For we are not only victims of aggression from our enemies. We are just as much, or even more, victims of ourselves, attacked by our own weakness and faults. We should learn to teach children to learn to respect the requires for respect—whether it be shown to elders or to authorities, or whether it be shown to other people’s religious beliefs. Respect is something which can later grow into a higher quality and that is reverence. Through reverence we can begin to sense higher atmospheres which produce a feeling of awe whether the atmosphere be found in the beauties of nature, of music, of art, or of saints. People of the lower classes are apt to lose their temper more quickly than those of the upper classes because some have not been brought up to respect self-control or to value it and thus to respect themselves. Thus, self-respect becomes respect for one’s own higher self. The connection between the good life and good manners is not usually brought out by those who would uplift humanity spiritually, expect of course by such shining exceptions. In a period like the present—when the young generation ridicules all mention of manners, courtesy, etiquette, and so on as hollow, hypocritical, and insincere—the values so criticized must be clarified again and their connection with the higher life made plainer. #RandolphHarris 17 of 19
The Sacramento Fire Department’s mission is to safeguard the lives and property of the Sacramento populations from fires, natural disasters, and incidents involving hazardous materials. The department provides fire protection and emergency medical services (EMS) to the city of Sacramento. Members of the Fire Department fight fires, provide emergency medical treatment, and rescue people from dangerous situations. The department has specialized divisions that investigate fires, deal with hazardous material, and help protect the Sacramento International Airport. “There was a rooming house on Capitol Avenue. A flophouse really, a nine-story dump, filled with dozens and dozens of occupants who were less well off than the rest of us. I was lieutenant of our ladder company, and we went as an additional ladder company to the fire, which eventually went to six alarms. These people were being taken out from the inside. We consulted with the chief, and he said, ‘The guy in that window.’ He’s pointing to the eight floor, where a guy was hanging over the windowsill. Our rig was parked a block away, so I told our guys to swing it around to the other block and see if our stick can reach him from there. In the meantime, I went up the inside stairs to the eighth floor. There was not a large amount of fire to be seen, but the smoke and the heat were boiling. I found this guy, and he was barely conscious. Besides, he couldn’t walk very well because of arthritis or something. I said, ‘Okay, come on, let’s go.’ And I started to carrying him down. I was lucky, he wasn’t a heavy guy at all. #RandolphHarris 18 of 19
“We were in the hallways when the smoke and the heat changed instantly. I knew it was going to flash, and we had to get the heck out. At any moment the fire was going to chase us. He was having trouble, so I gave him my mask, and I carried him down the inside stairway. In the street I put him on the running board on the far side of one of the trucks. Somebody brought over an inhalator, and I was trying to get the guy to take some air. Then I don’t remember anything until I woke up in the hospital. They told me afterwards that I just went shish, boom, and that was it. In the hospital, I heard a woman doctor talking to the others. And I said to myself, ‘That’s it, an angel, I’m all done. This is it, I’ve bought it.’ The only reason the department saw fit to write me up for a medal was because I had pulmonary burns, burns down the throat and lungs. But they were not from the fire itself, they were from the heat. The difference is, I wouldn’t be sitting here today if they were from the fire itself. Just the smoke and heated gases, that’s all. I don’t think it’s a great idea to talk about the medal—it was nice, okay—but I’m no different from anybody else. Exceeding the needs and expectations of those they serve with the highest level of valor, integrity and commitment is what the Sacramento Fire Department is dedicated to doing. Please donate to the Sacramento Fire Department and you could save lives and property. They provide optimum prevention and protection to our community. It is also of utmost importance to raise your children to love God and Jesus Christ, love America and be patriotic. To help keep America strong, we must also buy American cars and other American goods and services. In order to keep our communities safe, please obey and respect law and order and treat everyone, especially your elders with dignity, and make it a point not to litter. Remember, there lives a God! Each finite creature proclaims His rule on sea and land; throughout all changing forms of nature is clearly shown His mighty hand. In every place is heard the call: The Lord of Host has made us all. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all. Remember to raise your children to love America, to love God and Jesus Christ, to respect law and order, buy goods made in America, and be kind and respectful to everyone, especially their elders. There lives a God! #RandolphHarris 19 of 19
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The Wages of Fun Were Death
We woke as the plane started the sunrise descent to Madrid. It was a picture album moment to remember, touching the soil of Europe. It was a coming home. Tracing the ancestor seed line back. America is a genetic experiment on the part of Europe, Asia, and Africa. We were high freedom and new experiences. We cleared customs smoothly and cabbed to the Hilton Madrid where there was no room. Conventions, block tours, and an army of Japanese visitors were jamming the hotels. After three sweaty hours of futility, we decided on a long shot. For years, friends had told us of a Spanish law professor from one of the best families in Spain, who had expressed great interest in us. Alvaro. Alvaro. What is his last name? I sat in a café flicking mnemonic cards. Alvaro Janez. There were rows of Janez in the phone book. Two were doctors. The first call clicked. “Dr. Janez, my name is Dr. Harris. From the Menninger Clinic. I am a friend of Carlo Galli.” “A friend of his is a friend of mine.” “I have a message from him to you.” Alvaro insisted that we come at once to his home. In the cab I decided to check the scene. If Alvaro was OK, I could identify myself. Alvaro lived in a mansion surrounded by an iron fence and formal gardens. I left the cab with my bags and Alvaro was fully enthusiasm. He embraced me. #RandolphHarris 1 of 22
Alvaro was young, and leaping around with joy. His wife Arianna was warm, Andalusian, dark, striking. They were aristocratic people delighted by the adventure of hosting me. I was shown to a luxurious room. After a rest, a moment of sharing and a sauna, Alvaro and Arianna took me to a small but hidden elegant restaurant. We were old friends before the evening. Alvaro and Arianna were bored with Madrid society. They wanted me to stay in Spain. He had a country house where we could live in isolation. He could arrange a South American passport with his left connections. It was an intriguing prospect. However, I could not live in luxury, underground, with a false passport. I have often had people tell me that the hardest thing to take is rejection. Sales people are paid as well as they are, I am told, because they have to take rejection, while others are unwilling to do so. If these things are true, I can see how the value called “control” becomes exaggerated. It becomes so because one of the strongest, most consistent forms of rejection we experience early in our lives in the one contained in these two words: “You’re wrong.” For many of us, being “wrong” is about the worst thing we can do. Being caught at it is the worst that can happen to us. Our parents, teachers, religious leaders, and other authority figures place so much emphasis on our being “right,” that we develop an internal taboo against being wrong. #RandolphHarris 2 of 22
If you allow this to become exaggerated, you are a manipulator who always finds where others are going wrong. When you yourself are criticized, you get defensive and resort to logic, but never allow yourself to stay with your feelings. As a manipulator, you need to control others, and you have developed a heavy-handedness which other people resent. You need to win and cannot surrender to the possible “rightness” of another’s views. Yet, if you are a master, you have learned to surrender to the views of others, make a place for them beside your own views, or even replace your views with theirs. Having learned to listen to others, you are not as quick to argue and thus you make more friends. Not having to defend yourself all the time, you are more relaxed and feel better about yourself. Your conversations are not battles; they are dialogues which lead to mutual growth. Growing out of client-centered therapy and especially its application with hospitalized schizophrenics, there is now emerging a mode of psychotherapy which centers on the “experiencing” of the two persons in the therapy interaction, rather than on the discussed verbal contents. This development is similar to recent trends in other orientations: there is a strong tendency to emphasize the interaction in psychotherapy, to emphasize that two human beings are involved, and to focus on the concrete subjective events occurring in these two persons, rather than only on the verbal contents being discussed. #RandolphHarris 3 of 22
Basic to this development is the view that psychotherapy involves “experiencing” (by whatever name), a somatic inwardly felt process, the manner and meanings of which are affected by the interaction. Some attention is being given to the theoretical problem of how inwardly felt bodily events can have “meaning,” be “explored” and “symbolized,” and how these concrete implicit “meanings” can be affected and changed by interaction. Now that psychotherapy is widely thought to involve a concrete feeling. Schizophrenics are one of the most difficult groups I have ever worked with, in terms of the probability of change. We are dealing with more or less chronically psychotic individuals. There is ample experience to indicate that this is a very difficult group. We are dealing with individuals whose socio-educational status is, on the average, quite low. We are dealing with individuals who, almost without exception, are not consciously desirous of psychotherapy, who tend to have the view that “talking cannot help,” and who do not see the therapist as a potentially helpful person. Some of them are not only unmotivated, but are actively antagonistic to any attempt to help them. When you consider these three factors together, I believe my statement is correct that in terms of probability of change, this is one of the least promising groups ever taken on for psychotherapy. #RandolphHarris 4 of 22
A major lesson we have gleaned is that absence of conscious motivation constitutes a really profound problem in psychotherapy. This is certainly not news, but we have learned to recognize and formulate this issue much more clearly and sharply. There is a great difference between working with the consciously motivate client, whether neurotic or psychotic, and working with the person who has no such conscious motive, whether that person is normal, neurotic, or psychotic. Working with the person who desires help is psychotherapy, as usually defined and understood. Not only is there a wealth of experience in this kind of relationship, but there has been a steady increase in empirical knowledge as well. Objectively, we know a great deal about psychotherapy of this sort. We have a beginning objective knowledge of the kind of individual who is most likely to facilitate improvement, the kind of changes which most characteristically occur to a measurable degree. However, for working with the person who has no conscious desire for help we need a new term. It is an area in which relatively little has been developed in the way of theories and concepts. Until recently, there have been no therapists willing to expose to view their way of working with these individuals. #RandolphHarris 5 of 22
We owe a real debt to such therapists as Frieda Fromm-Reichman, John Rosen, and Carl Whitaker, for their willingness to demonstrate publicly and to record their way of dealing with these individuals, their way of provoking a relationship where no desire for a therapeutic relationship exists initially. From our own experience in working with unmotivated schizophrenic individuals, it is my present conviction that working with a lack of conscious motivation in the individual is more difficult than working with the problem is psychosis. This is of course a subjective opinion, based in part on our general lack of success in trying to form a facilitative relationship with unmotivated “normal” of low socio-educational status. In so far as the two elements are separable, I believe that absence of conscious desire for help presents a greater challenge to the therapist than the presence of psychosis. In any event, If we recognize that dealing with the person who does not wish help is a clearly different undertaking from psychotherapy, and if we build up the concepts, theories, and practices appropriate to it, we will make more progress in this area. We should not be mislead by the fact that a relationship with such an individual may become psychotherapy when he chooses to seek help. #RandolphHarris 6 of 22
Illusions are the “if onlys” and “some days” upon which most people base their existence. In some countries, government lotteries offer the only possibility for Jeder to make his dreams come true, and thousands of men spend their lives, day after day, waiting for their numbers to come up. Now the truth of the matter is that there is that there is a Santa Claus: at every drawing, somebody’s number does come up and his dreams do come true. However, oddly enough, in most cases, this does not bring happiness, and many people let their winnings slip through their fingers and return to their former state. This is because the whole system of illusions is a magical one: not only will the reward arrive magically, but it will be magic in itself. A proper child knows that the real Santa Claus will come down the chimney while he is asleep and leave him a little red wagon or a golden orange. However, it will not be an ordinary little red wagon or orange; instead, a magical and unique one studded with rubies and diamonds. When Jeder discovers that the little red wagon or orange had indeed arrived, but that it is just an ordinary one like everybody else’s, he is disappointed and asks: “Is that all?” much to the mystification of his parents, who thought they were giving him exactly what he wanted. Similarly, the man who wins the lottery finds that the things he buys are the same as the things other people have, so he often says: “Is that all?” and blows it. He would rather go back and sit under the tree hoping for magic than enjoy what he has. #RandolphHarris 7 of 22
That is, illusions are more attractive than reality, and even the most attractive reality may be abandoned in favour of the most tenuous or improbably illusion. Among the most remarkable examples of this are certain with a “Never Give Up” script. One of the things they are reluctant to give up are their bowel movements, so that they suffer from chronic constipation. The illusions is that is they only hold on long enough Santa Claus will come, or if he does not at least they have something of their own to make up for the gifts they will not get. Some of these people are in an excellent position to enjoy a rewarding reality, but they would rather “sit” at home, waiting for they know not what or whom to come and rescue them. One such woman, even when she was lying flat on the analytic couch, would say: “I’m sitting here thinking.” At home she spent a lot of constipated time doing just that. She found it hard to mingle with people, because wherever she went, she carried a psychological toilet with her, and no matter what her Adult was doing, her Child was sitting on its favourite seat. Actually, the Child almost never gives up its illusions. Some of them are universal, as Dr. Freud pointed out, and probably arise in the first few months of life, or even in the womb, which is a magical World man can only find later through love, pleasures of the flesh, or barbiturates (or perhaps, with vicious people, through massacre). #RandolphHarris 8 of 22
Dr. Freud names as the three earliest ones: “I am immortal, omnipotent, and irresistible.” Of course, these primal illusions do not last long in the face of infant reality: mother, father, time, gravity, unknown and frightening sights and sounds, and internal sensations of hunger, fear, and pain. However, they are replaced by conditional illusions which are strong influences in the formation of scripts. There they appear as If Onlys: “If only I behave in the right way, Santa Claus will com.” Before the 1960s, the orthodox hive philosophy insisted that “for every little pleasure there is pain, pain, pain.” God was considered a beady-eyed accountant up there in Hive-Heaven keeping your hedonic balance in order. And if you overdrew on your pleasures account, woe be it to you! Because the wages of fun were death—as every Hollywood movie warned. The dom-species has come a long way from that prudishness, due in some part, to our friends from the Eastern philosophy department. We have learned that pleasure is not bound by some Newtonian conservation-of-energy-principle and thus balanced by pain. We understand that beauty is something that can be learned, can be engineered. Pleasure is not an ejaculation reflex. It is an art, a science, a skilled performance, like playing the concert piano. It is something that can be studied and, through disciplined intelligence, increased. And, indeed, the more you do it, the better you get at it. #RandolphHarris 9 of 22
Thus, pleasure and intelligent hedonism are like tennis. Find someone who plays as well or better than yourself. The neurosomatic rebirth, the Body Resurrection which occurred in the sexual revolution is an accomplished fact. The Body has been uncovered. We are never going to return to prudish robot-hood. The other aspect of the contelligence movement of the 1960s—the neurological revolution—was the discovery of the brain itself. A hundred years ago, there was a taboo organ in Victorian England and in Freudian Vienna. Genitals were considered the unmentionable. Look at any newsstand and you will see that the genitals are no longer unmentionables, but rather the unavoidables. Now the taboo organ, the organ that we cannot talk about or study intelligently is the brain. The next taboo is DNA actualization. It is only since the development of neurology that science has begun to face the real meaning of the brain. The Brain is emerging from the closet. And it is scary, my friends! It is frightening to every static, comfortable social and philosophic hive-notion to realize that you are carrying around behind your forehead a 100 billion-cell bioelectric computer that creates realities. Through imprinting and reimprinting, the brain imposes the reality you inhabit. Everything you think and feel and sense and remember and learn is simply a process of brain functioning. #RandolphHarris 10 of 22
When a species understands that the brain is a tool, then it starts to think about directing and understanding this incredible instrument. And it begins using it to ask such embarrassing questions as—who designed the brain? And what is it for? And how do we use the brain? Your brain creates your own reality. If the romantic rebel extols evil and the individual, this does not mean that he sides with mankind, but merely with himself. Dandyism, of whatever kind, is always dandyism in relation to God. The individual, in so far as he is a created being, can oppose himself only to the Creator. He has need of God, with whom he carries on a kind of a gloomy flirtation. Armand Hoog rightly says that, despite its Nietzschean atmosphere, God is not yet dead even in romantic literature. Damnation, so clamourously demanded, is only a clever trick played on God. However, with Dostoievsky, the description of rebellion goes a step farther. Ivan Karamazov sides with mankind and stressed human innocence. He affirms that the death sentence which hangs over them is unjust. Far from making a plea for evil, his first impulse, at least, is to plead for justice, which he ranks above the divinity. Thus, he does not absolutely deny the existence of God. He refutes Him in the name of a moral value. The romantic rebel’s ambition was to talk to God as one equal to another. #RandolphHarris 11 of 22
Evil was the answer to evil, pride was the answer to cruelty. To further highlight this illustration, Vigny’s ideal is to answer silence with silence. Obviously, the point is to raise oneself to the level of God, which already is blasphemy. However, there is no thought of disputing the power or position of the deity. The blasphemy is reverent, since every blasphemy is, ultimately, a participation in holiness. With Ivan, however, the tone changes. God, in His turn, is put on trial. If evil is essential to divine creation, then creation is unacceptable. Ivan will no loner have recourse to this mysterious God, but to a higher principle—namely, justice. He launches the essential undertaking of rebellion, which is that of replacing the reign of grace by the reign of justice. He simultaneously begins the attack on Christianity. The romantic rebels broke with God Himself, on the principle of hatred. Ivan explicitly rejects the mystery and, consequently, God, on the principle of love. Only love can make us consent to the injustice done to Martha, to exploitation of workers, and, finally, to the death of innocent children. “If the suffering of children,” says Ivan, “serves to complete the sum of suffering necessary for the acquisition of truth, I affirm from now onward that truth is not worth such a price.” Ivan rejects the basic interdependence, introduced by Christianity, between suffering and truth. #RandolphHarris 12 of 22
Ivan’s most profound utterance, the one which opens the deepest chasms beneath the rebel’s feet, is his even if: “I would persist in my indignation, even if I were wrong.” Which means that even if God existed, even if the mystery cloaked a truth, even if the starets Zosime were right, Ivan would not admit that truth should be paid for by evil, suffering, and death of innocents. Ivan incarnates the refusal of salvation. Faith leads to immortal life. However, faith presumes the acceptance of the mystery and of evil, and resignation to injustice. The man who is prevented by the suffering of children from accepting faith will certainly not accept eternal life. Under these conditions, even if eternal life existed, Ivan would refuse it. He rejects this bargain. He would accept grace only unconditionally, and that is why he makes his own conditions. Rebellion wants all or nothing. “All the knowledge in the World is not worth a child’s tears.” Ivan does not say that there is no truth. He says that is truth does exist, it can only be unacceptable. Why? Because it is unjust. The struggle between truth and justice is begun here for the first time; and it will never end. Ivan, by nature a solitary and therefore moralist, will satisfy himself with a kind of metaphysical Don Quixotism. However, a few decades more and an immense political conspiracy will attempt to prove that justice is truth. #RandolphHarris 13 of 22
In addition, Ivan is the incarnation of the refusal to be the only one saved. He throws in his lit with the damned and, for their sake, rejects eternity. If he had faith, he could, in fact, be saved, but others would be damned and suffering would continue. There is no possible salvation for the man who feels real compassion. Ivan will continue to put God in the wrong by doubly rejecting faith as he would reject injustice and privilege. One step more and from All or Nothing we arrive at Everyone or No One. This extreme determination, and the attitude that it implies, would have sufficed for the romantics. However, Ivan, even though he also gives way to dandyism, really lives his problems, torn between the negative and the affirmative. If he rejects immorality, what remains for him? Life in its most elementary form. When the meaning of life has been suppressed, there still remains life. “I live,” says Ivan, “in spite of logic.” And again: “If I no longer had any faith in life, if I doubted a woman I loved, or the universal order of things, if I were persuaded, on the contrary, that everything was only an infernal and accursed chaos—even then I would want to live.” Ivan will live than, and will love as well “without knowing why.” However, to live is also to act. To act in the name of what? If there is no immortality, then there is neither reward nor punishment. “I believe that there is no virtue without immortality.” And also: “I only know that suffering exists, that on one is guilty, that everything is connected, that everything passes away and equals out.” However, if there is no virtue, there is no law: “Everything is permitted.” #RandolphHarris 14 of 22
Let him accept others as he accepts himself, with all their and his defects, but with the addition that he will constantly aim at improving himself. He persists in showing a proper courtesy to those who themselves behave badly. If others wish to do so, he may argue, but he will never argue acrimoniously. When the actions or words of others provoke us, it is easy to become irritable, resentful, or indignant; it is hard to practise a bland patience and exercise a philosophic tolerance. However, that is just what the aspirant must do. A child whose parents fail to discipline it at the proper occasion in the proper loving way will be encouraged by omission to continue its mistaken attitude. If they cared enogh, they would show it in being affable, pleasant, kind—that is, they would suppress their egoism sufficiently to make such decent manners possible. However, they do not: they care too much for their own ego to let it happen. Knowing the nature of human nature; knowing, too, the universality of God’s laws, existence and applicability: there is no need to be surprised at anything which anyone does. If he must assess men’s motives and examine their characters, he will do so only to understand them, not to judge them. He will not use it to gossip about their personal frailties. Ingratitude fails to embitter him—does not even make him feel hurt. #RandolphHarris 15 of 22
To a person of refined feeling, the crudeness of animal passion is repellent. It was an act of reverence among pious Chinese, or of courtesy among polite ones, to hold the hands with the right palm inside the left one. Those who make a virtue of bad manners, who know nothing or want to know nothing of the laws of decent social intercourse, should be avoided. If his family failed to bring him up to practise self-discipline, to control behaviour and refine his speech, to avoid violence and roughness, then he must himself supply these things and acquire these habits. He not only learns that it is impossible to please everyone but that it is impossible even to avoid giving offense at some time to some human beings. It is true that fine manners may be put on, to make a more favourable impression on his victim, by the exploiter, the swindler, or the seducer. However, this is the misuse of manners and offers no valid criticism of them. He naturally feels a warmer emotion about his own kith and kin, his own friends, than about other people. He not only knows them better but they affect him more deeply. All reaching out towards the transcendental is to be encouraged, however elementary it be. The philosopher does not exhibit the common fault of rejecting and condemning every other standpoint in order to supper his own. #RandolphHarris 16 of 22
Neither the mockery of insensitive sceptics nor the malice of sectarian fanatics should be allowed to sway him from a fixed resolve to accord goodwill unto all, including them also. He should try to keep discussions of opposing views within the codes of amicable courtesy and good manners. Why must we be always grabbing at others, staking out claims and making demands upon them? Why not leave them free? He has not only to separate himself from his own lower principles, but just as much for other people’s when he is in contact with them. If disunion reigns in the psyche within, then disharmony must reign in the life without. An emotion is a patterned bodily reaction of either protection, destruction, reproduction, deprivation, incorporation, rejection, exploration or orientation, or some combination of these, which is brought bout by a stimulus. The emotion becomes felt tendency toward anything appraised as good, and away from anything appraised as bad. A quarrelsome man carries his emeimes with him for he creates them wherever he goes. There is no peace in his outer life because there is no in his inner life. When it is not possible for his relatives or friends to share with him the acceptance of spiritual ideas, he should be tolerant, understanding, and patient toward such disagreement. #RandolphHarris 17 of 22
The logic of a higher life compels him to recognize the divine element in the hearts of those who hate or malign him, and he honours them for it; but it does not compel him to waste precious years in unnecessary struggles against them. The years which are left to him and to them on this poor Earth are too few to be lost in unworthy squabbles. Each society and subculture has stereotyped ways in which persons express, and hence communicate, their feelings to one another. The behavioural, gestural, and facial expressions can be faked—someone can pretend to experience feelings he or she does not actually have. Perhaps the only one who knows with certainty what feelings someone is experiencing is the actual person, and even that person may be unaware that he or she is in an emotional state; it is a human possibility to repress the affective quality of experience. In spite of these qualifications, we can identify some common feelings and emotions and recognize them in ourselves and others. From the standpoint of healthy personality, it is desirable to be free to express the fullest gamut of emotion, because of the enrichment it affords to the quality of life. Not to know emotion is to be like a robot or zombie. Further, it is vital that a person’s feelings be authentic rather than pretended. Pretended emotion falsifies relationships with other people; such inauthenticity undermines health and distorts personal growth. He will express his faith positively but not aggressively. #RandolphHarris 18 of 22
The Sacramento City Fire Department is recognized as one of the nation’s premier fire services, with its men and women delivering the highest quality fire and emergency response. The Sacramento City Fire Department is dedicated to improving the health, safety, and welfare of the community and firefighters. “I was involved in a rescue in Downtown Sacramento. Captain X, Y, and I went into a converted Victorian that was on fire. Starting our search, we went down a hallway and came to an apartment whose door was hot to the touch. As I pushed the door open, the sprinklers went off over our heads, and a big blast of smoke and heat came at us. I knew we had a good job ahead of us. The captain and Y went straight ahead into a bedroom area, but I thought I heard something from the other end, so I went down that way. As I was crawling down this hallway, I was pretty low because of the heat, I heard my name being called, ‘Z. Z.’ At first I thought, ‘B, Candid Camera. They’re tricking me.’ Then I thought it was one of the guys from the company, maybe the outside vent man had gotten in a window and saw me coming. Then I realized it was a female voice. I went a little faster down the hall, and I kept hearing my name being called. ‘Z. Z. Z.’ I came across a semiconscious woman on the floor at a point where the fire was just starting to roll over near the ceiling and take full possession of the back room.” #RandolphHarris 19 of 22
“I asked her, ‘Who’s Z? Who’s Z?’ She started mumbling. I said, ‘Is Z your boyfriend?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Is he here?’ ‘No.’ I said, ‘Are you sure?’ She said, ‘He’s at work.’ Then she passed out. I had a good idea there was no other Z there expect me, so I carried her out and got her to the sidewalk. I have her a little forced air until she came around a little bit and was taken away in the ambulance. Two weeks later she showed up at the firehouse with a cake. I was off that day, but the guys told me the cake was great. I thought it was nice that the woman cared enough to come around and thank the fire department for their efforts. After I transferred from D Truck to Rescue E in Sacramento I was quiet, waiting for a chance to prove myself. I was there only a short time when I was involved in a rescue. Again it was one of those left-right deals. I went to the right, and this other guy went to the left. I got lucky. I found an unconscious man, and I had to carry him down seven flights of stairs. I injured my back a little. But I felt I had shown the men on rescue that I could go where they went, and I could accomplish the mission. Some jobs I remember better than others. One night tour I was working, it happened to be my birthday. We went out at six-thirty in the morning to this job. I had one of the outside ventilation positions, and there was a report of people possibly trapped in these apartments. The truck companies had already made a couple of good rescues. I started working my way up a fire escape, wearing an old Scott mask with the big bottle. #RandolphHarris 20 of 22
“I got up to the fire floor and was at the window of the next apartment, which was now taking off, though the window hadn’t vented yet. Since there was only one line going, I didn’t want to start venting windows. I wanted to get in from above, so I started up the fire escape to the next floor, which was the fifth, and all of a sudden the window beneath me let go. I was in a wave of heart and smoke shooting up the side of the building above the courtyard. I began getting a little bit concerned as to whether I was going to get myself out of this predicament I had gotten myself into. I was trying quickly to move past the fire escape ladder, but the Scott mask was making me too bulky to get near the wall. Like trying to get the square peg in the round hole. I climbed up on the railing to try to swing out. The fire was just starting to come out of the window beneath me. It was getting very got. I was more worried than I have ever been in a fire situation. All of a sudden I heard a whoosh and a slapping noise. I looked down in the courtyard, and there was H Engine shooting a line up and shoving the fire back into the window. They knocked it down enough so I could reposition myself, and I scrambled up, looked down, gave them a wave, and jumped into the apartment. I did okay. We searched the building and didn’t fire anybody else. #RandolphHarris 21 of 22
“Afterwards, I made it a point to go down and thank the officer and the men of H Engine for saving me on that one. I had been a little bit concerned that I was going to spend my birthday in a hospital, or worse.” With empathy and understanding, the Sacramento Fire Department protects life, property, and the environment in their community through an all-hazards approach to fire protection, emergency medical services, community risk reduction and education. You can help save lives by donating to the Sacramento Fire Department. In an effort to keep the country cohesive, please raise your children to love America, to be patriotic, to love God and Jesus Christ and buy American cars and other American goods and services. In China, the Buick has the same status as a Mercedez-Benz or BMW. American sedans and coupes and trucks are also status symbols in America. Also, please respect law and order, and treat others with kindness and respect. To ensure that you have a bright future, please take your education seriously, and be sure to actually read your books. And remember to “Just Say ‘No’ to Drugs.” Even marijuana can be deadly. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains majesties above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed His grace on three, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea! O beautiful for pilgrim feet, whose stern, impassioned stress, a thoroughfare for freedom beat across the wilderness! America! America! God mend thine every flow, confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law! O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years, Thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea! God never gave us express allowance, only He gave us reason, charity, nature and good example to bear us out. #RandolphHarris 22 of 22
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Romeo Montague was a romantic idealist and tragic hero who is well-known from William Shakespeare’s, “Romeo and Juliet.” He considers himself compelled to do evil by his nostalgia for an unrealizable good, and while exploring love, youth and human nature, Romeo meets with a tragic fate. Likewise, Satan rises against his Creator because the latter employed force to subjugate him. “Who reason hath equal’d,” says Milton’s Satan, “force hath made supreme above his equals.” Divine violence is thus explicitly condemned. The rebel flees from this aggressive and unworthy God, “Farthest from him is best,” and reigns over all the forces hostile to the divine order. The Prince of Darkness has only chosen this path because good is a notion defined and utilized by God for unjust purposes. Even innocence irritates the Rebel in so far as it implies being duped. This “dark spirit of evil who is enraged by innocence” creates a human injustice parallel to divine injustice. Since violence is at the root of all creation, deliberate violence shall be its answer. The fact that there is an excess of despair adds to the causes of despair and brings rebellion to that state of indignant frustration which follows the long experience of injustice and where the distinction between good and evil finally disappears. Vigny’s Satan can no longer find in good or evil any pleasure nor of the sorrow that he causes take the measure. This defines nihilism and authorizes murder. Murder, in fact, is on the way to becoming acceptable. It is enough to compare Lucifer of the painters of the Middle Ages with the Satan of the romantics. An adolescent “young, sad, charming” (Vigny) replaces the horned beast. Beautiful, with a beauty unknown on this Earth” (Lermontov), solitary and powerful, unhappy and scornful, he is offhand even in oppression. #RandolphHarris 1 of 17
However, his excuse is sorrow. “Who here,” says Milton’s Satan, “Will envy whom the highest place…condemns to greatest share of endless pain.” So many injustices suffered, a sorrow so unrelieved, justify every excess. The rebel therefore allows himself certain advantage. Murder, of course, is not recommended for its own sake. However, it is implicit in the value—supreme for the romantic—attached to frenzy. Frenzy is the reverse of boredom: Lorenzaccio dreams of Han of Iceland. Exquisite sensibilities evoke the elementary furies of the beast. The Byronic hero, incapable of love suffers endlessly. He is solitary, languid, his condition exhausts him. If he wants to feel alive, it must be in the terrible exaltation of a brief and destructive actions. To love someone whom one will never see again is to give a cry of exaltation of as one perishes in the flames of passion. One lives only in and for the moment, in order to achieve “the brief and vivid union of a tempestuous heart untied to the tempest” (Lermontov). The threat of mortality which hangs over us makes everything abortive. Only the cry of anguish can bring us to life; exaltation takes the place of truth. To this extent the apocalypse becomes an absolute value in which everything is confounded—love and death, conscience and culpability. In a chaotic Universe no other life exists but that of the abyss where, according to Alfred Le Poittevin, human beings come “trembling with rage and exulting in their crimes” to curse the Creator. The intoxication of frenzy and, ultimately, some suitable crime reveal in a moment the whole meaning of life. Without exactly advocating crime, the romantics insist on paying homage to a basic system of privileges which they illustrate with the conventional images of the outlaw, the criminal with the heart of gold, and the kind brigand. Their works are bathed in blood and shrouded in mystery. #RandolphHarris 2 of 17
The soul is delivered, at a minimum expenditure, of its most hideous desires—desires that a later generation will assuage in extermination camps. Of course, these works are also a challenge to the society of the times. However, romanticism, at the source of its inspiration, is chiefly concerned with defying moral and divine law. That is why its most original creation is not, primarily, the revolutionary, but, logically enough, the dandy. Logically, because this obstinate persistence in Satanism can only be justified by the endless affirmation of injustice and, to a certain extent, by its consolidation. Pain, at this stage, is acceptable only on condition that it is incurable. The rebel chooses the metaphysic of inevitable evil, which is expressed in the literature of damnation from which we have not yet escaped. “I was conscious of my power and I was conscious of my chains” (Petrus Borel). However, these chains are valuable objects. Without them it would be necessary to prove, or to exercise, this power which, after all, one is not very sure of having. It is only too easy to end up by becoming a government employee in Algiers, and Prometheus, like the above-mentioned Borel, will devote the rest of his days to closing the cabarets and reforming morals in the colonies. All the same, every poet to be received into the fold must be damned. Charles Lassailly, the same who planned a philosophic novel, Robespierre and Jesus Christ, never went to bed without uttering several fervent blasphemies to give himself courage. Rebellion puts on mourning and exhibits itself for public admiration. Much more than the cult of the individual, romanticism inaugurates the cult of the “character.” It is at this point that it is logical. No longer hoping for the rule or the unity of God, determined to take up arms against an antagonistic destiny, anxious to preserve everything of which the living are still capable in a World dedicated to death, romantic rebellion looked for a solution in the attitude that it itself assumed. #RandolphHarris 3 of 17
The attitude assembled, in aesthetic unity, all mankind who were in the hands of fate and about to be destroyed by divine violence. The human being who is condemned to death is, at least, magnificent before he disappears, and his magnificence is his justification. It is an established fact, the only one that can be thrown in the petrified face of the God of hate. The impassive rebel does not flinch before the eyes of God. “Nothing,” says Milton, “will change this determined mind, this high disdain born of an offended conscience.” Everything is drawn or rushes toward the void, but even though man is humiliated, he is obstinate and at least preserves his pride. A baroque romantic, discovered by Raymond Queneau, claims that the aim of all intellectual life is to become God. This romantic is really a little ahead of his time. The aim, at that time, was only to equal God and remain on His level. He is not destroyed, but by incessant effort He is refused any act of submission. Dandyism is a degraded form of asceticism. The dandy creates his own unity by aesthetic means. However, it is an aesthetic of singularity and of negation. “To love and die before a mirror”: that, according to Baudelaire, was the dandy’s slogan. It is indeed a coherent slogan. The dandy, is by occupation, always in opposition. He can only exist by defiance. Up to now man derived his coherence from his Creator. However, from the moment that he consecrates his rupture with Him, he finds himself delivered over to the fleeting moment, to the passing days, and to wasted sensibility. Therefore, he must take himself in hand. #RandolphHarris 4 of 17
The dandy rallies his forces and creates unity for himself by the very violence of his refusal. Profligate, like all people without a rule of life, he is coherent as an actor. However, an actor implies a public; the dandy can only play a part by setting himself up in opposition. He can only be sure of his own existence by finding it in the expression of others’ faces. Other people are his mirror. A mirror that quickly becomes clouded, it is true, since human capacity for attention is limited. It must be ceaselessly stimulated, spurred on by provocation. The dandy, therefore, is always compelled to astonish. Singularity is his vocation, excess his way to perfection. Perpetually incomplete, always on the fringe of things, he compels others to create him, while denying their values. He plays at life because he is unable to live. He plays at it until he dies, expect for the moments when he is alone and without a mirror. For the dandy, to be alone is not to exist. The romantics talked so grandly about solitude only because it was their real horror, the one thing they could not bear. Their rebellion thrusts its roots deep, but from the Abbe Prevost’s Cleveland up to the time of the Dadaists—including the frenetics of 1830 and Baudelaire and the decadents of 1880—more than a century of rebellion was completely glutted by the audacities of “eccentricity.” If they were all able to talk of unhappiness, it is because they despaired of ever being able to conquer it, except in futile parodies, and because they instinctively felt that it remained their sole excuse and their real claim to nobility. That is why the heritage of romanticism was not claimed by Victor Hugo, the epitome of France, but by Baudelair and Lacenaire, the poets of crime. “Everything in this world exudes crime,” says Baudelaire, “the newspaper, the walls, and the face of man.” #RandolphHarris 5 of 17
The conflict we see going on in this World is a conflict that too often goes on in all of us. It is a battle between the way things are and the way they “ought to be.” People move to rich and expensive communities to escape the problems of the World. Early in life, many develop some firm notions of the way things ought to be. Going with those notions, people set about the task of making them look that way. As long as their conditions in life conformed to these notions, they are able to be happy. However, when things change and are no longer the way they feel they ought to be, their problems begin. One of the problems most people have is their inability (or at least unwillingness) to admit that things are not all right. They prefer to live with the illusion that they are. Yet living with this illusion takes a heavy toll on people, physically and psychologically. An important aspect of the concept of being is that it is “now-oriented.” Being implies being in the here and now, in this moment, with things just the way they are. You can think about the way things used to be or wish that they be different in the future. However, you can only be—here and now—with things as they actually exist. When people refuse to admit that things are not all right, they are refusing to be with them exactly the way they are. They are trying to impose their own notions upon reality. This effort is doomed to failure because the unalterable fact of life is that things are the way they are. They are not the way they once were and they are not the way they are going to be—but they certainly are the way they are. A man’s refusal to accept this does not change anything. At most, his refusal just changes the way they look. Then a problem arises when people by choice or necessity choose to ignore the dysfunction and start taking medication to cope with life. This can put one in danger because they are turning off their senses and boosting their serotonin to help project an image of peace, happiness, and normalcy. However, it may leave them open to become victims of crime because they are not really being. It is important to see the World as it is and take action to better manage situations. The acceptance that things are the way they are is an act of surrender. When you see that things are the way they are and that there is nothing you can do to make them different, you give in to them. This does not mean that you do not have the power to change things in the future. This simply means that you do not have the power to change the way things are right now. All you can do, is just be with things the way they are. All you can do is surrender to being. #RandolphHarris 6 of 17
For a long time, many men do not allow themselves to do this. They are more concerned with trying to make things the way they ought to be—a futile effort, at least in the context of right now. There are two phrases which can guide us in allowing being to happen. One is “Let go and let be,” and the other is “You do not always have to do something.” Doing is an attempt to change things, which is all right when the situation is mainly external. However, when the situation is internal, it requires the use of an inner process which does not respond to external effort. With the inner process, results are obtained by feeling, and feeling takes place within: in the heart, the soul, the guts, call it what you will. Thinking is a more indirect way of handling reality than feeling is. Our feelings tell us when something is painful, because our feelings are hurt, directly. Our thinking explains the hurt, justifies it, rationalizes it, analyzes it. In the intellectual sphere, words—not feelings—are used. On the other hand, feelings—the subjective awareness of an emotional state—are internal directives essential for human life. They are means and ends in themselves. All pleasure and pain are perceived in the realm of feelings. Now, to tie these ideas together, being is equated with feeling. You cannot make, generate, or manufacture a feeling any more than you can make being. Feelings and being must arise spontaneously. They are involuntary. When an activity has the quality of “flow,” it belongs to being. When it has the quality of “push,” it belongs to doing. All productive activity requires doing, but creativity also requires an element of being. A healthy person, a master, finds a rhythmic balance between thinking and feeling, doing and being. If, for example, you are a secretary typing a letter for your supervisor, using shorthand notes, you are engaged in a process of doing. If you are asked to correct the sentence structure, grammar, and wording, you are also doing, but to accomplish it, you must draw from your own personal knowledge, experience and taste to create a more understandable communication. #RandolphHarris 7 of 17
If you are composing the letter yourself, taking it a step further, you are creating a communication in your own unique way and allowing the activity to become a part of your self, of who you are. This is what is known as creative endeavour. However, if you are doing the activity because you have to, because you are forced to, you are in a state of doing. If you are doing it because you enjoy the activity, you are in a state of doing and being. We are taught early in life that feelings are dangerous and that some feelings are undesirable, even taboo. Values are attached to them, both good and bad. An emotion with an intellectual element attached is, according to our definition here, a value. However, we are afraid of these values. If we give in to sadness, we are afraid we will fall into a fit of despair. We fear that in giving in to anger, we might kill someone. This is what we were taught to think. However, each emotion we are capable of expressing has a purpose and an intrinsic worth. Each is valuable, and to deny an emotion exists deprives us of the value which it can bring. When we become afraid of these values, afraid of being, we mask the fear by doing. We become busy, busy, busy so we will have less time available for feeling, being, living, contacting. We measure our lives by what we accomplish rather than by the richness of our experiences. I remember having read in the verbatim reports of the Utah Conferences on Creativity, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, that an air force testing officer reported that in their search for creative men they found that “those who get the answer without knowing how they got it are the ones we want.” The usual insistence on figuring things out first results in many things not being done because we have not got them altogether figure out first. In an education seminar a psychologist asked, “How is it that we know so much and nobody does anything?” We cannot always take credit for our “smartness.” We cannot feel proud, just happy, when things work out especially well. Many of us like the feeling of happiness better—a word that springs from another word, “happenings.” #RandolphHarris 8 of 17
When people live this way, the World seems so full of happenings. We do not always figure out how to do things first. This is just the way some people live. The following anecdote illustrates how easy it is for a Martian to understand the concept of psychological trading stamps. A woman came home from a group meeting one day where she had heard it for the first time, and explained it to her twelve-year-old son. He said, “Okay, mom, I’ll be back soon.” When he returned, he had made a small roll of perforated paper stamps and a little dispenser to hold them, together with a paper book with the pages ruled off into squares. On the first page he had written: “This page when full of stamps entitles you to one free mad, hurt, guilt, or fright, and a few of these add up to one free suffer.” He understood perfectly. If people do not spontaneously provoke you, insult you, entice you, or frighten you, then you start a game in order to make them do it. In this way you collect a free mad, hurt, guilt, or fright, and a few of these add up to one free suffer. There is another similarity between psychological trading stamps and commercial ones. They are both canceled once they are used, but people still like to talk nostalgically about the ones they turned in. They key word here is “recall.” Real people, in ordinary conversation, say, “Do you remember when…” whereas “do you recall…” is usually used in referring to trading stamps that were used up and canceled long ago. “Do you remember the good time we had in Yosemite?” is reminiscence, whereas: “Do you recall what happened at Yosemite? First you dented the fender on the BMW, and furthermore you forgot to…and then, as I recall, you…and in addition…” etcetera is a worn-out reproach which is not good for a justified anger any more. Lawyers habitually used the word “recall” rather than “remember” in the exercise of their profession, when they bring out the plaintiff’s often faded and sometimes counterfeit trading stamps to show the judge or jury. Lawyers are, in fact, philatelists, connoisseurs of psychological trading stamps; they can look over a collection, large or small, and estimate its current market value at the big redemption store in the courthouse. Crooked spouses can con each other by pulling out used or counterfeit trading stamps. Thus, Francisco discovered that his wife Angela was having an affair with her employer, and in fact, rescued her when the employer threatened her with violence. After a tempestuous scene, she thanked him and he forgave her. However, afterward, whenever he got drunk, which was often, he brought the matter up again, and there was another scene. In trading-stamp language, in the first scene he got a justified anger, she genuinely thanked him, and he generously forgave her. That was a decent settlement, and all the trading stamps were canceled. #RandolphHarris 9 of 17
However, as noted, “forgive” in practice means to put the stamps in the drawer until they are needed again, even though they have already been cashed in. In this case, Franciso pulled out the old canceled stamps every Saturday night and waved them in Angela’s face. Instead of pointing out that they had already been used, Angela would hang her head and let Francisco have another free anger. In return, she would fob off on him some counterfeit thank-you stamps. The first time she thanked him, she gave him true stamps of golden gratitude, but after that her thanks were tired and spurious, “fool’s gold” or iron pyrites, which he, in his drunken foolishness, cherished like the real thing. When he was sober, both of them could be honest and regard the matter as settled. However, when he was drinking, they became crooked with each other. He blackmailed her with phony reruns, and she paid him off in kind. Thus, the analogy between commercial and psychological trading stamps is almost perfect. Each person tends to handle both kinds in the same way, according to his upbringing. Some people are raised to cash them in and forget it. Others are taught to save them and savour them; they keep their paper stamps and gloat over them as they mount up in anticipation of the day when they will be able to cash them in for a big prize; and they deal the same way with their angers, hurts, fears, and guilts, keeping them bottled up until they have enough for a really big payoff. Still others have permission to cheat, and sue considerable ingenuity in doing so. Psychological trading stamps exist as emotional memories, which probably take the form of molecular patterns in a continual state of agitation, or electrical potentials which go round and round in a circle of Jordan curve; and neither of them is completely exhausted until there is some kind of discharge of the piled-up energy. The rate at which the configurations or the potentials decay is probably based partly on genes and partly on “early conditioning” which in our terms falls into the category of parental programing. If a person brings out the same old trading stamps again and again to exhibit to his audience, they begin to look more and more tired and shopworn, and so does the audience. #RandolphHarris 10 of 17
The new culture which emerged from the 1960s was fabricated by newly activated teenage nervous systems. These nervous systems had been printed by signals urging self-indulgence, self-discovery and self-actualization. This generation was caste-out far beyond hive limits where reputations, and at the times, bodies were placed on the lines. The first benefit of this out-caste behaviour was that college education is better today. There is a caste which benefits from anger and stirring up trouble. It is called the legal profession. Left-wing lawyers say, “Well, what’s wrong with the college students today? They are not angry as they were in the 1960s.” Well, some might say they are even more angry today. Much like in the 1960s, we have some very irritable and irritating bureaucrats running the colleges, and running the country. In the 21st Century, some college administrators, college presidents, and college professors are allowing students to be threatened and harassed on campus, and encouraging students to change their genders. They have become more tolerant of, sometimes even more supportive of abnormality, than of normalcy. Young people should enjoy a certain serenity and relaxation that is becoming impossible. People have been fighting hard to end peace and quiet. Some people say these cultural changes are phases, temporary hula hoop fads. However, they are not. You cannot go back. The culture changes of the first quarter of the 21st century is irreversible. There many aspects of this gender confusion and male gentile mutilation that did not exist before the Obama administration. I am sure no parent wants their son to chop off his private parts, and this is why so many people are upset that youth are being exposed to atypical sexuality in the classroom. They are also upset that this is a political agenda that is being hyped up by the media and celebrities. And this gentile mutilation is irreversible and will cause much unnecessary pain. It is good to accept others and protect their rights, but we also must accept boys are boys and girls are girls and teach them proper gender roles, so not to confuse them. Even young adults of legal age are still figuring themselves out and are young and impressionable so it is important that are not persuaded or convinced to make changes to their bodies that they may regret later in life. #RandolphHarris 11 of 17
Emotionality represents a heightened state of being, but use of “cold logic” with an absence of emotion may also be thought of as a heightened state. In the midst of an emotional experience, a person will show definite physiological symptoms: flushing, tremours, and increased heart rate, according to Isaacson and Hutt. However, the physiological symptoms are not necessarily different for each different emotion. Emotion may be defined as a group of organized feelings, all heightened or strengthened, either in reaction to a threat to the person (such as in anger or indignation) or in reaction to a perceived enhancement of the person, as in joy or ecstasy. Whereas the use of cool objectivity also has survival value for the person, the inhibition of emotion or the overcontrol of emotional experience is often associated with adjustment problems. The free expression of one’s feelings or emotions—as long as it is within control of the person—is considered to be a characteristic of the healthy person. A high-level state of humanness includes the opportunity for the person to express self emotionally, as freely and spontaneously as a hearty laugh, for example, and with a reasonable level of control, as in the case of an angry parent who refrains from physical punishment of a child, and who rather chooses to explain and reason with the child concerning the misbehaviour. Emotions assists life’s intensity and meaning. We are amused and we laugh; someone insults us and we become angry. A young woman has just received a proposal of marriage from the man she loves; her excitement and joy are dramatically evident. Emotion is a quality of experience and an expressive quality of action. We can speak thus of emotional experience and emotional expression. The former is emotion viewed from a phenomenological perspective, that is, from the standpoint of the person, whereas emotional expression is the way emotional experience appears to an observer. Some may still believe that caste is a fact in Nature, but man will be without that pride in social rank which has too often ended in some sort of arrogance or even cruelty to those of lower status. The refinement, manners, and culture which Jesus Christ wishes to see in a properly developed human being may be different in outer form from those which a modern Christian would wish to see, but they are not different in spirit. #RandolphHarris 12 of 17
Those who now denounce them angrily as class-marks must therefore praise grossness, crudeness, coarseness, and ignorance as ideal. And others who can see no spiritual usefulness being served by fine quality simply do not look far enough. The practice of true philosophy should reduce, or remove, coarseness of character, behaviour, and speech. He will find less and less pleasure in the chatter of society, clubs, and drawing rooms, which when it is about self, is quite inane, and when about other people, is often cruel. In this World he has to deal with people. To deal efficiently with the, he needs to understand their characters. However, to turn a blind eye towards their weaknesses will only mar this understanding and spoil this efficiency. Even where he seeks to help them, such results will only hinder is compassionate aim. The range of his goodwill excludes none, includes all. He recognizes on enemies, only unevolved men. By “good manners” is not meant “formal etiquette” although the two may often coincide. Teach elementary manners, that is, a warm smile. In a truly civilized society, courteous manners and refined tastes would be the rule. One mane can hate another man, but if the first has renounced his ego—the source of hatred—how can he continue to do so? A smile will say to others what words may fail to do, will express your basic attitude of, in Jesus’ phrase “good will unto all men.” He will in the end unfailingly draw to himself what he gives out. If hate, hate returns; if love, love returns/ We may dislike a man and disapprove of his opinions but this ought not prevent us from giving him our goodwill. If thought irritates and feeling boils, it is not enough to show an outward good temper, excellent discipline though that be. There is a tolerance which springs from mere indifference, but there is also a tolerance which springs from inner largeness of spirit. Differences between men—whether in external things or internal thinking—there must be. However, they need not become the occasion of hate between men. With enough goodwill on both sides, a compromise can usually be reached in most disputes. By refinement, I mean a quality of good breeding, either natural or acquired. The easiest way to express this feeling, described by Jesus as “goodwill unto all,” is to be courteous to all. #RandolphHarris 13 of 17
The Sacramento Fire Department delivers fire suppression, emergency medical services (EMS), technical rescue including urban search and rescue, hazardous materials mitigation, fire prevention, domestic preparedness, fire and EMS safety education, and fire investigation programs. Choosing to be a firefighter or to work in the Sacramento Fire Department means someone is dedicating their life to protecting and serving others. Frontline staff members put their lives on the line every day, and that selflessness extends outside the workplace. “It was about nine-thirty in the evening. I was getting ready to go to my job at midnight. The phone call said it was an explosion. There were some fuel storage tanks in the area, and I thought it might be one of them. I drove to the station, and some of the guys were already getting the engines out. I told them I’d go on ahead to the site in my own car. We arrived there together, and the guys hooked the engine to a hydrant. I didn’t know it was a plane crash until we got there. The only thing that was really identifiable as part of a plane was the front part of it, the cockpit area. I was kind of shocked. I didn’t know what to expect. I grabbed a fire hat off the engine, and I ran down to the scene itself. I had the line, and I put the nozzle on and was spraying the whole area. The water came down like an easy rain. It wasn’t like a major fire, like from fuel. I just found the little hot spots. Actually, all it was was bodies burning as far as I could see, the little bits of clothing that was left on them. It was dark, but I could see about a dozen bodies that were recognizable as people. I didn’t really know how many were scattered all over the place. I didn’t see that until daybreak. I felt I was in kind of a helpless situation, just knowing that nobody was going to survive. I had never seen anything like that before. I was standing there hosing the area down in a fog spray, and I didn’t hear anything. Then I thought I heard the moaning, and I shut the water off to make sure I wasn’t hearing things. It’s possible that the water squirted on the litter girl and revived her. Anyway, I heard what sounded like moaning. All I could see was a pile of rubber with a few bodies here and there, but mostly rubble. #RandolphHarris 14 of 17
“I called my partner over, and I point to the spot where I thought the moaning was coming from. I thought it was a man. I could see a guy right there. I thought it was him. Well, my partner, X, started moving things around, and I took the hose and went off, thinking that maybe somebody would survive, though it wasn’t likely. X heard the moaning, then it quit and he didn’t hear it. He checked the bodies for any sign of life. He moved things aside to get to some of them. There wasn’t much light there, and everything was black and charred. Meanwhile, I put out the rest of the fires on the bodies. X moved aside a charred airplane seat. Then he heard the moaning again and saw that it was coming from the seat he had put aside. It was upside down, and he pilled it up, and there was the little girl strapped in it. He called our EMT over, and he did a quick survey of her body to see if there were any broken bones. Then they cut her out of the seat belt, put her on a backboard, and rushed her to the hospital. There was some controversy about whether she was on the plane or a passenger in a car that was on the ground. About four or five hundred feet away was a Blazer. The thing was on fire from bumper to bumper when we got there, and there was somebody inside it. They thought she might have been a passenger in that car. They didn’t listen to us. It was an airplane seat that she was strapped into. Her mother was there, too. The little girl was facedown on top of her mother. The report was that the mother was trying to shield her from the flames. Nobody could hold onto something in the kind of impact. It may have been a freak thing that she landed on top of her mother. We didn’t want to debate anybody on that point, so we just left it at that. I was there for twenty-two hours. This was in our station area, so we were more or less a standby unit until everything was pretty much cleared up. I did a lot of walking. I couldn’t sit still. I couldn’t sleep, that’s for sure, because of the smell and the things running through my mind. We had a command post with a catering van and Red Cross wagon, giving out coffee and food. I walked back and forth to there quite a bit, but I really couldn’t eat. I don’t know how you describe a lot of burning bodies. We knew enough not to touch anything until the FAA and the other people got there in the morning. They came in and went over some of the bodies, covering them up. #RandolphHarris 15 of 17
“Three other stations were there, plus the airport fire department and other fire departments from other communities. We were scattered all over the place, squirting down the whole are. We weren’t specifically prepared for anything life this, but everybody kept their cool, saw what they had to do, and did it. We didn’t think about the plane crash until later. Everybody there did a heck of a job. We knew this sort of thing would probably happen someday, we just didn’t know where or when. It was the EMTs and the coroners who put the corpses in body bags, and then we took the body bags and put them in the coroner’s van, which took them to the temporary morgue. The smell there was unbearable. They had lain there all night, and then in the morning the sun started hitting them. Some bodies were pretty much intact, just burned real bad. But they could tell if they were male or female. Both others, all they had was just parts, like a hand or a foot or a leg. The parts were lying all over the place. My wife called my company that I wouldn’t be to work that night because of the plane crash. They marked it down as leave without pay. I think that in all the commotion, they weren’t thinking. I had to put in a grievance to get my pat. It was hard for me to talked about what I saw. I could relate to everything that was splattered all over the ground there. It kind of threw me off there for a little bit. I had recurring memories of what I did at the scene. I think the thing brought all the guys in the department closer together, since we were all in it together. They have a counseling team for this kind of traumatic situation. We had a guy come in about two weeks after a crash, a cop with thirty years behind him. He met with us to get us to talk about it. Most of the guys really didn’t want to say anything because you don’t want to talk to them if you don’t know them personally. The guy had good intentions, but unless it was somebody like your pastor, it was kind of hard to open up to him. He said it himself: he had thought he had seen it all, until he came to the crash. He said, ‘I guess I didn’t see everything.’ I guess there are guys who are still having a hard time with it. #RandolphHarris 16 of 17
We may practise goodwill untainted by selfishness towards all mankind without becoming mushily sentimental about “universal brotherhood.” The hermit who behaves rudely may be showing his individualism, as he believes, but he is also showing his lack of spirituality. Polite manners imply thought for others. Nor is his tolerance grown out of laziness. It is grown out of understanding mated to kindliness. In his upward climb, he should slowly learn to drop the emotional view of life and to replace it by the intelligent view. Thus, he will show his passage from a lower to a higher level. However, it is to be an intelligence that is serene in activity, impersonal in judgment, warm in benevolence, and intuitive in quality. There should be no room in it to hold bias or bigotry, one the other hand, or dead logic. He will not only take care not to exceed his own rights, not only be scrupulous not to invade other people’s rights, but he will even take care not to interfere with their free will. Be strong without being stubborn. Much good behaviour is thinly veneered, being the consequence of social prudence rather than personal virtue. Because of the Sacramento Fire Department, Sacramento City has been blessed with a great and noble heritage that offers a pathway to salvation. The dedicated EMTs, Fire Fighters, CHP and Police risk their lives to protect that community and keep people safe. The people of Sacramento do not underestimate the worth of emergency services. The Sacramento Fire Department has a firm adherence to a code of moral and ethical standards: Honesty, Trust, and Accountability. You can help save lives by donating to the Sacramento Fire Department. It is also very important to raise your children to love America and to be patriotic. By having pride in America, and purchasing American made cars and other goods and services, we can make America a creditor nation again and ensure that this sacred land will be enjoy by your family for generations to come. Teaching children to love God and Jesus Christ will also preserve our American heritage and allow us to make sure our children are set on a path that will lead them to success and help them reserve a seat in Heaven. The Ten Commandments in the Christian Bible are a good guideline of how everyone should live. Furthermore, by respecting law and order, we will ensure the tranquility of this great nation and make sure that we are setting an exemplary example for other nations to follow. And by treating others with dignity, respect, and compassion, this will ensure that we are following the golden rule, “Do on to others as you would have them do on to you,” reports Luke 6.31. #RandolphHarris 17 of 17
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It is the Cry of Outraged Innocence
When I went to Hawaii in 1934 and the traffic in Honolulu looked like madness—totally disorganized—this was because it was so different from the order that I was used to. I was like the little boy who had has a crooked body all his life and when the doctor straightened it, he turned to his father and said, “He made me crooked!” The Honolulu traffic looked “crooked” to me. However, as I walked around doing errands on many different days, still failing to find any order in the driving, gradually I became aware that there were no accidents, not even near-collisions—and nobody got angry at anyone else. Then I became aware that the drivers of the cars—especially the Hawaiians without formal educations, and the other natives—were doing what I did: noticing. There were some rules—like driving on the right-hand side of the road and stopping for pedestrians, but the drivers went clear over on the left-hand side any time that was appropriate either to moving on their way or to getting out of someone else’s, and cars stopped as soon as a pedestrian stepped from the sidewalk to the street, even if this happened in the middle of the block. The driving was very much person-to-person, with recognition on both sides. Usually there was just an instant of this recognition between driver and driver or pedestrian and driver, but there was this moment of awareness of each other, of human “speaking” to human, and although I did not know anyone I felt surrounded by friends. When I had got the hang of it, I went right into Honolulu and drove the way that everyone else did. I have never had so much fun driving in my life. It was even more fun than driving in the Southwest where people were scarce and noticed each other when they passed on the road. In Honolulu there was no lack of people and cars, and still there was this noticing. #RandolphHarris 1 of 20
In Hawaii then, when I was thirty-two-year-old, there were many ways in which I arrived at my own normal, which I could know by the feeling of ease and happiness, of having left an alien World and come home for the first time in my life. I had felt that way before with a place—the land, the country—as in the Southwest, but never with so many people. It seems to me that the present “chaos” in psychotherapy has something in common with the “chaos” that I saw in Honolulu traffic. I have read several books in which many or several psychotherapists were included, sometimes presenting their cases separately, sometimes discussing cases or psychotherapy together. There is so much difference and differing among them that when I first read them it looked like madness: Does not anyone know what he is doing? (If they knew what they were doing, they would all be doing it the same way—going by rules which I could recognize.) Gradually they sorted themselves out in my mind into two groups: those who are following some Authority by copying him, and those who are struggling to find their own way, which seems to have the common base (or direction) of spontaneity, or responsiveness, of being in touch with myself and what is going on in me (the therapist) as well as what is going on in the person who has come for help. Should we live with people in any other way? These individual strugglers, as far as I know them, have a good deal of acceptance of and respect for each other even when they disagree, and although their apparent methods are so different that they seem not to be the same thing. There is “client-centered therapy” and there is “communication” therapy and there is therapy through swimming instruction and there are therapists who fall asleep repeatedly during therapy sessions, as part of the therapy, and when they wake up report their dreams to the person who has come for help. There is therapy by “guided daydreams,” and there is “transactional analysis” which makes clear to people the games that they are playing with each other and helps them to give up these games. Essentially, all of these methods achieve, when successful, a switch from dishonesty and competition to honesty and cooperation. #RandolphHarris 2 of 20
All of them attempt to relieve us of what is binding us. However, when a therapist (or anyone) tries to copy what is spontaneous, immediately this is defeated. When I try to copy, spontaneity is lost. I reverse what I have seen and liked and want to follow. With my intellect I have picked up a picture of what I think I “should” do or be. The more that I do this, the more inflexible I become, and spontaneity cannot happen no matter how much I wish it to. What I have seen in the therapist (or other person) whom I am “copying” is the result of an effort toward spontaneity and free response. I am copying the result. The more that I hold myself to it, the farther I am from my aim. (My aim is not a goal, but my direction.) The happenings which preceded the result are missing. What should come second has been placed first. Then, what should come first has become impossible. It is very easy for me to read myself incorrectly afterward even when I have moved in the right way. I mistake what happened for what I did myself. It happened by itself through me. However, later, I take credit for myself, as for something that “I” have done. A young therapist described a therapy session to me in this way: “This fellow—a young guy, nineteen—was laughing at himself and his friends for sitting on the beach day after day laughing at themselves for the way they were ‘all messed up’—mixed up in homosexuality, doing crazy things that got them nowhere. They called themselves names and ridiculed themselves, and he went on doing this with me. I could not get him to feel anything. He just kept on laughing at what dopes they all were, including him. So then, I started laughing too, laughing with him at his being such a dope—and then he got mad, and began to say how he really felt about it. Then he knew that what he was really feeling was not funny.” After that, they began to move in therapy. #RandolphHarris 3 of 20
I asked the therapist, “Was that something that you figured out and then did, or did it happen and afterward you saw the sense of it and why it was successful?” He looked a bit disconcerted and unhappy for a moment—the way that I have often felt when I have realized that what I have taken credit for happened through me but was not done by me (except in the objective sense that it could be observed as having been done by me). Then he said that it had happened to his surprise, and afterward he figured out why it had worked the way it did. The way that he told it sounded as though he had figured it out first. I do this too, in part because this is our habit, but also because the other way around is acceptable to very few people. The Age of Reason insists that we figure things out first, then do them. Any other way may seem unrealistic. However, if consciousness does not prematurely share in the perceptual experience, in this connection there are many situations in ordinary experience which demonstrate that much can be reacted to more effectively. There are many illustrations, to further highlight this illustration, of man’s capacity to register perception accurately in space and time categories provided that conscious cognitive processes are postponed. With this knowledge of man’s superior judgment when using his precognitive capacities for certain tasks, the army trains its artillery observers to utilize their capacities to the utmost. The observers must always call the position of a shot as quickly as possible—there must be “zero delay” between noting the fall and shouting out the location. All beginners wish to estimate with the aid of rational judgment, but experience has shown that there is unquestioned superiority of performance when rational estimation is suspended. The first flashing quick guess turns out to be the best guess. #RandolphHarris 4 of 20
Hive-moralists for the millennia have lamented the innate, pervasive tendency of human beings to kick-out in bursts of irrationality and pleasure seeking. It is looked on as extra-social self-indulgence. There is a distinction between two very different hedonic reactions. Pleasures are hedonic experiences caused by activating higher-faster-future brains at the service of and controlled by self. Satisfactions are intoxication and narcotic escape experiences caused by activating slower-lower past circuits. Both experiences take consciousness away from domesticated robot-hood. Pleasures move one up from hive routine into the self-actualized future. Intoxicants, tranquilizers and narcotics move one back to the past—down from domestication, to primate and mammalian instinctual satisfactions. Civilized terrestrial humans, robotically and blindly harnessed to species tasks, and dependent upon gene-hive rewards for duty well-done, need to slowdown, turnoff, escape domesticated pressure. Boredom and social inefficiency would result without some sequential opportunity to regress from hive morality, to activate the primitive circuits of the brain. Intoxicants and narcotic escapes are built-in devices to allow ritual regression to earlier, lower, slower stages. That they are conventionally naughty is their power and delight. The dutiful domesticated adult brain and the retiring elder brain insectoids live in a reality centered upon hive duty. The ten earlier brains are there, but are taboo, often blanked from consciousness. Brains are turned on and off by means of neurotransmitter chemicals. Civilization provides ritualistic means of allowing reactivation of the earlier brains—temporarily naughty immorality, programed animalism—permissible retrogression in every successful eleventh and twelfth stage domesticated adult and retiring elder brain. Each civilization produces ritualistic drug taking which allows temporary animalistic reversion. This process is best seen in the Japanese culture—surely the most insectoid society in World history. The Japanese have developed ritualistic inebriation which permits even the most dutiful to regress to animalism as seen in stages four to six—rodent-brained toddlers, mammalian-brained demanding kids, and monkey-brained territorial children. #RandolphHarris 5 of 20
The German culture, another highly domesticated-duty society also allows its citizens a scheduled intoxication-regression in the Fasching-Carnival. Even the sober, tidy Swiss permit each other a Springtime return to pseudo-bestiality when these paragons of the domesticated adult get tipsy and lurch around like sodden bears shamelessly littering the streets of Basel with confetti! Masks are worn at these carnival regressions—the Burghers do not want to have their inner animals seen. Other methods for ceremonial return of the animal-brain-stages involve totems exhibited at athletic events, parades, and social gatherings. The unrepressed emotions released at these events are not sexual, however. Genital satisfaction is not the central motive. Middle-age, middle-class folks return to preadolescence and become exhibitionistic monkeys or noisy, often savage mammals as when thousands of spectators engage in physical violence directed against the territorial rival in soccer games around for the World, for example. The orchestrated revival of earlier brains is a basic issue in any stable gene pool. Each of our twelve terrestrial brains has its own ego, demands activation and must be allowed to cut loose on some regular basis. The best-run civilizations have worked out a weekly return of the regressed. Domesticated adults work dutifully Monday through Friday. On Saturday they are allowed to assemble in animal-totem competitions—the Bulldogs of Yale versus the Horned Toads of Texas Christian. Saturday night the socially approved intoxicant is imbibed, permitting a temporary explosion of mammalian territorial competition and sexual low-jinks. Sunday morning the chastened and hung-over domesticate attends a DNA adoration ceremony in which the dignified gene-hive Creator is recognized, the brief foray back to animalism exercised. Purged and reborn, the domesticate adult hum-ant is ready to start the next week of hive duty. #RandolphHarris 6 of 20
Psychological “trading stamps” are called that because they are used the same way as the little blue, green, or brown stamps that people get as a premium when they buy groceries or gasoline. The following are some observations concerning commercial trading stamps. They are usually obtained as a bonus in the course legitimate business transactions; that is, the person must buy groceries to get trading stamps. Most people who collect them have a favourite colour. If offered other colours, they may not bother to take them, or may give them away. Some people, however, will collect any type of trading stamp. Some people paste them into their little “books” every day, and others at regular intervals, while still others leave them lying around until some day when they are bored and have nothing better to do, and then they paste them up all at once. Some neglect them until they need something, and then count them in the hope that they have enough to get it free from the trading-stamp store. Some people like to talk about them, look through the catalogue together, boast about how many stamps they have, or discuss which colour offers better merchandise or better bargains. Some people save only a few and then turn them in for trivial premiums; others save more, and get bigger bonuses; and still other become deeply involved in trying to collect enough stamps for one of the really large prizes. Some people know that the trading stamps are not really “free” because their cost must be added to the cost of the groceries; some really do not stop to think about this; some know it, but pretend they do not, because they enjoy both the collecting and the illusion of getting something for nothing. (In some cases, the cost of the trading stamps is not added to the cost of the groceries; in such cases, the grocer must take their cost as his own loss. However, in principle, it is the customer who pays for the trading stamps.) Some people prefer to go to “straight” grocery stores where they pay only for the groceries; with the money they save, they can then buy their own merchandise wherever and whenever they want to. #RandolphHarris 7 of 20
For those who are eager to get something “free,” it is possible to buy counterfeit trading stamps. It is usually hard for a person who seriously collects trading stamps to give them up. He may put them in a drawer and forget about them for a while, but if he suddenly gets a large fistful in some special transaction, he may pull them out again to count them and see what they are good for. Psychological trading stamps are the currency of transactional “rackets.” When Jeder is young, his parents teach him how to feel when things get difficult” most commonly, angry, hurt, guilty, scared, or inadequate; but sometimes stupid, baffled, surprised, righteous, or triumphant. These feelings become rackets when Jeder learns to exploit them and play games in order to collect as many as possible of his favourite, partly because in the course of time this favourite feeling becomes sexualized, or is a substitute for feelings involving pleasures of the flesh. To further highlight this illustration, much “justified” grownup anger belongs in this category, and is usually the payoff in a game of “Now I Have Got You, You Male Chauvinistic Pig.” The patient’s Child is full of suppressed anger, and he waits until someone does something to justify his expressing it. Justification means that his Adult goes along with his Child in saying to his Parent: “No one can reasonably blame me for getting angry under such conditions.” Thus relieved of Parental censure, he turns on the offender and says in effect: “Ha! No one can blame me, so now I have got you,” et cetera. In transactional language, he gets a “free” mad, that is, free of guilt. Sometimes it works differently. The Parent says to the Child: “You are not going to let him get away with that, are you?” and the Adult sides with the Parent: “Anyone would get angry under such conditions.” The Child may be only too happy to comply with these urgings; or on the other hand, he may be as reluctant to do battle as Ferdinand the Bull, but is forced to enter the fray. #RandolphHarris 8 of 20
Even after Sade’s time, men of letters continue to dominate the scene. Romanticism, Lucifer-like in its rebellion, is only useful for adventures of the imagination. Like Sade, romanticism is separated from earlier forms of rebellion, at this stage, forgets its positive content. Since God claims all that is good in man, it is necessary to deride what is good and choose what is evil. If not to the exercise, hatred of death and of injustice will lead, therefore, at least to the vindication, of evil and murder. The struggle between Satan and death in Paradise Lost, the favourite poem of the romantics, symbolizes this drama; even more profoundly in that death (with, of course, sin) is the child of Satan. To combat evil, the rebel renounces good, because he considers himself innocent, and once again gives birth to evil. The romantic hero first brings about the profound and, so to speak, religious blending of good and evil. This type of hero is “fatal” because fate confounds good and evil without man being able to prevent it. Fate does not allow judgments of value. It replaces them by the statement that “It is so”—which excuses everything, except for the Creator, who alone is responsible for this scandalous situation. The romantic hero is also “fatal” because, to the extent that he increases in power and genius, the power of evil increases in him. Every manifestation of power, every excess, is thus covered by this “It is so.” That the artists, particularly the poet, should be demoniac is a very ancient idea, which is formulated provocatively in the work do the romantics. At this period there is even an imperialism of evil, whose aim is to annex everything, even the most orthodox geniuses. “What made Milton write with constraint,” Blake observes, “when he spoke of angels and of God, and with audacity when he spoke of demons and of hell, is that he was a real poet and on the side of the demons, without knowing it.” The poet, the genius, man himself in his most exalted image, therefore cry out simultaneously with Satan: “So farewell hope, and with hope farewell fear, farewell remorse…Evil, be thou my good.” It is the cry of outraged innocence. #RandolphHarris 9 of 20
If God has a favourite place on Earth, she thought, it must be Colorado. Surely God would be proudest of his handiwork in that magnificent state: the overpowering beauty of the mountains, with their dancing crystal streams and tall sweet-smelling pines. Of all the places she had lived, Trish loved Colorado and its mountains the most. The solid, reliable, never-moving mountains symbolized everything Paris wanted her life to be, but seldom was. As the daughter of an Air Force officer, Trish lived in seventeen states during her first seventeen years. In those years, her family never bought a house, joined clubs or made any lasting friends. Trish longed for one good, reliable friend, but because of the constant moving, she made only casual acquaintances. Her personal relationships were limited almost exclusively to her family; her father, mother, sisters, and two brothers. Trish’s father was hard to love—easy to pity, but difficult to cherish. He seemed to live on the verge of disaster. He drank so heavily that it damaged his career, and that caused him to drink even more. In his early Air Force years, he had loved to fly, but later his superiors wisely kept him on the ground and passed him over for promotion again and again. The burden of keeping the family together fell to Trish’s mother, a matronly, above average weight woman who seemed to draw from a cornucopia of love and support. She kept her husband’s uniforms pressed and shoes polished. In the morning, she would nurse his hangovers enough so that he could at least report for duty standing up. And when he could not stand up, she would call and make excuses for him. She managed the family budget, helped the children with their homework, and sand them to sleep at night. She was the bedrock of Paris’s life. #RandolphHarris 10 of 20
During Trish’s last two teenage years, her father was stationed in Colorado. They were the best two years of her life. She felt she had at last found a home: in the safe, dependable, protective mountains. However, they were transferred again—to California, where everyone moved constantly, and the mountains were a fuzzy image on the horizon. She went to small college and majored in home economics. She wanted to get married and make a comfortable, stable home. Yet she finished college without marrying and took a job as a clerk at the Air Force base. She lived alone in a small apartment, and hated it. Emile came into her life in an ordinary way. She met him at the complaint desk of the electric company, where she had gone to check a mistake in her bill. He was courteous in handling her problem, handsome behind his wire glasses and bold enough to ask her to dinner. She felt a ruse in her pulse as she dressed for the date and thought, this must be how love begins. And so it was. The dinner date led to movies, motor trips, ski weekends and finally an engagement ring. Their bouts of pleasures of the flesh were hot, but restrained, she having no intention of going to bed with a man who was not her husband. Emile was patient, and seemed more interested in her as a potential wife than someone as just a partner for pleasures of the flesh. Though she did not know it at the time, what attracted her to Emile the most was his reliability. He had worked for the electric company for four years when she met him and was prepared to spend his entire career reporting to the same building in the same city. He drank a single whiskey and water before dinner and nothing afterward. At parties, his limit was a self-imposed two drinks. He arrived home at five-thirty every evening, went to bed after the eleven o’clock news and was content to take the same vacation every year. For the first few years of their marriage, Trish felt she had everything she could ever want: her husband, her son and daughter, her own house, her neighbourhood, and, most of all, an address that never changed. She loved it. #RandolphHarris 11 of 20
Them Emile got The Promotion. From the time he first started talking about it, Trish thought of “The Promotion” in capital letters. It was an unheard-of opportunity—the chance to jump over three levels of management to Senior Vice President, Customer Relations. His salary doubled, but so did his responsibilities. He seldom got home before eight o’ clock in the evening and often went to the office on Saturdays. Trish did not know whether to be ecstatic or depressed. The extra money was marvelous, but the new job upset her routine. Emile spent less time with her and the children. He began to drink more—straight whiskey, without the water, sometimes without ice. Odd-jobs about the house simply went undone. When she reminded him about them, he would growl, “Hire someone. We can afford it.” By the time Trish found out about Kim, Emile had been sleeping with her for more than three years. Trish was not shocked as much by the fact of the affair as she was by Emile’s ability to keep it from her as long as she did. She knew husbands had affairs and that eventually wives found out about them. What she did not expect was that the affair would go so long undetected and that when confronted with it, her husband would admit to it without shame or remorse. “Of course I’m sleeping with her,” Emile had said. “Every chance I get. Do you think I go to all the trouble of meeting her just so we can play gin rummy?” “But now that I know about it, it has to stop,” Trish had demanded. “What the hell for?” he had laughed. “Kim’s a lot more fun to be with than you are, and one hell of a lot better lay. Face it, Paris, you’re a great mother and queen of the homemakers, but as a wife, not so much.” Panic-stricken, seeing her perfectly neat and orderly life crumbling around her, Paris had begged Emile to consider the children, their home, their thirteen-year marriage. She appealed to his sense of duty, of right and wrong, of stability. None of it worked. #RandolphHarris 12 of 20
She told her Elder about it in confidence; he suggested a trial separation. However, this she would not do. It would bring down the framework of domestic normality she had so carefully built around them. She told Emile’s parents about it. When they confronted him and demanded he end the affair, he merely laughed again. All of Trish’s friends recommended the standard California solution: divorce. She balked at the idea for several reasons, not the least of which was her devout Mormon faith. Also, she feared the effect a “broken home” would have upon her children. And she felt that the promises she had made on her wedding day created an unbreakable bond. Paris was married, for better or worse, for life. It was her duty. Refusing to let anything upset the stability of her home life, Trish continued to cook the meals, chauffeur the children, and wax the floors. However, the gnawing sense of loss and disruption was taking its toll on her. She too began to drink a lot, and with the drinking came fear and guilt, two emotions which eventually led her to seek therapy. I felt she would mesh neatly with our group, and I overcame her early objections to joining it. I was right. The trouble was, she helped with everyone’s problems but her own. After a time, I began to view our discussions about Trish’s problems as a series of paths leading to brick walls. When the conversation progressed to a point at which she held a strong position, it would stop. Trish was sad when her husband was gone late at night, but as soon as he came home, she would feel a sense of relief. However, moments later, she would feel dirty because she knew he had been with that other woman. It made her want to cry and scream, but she never did because she felt it was her duty to be married for life and the children getting their sleep was more important than her feelings. #RandolphHarris 13 of 20
What has been lacking in your life at times when you have found yourself bored, miserable, or even sick? What can you do about these lacks? Upon whom do you depend to gratify these needs? What does your dependency “cost” you in the way of submission to the wishes of the person upon whom you are dependent? What you do believe you cannot do without? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. showed that it is possible not only to survive, but moreover to transcend lethal circumstances; he struggled to survive and was ultimately murdered to end segregations and demand that African Americans be protected under the law. Can you identify what you need to enhance your life, and learn the skills that will enable you to gratify these needs? This is how to overcome insecurity through action—the way of independent security. Whenever you become sick—with a cold, influenza, mononucleosis, or other illness—reflect upon your life and see if you can identify an episode of dispiritedness brought on by loss of someone’s love, an abrupt change in way of life (such as moving to another residence), or some failure. Or consider whether your style of life or family role is preventing you from gratifying certain basic needs; prolonged deprivation may have stressed or dispirited you. Sickness is a splendid opportunity to reflect upon your way of living, so that when you have recovered, you can make changes that will reduce the likelihood of becoming sick again. Sickness is often an indication that one’s habitual way of life has not yielded those basic need gratifications that sustain health and keep a person growing in vital ways. When all is not well in your life, it is good to record dreams for hints as to possible changes you could make to revitalize yourself. #RandolphHarris 14 of 20
Getting back to nature—a walk in the woods or by the sea, away from machinery and work—can provide an opportunity to meditate and gain perspective upon an unsatisfying life style. Sometimes dispiritedness will hit one without the symptoms of physical illness, but rather in signs of disinterest in life, loss of ability to enjoy life, and feelings of worthlessness. The healthy person can recognize these as indicators of time to seek professional help, time to make changes, or time to seek out good, listening friends. In choosing commitments, one needs to examine deeply the possibility of being able to change one’s mind, to keep the mind free and to leave psychologically, spiritually, or physically when one chooses. Avoidance of false, unworthy commitments is an indicator of the healthy personality. Especially during periods of dispiritedness, you are vulnerable to persons who offer easy ways out. Racial animosity is really a pathological state which clouds vision and falsifies judgment. It raises prejudice to the dignity of a principle. Hate is a mental poison. It is the worst possible sin of our thought life. It damages those we hate, infects our own environment, and in the end, it severely damages ourselves. The ability to treat all kinds and classes of people equally, and with universal goodwill, does not imply the inability to observe the comparative differences and even defects among them. It is not enough to possess a wide tolerance in these matters; it should also be a wise tolerance. Otherwise one may merely condone and increase self-destruction. Not to tell another person “No!” when all prudence, intelligence, foresight, and experience bid us do so is simply moral and verbal cowardice. He can be polite without being fulsome and effusive. His sincerity will dictate the proper measure. #RandolphHarris 15 of 20
The need for finer manners where coarse vulgarity, aggressive obscenity, and raucous noisiness prevail speaks for itself to those who seek escape from materialism. In an atmosphere of disorderly or non-existent manners, materialistic thought flourishes even more. He has much contempt for human folly but much tolerance for human weakness. He will keep serene, even-tempered, detached amid the recurring irritations of life and the petty provocations from persons who cross his path. They may face him, but they cannot hurt, much less infuriate, him. However, if he identified himself with the ego alone, all this aloofness of spirit would not be possible. However, it is not only inner calmness that he needs to acquire; inner clearness is also requisite. Both the intellect with its ideas and the character with its qualities should share this effort to secure greater clarification. His tolerance is so vast that he will not intrude upon others’ freedom, not even to the extent of seeking the betterment of their character or the improvement of their mind. As a man advances in inward development, gaining ever richer experience in fresh embodiments, he comes to see that he will gain more by practising co-operation than by selfishly seeking his own isolated benefit alone. It is as such moments of remembrance that he is here also to ennoble his character that it becomes easier to extend goodwill to those he dislikes, or who dislike him, those who have brought him trouble and others who radiate materialism or destructiveness. It would be a mistake to believe that because he makes no sharp exclusions and practises such all-embracing sympathy toward every possible way of looking at life he ends up in confusion and considers right and wrong to be indistinguishable from each other. #RandolphHarris 16 of 20
Instead of falling into mental vacillation, he attains and keeps mental integrity, a genuine individuality which no narrow sect can overcome. Instead of suffering from moral dissolution, he expands into moral largeness which sees that no ideal is universal and exclusively right. Although generally he will be infinitely considerate of other persons, there will be certain situations wherein he will be infinitely hard upon them and utterly indifferent to their feelings. All are benefited by always remembering the practice of harmlessness towards all creatures in thought, word, and action. He should not consider himself alone, but ought also consider his duty to those other beings who cross his path, including animal beings and trees. Elegance is often found as an accompaniment of refinement. This is not only true of physical things, behaviour, and conduct, but also of character and mind. The true gentleman does not cast aside fine manners however much one may become intimate, familiar, or friendly with him. The man of exemplary manners will always have an advantage over those who have none. The charm of dealing, or conversing, with him gives him the preference, all else being equal. Assert the ego aggressively against others and you provoke their egos to assert themselves. Hostility breeds hostility, violence encourages the others to be violent. He keeps this composure. If he has moods, ups-and-downs of feeling, others will not know it. By presenting them with an imperturbable front, they are helped without his particularly seeking to do so. #RandolphHarris 17 of 20
A well-mannered child is a testimony to a well-mannered home. It does not mean that he is to force himself to like everyone under the sun equally well, or that he is to negate every personal preference and deny every personal repulsion. It does not mean that he is no longer to discriminate his perceptions of human status and quality. He is never the enemy of any human being, but only of the sin in that being. All his social-relational thinking is governed by goodwill, but his conduct is ruled by reason added to the goodwill. In that way, he does not fall into unbalanced sentimentality nor harm others under the delusion that he is benefiting them. He shows an uncommon patience because that is Nature’s way. He expresses an impartial understanding because that is Truth’s way. He accepts people just where they are and is not angry with them because they are not farther along the road of life. He is not only different in that he seeks both to commend and to criticize, whereas the ordinary man seeks only to do the one or the other, but also in that he seeks to understand the World view and life-experience which have given rise to such a viewpoint. He must be ready to bestow an intellectual sympathy towards the attitudes of other men, no matter how foolish or how wicked these attitudes may be. Such sympathy enables him to understand them, as well as the experiences and the thoughts which have led to them. However, it does not necessitate acceptance of the emotional complexes and spiritual ignorance which accompany them. It is not necessary to be sullen to be serious. The man who walks rudely through the crowded streets of life, who flings his contempt from mien and speech, is but a melancholy misanthrope, not a philosopher. He thinks he has surrounded himself with an atmosphere of detachment, when he has merely succeeded in surrounding himself with an atmosphere of surliness. #RandolphHarris 18 of 20
The Sacramento Fire Department has a wide range of responsibilities to ensure the safety of their citizens. It is equally important to recognize the significant work and effort involved in managing the department. “In the same ways fire fighters have a hard job, with EMS it can be worse because of the blood factor. In fires, people are burned, and they look awful. In EMS, you have the blood factor and severed limbs. And sometimes the trauma and the violence. We see quite a bit of violence. At times we are there before the police arrive in violent situations. Our response times are so quick that we sometimes get there in the heat of the battle, when the shooting is still going on. We have to be very aware and cautious. That can be stressful. We have some old neighborhoods that are low-income areas, where the crime rate is high, arson is high. These are mostly single-family homes, no tenements. One summer we had ten or eleven homicides near downtown, where I worked. Sometimes we had two in a night. We provide basic life support until the paramedics get there. You’re concerned for yourself. You’re surrounded by people. You look for an area of refuge. You advance cautiously. It’s a hectic, hyper type situation. We went to one nightclub downtown where we had five people who were shot. When we arrived there were only two, but three more were subsequently shot while we were there, right near where we were operating. Captain X was a seasoned veteran who had seen a lot of things, but he was upset after that incident. We all were. I have never seen him sit down in a chair, put his feet up, and smoke a cigarette. He didn’t talk. The whole company was kind of lethargic after it was over. It was the emotional stress, dealing with gunshot wounds in a large crowd without much police protection. There was so much going on. We went from one victim to the next to the next. We just followed the trail, logistically getting the equipment there. One person did all the shooting. Apparently it was the result of a rivalry between high school football teams. The neighborhoods here are very involved in their high schools, which is good. They are very proud of their sports teams, which is good. Until it ends up in a shooting, which is not good. #RandolphHarris 19 of 20
“Not too long ago they had a big drug shoot-out. An automatic weapon was used, several hundred rounds were shot, and eight or nine people were transported to the hospital. To get back to the blood factor, I’m absolutely concerned with AIDS just as much as I am with hepatitis. We try to take the precautions of wearing gloves and cleaning up very well afterwards. We keep a mental list of known cases, and we wear masks as well as rubber gloves when we deal with these people, whether they have hepatitis, tuberculosis, or AIDS. We wear paper masks, like surgical masks. The city is also providing us with hepatitis vaccinations now, which I think is a great thing. It’s an expensive series of three shots, about a hundred dollars per man, but they realize the need for us to have that kind of protection. You don’t get blood on your person every day, but the big problem is, the blood spurts. So we take those precautions not to come into contact with the blood. And maybe they’ll cure these things some day. You’ve just got to keep going. You have to say to yourself, ‘When the alarm comes, I’m going to be ready.’” The Sacramento Fire Department is committed to providing exceptional service and adapting to the evolving needs of the community. Specifically, the desire to prevent the loss of life and property by responding to emergencies in a professional manner. Parents, please be sure to raise your children to love America and make them aware that being patriotic is our duty. Also, it is a good idea to buy American made cars and other products to endure the longevity of this great nation. We also want to respect law and order, love God and Jesus Christ and treat every human being with care and compassion. You can also help save lives and property and protect the future of our community by donating to the Sacramento Fire Department. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, under God, Indivisible with Liberty and Justice for All! Come, O Sabbath-day, and bring peace and healing on thy wing; and to every troubled breast speak of the divine behest: Thou shalt rest. #RandolphHarris 20 of 20
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The Next Baby Will Go to House 17
All creatures are rooted in the same primal Being, but all remain at different levels of awareness or distance from this Being. Because of the oneness we must practise goodwill to all, but because of the distances we must see them for what they outwardly are. Those who object—as so many young people do today—against formal social behaviour or convention courtesy such as Confucius propagated and such as well-brought-up persons were taught to accept in our own modern West until recently, do not see how much it smooths everybody’s way including their own and how much it oils the wheels of social existence for all of us. Behing time and ego, behind all the conditions in which we find others to be, there is that which is divine within them. For the sake of that we may honour them even when their outer self is unworthy of it and dishonourable. It is not a question of defective social manners or wrong accents but of two traits of good character—consideration for others and respect for oneself. The conventional and not seldom hypocritical smile, the pretense of goodwill where there is none, constitute false manners, not good manners. Courtesy is the oil which lubricates the wheel of life. At a time when goodwill and courtesy seem to be fading out, we need all the more to support them staunchly. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21
What is called correct social behaviour can vary from period to period, century to century. It is not the same as, and not to be confused with, courtesy. There are those who dismiss the subject as unconnected with philosophy, unessential to spiritual self-cultivation. However, Jesus Christ constantly exhorted his disciples to cultivate courteous manners and gentlemanly behaviour. It is not better that men should learn to discipline their unpleasant traits, instead of inflicting them on other people? It is not only better for society but also for the men themselves, for it is part of their spiritual evolution. If it becomes an empty arid formality, devoid of the corresponding feeling, it is not courtesy, but hypocrisy. If we are asked to resist our innate natural selfishness and include other people’s welfare along with our own, it is only because in this way they too are being asked to include ours. This at least helps us and them. This is the practical benefit of politeness. Refinement is not so much a matter of birth as of quality, which may be born in a man or fashioned for himself. The young child should be taught how to grow up into a civilized well-behaved person, who naturally and not hypocritically behaves with consideration for the feelings of others. Culture is not only the enrichment of personal experience: it is the enrichment of the person himself. #RandolphHarris 2 of 21
Supposed you know that this was to be your last day on Earth. How would you behave towards others? Would you not sink all short-range attitudes and rise above the petty selfishness, the pitiful enmities, and the harsh discords which may have marred your past? Would you not try at least to feel goodwill toward all men? This is how philosophy bids you behave at all times and not merely on your deathbed. We must see men not only as they are today, but also as they shall be in an evolutionary tomorrow. If we listen to the voice of experience, we tend appraisal of humanity should combine the two, recognizing and not denying unattractive faults and dark frailties, but at the same time being graciously tolerant and forgiving. He is opened-eyed enough to see men as they are, but also generous enough to see them as they must one day become. As the full meaning of reincarnation and of the universal law sinks deeper and deeper into his mind, a generous tolerance will rise higher and higher in his feelings. He will begin to see that every wrong-doer is what he is because of his past experience and present mentality and has to act in the way he does and cannot act in any other way. The life of such a man develops inevitably and naturally out of his character, out of his mode of thought, and out of his experience on this Earth in the present and in former lives. If a man’s attitude towards spiritual truth is determined by the fact that he was born in a particular place and not by wide search and deep thought, he does not deserve and will not find the highest truth. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21
If the practices goodwill to others, it is more likely that the higher power will bestow grace upon him through others. There is never any justification for being unmannerly, or worse, rude. The man of such immeasurable goodwill will express it in all ways all the time. The more he refuses to let negative emotions capture him, the more will an inner harmony permeate him. He will keep a secret untroubled poise amongst those who are utterly bereft of any reverence for life’s higher meaning as amongst those who possess it. Beaware of projecting your own negative reactions, ideas, colourings, or feeling son displeasing situations and abrasive persons. If he is to keep his inward peace unruffled, he must live above the level of those who have it not. Only if he obeys the practical injunction of Jesus Christ, only if he keeps out of his emotional systems all the negatives like resentment, bitterness, quarrelsomeness, jealousy, spite, and revenge this can be done. If philosophic calm is to be the supreme fact and philosophic wisdom the guiding factor in his life, these lower emotions must definitely be outgrown. When other men show their enmity and meanness toward him, he is to retaliate by showing his indifference and generosity. When they falsely assail his character or enviously calumniate his work, he is to forbear from harsh feelings and not let them forfeit his goodwill. He is not to succumb to the human temptation to retaliate in kind. For he is engaged on a holy ascent, and to succumb would be to slip grievously back. Indeed, out of the base actions of others, he may kindle noble reactions which assist his upward climb. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21
Whoever expands his consciousness in advance of the contemporary level must not expect more than a few to understand him. Yet it is his business to understand them as it is their misfortune to misunderstand him. Marquis de Sade, the French writer and activist, suffered and died to stimulate the imagination of the intelligentsia in literary cafes. However, that is not all. Sade’s success in our day is explained by the dream that he had in common with contemporary thought: the demand for total freedom, and dehumanization coldly planned by the intelligence. The reduction of man to an object of experiment, the rule that specifies the relation between the will to power and man as an object, the sealed laboratory that is the scene of this monstrous experiment, are lessons which the theoreticians of power will discover again when they come to organizing the age of slavery. Two centuries ahead of time and on a reduced scale, Sade extolled totalitarian societies in the name of unbridled freedom—which, in reality, rebellion does not demand. The history and the tragedy of our times really begin with him. He only believed that a society founded on freedom of crime must coincide with freedom of morals, as though servitude had its limits. Our times have limited themselves to blending, in a curious manner, his dream of a universal republic and his technique of degradation. Finally, what he hated most, legal murder, has availed itself of the discoveries that he wanted to put to the service of instinctive murder. Crime, which he wanted to be the exotic and delicious fruit of unbridled vice, is no more today than the dismal habit of a police-controlled morality. Such are the surprises of literature. #RandolphHarris 5 of 21
Later childhood, from six to ten, is called by psychoanalysis the latent period. It is a “locomotor” phase, when the child locomotes himself around the neighbourhood to see what he can see. So far, he has only a sketchy idea, a protocol, as to how he is going to put his script equipment together to make himself into a person with a goal in life. He is ready to turn from animals who eat people or who act like people, to people themselves. A child who starts out wanting to live forever or love forever can be made to change his mind in the course of five or six years, until he decides, quite appropriately in view of his limited experience, to die young or never to risk loving anyone again. Or he may learn from his parents that life and love with all their risks are worthwhile. Once the decision is made, he knows who he is, and begins to look at the outside World with the question: “What can happen to people like me?” He knows what the payoff is supposed to be, but does not really know what it means, how it will feel, or how to go about getting it. He has to find some sort of plot or matrix into which all his script equipment will fit, and some sort of hero to show him the path. He also looks wistfully for heroes with similar equipment who have followed different, and perhaps happier, paths, hoping to find a way out, or a way in. The matrix and the hero are offered to him in stories which he reads in books or which are read to him or told him by some reliable person: mother, grandmother, or children on the street, or perhaps a carefully indoctrinated kindergarten teacher. The telling of these tales is a story in itself—more real and fascinating than the rale that is told. What happens between Jeder and his mother, for example, between the time she says? “After you have brushed your teeth, I will read you a story,” and the moment when she smiles, “That is all!” and tucks him in? What is his final question, and how does she tuck him in? #RandolphHarris 6 of 21
Those times help form the flesh of his life plan, while the tales told or the book story give him the bones. What he ends up with, bonewise, are a hero—someone he would like to be; a villain—someone he may find an excuse to be; a type—what he knows he has to be; a plot—a matrix of events which enables him to switch from one to the other; a cast—those others who will motivate the switches; and an ethos—a set of ethical standards which will justify him in feeling angry, guilty, righteous, or triumphant. If external events permit, his life course will then be the same as the life plan he forms around this armature or matrix. For this reason, it is important to know what his favourite story or fairy tale was as a child, since this will be the plot of his script, with all its unattainable illusions and avoidable tragedies. During this period, Jeder also makes a definite decision about what kind of feelings he will work for. He was previously experimented with this, feeling by turns angry, hurt, guilty, scared, inadequate, righteous, and triumphant, and he as discovered that certain of these are treated with indifference or outright disapproval by his family, whole one of them is acceptable and gets results. That is the one that becomes his racket. The favoured feeling becomes a sort of conditioned reflex which may persist for the rest of his life. For clarity, we can use the roulette-wheel theory of feeling. Suppose there is a housing development with 36 houses built in a circle around a central plaza, and suppose that there is a baby waiting to be born wherever it is that babies wait to be born. The Great Computer in charge of such matters spins the roulette wheel, and the ball falls in slot 17. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21
The Great Computer then announces, “The next baby will go to house 17.” He makes five more spins, and comes up with 23, 11, 26, 35, and 31, so the next five babies go to the houses with those numbers. Ten years later, each of the children has learned how he is supposed to react. The one in house 17 has learned: “In this family, when the going gets rough, we feel angry.” The one in house 23 has learned: “In this family, when the going gets rough, we feel hurt.” The babies at 11, 26, and 35 have learned that when the going gets rough their respective families feel guilty, scared, or inadequate. The baby in 31 learns that “In this family, when the going get rough, we find out what to do about it.” It should be apparent that numbers 17, 23, 11, 26, and 35 are likely to be losers, and 31 is more likely to be a winner. However, supposing when the Great Computer made the spins, other numbers had come up, or the same numbers in a different order? Perhaps Baby A, instead of anger, and Baby B, in 23, might have traded places with Baby F in 31. Then instead of Baby B being a loser and baby F a winner, it would be the other way round. This is another way of saying that aside from a doubtful influence of the genes, favourite feelings are learned from the parents. If he had been born in a different household, a patient whose favoured feeling is guilt might go for anger. Yet each will defend his favoured feeling as the natural or even inevitable one in a given situation. This is one reason for having treatment groups. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21
If those six babies were in such a group twenty years later, and Baby A related an incident, ending: “Naturally, I felt angry!” Baby B would say: “My feelings would have been hurt”; Baby C: “I would have felt guilty,” Baby D: “I would have felt scared”; Baby E: “I would have felt inadequate”; and Baby F (who would presumably be the therapist by this time): “I would have found out what to do about it.” Which of these babies is right? Each one is convinced that his is the “natural” reaction. The truth is that none of them is “natural,” really; each one has been learned, or rather decided upon, in early childhood. To put it in simpler terms, nearly all angers, hurts, guilts, fears, and inadequate feelings are rackets, and in any well-run group it is not difficult to distinguish the few such reactions which are genuinely appropriate. A racket, then, is a feeling, out of all the possible feelings, that is habitually turned on by a given person as his payoff in the games he plays. Group members soon recognize this, and can predict when a certain patient is going to collect a hurt trading stamp, and so on. The object of collecting such trading stamps is to turn them in for a script payoff. Each person in the group is scandalized at the idea that his favoured feeling is not a natural, universal, and inevitable response to the situations he meets. When their feelings are questioned, just as people in the hurt racket feel hurt, people in the anger racket, in particular, become very angry. One of the most misunderstood ideas of modern times is the thing we call “support.” Most people think of it as paying someone’s way, or at least providing for a person’s necessities. It usually implies a great sacrifice or price to be paid by the person doing the supporting. The meaning I prefer is: to promote someone’s cause or interests. To me, this implies helping another, yet without hurting oneself. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21
When you are trapped on the support polarity, you become a manipulator with an overdeveloped mother complex. Even men can have this complex, characterized by a compulsion to meet the needs of others. Unfortunately, in this position, your frequently feel like a martyr because you do so much for people, who never seem to appreciate your efforts enough. You also feel resentful that your sacrifices go unnoticed. Often, you are physically and emotionally exhausted from carrying the burdens of so many. Ironically, you lose contact with your own being trying to do only for others. If, on the other hand, you experience support as a master, you have learned to balance your needs with the needs of others. Although you believe in helping others when they are in trouble, you do not make helping your main vocation—because you have confidence in their ability to care for themselves. By the same token, you are not afraid to express criticism because you know it can be a beneficial force in creating honest, caring interaction. Mastering the support polarity improves your life because it frees you of impossible burdens and growing resentments. It enables you to care for others without sacrificing your own being. It allows you to “flow” with life rather than fight for it. You are at ease in your relationships, which now are determined, not by obligation to, but by concern for others. Your friends respond to you, not for what you have done for them, but for what you are to them. When we look at the condition of schizophrenia as an absence of a certain type of felt interaction (an absence rather than an illness or a content) has important consequences. It seems that we think of ourselves not so much as working with something ill in the person, but rather as providing the necessary personal relationship in the context of which someone can again come alive as a person. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21
As for “schizophrenia,” how we love to think that we know what is wrong with those others. What about ourselves? How many of us can accept people as we can accept the sea? There are of course people who are foolish enough to want to change the sea, who want to change the weather, too, instead of living accord with it. However, why are so many of us so hell-bent on the madness of changing other people to suit ourselves, and forcing them to do what we want them to? Perhaps all the sensitive human people get scrapped and sent off to mental hospitals? Perhaps “mental illness” is a sign of health—of a person who refuses to knuckle under to a distorting and inhuman society? Who is healthier, the German youth who had no conflicts about shoveling people into hospitals, or the one who has a “nervous breakdown” because of his conflict about being pushed into doing something he did not approve of? Offered a choice, I say No to both. When I say no to both, I have to find my own alternative. When I am going someone else’s way, I require that others go along with me. When I am going someone else’s way, I have to let myself be sold on this—it does not come from me. Coming from outside as it does, I have an image of “what is good,” and then it seems to me that all others should follow this image too, and do “what is good,” “is right,” “like me.” At a deep level I am afraid, but it is not the fear which has made me follow the image, but having images that has separated me from myself and so I am afraid. In my fear, then I need others around me to do the same things that I do, to reassure me. When I am going my own way in freedom, I wish most for everyone else to go their way in freedom. When all of us are moving in freedom, there are no collisions. Only if I have a picture in my head of “how things should be,” this freedom looks chaotic to me because it does not match with what is happening. With established society actively discouraging recruitment into the pleasure professions, how do we account for the fact that in every gene pool and in every age a certain percentage of young adults pop up as pleasure-dispensers? We have to look into the genetic caste to understand this phenomenon. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21
Good looks and chemistry are the giveaways. Observe any group of children at play and you can forecast those who are robot-templated by DNA to play hedonic roles, who give off the radiation of magnetism and the flamboyant self-confidence of the budding performer. An interesting dilemma appears at this point. We do not have a formal, precise language to classify and describe the various pleasure-roles and hedonic processes. Indeed, before The Principles and Practice of Hedonic Psychology was written there has been a little scholarly attention to pleasure in Western literature. Whereas there exists an enormous nosology or disease classification of pain, an endless clinical listing of negative pathological states. There is no psychiatric or psychological classification of the states of excellence, elite accomplishment, or pleasure. It is true that a crude literature of beauty-pleasure exists in the East—pillow books, Tantric Hindu text, and Islamic-Sufi works. Neurocensorship is why there is no terminology for beauty-pleasure in the West. If words are invented for these myriad hedonic delights, then people will talk about them and enjoy them—a turn of events which Christian-Marxist hive establishments can not tolerate. Before the 1960s, in Western culture, hedonic bliss was taboo—reserved only for the aristocracy. Sexual pleasure was limited to martial intercourse—and then only for hive reproductive purposes. The taboo against the recognition of pleasure began to crumble in the 1960s and for the first time in the history of humanity a mass middle-class awakened to self-actualized hedonism. We can justly use the term “awaken” to describe the sudden insight that the body is a pleasure instrument, designed to receive a wide range of sensory stimuli that can be self-directed and self-controlled. Aesthetic artist sensory castes: Hedonic Consumer—those who receive pleasure. Hedonic Director—those who create pleasure realities for themselves and others. Hedonic Producer—those who exchange pleasure. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21
If a person is successfully satisfying basic needs, his or her energy and thoughts are freed for other interests. The exact nature of these interests will differ from person to person, but the diversity and intensity of involvement in matters outside the self is a good indicator of healthy personality. Dr. Maslow has suggested that having successfully dealt with these basic needs, the person can move on to B-motivation (being motivation), which involves giving joyous vent to the highest aspirations and needs; fullest self-actualization and attending to aesthetic needs; and appreciation of beauty, art, and the higher realms of thought or cognition. When we cease to be a problem to ourselves, because we have fulfilled our needs for security, love, and status, we will begin to see the World in a manner that differs from the way “deficiency-motivated” persons see it. We can forget ourselves and become involved in play, or in another person’s problems, and perhaps with the wellbeing of humanity as a whole. When one is in the midst of such privation oneself, it is difficult to become concerned about the hunger or enslavement of another person. When we have experienced and transcended these conditions, we can empathize with (id est, imagine vividness) the experience of others and devote ourselves to serving them. Many interests and values grow out of a person’s earlier quest for the means of gratifying basic needs. Thus, someone may become a physician as a means of assuring economic security. However, once the person is earning the money he or she was seeking, that person may (indeed should) find intrinsic fascination in the challenges posed by illness. The motivation for the practice of medicine changes then from a quest for money to a quest for knowledge of new ways to relieve suffering. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21
Whenever an interest in some activity comes into being as a means of satisfying basic needs, and then changes into a spontaneous fascination, the motive is said to be functionally autonomous of its more basic origins. We do not fully understand the mechanisms by which functional autonomy of motives occurs; it appears to be a matter of commitment. Human beings need meaningful activity to give direction and value to their existence. We have little difficulty understanding much human action, because it clearly serves the most basic needs. However, when a person has assured access to the basic requirements, the question arises what shall I do now with the time and energy that have become available? What is worth doing? One can consume only so much food, one can only be loved a certain amount, one can only be safe to some degree. What will I do next with my time and resources? We are dealing fundamentally with the question of persuasion. Some challenges, tasks, hobbies, and vocations that have little to do with one’s basic needs are “invested” with value and worth by our observation of someone else. We see someone doing something with his or her time that seems to give that person much satisfaction. Either by invitation or by self-initiative, persons explore ways to spend their time, and commit themselves to such activity. The billions of interests that absorb persons attest to the fact that we can give value to anything from collecting speedpods to scaling mountains at great risk to life and limb, because they are there. The capacity to commit oneself to activities and projects beyond basic need fulfillment is a further defining characteristic of healthier personality. While almost all writers in the field see attention to the self as the primary, basic preoccupation of the normally healthy person, all also see commitment outside of self as being characteristic of the healthy personality. This includes commitment to activities such as political change, social welfare, problems of the aged, commitment to an abstract ideal such as freedom or beauty, preservation of the environment, or commitment to another person—a beloved friend, wife, lover, or trustworthy leader. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21
It is important also to note that in the search for a direction of commitment, once can choose an unworthy and even dangerous commitment, especially when it is presented under the cloak of religion, politics, or even of psychology or some other abstract ideal. Thus, the many people who accompanied the Reverend Jim Jones to Guyana and to their deaths in 1978 were committing themselves to a leader, charismatic and hypnotic, who destroy them. There are many effective, meaningful religious and political commitments that a person can make that will better self and society. Some of the false commitments will offer false, cheap surcease for one’s personal pain. A wise young person will select commitments with care and with attention both to the maintenance of the freedom of the mind and to the assurance that one can change one’s mind and one’s commitment without fear of coercion, whether psychological or physical. No commitment or choice should ever be made to renounce your freedom to think for yourself. The man who is no longer disturbed by the presence or working or characteristic of his own ego will not be disturbed by that of others. No negative feeling will enter his attitude toward them. Although the repulsions to uncongenial persons may be acknowledge frankly, he can and should rise high above them. On the practical level, it is necessary to rectify the outer and visible causes of the disharmony between him and the other person, as far as that is possible. On the mental level, it is necessary to deal with the inner and invisible causes. The easiest way to begin such work is to begin it in creative meditation. There he should take up the picture of that person and mentally rectify the relation with him, adjust the thought of it to what it should be from the highest standpoint. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21
He should finish by prayerfully sending good thoughts for his inner improvement, and by forgiving any sins against himself. Thus, instead of criticizing or attacking the person against whom he has a grievance, with results that may provoke still more trouble, he should remain emotionally undisturbed whilst using constructive endeavours in right meditation and unselfish prayer for that person. This may bring about a remarkable change in him, or lese in the relationship with him, or at least in the aspirant’s own attitude towards that person. For whatever is given out to others, in the end comes back to oneself. When a superior patrician ancestry, or higher education, or greater wealth, or influential social position, lead in speech or behaviour to arrogant hauteur and scornful contempt for the less fortunate, it leads to the snob. In him, outward and formal good manners do not come from the heart; in him, the spirit contradicts the letter. Consequently, they are not really good manners at all. The question has been asked: what is one to do in the face of another person’s rudeness pushed to a point which is almost insulting? If on the belief in reincarnation it is viewed as a sign of the other person’s ill-formed character and low caste, this could be ignored in many instances. However, when it is not of such a kind and where one is constantly thrown into contact through work or relationship or residence so that one is exposed constantly to the same kind of contact, how should a spiritual aspirant deal with it? Regard it as a test and a challenge. It is a test of certain qualities which must be sought within oneself and drawn upon, such as patience, calmness, and learning. It is a challenge, and if one lacks those qualities, it is necessary to seek deeper and try to draw from the inner resources of the Higher Self. This means working previously both in meditation and in thought to picture the needed emotional and mental response, plus the resulting physical conduct, as a daily exercise, until this reaction has become somewhat regular. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21
Or we can supplement this with moving to the metaphysical field and remembering at the end that it is all part of the dream-like experience which, in appropriate conditions, or on sufficient degree of mental perception being attained, one sees life to be. When one has had a large experience of the World with widely different groups of people, races, tribes, nations, classes, and castes, one is unwilling to offer admiration without some sort of qualification to any human institution or any human being. And when one has studied the human entity metaphysically and psychologically, discovering the place and power of the ego, one finds philosophical support of this mental reservation. However, this need not imply cynicism: the presence of goodwill and the faith in ultimate salvation of all would preclude it. Since he needs to rule emotions and not let them rule him, to overcome passions and not become their victim, he must cultivate a diamond-like hardness. However, this is not directed toward others, only to himself, unless evil or foolish influences are seeking to sway him. No person who is really refined, that is to say by character and taste and not by birth or wealth, can bear the crudity, the unattractiveness, and the decadence of those literary, artistic, psychoanalytic, or “progressive” circles which take a delight in uttering filthy four-letter words. Spirituality shrinks into silence in such garrulous company, takes curtained-off refuge in its own natural fastidiousness and refinement; but again, I say these develop from within and are not imposed by the family of the “finishing school.” Whatever superficial interest these circles may take in so-called mystic experience, materialism and egotism are their real religious creeds, just as courtesy is not a genuine characteristic of their behaviour, whatever outward show of it they may hypocritically have to make at times. The noisy cheap mannerless and brassy cafes of Montmarte and Montparnasse are their familiar spiritual homes. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21
The Sacramento Fire Department is committed to life safety and protection of property for all residents and visitors of Sacramento, in addition to the safety and continuing education for all Sacramento Fire Department members. The Sacramento Fire Department is acutely aware of the importance of training and preparedness and works with many external groups and organizations to ensure that Sacramento is as prepared as any metropolitian city can be. The Sacramento Fire Department is committed to having a membership that mirrors the communities it serves, and for the Department to be an inclusive work environment for all members. “The fire happened about two in the afternoon, a quiet Saturday. It was an old hotel, which had two wings, one about five or six stories high and other six or seven stories, with a penthouse with a bay window on the top floor. Originally, it was a grand hotel, but it was under renovation for several months at that time. It was going to be restored. The only thing that was open was a restaurant on the ground floor. There were four alarms. There was very little fire to be seen, but a tremendous amount of smoke. We did an aggressive interior attack. There were all kinds of plywood partitions the workmen had put up to make temporary hallways. So the windows weren’t much help, and ventilation was poor. We went at it, and we thought it was a touch fight but a good fight, and we managed to knock this thing down. Some of the fire was in the coping and parts of the cockloft, and not too accessible. At about give o’clock we were relieved by the night tour. We had our lines up to the top floor, and the relief guys came in and they found us. Oh, yeah, here you are. Okay, we’re around the corner with the pumper. Okay, everybody’s here, we’re going to take off, see you later. The fire was pretty much knocked down, so we left. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21
“The station was only six blocks away, so we walked back. There were a million sirens going, and the firehouse was empty. One guy, who was late coming in for the night tour, was there. I said, ‘What happened?’ He said, ‘The hotel collapsed!’ And we went, ‘Holy God, it can’t! The fire is out! It can’t!’ Being young and on the job just short of two years, I was in a total state of shock. I couldn’t believe this. How could it happen? So we ran back. We were only gone about fifteen minutes. The whole back end of the building had collapsed from the top floor down to the basement. The pile of rubble was in a pyramid shape, about three stories high. Our ladder company, Ladder X, was in the back alley, and they had their stick up, their aerial ladder, and the entire rig was just crushed to a pulp. The whole scene looked like pictures of a bad earthquake. Just mountains of bricks. And nobody knew, especially with the change of tours and all the running and milling around, who had been inside the building and who hadn’t. There were innumerable roll calls, trying to figure it out. And then we started on it, brick by brick. Some of the guys were right there on top of the mountain, because they had been on the top floor. The top of the heap was apparently the way it had been on the top floor. The top of the heap was apparently they way it worked out: the higher up you were, the easier it was, so to speak, even though they had to ride down seven floors. So our lieutenant from the night tour was found almost immediately, badly injured, also another of our firefighters from the night tour, Y. After that, with the plies of cement and brick, you just knew it was hopeless. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21
“We went from the top piece by piece, brick by brick, piece of cement by piece of cement, still watching to make sure the other two sides of the interior walls didn’t collapse on us. They got the last guy out about one in the morning. Somewhere around eleven o’clock, I just took my helmet and fire coat off, and I just walked away. I walked away like I was a zombie. I guess that’s exactly what I was. It was a way of saying, without actually saying it, ‘I can’t handle this anymore, I’m leaving.’ I don’t know how to explain it, it’s like I was hypnotized. Unfortunately, I can never forget seeing the guy from our company. His helmet was all crushed up. And all you can say to yourself is, there but for a couple of minutes…or if somebody had called and said, ‘I’m going to be late, will you hang in there for me?’ I literally fell apart, because I was saying to myself, this isn’t what the job is supposed to be like. It was not a good time at all because I didn’t really know how to deal with it. I later found out that the fire was not the major cause of the collapse. The contractors had removed a good portion of the fire wall down in the basement, and with a duct had penetrated the remining wall right next to a lone bearing column. And it turned out that this one column was the only thing that was holding up the entire section of the building. So I walked away, and I walked back to the firehouse, and there was a relocated company there from some other part of the city. They said, ‘We got people calling here.’ Then I realized I hadn’t called anybody at home. I’d never thought of it. I called my wife, Z. I didn’t have much to say. She said everybody had been calling and all that stuff. The day of the funeral was a cold, rainy day, driving rain. At Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. I had never seen so many firefighters in one place before. Because of one the guys was from our company, we got seats inside, up front. Seeing everybody lined up outside, it was starting to sink it—okay, this job isn’t fun. You’ve heard stories of other guys getting killed on the job, but nothing has the impact of the guy being in your own company and you being there. And it never stopped raining once, the whole time, and nobody said a heck of a lot afterwards. But you could tell everybody was thinking the same thing.” #RandolphHarris 20 of 21
One quality of his everyday conduct which will be noticeable to others will be his self-effacement. He is immediately ready to enter into their standpoint, sympathetically and helpfully, to listen patiently whilst they talk only about themselves. To be in public service, one must free himself from all narrow racialist views, national prejudices, class feelings, and personal selfishness. The Sacramento Fire Department understands that all people are linked together and strives to sustain and improve the health, safety, convenience, and welfare of the citizens of Sacramento and to plan for the future development of the community. You can help save lives and property by donating to the Sacramento Fire Department. And remember parents, please raise your children to love America, to be patriotic, to love God and Jesus, respect law and others, treat others with dignity and respect, and remind them of the importance of education. To help America survive the global recession and bring manufacturing jobs back to America and to get American wages at pace with inflation, it is important to buy America cars, American meat, American produce and other American made goods and services. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with Liberty and Justice for all. Our Father, our King, be gracious unto us and answer us, for we are wanting in good deeds; deal with us in charity and lovingkindness, and please save us. One who regard impartially friends and foes, foreigners and relatives, the righteous and unrighteous, he excelleth. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21
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The Who-Done-It Mystery is Solved!
Regardless of education, geography, faith, calling, or family, mental health challenges can impact anyone; they are nothing to be ashamed of and should be met with love. As for “schizophrenic person”—there is no such thing. A person scared out of his wits is not a person at all. I was with some people labeled “schizophrenic” in a mental hospital recently. One of them was a woman in her middle years, of outward composure and grace. She was wearing a gingham dress—blue and white checks—with some sort of kerchief around her shoulders, but she sat as though wearing velvet and a cashmere shawl—as though these things belonged to her as a matter of course. She answered all questions, conveying complete confidence in her answers. However, they went like this: “Do you know the date?” “Yes, I’ve studied that. It’s November 19th.” “Do you hear voices?” “Yes, don’t you?” “No, I do not hear them. Are the voices male or female?” “That depends on the wiring in the building.” Her face was delicate, her eyes tender, with a hint of pain. When she was asked, “Where do you live?” she did not say “here” or “in a hospital,” or even “California” where she was, but referred to a farm in Illinois where she was “so lonely.” That loneliness is where she lives. This woman’s tenderness was very clear—but she never showed any response to any of us around her. She was caught in egocentricity, selfishness, and uselessness. #RandolphHarris 1 of 20
Another woman, thirty-one, came in and walked to the window, looked out, then back, and there was something haunting or haunted in her eyes. She seemed to have no awareness of any of us, either then or when she suddenly became quick and like a child rushed to the light switch near the door and flicked it on and off. From there she went skippingly to another door and opened it, and flipped the light switch inside it on and off. Then to another door, where she did the same. Back and forth, from one to another, without end. When the psychiatrist called to her to “come and sit down” she obediently did—but in just a few seconds she hopped up and went from light switch to light switch again, always flipping them twice. When she did it only once, in a moment she turned and did it again. When the psychiatrist called to her to leave, she came, and as she went through the door, she said to him, making it a statement with a question in it, “I’m not a bad girl.?” When I remember that thought in myself as a child, I know her terrible unhappiness. She was caught in egocentricity, selfishness, and uselessness. These people are painfully trapped. I no longer know what the technical definition of schizophrenia is. Certainly it includes a wide variety of conditions of varying severity. Some could be genetic and/or metabolic. #RandolphHarris 2 of 20
The key for me is that schizophrenic has found some of his subjective inner World in the outer World—colouring it—distorting it—concealing some aspects of reality from his vision. This may or may not lead to social difficulty. It can extend from mild degrees on up to the whole of the outer World becoming diseased and disturbed, flooded with the unrecognized inner. A touch of this inner is recognized by a young woman when she writes: “The main indication to me of how and where I’m goofed up is how and where I try to goof up others. One thing I’ve learned. I have very little self-confidence and so operate on the defensive and resent suggestions and even help, seeing it as criticism and/or competition. I think I’ve had this brilliant insight before—I’ll probably keep having it until I can learn it in myself as well as in my head. Essentially, the word schizophrenic means that here is a person who is highly sensitive to his own inner experience and also to interpersonal relationships with others, who has been so defeated and traumatized in endeavouring to make use of his sensitivities that he has retreated both from his own experiencing and from any real contact with others. In addition to this fairly basic understand, the word schizophrenic also means to me that anyone whose behaviour is deviant and who cannot easily be understood is tossed in this all-encompassing basket. #RandolphHarris 3 of 20
I try to remain open-minded to the possibility that there may be specific genetic, chemical, nutritional, or environmental factors which may bear some causative relationships to the behaviour that is called schizophrenic. A more comprehensive definition of schizophrenia is the absence of (or great narrowing of) that felt experiential interaction process which we are as people and which we feel as our concrete selves. When an individual is stuck in a hurtful relationship situation so that he can neither leave it nor feel and relate himself sufficiently to it, then he becomes deadened and empty inside, reports that he is “not himself.” The ongoing feeling process on which we all rely inside becomes muddy, swampy, unreliable, or stopped, and feeling contents become stuck, frozen, unowned, seemingly alien, static places, rather than fluidly functioning feeling. I deny that psychosis is psychotic content that are in all of us and can “erupt.” I believe instead that such “psychotic contents” are really a certain manner of being alive. Past LSD and other drug experiments have strongly confirmed this view. It seems that whether an individual under the influence of drugs comes up with horrible experiences or with wonderful experiences depends not on him (as a self-enclosed piece of well or poorly working machinery) but on the relationship situation in which he is (and feels himself to be) when he takes the drug. #RandolphHarris 4 of 20
If he takes it in a friendly situation close to someone he trusts, he has a wonderful experience. Early psychological experiments which attempted to test LSD under carefully pure circumstances (the subject alone in an otherwise empty room!) produced something very like schizophrenia. The flap over recombinant DNA research, life extension and cloning is a wonderful sign that neurogenetic consciousness is emerging. Nothing can happen in evolution until the dom-species gets upset and worried. When the misguided politicians and the liberal agitators moralize about “monster escaping from the laboratory and being unleashed on the unsuspecting public,” the out-caste intelligence operative perks up interest. The “monsters,” of course, are us in the future. Evolutionary Agents reassure the dom-species about future-phobias and point out that allowing the next mutation to occur is the best way to avoid past terrors, because past-terrors are wors than future fears. Thus domesticated adult capitalists realized that some social-welfarism is the only way to avoid a return to barbarian-dictatorships. The communist stage ten dictators realized that some individual consumerism is the only way to avoid a return to tribal anarchy. It is the Evolutionary Agents’ role to demonstrate that civilian voluntary space migration is the only way to deal with the tensions of nationalism, tribalism and self-actualization. #RandolphHarris 5 of 20
Similarly, homophobes come to see that the only way to keep homosexuals away from their children is to allow gay societies in post-terrestrial plan-its. Racists of all colours realize that the only way to preserve discrimination and racial pride is in High Orbital Mini Earths-HOMEs. It is becoming obvious that the only solution to hive terrors, both past and future, is migration to space plan-its. The past always migrates behind the future. Today’s future taboo is tomorrow strict and rigid doctrine. Liberals are alarmed that nuclear energy, brain-changing drugs, radiation-control of brains, genetic engineering might fall into the hands of barbarian territorial dictators. Cloning, the key migratory technique for a post-terrestrial species, was first discussed in fearful terms of Hitler-like revivals. The hive custodians frighten people with mad scientist Nazi-devil rumors and thus concealed the possibility that you can clone yourself and friends. The same taboo-terror is projected on post terrestrial intelligence. We are warned that Martians were coming to harm us—not to enlighten or entertain us. Such natural hive fears can be assuaged by the realization that nuclear energy, brain-changing drugs such as LSD, cloning, and genetic research can only be safely employed in frontier, experimental communities—which can be found only in HOMEs. The first signs of neurogenetic consciousness are communities that are into self-actualization and states where the governors are space plan-it enthusiasts. #RandolphHarris 6 of 20
The human brain is programmed by RNA-DNA to fabricate technological realities and to build environments and new plan-its. External technology produces the pollution that activates the next brain-circuit. DNA is not concerned with evolving new anatomical-physiological forms adapted to a heavy 1-G planet. Terrestrial evolution is over-irrelevant. Now that high orbital migration is beginning, now that the futique species are moving into their designated ecological niche-high orbit-the goal of DNA is to create technologies adapted to multiple-G living. DNA is an evolutionary acceleration tool. The current survival problems on planet Earth are due to overpopulation swarming and cannot be solved by anatomical mutations. The next stages are neurological—neurotechnological. Encourage the appropriate castes of the human species to decode DNA and increase altitude and mobility. Life is no longer a disaster movie. The Who-Done-It mystery is solved! You are responsible. You are the hip-robots who are going to take over the Master-Designer role. It is your job to fabricate improved mini-Worlds. Who are you? You are those who recognize this signal and self-select yourselves as Future Builders. Continued feeling of freedom from obsessing desires, inordinate urges, and undue craving is generally a suitable indication that the character is sufficiently purified to enter a further stage. #RandolphHarris 7 of 20
It is men who condemn themselves to this abject, undisciplined servitude of the passions and senses; so it is men themselves who must seek and win freedom from it. It is hard to do so, but it is also hard to suffer the consequences of not doing so. If you recognize that the feeling, the desire or body-sensation is pulling you away from the ideals set up for the Quest, hoist yourself out of it at once. Let others look for the second-rate and third-rate: let him be more discriminating, more fastidious, and seek the best alone. If he lets them go beyond his control, the senses will stupefy a man into foolish desires. Wisdom and security alone dictate that he shall become self-mastered. For this it is necessary to call up the will and to practise using it until it is developed into something strong. If before performing an impulsive, undisciplined, and irresponsible deed he would remember what the consequences are and that he will have to bear them, then he will have taken the first step towards self-mastery. The rising generations have legitimate complaints against their ancestors. However, in the matter of winning full freedom to follow their desires and upset the old Christian moral codes, the Mosaic decalogues, Confucian precepts, and the Indian taboos, they need to pause. Puritanic ideals are denounced but are not entirely inhuman: they have to be sifted and the good in them taken out. Stoic, simple living and self-discipline can be softened, its harshness also taken out, and the residue will be what the moderns need of they are to travel up higher and not sink lower. #RandolphHarris 8 of 20
In what manner are men free who, in some way, to some extent, are enslaved by pleasures of the flesh, society, ambition, swelling desires, possessions, neighbours, associates, and family? Only by releasing ourselves from our desires can we hope to find lasting peace. If this seems like a heavy price to pay, we have only ourselves to blame. When terrestrial desires rage in a man, each satisfaction of them seems to be an asset, something gained; but when he is more awakened and freer from them, he begins to see how much of a liability these desires are, how wise and prudent it is to check them and finally transmute them. If he is no longer a victim of passions or at the mercy of emotions, it will not be because his blood temperature is too low, but because his control of himself is high. The animal gives way to its desires and feelings more quickly than the human because it acts by instinct. The animal gives way to its desires and feelings more quickly than the human because it acts by instinct. The human, so far as he is an animal, also acts by instinct. However, to the extent that he has developed reason and will he has developed a counter to that instinct which moderates or controls his desires and his feelings. Those humans who are nearer on the scale of evolution to the animal kingdom give way to passion and anger more readily because they have less self-control. #RandolphHarris 9 of 20
A silent but self-declaring presence comes into knowledge whenever he puts a brake on that downward and Earthward movement of daily life which is the common lot—not to stop it altogether but to halt it for short periods or to slow it down so that he is not wholly carried away. The control of the lower nature which society may demand and religion may encourage, which makes a good man by conventional standards, is not enough for philosophy. It is only a stage of the mountain’s ascent: the summit has yet to be conquered. The transformation of this nature, making it utterly responsive to the Overself, is the philosophic goal. Self-effort can lead to its control but only Grace can lead to this transformation. All this does not imply that he is to become perfect and faultless before he can see the Overself, but that he has to become much more developed before he can stay in the awareness of it. Sometimes men get caught in traps. He might be faced with a situation which he can do absolutely nothing about. Yet his whole life, he had done something about every situation he found himself in. This constant doing, constant effort, makes his life one long struggle with the World and with other aspects of his own self. Man sometimes denies the underdog side of his nature—choosing, as a top-dog, to manipulate rather than to lose, to dominate rather than surrender. #RandolphHarris 10 of 20
However, in so doing, he denies a simple fact of life, which, as trite as it may sound, is still true. And the truth is, “You cannot win them all.” His refusal to lose or be wrong leads him eventually to a position in which he has to lose and no amount of effort can help him win. The top-dog is useless in this situation. Abraham Maslow points out that our Western culture is built generally on Judeo-Christian theology which places great emphasis on what one does rather than who one is. The United States of America in particular is dominated by a Puritan ethic of doing, of applying effort, and working hard. We come to believe that in any given situation, there is always something we can do about it. There is a paradoxical nature of being and impossibility of striving for such qualities as wisdom, dignity, courage and humility. Understanding this concept is extremely important in your journey toward mastery, because it means that the most profound qualities of mastery cannot be striven for. They are qualities of being. You cannot do courageous, you can only be it. You can do a courageous act, but only after you have become courageous. The way to do is to be. In the summer of 1776, when the representatives of the American colonies were at the point of total frustration as to what to do about their differences with the British, they issues a declaration, which read, in part: “We…solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES…” #RandolphHarris 11 of 20
Note that this is a state of condition, of being. The signers of the Declaration did nothing more than state who they were and what they were all about. It is significant that only after these words did they say: “…and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.” First they made a statement of being, then they said what they were going to do about it. The doing followed out of the statement of being. And indeed it can be no other way. Had the colonies simply started making war, lining up allies, printing money, and doing all the things a free country can do, there would have been mass confusion among the colonists and among the people of the other countries. The first question would have been, “What are you, a British colony, a state, a country? What are you all about?” The statement of being, the Declaration of Independence, made clear what the colonies were all about and provided a firm foundation upon which the new nation could carry out its activities. Being, then, is not as un-America as it once looked. We can be vigorous, we can be dynamic and active, but our activity must flow out of our being, out of what we are and what we are all about. #RandolphHarris 12 of 20
However, there are some people who rebel against their scripts, apparently doing the opposite of what they are “supposed” to. Common examples are the “rebellious” adolescent and the woman who says, “The last thing I want to do is be like my mother.” Such cases have to be evaluated very carefully, as there are several possibilities. They may have been living on their counterscripts, and the apparent rebellion is merely “an outbreak of script.” Conversely, they may have been living on their scripts, and shifted to their counterscripts. They may have found the spellbreaker, and be released from the scripts. They may have different script directives from each parent, or from two different sets of parents, and are shifting from one set to another. They may be merely following a special script directive that tells them to rebel. The person may be a “script failure” who has despaired of carrying out his script directives and has simply given up. This is the cause of many depressions and schizophrenic breakdowns. On the other hand, he may have freed himself and “got out of his script” through his own efforts or with the help of psychotherapy. However, this must be carefully distinguished from “going into an antiscript.” These many alternatives emphasize how thorough the script analyst must be if he (and his patient) are to understand correctly the origin of certain changes in behaviour. #RandolphHarris 13 of 20
An antiscript resembles closely what Erikson calls “identity diffusion.” If the script is compared to a computer punch card, then an antiscript is attained by turning the card around. This is a very rough analogy, but it makes the point. Where a mother says, “Do not drink,” the man drinks. Where she says, “Take a shower every day,” he does not wash. Where she says, “Do not think,” he thinks, and where she says, “Study hard,” he drops out. In short, some men are meticulously defiant. However, since he has to control his programing to know precisely how and where to be defiant, he is just as surely programed by disobeying each instruction as if he obeyed them all. Thus, where “freedom” is really defiance, it is only an illusion. Inverting his programing still leaves him programed. Such an inversion, turning the card around rather than tearing it up, is called an antiscript, and antiscripts offer a fertile field for further study. The war is against the machine. To the American middle-class, destruction of property is violence. Every American is protected by arms. There is no piece of land in the World not under the protective surveillance of someone’s guns. The writer, of course, has no need to refuse himself anything. For him, at least, boundaries disappear and desire can be allowed free rein. In this respect Sade is the perfect man of letters. He created a fable in order to give himself the illusion of existing. #RandolphHarris 14 of 20
Sade put “the moral crime that one commits by writing” above everything else. His merit, which is incontestable, lies in having immediately demonstrated, with the unhappy perspicacity of accumulated rage, the extreme consequences of rebellious logic—at least when it forgets the truth to be found in its origins. These consequences are a complete totalitarianism, universal crime, an aristocracy of cynicism, and the desire for an apocalypse. They will be found again many years after his death. However, having tasted them, he was caught, it seems, on the horns of his own dilemma and could only escape the dilemma in literature. Strangely enough, it is Sade who sets rebellion on the path of literature down which it will be led still farther by the romantics. He himself is one of those writers of whom he says: “their corruption is so dangerous, so active, that they have no other aim in printing their monstrous works than to extend beyond their own lives the sum total of their crimes; they can commit no more, but their accursed writings will lead others to do so, and this comforting thought which they carry with them to the tomb consoles them for the obligation that death imposes on them of renouncing this life.” Thus his rebellion writings bear witness to his desire for survival. Even if the immortality he longs for is the immortality of Cain, at least he longs for it, and despite himself bears witness to what is most true in metaphysical rebellion. #RandolphHarris 15 of 20
Forgetting of Intensions, Names. I once forgot to write a letter of recommendation for a graduate student whom I disliked for personal reasons that had nothing to do with his ability. Fortunately, the student received the position without the benefit of my letter. Accidents. Accidents may result in disadvantage either to the person having the accident or to others, depending upon the unconscious motivation—guilt in the former case, hostility in the latter. A colleague’s wife spilled ink on a manuscript her husband was working on (neglecting her as he did the work) as she cleaned his study. A student broke his hand shortly before he had to taken an examination for which he felt unqualified. Examples from Projective Test (those in which the person projects hidden aspects of self into pictured situations). A twenty-two-year-old undergraduate student once consulted me for help with vague guilt feelings, inability to study, and fierce headaches that occurred whenever he went home or was obliged to spend any time with the dean, one of his professors, or his boss at a part-time job. He appeared to be extremely polite. (He used the word sir in almost every sentence when talking to me.) In the test, many of his stories included some expression of violence and hatred toward authority figures. The student told this story about a pictured situation that show an old man stretching his hand toward the reclining figure of a younger man: #RandolphHarris 16 of 20
“This boy is having a nap. The old man, his father, is coming in to get him out of bed so he’ll get back to his studies. His father has been nagging him for ages about how lazy he is. The boy has been putting up with this for a long time. This is the last straw. When he wakes up, he’ll be so mad he’ll start beating up on his father. He’ll grab a chair and start mashing in his head. When he finishes, his old man will be a bloody pulp. The body will get the electric chair, but he won’t care, it was worth it.” It is not too farfetched to infer at least some unconscious hostility toward authority figures in this young man. There is no discovered way, as yet, to prove that an inference of unconscious motivation is warranted. Nevertheless, it can be shown that the motives a person will consider as possible influences upon his action will change under special circumstances. A patient entering psychotherapy may act in ways that humiliate his wife; yet at the outset he may vigorously deny having hostile feelings toward her. Finally he can admit having hostile feelings, without guilt or anxiety. In addition, his hostility, if rational and warranted, may come to be expressed much more openly than it was before. It often happens that recognition and understanding of irrational hostility will reduce or eliminate it. Repression, obviously, is not an effective way to deal with problems of existence. People sometimes repress experience because they have a strict conscience; it is often healthier to attempt to change the conscience or to accept the fact that one is not as “good” as one would like to believe. #RandolphHarris 17 of 20
Repression is a way to ward off anxiety, but there are more effective healthier ways. Repression may ward off painful frustration, but there are healthier ways to avoid frustration, such as learning skills. Only where repression is temporary and permits important action to be completed, or where it forestalls psychosis, can it be regarded as good for healthy personality. The mission of the Sacramento Fire Department and Emergency Medical Service Department is to preserve life and property and promote health and safety through excellent pre-hospital treatment and transportation, fire prevention, fire suppression rescue activities, and homeland security awareness. The department is responsible for providing fire suppression, ambulance service, and hazardous materials containment for Sacramento City. “So I became an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician). I was worried about it. Blood and stuffy really bothered me if it was somebody else’s, but not when it was mine. At the hospital, as long as I has a full stomach, I could watch everything except the initial cutting open of a person, even at an autopsy. I would have had to look away. Once they’re open, it doesn’t bother me. After I found out I could handle blood, I went ahead and became a paramedic. #RandolphHarris 18 of 20
“We had two nurses teaching the EMT class. The first night they gave us a whole list of medical terms. One was “blood pressure.” Until that day, I never knew what blood pressure was. So I asked, and a lot of the guys in the class laughed at me, but I found out what I wanted to know. The fire department gave me a direction that I was really enjoying. I was headstrong, real hyper. I tried to do everything. Every time I had a chore to do, or a fire to do, I tried to do everything as fast as I could. The worst one before I really got into paramedic was a two-year-old baby. The mother was fixing to take an older child in a station wagon to some kind of meeting. She was also close to nine months pregnant. The father, who was a preacher, was in the house, and the two-year-old was supposed to stay there. The mother got in the car and didn’t notice that the baby had gotten out of the house and was standing behind the car. She backed down the drive, hit the baby, and a wheel went right over the little girl’s head. The father ran out and did CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and mouth-to-mouth on the baby, and got her going again. We got there just before the ambulance crew, and we helped them. You couldn’t really tell if the baby’s head was deformed, but she was bleeding from her nose, mouth, and ears. It was just real sad. One paramedic was pretty freaked. #RandolphHarris 19 of 20
“During transport to neurosurgery the baby died. That affected me for a long time. That was before I had any children. It really gave me doubts as to whether I wanted to be a paramedic or not. They took the mother with them in the front of the ambulance. They were worried about her as well as the baby, because she was freaking. She totally lost everything, which I would, too. Any normal parent would have, after running over her own child. The father kept his composure. At first, the accident was called in as a 1050, a car wreck. And the father had blood around his mouth and on his nose when we arrived, and I thought there had been some type of care wreck. I didn’t know until later that he had done CPR on the child. He also did his best with his wife. At the hospital, of course, she had to be sedated and all that. I really care a lot about people—whether it’s putting out their fires, trying to save their lives, or getting a baby out of a well.” The Sacramento Fire Department is led by an extraordinary team of individuals who are dedicated to providing Sacramento City with World-Class safety services. Remember parents, please raise your children to love America, to be patriotic, to love God and Jesus Christ, to honour law and order, and treat all people, property and living beings with dignity. It is also important to buy American made goods and services, such as American made cars, clothes, meat, produce, dairy, and more. Our goal is to leave things better than we received them. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic, for which it stands, One Nation, under God, indivisible with Liberty, and Justic for all. Father of Peace, please grant us Thy peace, please Grant us Thy blessing, Thy blessing of peace. Wherever they be, please great America peace; Merciful One, Thou art He who grantest Thy people peace. O may we see our children, our children, and their children Devoted to the Lord, to the scripture—yea, please grant America peace. Thou wondrous Counsellor, mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace! #RandolphHarris 20 of 20
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The World is full of people that will try to take advantage of the less fortunate and thin it is cool but it is not and should instead be looking for ways to help each other so we all can live in peace. More than 70 percent of Americans are on medication, 30 percent of Americans are overweight, and 50 percent of American eat unhealthily, while only 19 percent of Americans exercise regularly. Meanwhile, former President Biden has set an unrealistic goal for the transition to electric vehicles. In just 5 years, 50 percent of all new vehicles sold in the United States of America are mandated to be electric. The reason being that “accelerated adoption of electric vehicles can improve air quality, reduce emissions, and position U.S. industries to lead global efforts.” However, should the United States of America not be more concerned about the health of their cities and be encouraging them to adopt lifestyles that include fitness and healthy food? Should the United States of America not be leading global efforts to have the healthiest population in the World? Many benefits of physical activity for brain health happen right after a session of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Benefits include improved thinking or cognition for children 6 to 13 and reduced short-terms feelings for adults. Regular physical activity can help keep your thinking, learning, and judgment skills sharp as you age. It can also reduce your risk of depression and anxiety and help you sleep better. #RandolphHarris 1 of 17
Physical activity is beneficial to health and well-being and conversely, physical inactivity increases risk for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and other poor health outcomes. NCDs describes a wide range of conditions, diseases, and disorders. These have genetic, lifestyle, or environmental causes rather than viral or bacterial, and they are characterized as health conditions that: Are not caused by acute infections or illness, result in long-term health issues, and require long-term treatment and care, such as lifestyle changes or medication. Health conditions that are consider NCDs are: Cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic lung illness, injuries that cause permanent damage, and mental illness. NCDs are the number 1 cause of death and disease around the World, killing more then 42 million people Worldwide on an annual basis. This accounts for 74 percent of all deaths globally. Each year, 15 million people around the World die prematurely, between, the ages of 30 and 69 years old, from an NCD. Cardiovascular diseases make up most NDC deaths, followed by cancer, respiratory diseases, and then diabetes. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that members should obey the Word of Wisdom, eat nutritious food, exercise regularly, control their weight, and get adequate sleep. #RandolphHarris 2 of 17
Members are taught to eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and meat. They are also taught to shun substances or practices that abuse their bodies or minds and that could lead to addiction. Members should also practice good sanitation and hygiene, bathe every day, and obtain adequate medical and dental care. Not all NCDs are preventable, but you can lower your risk by maintaining healthy habits. Stop smoking and drinking liquor. Get more physical activity. Regular physical activity offers a multitude of health benefits. If exercise is not part of your day, set a goal to get moving for 20 minutes a day. You can walk, jog, bike, hike, row, or anything else. Set up an exercise plan that does not require a gym at all. Do 20-30 minutes of strength training two days a week. Strat with bodyweight exercises. Use free weights and weight machines only when an expert can help you. The global recommendation is of at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week. Together, physical inactivity and sedentary behaviours are contributing to the rise in NCDs and placing a burden on healthcare systems. So why is it that former President Biden has placed such huge importance on mandating electrical vehicles, instead of working to produce a healthier population? Because electrical vehicles are profitable and he likely benefits for the sale of them. #RandolphHarris 3 of 17
Also, mandating the people eat healthier and get more exercise may reduce consumer demands on medication and vehicles and producers can only charge so much for food because everyone has to eat. So, it is important to keep people on medication and keep them focused on electrical cars to generate profits. Maintaining the best possible physical health has been a gospel ideal throughout the ages—from the strict dietary laws of ancient Israel, with the example of Daniel and his associates, to the Word of Wisdom. The physical body is a gift from God and should be properly cared for and respected. Mental health is also important and should not be overlooked, as it can affect us both physically and spiritually. We must do all we can to take care of both our bodies and minds. The Lord sets a high standard for us in telling us to consider our bodies a temple. He has established some basic standards for the governance of our physical bodies and mental health so that we may become more self-reliant and better prepared to progress personally, strengthen the family, and serve in the Church and community. Throughout the Christian Bible, God asked His people to abstain from certain foods. Today is no different. God has given wise counsel to help all His children be healthy. Those who follow God’s counsel in the Word of Wisdom are promised that they will receive health, find wisdom, and “run and not be weary, and walk and not faint,” reports Doctrine and Covenants 89.18-20. #RandolphHarris 4 of 17
Winners are programed, too. Instead of a curse, there is a blessing: “Long life!” or “Be a great man.” The injunction is adaptive instead of constricting: “Do not be selfish!” and the come-on is “Well done!” With such benevolent controls, and all his permissions, there is still his demon to contend with, lurking in the murky caverns of his primal mind. If his demon is a friend instead of, then he will have it made. Does everyone have a script? At the present, there is no way to answer this question with any degree of certainty, but it is certain that everyone is programed to some extent from early years. As previously mentioned, some people can become autonomous through drastic external circumstances, others by internal reorganization, and still others by applying the antiscript. The key lies in permissions. The more permissions a man has, the less he is bound by his script. On the other side, the more severely the script controls were reinforced, the more script-bound he is. It is likely that the human race as a whole forms a curve. At one end are those who become autonomous by one means or another, and at the other end are those who are script-bound, with most people in between, subject to changes in circumstances or outlook. Among the script-bound, there are two types. #RandolphHarris 5 of 17
Script-driven people are those who have lots of permissions, but must fulfill the demands of their scripts before they can enjoy them. A good example is the hard worker who can have fun in his spare time. Script-ridden people are those who have few permissions, but must spend as much time as possible fulfilling their scripts at any cost. A typical example is the heavy drinker or drug addict who must speed toward his doom as quickly as he can. The script-ridden are the victims of tragic or “hamartic” scripts. On the other hand, it is a rare person who has not at one time or another heard the voice of the demon in his head, telling him to buy when he should sell, or stay when he should go, or speak when he should remain silent. The predom taboo against genetic consumerism surfaced when citizens became morally outraged by genetic engineering and cloning. The emergence of a new taboo is always a sign for evolutionary rejoicing. Today’s new taboo is tomorrow’s advance. Agents who create new crimes are automatically promoted to the Gut-Caste Hall of Fame. Examples of relatively new crimes include bootleg radio broadcasting, psychedelic drug manufacturing, nuclear research, computer larceny, leaving a country without an exit visa, DNA research and cloning. The passions of men are so resistant to control that in no single method is there sure hope of overcoming them. Only in a combination of methods does this. #RandolphHarris 6 of 17
The high moments of Heavenly inspirations are laid low in the dust of obscenity or lust. The effect of passional indulgences spreads out on physical and mental levels. If we learn by bitter experience to drop the burden of one particular desire, we do so only to pick up another soon after. We are not content to be at peace. The desires of human beings are never satiated, nor can they ever be since human beings must go on searching for final satisfaction. It is in their nature to do so. However, what cannot be satiated by outer things can turn in one itself and find rest at last within. How morally helpless many persons allow themselves to become is shown by the compulsive nature of their deeds and the obsessive nature of their thoughts. It is the strength or feebleness of his attachments and desires which largely govern his first and earlier paces in the relinquishment of ego. When insight arises, the passions become subdued and the problems which beset man become solved of their own accord. We may quarrel and kill whilst we remain in ignorance, but we must needs feel for and with each other when we comprehend at long last that in the Overself we are one. All too easily do luxurious habits become insatiable habits, ever demanding more and more and meanwhile creating tension of discontent. Whereas the conventional good man seeks to leave behind only the gross flagrant forms of sin, the philosophic disciple is much more scrupulous. Whereas the one is content to moderate the strength of his lower nature, the other tries to subjugate it altogether. #RandolphHarris 7 of 17
There is one side of a person that always has to come out on top. That is the person who is always successful or dominant in the field. Your top-dog self is critical, judgmental and always has to be right. It gets the best of people, rather than trying to help or support them. Most people have been playing that side so long, they believe that it is all of them there is. However, that is not it. There is another side, the underdog, the one who has little chance of winning. This is the side that comes out in some when dealing with someone they care about. The soft, supportive side. That side that does not have to win every battle. Every man has to accept that he may be a loser and that sometimes it is good to lose. It feels good to let down the defenses and just give in to someone else. However, sure it feels good to always be successful at everything, but what does it get a person? A man who gets everything done, who makes all the money. He is sometimes seen by others as worthless. Yet, what is so worthless about feeling good? Does having all that success and money ever make a man feel really good? Is not being able to feel love worth something, too? People who are used to coming out on top need someone to humanize them. They need someone to take care of them and keep them in line. #RandolphHarris 8 of 17
It is nice to come home to someone who goes to an import place and spends $1,500 on beautiful things for your homecoming. Blue Tiffany lamps that look great in your bedroom. Blue bed sheets from India. Colour of the sky, two blue pillows, incense, candles, Danish cheeses, Holland cheeses, smoked oysters, artichoke hearts. Carrot juice and more food. Soft Kleenex to wipe your nose. Fruit from the fruit stand. Coming home from a business trip to a nice ranch house where everything is sunny. Fresh baked bread, freshly picked apples, berries, plumbs. Then seeing the lake. How beautiful and fresh it is, and then taking a nice steam bath. Imagine a loving home near a mossy meadow, falling down in the sun and breathing deeply. This is much better than being a prisoner of success alone. A prisoner whose unbounded imagination gave birth to him, and they became one. Being alone, imprisoned in a bloodstained Bastille, entirely constructed around a still unsatisfied, and henceforth undirected, desire for please. Some men have only triumphed in a dream and those ten volumes crammed with philosophy and atrocities recapitulate an unhappy form of asceticism, an illusory advance from the total no to the absolute yes, an acquiescence in death at least, which transfigures the assassination of everything and everyone into a collective suicide. When a man only has success and no love, he is killed in his imagination. Others end up on an improvised stage with other lunatics. #RandolphHarris 9 of 17
Success without love is nothing more than a derisory equivalent of the satisfaction that the order of the World failed to give a man. We are to discipline, and when necessary, abstain from satisfying the lower impulses of our nature because we are to cultivate its higher intuitions. The clamant voice of the one drowns the soft whisper of the other. Ww must try to turn the flow of our passions into a sublimer channel than the sense alone. Variations in the muscle tonus of parts of a person’s body may reflect repressed emotions and the need tensions. A flaccid handshake may disclose a lack of sincerity. A soft, suckling mouth may reveal unconscious wishes to be passive and dependent. A female college student complained that men were forever “making passes” at her, yet she denied any erotic interest in males. Observation revealed her bodily movements were very provocative. She wiggled her hips when walking and pushed her chest high. When talking with a man, she glued her eyes, alternately opened and narrowed, to his. Men and women who have reached or passed the age of the late forties are more ready for, and better suited to, disciplining the animal nature and human passions than younger folk. It is more difficult to conquer lust than to walk on the edge of a sword. However, it can be done. No matter how much you feed your desires, they will never be satisfied. Therefore, direct them gradually towards the Infinite, in which they may ultimately merge, and from which there is no return. Repressed hostility may be manifested by excessive muscular tension in the forehead, neck, or shoulders, often resulting in headaches, a “pain in the neck,” and back pain. #RandolphHarris 10 of 17
The traditional mission of the Sacramento Fire Department was saving lives and protecting property from fire. However, today, the Sacramento Fire Department also prevents harm. Preventing fire, injuries, and disease by understanding what causes harm to firefighters, their systems, their members, and community is the most effective form of preventing harm. The ability to manage risks is essential for success and survival. “We were working night shift on Engine X. I sometimes work on my model fire engines, but that night I had gone over to have dinner with the captain of Engine Y, who was going to retire. I had just returned to the firehouse when the alarm came in. All of a sudden Engine X’s crew came running out of the kitchen like a football team, and the second alarm came in. With that, I knew that my older brother, Z, who was a battalion chief, was there. We had quite a bit of rain on the street, and driving there was slow going. On the way over, I heard Z, I knew it was his voice, asking for a third alarm and all the ambulances that were available. I now knew there was an explosion, but I didn’t know the extent. When I pulled in there, the scene was one of utter desolation, it was like a sea of bricks and fire of low intensity. The nearby buildings were just starting to catch. People were hobbling all over the place. All the firemen there were on rescue. Knowing that help was coming, I told the battalion to make sure the engine company stretched lines. I didn’t want them all going on rescue work, which there was a natural tendency for them to do. #RandolphHarris 11 of 17
“I looked and saw our rigs completely smashed. It was a sickening sight. The aerial ladder of Truck A had been blown across the street about thirty feet. It was crushed. The whole middle of the truck was flat down on the street, the tiller sticking up in the air like a sinking ship. Bricks were all over Engine B, one engine caved in, and there were men lying all over the place. It was just mind-boggling. We have the fire spreading in four different directions, so I called for more help. Two members of Rescue C brought Z over, just so I could see him. He was all bandaged and bloody. All he kept saying to me was, ‘I’m all right. I’m all right.’ I said, ‘You’re going to the hospital.’ And he said, ‘Oh, yeah.’ They said, ‘We’ll see he goes right away.’ So now I was the chief in charge. Z had a broken collarbone and a dislocated shoulder, and I didn’t know it at the time, but he had a five-inch wooden stake drive into the side of his throat and resting against the carotid artery. I didn’t know it, because they had bandaged right over it, deciding rightly that they shouldn’t try to remove it at the scene. They have bandaged his whole face and neck, and he looked like a mummy, all bloody. Of course, it was a shock to me to see my older brother like that, but I had the idea in my head that he was going to be all right. The fellows had control of the situation, and they were taking him to the hospital, so I didn’t really dwell on it. There was so much going on that I had to turn to the fire. #RandolphHarris 12 of 17
“I knew some of our men had died, they were laying all over the place, and there had to be people under the sea of bricks and rubble. And there were people in the nearby house fires who were hollering. I went to a fifth alarm and then got an additional two engines and two trucks, because I knew the first alarm was wiped out. I didn’t know how badly, but they were gone. By the time I put one company to work there was another one there looking for assignment. The rubble was starting to burn near Ladder B, and all I could think of was, if there was anyone underneath it and still alive, I didn’t want them to burn to death. I thought that would be a horrible thing. So I had the first lines keep the fire away from the rigs. It ended up that they weren’t under the truck, they were under Engine B. It was like looking for someone under water, you had no idea where to start in the tremendous confusion. Some of the victims had already been taken to various hospitals in police cars and private cars, and it took us quite a while to get an accurate head count, to find out who was missing. We finally broke it down that the entire crew of Ladder B were dead, all five of them. It was several hours before I found out what had happened. The building was a four-story warehouse, and they had a huge propane tank on the fourth floor, a five-hundred-gallon tank, I believe. It was completely illegal to have it in the building at all. One of the workers was moving the tank with a lift truck near the elevator shaft. It fell off the truck, the valve broke, and the liquid propane poured down the elevator shaft. The entire building got to the explosive stage at once. #RandolphHarris 13 of 17
“The workers ran out of the place and were out in front when Z arrived. They told him they had a propane tank that had burst. He assumed it was a twenty-gallon job or something like that. He asked them how big is it, and they said, ‘About as big as your car.’ He said that was the last thing that he remembers. That’s when the propane hit the wood stove on the first floor and blew the whole warehouse to pieces, totally destroyed it. It’s too bad that it didn’t blow sooner, we wouldn’t have had any problems. On the other hand, if it had blown later, we would have had more men killed. There wasn’t much left of the building, there was so much open fire, we kind of dismissed the possibility of more explosions in a warehouse. But some of the nearby houses had shifted and broken some of the natural gas lines into the houses. That got ignited. We also had a large frame church burning being the warehouse, which probably in itself would have been a third alarm, and for quite a while we had just one engine company working a turret on it. There were about nine or ten houses that were heavily damaged, and there were innumerable houses that got damage and window breakage for miles around the area. It was a tremendous sight. Once we got enough help in there to work on all the perimeter of the fire and hold it, then it was several more hours, I would say after midnight, when Commissioner C said they had the final count of casualties. It was the five members of Ladder B and two civilians. Then I got his permission to replace every company at the scene, because the weather was bitterly cold and the men were physically shot and emotionally shocked. #RandolphHarris 14 of 17
“I stayed until all the companies were replaced, then I went back to quarters and had a bowl of hot soup. Then I went to the hospital for the second time that night. By this time Z had been operated on and they said he was all right, so I didn’t even go in to see him. The first time I had gone, he was still in the emergency room along with some of our fellows who were burned, so I had a chance to talk to them. I also had the very unpleasant task of identifying one of the bodies. The chaplains and the commissioner and his deputy went to each individual’s house to notify the family of the deaths. They did the same thing with the injured. They brought their wives in and met them at the hospital. It was complete chaos there. The families were very cooperative. They realized that nothing could have been done to avert the tragedy. The companies had pulled up, just as you do on every box you go on, to find out what was going on. The five men of the ladder company had gotten off the truck and were standing together across the street from the building, waiting for orders. And Engine Y had pulled in, and they were on the back of their rig getting masks on in case they were needed. We’ve had people say that shouldn’t have been that close. Well, nobody had any idea what was going on. The members of Engine Y were just blown back, except for one who, along with my brother, was blown into the chief’s car. The member of Engine E was also blown back and, other than burns, were not hurt badly at all. #RandolphHarris 15 of 17
“But Ladder B’s crew just ended up being buried by all the debris. They were not blown away like the other fellows. In fact, one of the men from Engine E was talking to one of the men from Ladder B, and he was blown about sixty feet, and the man beside him was buried under the bricks and killed. Tw two who were blown into the chief’s car were badly injured. X was one of them. The other, named F, is not out on disability pension, at age thirty-two. He was very badly smashed up, a lot of broken bones. It was the second to last night on the job for the captain of Engine E, and he was going to get out, and the driver said to him, ‘Why don’t you stay in the rig, Cap, there’s nothing going to be doing here.’ Well, the bricks caved in the roof of the cab and they both received some bad lacerations, but it came out okay in the end. I always knew it could happen at any time. I felt that after all the fires I have been on, all the years I have put in, I had never had a man killed in a fire, whether I was in charge or just working at it. And it just caught up with me. Fate caught up with me. I went to all the wakes. They varied from some of the wives sobbing uncontrollably to others more or less accepting it. The younger wives seemed to take it harder. The families themselves were good to us. They even helped to console us. We’re all family. #RandolphHarris 16 of 17
“X was in the hospital for about three weeks and out of the job for above five months. He most his hearing. He had to get hearing aids. He’s getting there. He says he has no real bad afteraffects from it. We had the funerals for the five men on New Year’s Eve, and it was bitter cold. Oh, God, it was a cold day. And we had thousands of men who came from all over the country. It hit every one of us in the department emotionally, to think that on New Year’s Eve, on a butter cold day, all those guys would come up It was just amazing, and it really helped. The case of the illegal usage of the propane tank is still in litigation. It’s been kicked around. The grand jury indicted them, but then they played a little game. The one guy got immunity to testify against the others, then he claimed he was the one who put the tank in there. One of those things.” The Sacramento Fire Department has to be equally committed to reducing civilian deaths as they are to reducing firefighter deaths, and aggressively managing risks will help them do this. The Sacramento Fire Department’s mission is fire protection and to respond to emergency situations, and they make a point to do this with compassion. You can help save lives by donating to the Sacramento Fire Department. And remember, even if things are not going well, and you are a bit tired and sad, raise your children to love America and be patriotic citizens. Also, let them know how important it is to love God and Jesus Christ and to be ethical and moral, and to obey the laws. It is also important to buy American made goods and services, such as cars, clothes, meat, produce, poultry, dairy and fish. We must keep America farms and the automobile industry thriving. We can help stop corruption and evil one person at a time. It only takes five good people to facilitate a change in a small group. To show support for America, remember to buy American cars and American made products. Respect law and order and treat others with dignity and kindness. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, One Nation, under God, Indivisible with Liberty, and Justice for all. God is in His holy Temple, Earthly thoughts be silent now, while reverence we assemble, and before His presence bow. He is with us, now and ever, when we call upon His name, aiding every good endeavour, guiding every upward aim. #RandolphHarris 17 of 17
The Winchester Mystery House
Only one more week until the mansion is fully decked out in its holiday finest 🎄✨It is estimated that is you were to try to recreate The Winchester Mystery House, because it is so large, has extremely unique architecture, and many of the materials used are very expensive, rare, and even impossible to find, it would cost well over $500,000,000.00 USD, so preservation, restoration and diligent care is very important to preserve this 8th Wonder of the World and an important piece of American history. Although they do not accept donations, you can contribute by taking tours, buying items in the gift shop, and at the online store.
Please come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder 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 to purchase. Chester the Elf is looking forward to seeing you! https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/
You are Already Dead to the World
Always make those senior to you feel comfortable in their superiority. Never take your position for granted and never let any favours you receive go to your head. For Sade, the law of power implies barred gated, castles with seven circumvallations from which it is impossible to escape, and where a society founded on desire and crime functions unimpeded, according to the rules of an implacable system. The most unbridled rebellion, insistence on complete freedom, lead to the total subjection of the majority. For Sade, man’s emancipation is consummated in these strongholds of debauchery where a kind of bureaucracy of vice rules over the life and death of the men and women who have committed themselves forever to the hell of their desires. His works abound with descriptions of these privileged places where feudal libertines, to demonstrate to their assembled victims their absolute impotence and servitude, always repeat the Duc de Blangis’s speech to the common people of the One Hundred and Twenty Days of Sodom: “You are already dead to the World.” Sade himself also inhabited the tower of Freedom, but in the Bastille. Absolute rebellion took refuge with him in a sordid fortress from which no one, either persecuted or persecutors, could ever escape. To establish his freedom, he had to create absolute necessity. #RandolphHarris 1 of 23
Unlimited freedom of desire implies the negation of others and the suppression of pity. The heart, that “weak spot of the intellect,” must be exterminated; the locked room and the system will see to that. The system, which plays a role of capital importance in Sade’s fabulous castles, perpetuates a Universe of mistrust. It helps to anticipate everything so that no unexpected tenderness of pity occurs to upset the plans for complete enjoyment. It is a curious kind of pleasure, no doubt, which obeys the commandment: “We shall rise every morning at ten o’clock”! However, enjoyment must be prevented from degenerating into attachment, it must be put in parentheses and toughened. Objects of enjoyment must also never be allowed to appear as persons. If man is “an absolutely material species of plant,” he can only be treated as an object, and as an object for experiment. In Sade’s fortress republic, there are only machines and mechanics. The system, which dictates the method of employing the machines, puts everything in its right place. Hos infamous convents have their rule—significantly copied from that of religious communities. Thus, the libertine indulges in public confession. However, the process is changed: “If his conduct is pure, he is censured.” #RandolphHarris 2 of 23
Sade, as was the custom of his period, constructed ideal societies. But, contrary to the custom of his period, he codifies the natural wickedness of mankind. He meticulously constructs a citadel of force and hatred, pioneer that he is, even to the point of calculating mathematically the amount of the freedom he succeeded in destroying. He sums up his philosophy with an unemotional accounting of crimes: “Massacred before the first of March: 10 After the first of March: 20. To come: 16. Total: 46.” A pioneer, no doubt, but a limited one, as we can see. If that were all, Sade would be worthy only of the interest that attaches to all misunderstood pioneers. However, once the drawbridge is up, life in the castle must go on. No matter how meticulous the system, it cannot foresee every eventuality. It can destroy, but it cannot create. The masters of these tortured communities do not find the satisfaction they so desperately desire. Sade often evokes the “pleasant habit of crime.” Nothing here, however, seems very pleasant—more like the fury of a man in chains. The point, in fact, is to enjoy oneself, and the maximum of enjoyment coincides with the maximum of destruction. To possess what one is going to kill, to copulate with suffering—those are the moments of freedom toward which the entire organization of Sade’s castles is directed. #RandolphHarris 3 of 23
However, from the moment when sexual crime destroys the object of desire, it also destroys desire, which exists only at the precise moment of destruction. Then another object must be brought under subjection and killed again, and then another, and so on to an infinity of all possible objects. This leads to that dreary accumulation of erotic and criminal scenes in Sade’s novels, which paradoxically, leaves the reader with the impression of a hideous chastity. To some people, being “right” is not just important—it is necessary for survival. The chief advantage of being a tyrant in your every day life is that you get what you want. For some people, from the time they are born, nothing comes easy. Some families use their life savings to open a business so that they can be their own employer and they work as hard as they can to make sure their business is a success. Their children start working as soon as they are able to, often by the age of six or seven. When a child starts work at an early age, they certain do learn the value of a dollar. A youth learns from observation and dealing with customers that people who have money get whatever they want and they get money by taking it from others. Being young and working and coming from a family that is frugal, some boys learn that it is important to save the money they make. #RandolphHarris 4 of 23
By saving money, some boys are able to lend money to their friends. If the friends are not able to pay it back, then they can work it off. As a boy learns that the harder he works, the more money he will make, as soon as he becomes efficient, he takes on more work so he can earn more money. However, by being one of the only children with money and having the ability to lend it to others, to ensure that they do work it off, some boys essentially become loan sharks. They gather information about their peers that their parents do not know and threat to expose their secrets to their parents with the information. One may think that such a manipulative youngster is unloved and comes from an impoverished household and has poor grades, but sometimes their children are babied by their mothers, have hard working father and are reprimanded from having anything lower than an “A” on his report card. This boy in particular, who we will call Max, went to a Catholic school, where he found that the nuns, with their strict rules and stiff paddles, had the power. Max never challenged this power openly, preferring to work his mischief at times and in places the nuns could not detect. His idols were the priests, who drove long black cars, had a cook, a maid—and the final word on everything. Their power was greater than that of the nuns and the lure of it led him to study for the priesthood. #RandolphHarris 5 of 23
Yet from the day he entered the seminary, Jason knew he would not last. What bothered him was the vow of obedience, the Church’s stubborn insistence that he obey every whim of his superiors. This was the brick wall against which his stubbornness eventually crashed. Passion conquers the young man in the end and forces him into an affair, a relationship, or a marriage. However, he who withstands it drive, conquers passion itself, is a hero. A blind obedience to the urges of physical sense-satisfaction, indifferent to the restraints of ideals, reason, knowledge, or intuitive feeling, weakens concentration and meditation, but strengthens the lower nature. The unruled passions are responsible for a substantial part of the difficulty in summoning up enough aspiration to make men do what they ought, and enough penetration to clear the mind of its illusions. Those with some mental development wisely add tomorrow to today, consequences to causes, and thus finish the picture. Others are ruled by the moment’s impulses or the day’s trend or by passion rather than reason. It is supposed to go so far that even such a lofty desire as one for desirableness itself can no longer remain acceptable. He may feel the temptation but he need not submit to it. It is the emotion, sill more the passion, which anyone pours into an attachment which may make it an obstacle on his quest. #RandolphHarris 6 of 23
Men who are driven by strong ambitions will have little energy left for strong aspirations. In the Sphinx sits the symbol of that enterprise which offers the candidate for initiation his greatest reward but which paradoxically brings his greatest suffering. This is the conquest of passion by reason and will and the overcoming of personal emotion by impersonal intuition. The Sphinx is a perfect image of the adept in whom the man controls the animal. The attainment is a rare one—too many are satisfied to remain hardly more than animal, with a few human traits. If he cannot put the objects of his desires completely outside his heart, then he must do the next best thing and put them on its borders. Thought creates attachment, and this in turn leads to desire. When a man, with his impulses and passion, meets life with its paradoxes and illusions, he soon falls victim to the deceit of appearances. If the passions dry up, is there any real loss? Are anger, hate, and lust worthy expressions of a being whose spiritual possibilities are so wonderful as man’s? The man who has learnt in some way—whether by personal experience or by a wise old man’s instructions or through an inspired book—that excessive ambition may be folly, excessive luxury has no end to the labour of collecting it, knows that the self-actualized Christians who are content to live barely and simply may not be fools after all. #RandolphHarris 7 of 23
However, it is also possible for another man who has cultivated an inner detachment to have the same feelings and nevertheless seek to enjoy life. To feel free at last of nagging desires and frustrating attachments brings a large measure of contentment. What is the use of studying philosophy unless we are to become wiser in the future and unless we use its lessons to discipline the impulses and dominate the senses? The white lotus lives in the black mud. It is both an example and an inspiration to man. There is danger in a view of life which makes men unable to be satisfied with a similar life and which stimulates their desires endlessly. Even if it is beyond his power to kill these passions without Grace, it is within his power to curb them. We get muddled and worried by problems which have been manufactured for us by our own desires, instincts, and passions. The need of disciplining them is evident. If the energy used in the pursuit of ambitions or pleasures could be diverted to the following aspirations, if he had the strength to remove everything else from his life except the quest, how could he fail? He may discovery that the battle is not really over, that atavisms of the old animalistic life, rooted either in the present or in former births may come pouring over the threshold of the conscious ego. When the intellect is enslaved by desires, by greeds, by ignorance, it readily finds several defenses against the call of the Quest. #RandolphHarris 8 of 23
When the ego has become a little freer and listened to the call, it just as readily finds defenses against making any practical application of what it has learnt. If your passion is transferred from a passing object or human body to the more durable and beautiful soul, you will be progressing from a lower to a higher plane. People may sicken in consequence of excessive life stress or from infection ensuing from lowered resistance. An inability to gratify needs by effective action contributes to physical sickness in direct ways. If a person is obligated to persist in ways of acting that are required by familial, occupational, or age roles, when these ways fail to produce basic need gratification, the person will gradually become dispirited. Dispiritation refers to a state of lowered morale, diminished zest in living, and a sense of hopelessness that lowers one’s resistance to infection by germs, bacteria, and viruses. A student may develop the flu after being rejected by his girlfriend. A woman may be deprived of feeling love in pleasures of the flesh, affection, and appreciation and yet persist in living the joyless life because she can envision no other; her chances of contracting various illnesses are increased. Any prolonged need deprivation dispirits a person and reduces that person’s commitment to life. This reduced commitment to living appears to be responsible (in ways not fully understood) for alterations in the efficiency of the immunity mechanisms of the body. #RandolphHarris 9 of 23
Everyday life itself is stressing, and persons rest in order to regain strength to cope with the challenges of existence. If a person is living a joyless existence, and cannot alter it, it is necessary for that person to force himself to fight the impulse to flee the scene. This unremitting struggle to remain in a thwarting situation imposes even more stress and can contribute to cardiovascular diseases and respiratory and eliminative disorders. However, perhaps more importantly, the dispirited person finds less and less joy or fun in work, family, or in life itself. Thus, in the same fashion that one needs to see a physician or change some part of one’s life in the face of continuous physical illness, one also needs to attend to the self in the condition of dispiriation. How does one defeat dispiritedness? First, recognition of the state and of the need for change is helpful or a professional counselor, psychologist, social worker, or psychiatrist. On most college campuses such help is provided by a counseling center or student mental health service. One should not look upon this as an embarrassment but rather as indicative of your knowing yourself and knowing when it is time to seek help. There are also other roads to escape from being dispirited—changing one’s job; changing one’s life objectives; getting out and seeking new, successful, yet exciting alternatives. #RandolphHarris 10 of 23
It also may help to seek good friends who will not try to talk you into their solutions, but who will, rather, help you to talk out your own ideas and seek your own solutions—this is also a successful approach to coping with the very normal occurrence of being dispiritied. Normal though it might be, it demands attention in order for one to maintain a healthy personality. The script equipment is the nuts and bolts from which the script apparatus is built, a do-it-yourself kit partly supplied by the parents and partly by the child himself. Antonia was depressed by an unhappy love affair. She was afraid to be frank with her lover because she might lose him. On the other hand, if she were not frank, she was afraid she might lose him. There was nothing sinister in it, actually. It was just that she did not want him to know how passionate she really was. The conflict sometimes made her frigid and sometimes panicky. When she talked about it, she felt so mixed up that she clutched her head. What would her parents say about it? Well, her father would say: “Take it easy. Do not lose your head.” And her mother? “He is taking advantage of you. Do not get too attached to him. He will leave sooner or later. You are not good enough for him. He is not good enough for you.” She went on to tell an adventure. When she was about five, an adolescent uncle had got sexy with her, and made her feel sexy, too. She never told her parents. #RandolphHarris 11 of 23
One day when Antonia was taking a bath, her father told her how cute she was. There were some visitors in the house and he had held her up naked for them to see. They sexy uncle was one of them. What were he reactions? “I want to hide. I want to hide.” “My God, they will find out what I have been doing.” How did you feel toward your father doing that? “I wanted to kick him in the privates. I knew what a man’s private parts looked like, too, from my uncle’s ‘excitments.’” Was there any ha ha? “Yes deep down, there was. I had a secret. And worst of all, I knew I liked it under all the other feelings.” From these reactions Antonia had constructed a script, which was to have passionate love affair and then get left. Along with that, however, she also wanted to get married, stay married, and have children. There were two counterscript slogans from her father: “Take it easy,” and “Do not lose your head.” These fitted in with her aspirations of getting married and raising a family. There were dive injunctions from mother, all telescoped into, “Do not get attached to anyone.” There was a strong seduction to be passionate and sexy from her uncle, reinforced by the nude provocation from her father. These seductions and provocations from Parental demons had reinforced her own demon throughout her life. There was a strong implication of a built-in release: the familiar Prince with the Golden Apples—not like father; if she could only find one. #RandolphHarris 12 of 23
The interesting thing is that his whole bit came out in one session. As someone remarked, she was quite happy to hold it up for everyone to see. Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. Let us use the old term “madness” for awhile. There are two kinds of madnesses, only one of which is generally recognized. That is the one that we call “abormal” or “out of touch with reality.” The other one seems to me to be out of touch with reality too, although it is called “normal” because a majority of people are that way in our society. In this sense, it is a reality—like the reality in many parts of the World that most people go to bed hungry every night. This is not a reality which most of us would recommend adjusting to although where it exists it is “normal.” Ther are two normal too, only one of which we usually recognize. That is the statistical normal which is nobody, like the average Harvard man who has 3.5 children. The other normal is unknown because it is me if I had not been interfered with, what I might have become, my own norm—a constantly changing potentiality becoming actuality. This happens to nobody too—but it could happen. Why should not we increasingly make it possible for this to happen. When people hold themselves to any pattern it cripples them. It robs one of the confidence in their ability to grow as a person and to become independent. The recognized “abnormal” is a very lonely one, because no matter how many other people are in it, the individual lives in so much isolation. #RandolphHarris 13 of 23
Abnormal people are cut off from other people because they reject people who are different, and the individual’s response to them may also be chopped off too—perhaps in the way it happens when one is overtired and cannot even enjoy doing what he likes to do. It evokes no response in the individual. The other madness, which is called “normal,” is not lonely—or rather one’s loneliness has got buried so that one does not notice it so much. One can “forget it.” They may remember the vision they have had, but they cease to regret it, maintain themselves by the common routine, learn to avoid excessive expectations, become tolerant of themselves and others, giving and taking, in the usual actions what there is to give and take, They do not repine; are contented with the morning that separates and with the evening that brings together for casual talk before the fire two people who know they do not understand each other, breeding children whom they do not understand and who will never understand them…and the other life will be only like a book you have read once and lost. However, the loneliness is still there. When one has substituted a superficial togetherness for the basic being-together, one has built a superstructure with no structure underneath it. That is fantasy, even though the fantasy may become a second-order reality by many people engaging in the same fantasy. #RandolphHarris 14 of 23
A man can be linked with many other people through his surface, or mask, or disguise—by approved actions. This is phoney, or veneer, because it is put on, but as long as he keeps his mind focused on it, he has the illusion of being in touch with other people and himself by interacting with their phoney surfaces. Even if he has done this for so long that the surface seems real to him, it is more like apples bobbing in a tub of water, skin touching skin, with no awareness of the flesh or core. We are all apples and that is enough, is it not? What more do you want? Not satisfied with being an apple? Just do what the other apples are doing and you will be already. Not to do this is “bad.” (A threat to my veneer, which might crack and split if exposed to the weather of humanness?) The Self-Actualization Movement originated—where all individual freedoms start—on the Western Frontier. On nursery planets the military warrior-caste is responsible for developing new technologies for faster mobility and communication. Soon afterwards, the citizens in the Western Frontier coopt the technology for their own action. Genetic causes exist for human problems. Discovering this is a big breakthrough—resisted, of course, by stage twelve retiring socialist demo-poll cultures. Genetic determination focuses on gene pool statistics and caste-differentiation, thus minimizing the importance of hive managers. Socialist-welfare cultures insist that the collective super-hive—also known as “The State”—assume responsibility for everything. #RandolphHarris 15 of 23
When we human begin to face the fact that genes determine the varied destiny of our different children, then we are ready to see that genes determine our own caste. Next comes the catastrophic discovery that each gene pool is a time-hive, a genetic molecule, made up of many elements called “castes” and that the whole game is genetic robotry. After genetic counseling courses began studying genetic potentials and self-selected breeding soon emerged on the Western Frontier. Neither China or Russia offered courses on genetic elites. As our intelligence evolves the definition of genetic counseling will evolve from an emphasis on pathology to one of excellence and growth. The definition of genetic counseling might read like this: “A communication process which deals with the human potentials associated with the occurrence, or the possibility of occurrence, of genetic advance in the gene pool.” The dom-species on the Sunset Strip move from twelve social-sacrifice to stage thirteen self0consumerism. PreDom ideas emerging on the western frontier: Stage 14: Self-Actualized Adults: Bodily intelligence self-actualization “My Body is my Time Ship.” Stage 15: Hedonic Networkers: Voluntary civilian space migration “We Are Not Terrestrials.” Stage 16: Brain-Reality Consumer: Brain Reality Consumerism “I Can Select My Own Reality.” Stage 17: Brain-Reality Self-Actualized: Brain Reality Self-Actualism “I Can Create My Own Reality.” Stage 18: Brain Reality Fusion: Brain Reality Fusion “We Can Fabricate an External Reality.” Stage 19: Genetic Consumer: Genetic Consumerism “I Can Select My Own Genetic Reality.” Stage 20: Genetic Engineer: Genetic Engineering “I Can Fabricate My Own Genetic Reality.” #RandolphHarris 16 of 23
Terrestrial dom-species place all notions of the future under hive-taboo. The ideas of bodily-sensory-hedonic consumerism—fiercely taboo in domesticated adults and retiring elder societies—crumbled by the late 20th Century on the Western Frontier. The predom self-actualized adult stage taboo against bodily self-actualization similarly crumbled—as exemplified by the legalization of marijuana, the classical tool of one who wishes to control one’s own hedonic reality. The predom hedonic networker taboo of the late 20th Century condemned civilian space migration was a “preadolescent” idea and he was precisely correct. If preadolescence is defined as age eleven, then a preadolescent idea will become a young-voter idea in seven years and will be legalized in California ten years later. How few of the images which fill his mind come from his higher self, how many from his animal self! It is not enough to refrain from sensual acts. It is no less needful to refrain from sensual thoughts. As this diviner self displaces the Earthly one in his will, heart, and mind, it is natural that what he hitherto felt as temptation will be felt as such less and less. On the philosophic path he will attain to this without immuring himself in any cloister, but rather in the very midst of Worldly activity. #RandolphHarris 17 of 23
The Sacramento Fire Department is committed to providing excellent service to their customers in a professional and humanitarian way. They protect lives, property and the environment through safe and timely response. They are innovative in fire prevention, suppression, rescue, emergency medical services, training, community outreach, public education, and other services. “It was nine o’clock in the morning, and the alert came in that there was a fire in an occupied dwelling. We pulled up to the place, and Captain X and Lieutenant Y yelled for a ladder. It sounded like there was somebody trapped on the second floor, because there was a lot of screaming going on. One woman, who looked like she was burned, was screaming the most. I grabbed the twenty-foot free beam and ran to the side of the house. However, the woman was screaming that her baby was in there on the first floor. “In the crib,” she said. It’s in the crib.” So Lieutenant Y got on his knees under the first-floor window, and I jumped on his back. I tried to get in the window sideways, but I could not. So I had to go in straight, diving head first. There was a bunch of junk in there. The people had just moved in the day before. It was a small room, maybe ten by ten. I could feel my ears burning. I remember kneeling at the crib, looking over my shoulder at the window. Then it got terribly hot. That’s the last thing I remember. #RandolphHarris 18 of 23
“Captain X, senior man at Engine Z, dove in after me, lugged me to the window, and they pulled me out. I must have gone into respiratory arrest because Captain X was beating on me. Then the squad came, scooped me up, and took me to the hospital. I was in that room only about a minute all told. What was weird about that fire, was that my dad, who had been in the department for twenty-five years, was driving to the union office when he saw the smoke, and he figured that his kid was at that fire. Then he said, ‘nah, I’ve seen him work,’ so he passed up the exit to go there. But something made him turn back at the next exit to go there. He pulled up in front of the house, and he saw a guy lying there, and they were working on him. Chief A said to day, “That’s your boy.” So Dade rode in the squad with me. I remember waking up in the squad, and Dad was straddling me. They were trying to give me oxygen, and I didn’t want it. I didn’t know what was going on. I was burned up bad, but I didn’t know that. I felt like there was a ton of ice on my face. I remember trying to kick my boots off, and it was all pain. I knew then I was hurt. Then I blacked out again. They were wheeling me in, I remember that. They cut my clothes off. B, a guy I went to Hawaii with, was there. I said, “I loused up, I loused up, I loused up.” Then I asked him what I looked like. B’s eyes were bulging, they were bigger than I’ve ever seen, bigger than plates. He said, ‘Don’t worry about it, C. You just lost your suntan.’ He didn’t want to tell me. #RandolphHarris 19 of 23
“I don’t really remember much of being in the hospital. I remember a bunch of firemen coming to see me. I was only in for two days because of the danger of infection; you get more infection in the hospital than you would at home. I had second- and third-degree burns on my entire face, ears, and left hand. They did an experiment on me because I was so young, only nineteen. They did this biobrane. It’s like a skin that they put on a leg burn, a thigh burn, or an arm burn. They put that on my face, and it saved years of reconstructive surgery. Aside from that, all I’ve had to do was get eyelid surgery, because the fire burned through my eyelids. So they took skin from my neck over my left clavicle and redid my eyelids for me. I still need a little bit more nose work and then some eye surgery, and that’s it. They did laser surgery on my eyeballs. I had burned corneas, stuff like that, and I had a lot of edema. My biggest problem, though, is photophobia, sensitivity to light. But the best thing they did was let me go home and let my family take care of me. My sister did. My mom was so busted up she couldn’t even be in the room with me. And my dad, who’s not a big drinker, took it really hard and started drinking a lot. I stayed at my mom’s for a month while they took care of me. The smartest thing I did was, I never looked in the mirror. I didn’t have the slightest idea how badly I was burned up. And all my running mates, they’d bring the rigs by, and they’d spend time with me—that really meant a lot to me—to see me, the monster man. I mean, I was horrible-looking. #RandolphHarris 20 of 23
“My captain took it hard, because he’d never had a son on the job, and I was young enough to be his son. Lieutenant Y took it hard, too. What happened at the fire was, there was a mother, she had about five kids with different fathers, and she was in bed with some live-in boyfriend. The baby was in bed with them. The other kids were playing with matches under the dining room table, and the house took off. She and the guy jumped through the window and left the baby in the bed. Then they told us the baby was in the crib. The baby was obviously dead. They ended up suing our arson squad, because Arson reported it as kids playing with matched. They weren’t worried about their baby. If I had a tragedy like that and my child died like that, I’d definitely not want to dwell on it, I’d want to get it behind me and end it. D got some minor burns on his neck and brined the tops of his ears, because that room was going when he pulled me out. It flashed over, and flames burst out the window. And he went in there. He’s a little black guy, real shy, doesn’t talk loud at all. He won the Medal of Valor, the highest award you can win in the Sacramento Fire Department, for pulling me out of that fire. If anyone ever says anything bad about him, I’ll fight to the death for that man. He saved my life. #RandolphHarris 21 of 23
“That biobrane, to me, is the greatest thing since sliced bread, because I would be Mr. Scar. I would just be totally scarred. It’s evident from where it didn’t take, at the corners of my mouth and my lips. My lips always peel now, they’re always dry. I’ve got scars at the corners of my mouth, over my upper lip, right on my nose, on the ends of my nostrils, and under my chin, where the biobrane didn’t take. But biobrane is the best thing that ever happened to me. Lieutenant Y wants to get in touch with the doctor who did it, a young aggressive plastic surgeon, but he went down to New Orleans, and it’s hard to get in touch with him. When to the burn center for the eyelid surgery, they sewed my eyes shut for six days, and that was the worst part of it. I was super depressed then. The nurses understood. The firefighters were pretty serious about the whole thing, but the first day I came home the doctor put this net over my head to hold the biobrane mask on so it wouldn’t fall off. Captain X laughed and said I looked like a ham. That kind of broke the ide for the other guys. They took pictures of me every day, and they wanted to use one of them for the Burn Tournament poster for the burn center, but it was too hideous. The caption was going to say, “They never ask what happened to the firefighter who tried to save the baby.” It was just too horrible. #RandolphHarris 22 of 23
“It takes a year for you skin to heal up. But I was going stir crazy. I was bored, lethargic, gaining weight. I just wanted to get back to work. I told the doctor I would wear my Nomex hood all the time, so I went back to work after less than nine months. I would have gone back sooner if I didn’t have such trouble with my eyesight. I still wear sunglasses outside. It’s going to be a long time before that clears up. The skin is really sensitive. I wear my Nomex hood, and I still get the tops of my ears a little bit friend, and my face blisters up. I had a good one last night and got burned a little. But I’ve stayed on duty because it’s not that burned, just a little blistered. I’ve got to work for a guy tomorrow, and I don’t want to screw up his work release. That dive I took into that room wasn’t so good. For one thing, my mask was knocked off, and I kind of busted my nose, and my left cheek was swollen up pretty bad, so I must have hit something. My helmet must have come off, too, because I had burns on top of my head. But the helmet is still living. It looks like a good squad helmet. It’s all black. “The Sacramento Fire Department provides their customers safer and healthier neighbourhoods through an engaged, educated, and diverse workforce dedicated to life safety and improved quality of life. You can help save lives and property by donating to the Sacramento Fire Department. And remember, parents, teach your children to love America and be patriotic, to love God and Jesus Christ, to buy American made goods and services and cars, to respect law and order, and teach others with compassion, respect, and dignity, especially their elders. Release all captives, we beseech Thee, Lord whose mighty hand doth set men free; and hear the glad acclaim of all Thy people who praise and glorify but Thee. Preserve the righteous ones who seek Thee, and, in love, Thy unity proclaim; O guard and bless with Thine abundant goodness, Thy people who revere Thy name. Thou, Lord, who art alone exalted, please turn to us and hearken to our plea. We bless Thee, Thou who knowest all things hidden, Thy kingdom is unto eternity. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, One Nation, under God, Indivisible with Liberty, and Justice for all. O Guardian of American, guard the remnant of America; let not American people perish, the people which proclaims: Hear, O America. #RandolphHarris 23 of 23
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Lord, Don’t Let Me Die Like this
There is the blindly instinctive and passioned terrestrial will in man, which violently drives him to seek and be satisfied with bodily satisfactions. There is also a higher will which gently draws him to transcend the body altogether. If the only enjoyment a man knows is that of physical sensations, he is only a dressed-up, walking, and thinking animal. The law of chastity requires that sexual relations be reserved for marriage between a man and a woman. In addition to reserving sexual intimacy for marriage, we obey the law of chastity by controlling our thoughts, words, and actions. Jesus Christ taught, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart,” reports Matthew 5.27-28. It is an essential part of the Quest’s work to separate the man from his passions, to subjugate the animal in him so as better to cultivate the godlike in him. Both desires and fears bind a man to his ego and thus bar the way to spiritual fulfilment. They could not exist except in relation to a second thing. However, when he turns his mind away from all things and directs it towards its own still center, it is the beginning of the end for all desires and all fears. The end of all this long self-training to cast out personal grief and terrestrial passion is blessedness. #RandolphHarris 1 of 18
The heart must become empty of all desires. This brings about the emotional void, which corresponds, in its own place, to the mental void experienced in the depth of mystical meditation. To this emptiness he must give himself, with it he must satisfy himself. In this way he obeys Jesus and becomes “poor in Spirit.” Poor in Spirit refers to a spiritual state of humility and dependence on God. It is a recognition of one’s need for God and a growing dependence on Him. It is also a sense of spiritual bankruptcy, powerlessness, and unworthiness before God. What is it worth to a man to be free from the passions, and free from the inner divisive conflicts which their activity must necessarily produce in him? Are they not the chief obstacles which prevent him from attaining that inner calm wherein alone the ego can be faced, caught, and conquered? And this done, what is there to keep the Overself from taking possession of him? Few men are moved by a single motive. For most men the contrary is the fact. This is because first, the ego itself is a complex and second, the higher and lower natures are in conflict. Discrimination is needed to penetrate the thin surface of so many pleasures, while the strength is needed to say “No” when this is wiser than accepting them. #RandolphHarris 2 of 18
It is not only needful to understand the characteristics of one’s desires but also their source. This knowledge will help him to improve character and attain true self-reliance. It is a strange paradox that on whatever desire a man wields the axe of non-attachment, he will thereafter become possessed of the power to attain it. There is this great paradox on the Quest: that the more the disciple obtains the power to bring about the fruition of his desires, the more he loses those desires! If we lack the willpower to overcome bad habits that have become popular and conventional, at least let us try not to justify our indulgence by specious reasons. The blind impulses must be checked by willpower, the lower nature must be disciplined and the lower energies directed into higher channels. It is perfectly possible, where fate ordains, to live continently and chastely, however strongly sexed a man may be. However, to achieve this, he must utilize the analytic reason, the creative imagination, and the active will in understanding and disciplining his energies and then he must redirect them towards aspirational, intellectual, or moral ideas or transmute them into practical work. He who begins by refusing to be a slave to the palate’s perverted appetite will find it easier to go on to refusing to be a slave to lust. A triumph over the one prepares the way for, and helps in the achievement of, a triumph over the other. #RandolphHarris 3 of 18
It is true that we all share a terrestrial body with the lower creatures. However, that does not force us to stay on their level emotionally. Every desire conquered feeds his strength and fortifies his will. The man who has made his way to the top of his profession but failed to make the conquest of his passions, is still an unbalanced creature, an unsatisfied human being. The extremes of abstention which follow repugnance, indifference, or self-struggle and the satiety which follows helpless yielding are both undesirable. The necessities of Nature hold us in their thrall but there is first, a difference between them and the desires of the ego and second, a difference between the true necessities which are inescapable from physical existence and the false ones which have been imposed on us by age-old habits, traditions, environments, and outer suggestions. That desire is a true one whose source lies in a genuine need, not in mere greed. Repentance redeems man, lifts him above the lustful dog to the loving human being, distinguishes him from the mere animal. We are cast out of Heaven by our own passion and kept out by our own attachments. If today we are miserable exiles, the way to remedy such a situation is clear. We must free ourselves from the one and disentangle ourselves from the other. He should desire that which will itself cut off all desires. #RandolphHarris 4 of 18
“Experiencing” is defined as an inner stream of feelings to which you can every moment attend inwardly. It is simple, effortless and available to us all. Yet it is maddeningly elusive. Try these experiences: Feel your body from the inside. Is there tension in your muscles? Is your stomach wound tight like a watch spring? Take a deep breath and feel what happens to that tension. Sit a while without moving. Does some prickliness begin to form just under the skin? Recall the full feeling you once had after overeating. Recall the heaviness, the discomfort, the difficulty in breathing. What does being bored really feel like? That strained, impatient deadness almost hurts, does it not? Something deep down screams soundlessly at you to get out of the boring situation. Can you recall feeling that? These are but three examples of experiences. They do not involve learning or doing. You can have them instantaneously. And there are thousands more available to you—each distinct from all the others. To have an experience, to really “get into” a feeling, involves a release or surrender. Behind the surrender is a basic willingness to trust, to accept that the inner core “knows what is best” for you. Thus experiencing holds the solution to all your internal mysteries, the truth of your existence. If experiencing is so wonderful and useful, why is it so elusive? Who do we shun the prospect of getting to our inner core and discovering our true being? Probably because we are afraid. We anticipate the truth will be too painful, that when we look inside at what really is, we will not like what we see. #RandolphHarris 5 of 18
Ironically, by trying to avoid the pain of looking within, we virtually guarantee the continued pain of our incomplete, manipulative behaviour. True, some will shed some tears on the way into their core, but compared to the tears of helplessness one has already shed, they are a few random raindrops in a storm. And who knows how many future tears he has avoided by reaching down and finding his inner source of power—a source which he can use to untangle the painful web of helplessness his life has become. People who benefit most from therapy are those who are “experience-oriented,” who subjectively follow their feelings even though they have not explicitly thought them all out. Being willing to let your experience talk to you is the first significant step from manipulation to mastery. There are some common ways people approach a problem. One way is to belittle the problem. This is when one says, “It really is nothing…I should not let a few pains bother me.” Such an approach will get you nowhere. If pains are important enough for your body to feel, they are important enough to look into, get inside of, and get clear. You do not make a problem go away by belittling it. In fact, by pushing it aside, you probably make it worse. Often times people analyze their problems. We might assume someone has something to do with our problem. However, the analysis may or may not be correct, and it does nothing to change the feeling. #RandolphHarris 6 of 18
You can analyze furiously the whole time you are having the feeling, but if it is there in your guy, with its inexplicable discomforts and tensions, your analysis will not ease or make it disappear. A lot of people also face down the feeling. Some say to themselves, “I will have to grit my teeth, stand up to it, walk through it,” which sounds courageous and noble, but is actually false bravado. This approach does not work because when you do it, you do not touch the place where change takes place: in your body. You are just mouthing a courage which can only be found deep inside, at your core. Another method is lecturing yourself. The script often goes like this, “If I could just grow up and be adult about this, I am sure everything would be all right.” This does not work either. The lecture is based on the mistaken notion that adults do not have feelings, or if they do, they do not have the right to the feelings. When you lecture yourself, all you do is pile guilt on top of whatever the problem is. And the guilt just makes it worse. Drowning the feeling is another method. When you try to tune the problem out because it makes you feel worse, you sink into the discomfort, hoping you will find it less painful, but knowing deep down that you will not. Whenever you sink into this unchanged feeling, it makes you feel as bad as the last time. You are no further ahead. #RandolphHarris 7 of 18
Since these five approaches are not physical, they cannot work. The feeling is physical and can only be changed by a physical process, such as focusing. When a man finally focuses, a very real change happens in him, something which he can build on. Even though it appears that some people play the victim in life, that circumstances seem to be manipulating him, they are still manipulators. Some people may stay married to a homosexual husband, playing upon one’s own helplessness and their husband’s sense of guilt to take care of her, even though they both resented it. The unspoken (and sometimes even spoken) message is, “I am too weak and helpless to take care of myself and the boys, so you have to.” This manipulation is rewarded by his grudging support, but it has its price: It traps her in an unhappy marriage, it prevents her from going out and learning to make it on her own, it reinforces her own feeling of helplessness. How can you deal with this type of manipulator in your everyday life? Well, for starters, you will have to fight the temptation to take the easy way out. You will have to refuse to do things for the weakling and instead, encourage him or her to be strong and self-directed. I once had a friend whose wife was afraid to go to the store and buy a newspaper. She said she did not like the way the clerks leered at her. #RandolphHarris 8 of 18
So my friend would stop in his way home from work and buy the newspaper himself. It was easier than arguing with his wife about it. Finally, he said, “I do not read the evening newspaper, I watch the news on TV. If you want the paper, buy it yourself.” She refused, but she still wanted the newspaper. So my friend began by accompanying her to the store the first few times until she felt more comfortable about it. In time, she went to get the paper without a second thought. My friend used this same technique when it came to his wife’s getting a driver’s license. At first, he refused to drive her places, even though he had been chauffeuring her for years. When she grew tired of taking buses and cabs, he offered to teach her how to drive, and she eventually accepted the offer. Now she had her own car and capably goes wherever she wants. In refusing to be manipulated, my friend made his wife angry and perhaps caused her some pain. However, in the end, he helped her gain strength—and helped free her from a continuing life-script of manipulation. The criminal who acts according to nature cannot, without betraying his office, range himself on the side of the law. “If you want to be republicans, one more effort” means: “Accept the freedom of crime, the only reasonable attitude, and enter forever into a state of insurrection as you enter into a state of grace.” Thus total submission to evil leads to an appalling penitence, which cannot fail to horrify the Republic of enlightenment of natural goodness. #RandolphHarris 9 of 18
By a significant coincidence, the manuscript of One Hundred and Twenty Days of Sodom was burned during the first riot of the Republic, which could hardly fail to denounce Sade’s heretical theories of freedom and to throw so compromising a supporter into prison once more. By doing so, it gave him the regrettable opportunity of developing his rebellious logic still further. The universal republic could be a dream for Sade, but never a temptation. In politics his real position is cynicism. In his Society of the Friends of Crime he declares himself ostensibly in favour of the government and its laws, which he meanwhile has every intention of violating. It is the same impulse that makes the lowest form of criminal vote for conservative candidates. The plan that Sade had in mind assures the benevolent neutrality of the authorities. The republic of crime cannot, for the moment at least, be universal. It must pretend to obey the law. In a World that knows no other rule than murder, beneath a criminal Heaven, and in the name of a criminal nature, however, Sade, in reality, obeys no other law than that of inexhaustible desire. However, to desire without limit is the equivalent of being desired without limit. License to destroy supposes that you yourself can be destroyed. Therefore you must struggle and dominate. The law of this World is nothing but the law of force; its driving force, the will to power. #RandolphHarris 10 of 18
When it comes to therapy, we really want to think of that person as a person—someone unique with dignity and capacity, worthy of our unreserved respect. If we must have a word for it, “client” seems more expressive of that. Why “client-centered”? This matters much more. Again, the negative purpose is only to distinguish between this and “therapist-centered,” “theory-centered,” “society-centered,” etcetera. There are such things. The positive meaning is immense. It expresses the major goal of the therapist; to understand and accept the perception and feelings of the client; to share the client’s view of reality rather than to impose his own. It follows than that we rely heavily upon the growth capacity of the individual. The therapist is an active and significant person, but he cannot heal—he can only help to create conditions in which the natural regenerative powers take effect. As for motive, the drive toward self-actualization is a primary one; every human being would rather be better than worse, and strives toward the enhancement of self even though the strivings may often be thwarted and regressive. These assumptions about motive and capacity combine into a general ethic, which can simply be called self-determination. Client-centered therapy is founded on the conviction that man should be free, and to this end makes freedom a major means in the therapeutic experience. #RandolphHarris 11 of 18
This is not, as some think, a reflection of political attitudes which supposedly prevail in America. It is a personal psychological conviction that the man who is most free will be most healthy. Freedom means the widest scope of choice and openness to experience, therefore the greatest probability of an adaptive response. For the individual, it seems that the urge to freedom is an urge to health, and precedes, rather than reflects, a political order. It is common for a person to experience conflict between wishes. He or she may want to study and also to go to the movies. Someone may want to marry one person and at the same time be in love with another. A person may want to have fun but also to be “good.” The healthy thing to do with conflict is to acknowledge its existence within the self, study all the alternatives as rationally as one can in the light of one’s value system, make a decision, act on it, and accept all the consequences. Among the consequences to be accepted are regrets over what one has lost in connection with the abandoned alternatives. No decision can ever be made without some fear that it is the wrong decision. There is nothing inconsistent with healthy personality in the idea that a decision, once made will still leave the person uncertain that it is the best or “rightest” one. #RandolphHarris 12 of 18
Existential conflicts frequently arise where each choice has positive values and negative implications associated with it. Any alternative, if chose, will affect one’s life profoundly. To make decisions, such as whether to marry or not, to take this job or that, calls for courage. The ability to decide such conflicts is an attribute of healthy personality. Such courage seems to grow out of past experiences at decision-making, experience that fosters independent security. The younger generation is generally viewed as being too laid back, apathetic, narcissistic, self-indulgent, and sensual. There are periods when a species or an individual or a nation needs to lay back, mellow out, cocoon-quiescent and recoup. Intelligent pursuit of happiness is a challenge of the human experience. However, this quiescence is more apparent than real. The spellbreaker, or internal release, is the element which lifts the injunction and frees the person from his script so that he can fulfill his own autonomous aspirations. It is a pre-set “self-destruct” which is obvious in some scripts but has to be hunted for or decoded in others, much like the pronouncements of the Delphic oracle which served the same function in Ancient Greece. Not much is known about it clinically, because people come for treatment just because they cannot find out. #RandolphHarris 13 of 18
For example, in a “Waiting for Rigor Mortis” or “Sleeping Beauty: script, the patient thinks she will be freed of her frigidity when she meets the Prince with the Golden Apples, and may very likely feel that the therapist is that Prince. However, he declines the honour, mainly for ethical reasons, but also because when he previous (unlicensed) therapist took on the job, his Golden Apples turned to dust. Sometimes the spellbreaker is merely ironic. This is a common situation in losers’ scripts: “Things will be better after you are dead.” The internal release may be event-centered or time-centered. “When you meet a Prince,” “After you die fighting,” or “after you have three children” are event-centered antiscripts. “When you pass the age at which your father died,” or “After you have stayed with the company thirty years” are time-centered. Whoever puts a moral purpose into life automatically lifts himself above the physical level of mere animality. For him begins a struggle between the slavery of sense and the freedom of enlightenment, between blind emotion and deliberate will, between inward weakness and inward strength. Henceforth, he seeks happiness rather than pleasure, the calm of a satisfied mind rather than the excitement of satisfied senses. If this is a stoic ideal, it is a necessary one, for he must conquer himself. He hates himself, and no man can live in peace with what he hates. #RandolphHarris 14 of 18
The Sacramento Fire Department protects the people of Sacramento with public education, fire suppression, rescue, and emergency medical services. The Sacramento Fire Department partners with the community to mitigate risks, and responds to all calls for service with skill, dedication, and compassion. “We were asleep, and the alarm came at about 5.55 on a Sunday morning. My company, Engine XX was first in. It was a one-family row house, two floors and a basement. It started as a fire in the basement and had spread to the first floor. I was the nozzle man. We knocked down the floor fire on the first floor, then we tried to find the entrance to the basement. We stumbled around in the living room because there was so much furniture in it and we couldn’t see in the smoky darkness. The family had redone the basement, and instead of opening a door and going down steps to the basement, you had to open the door and walk about eight feet before you came to the steps. We didn’t know that at the time. It’s an unusual arrangement for that kind of house. Anyway, we couldn’t find the basement. It started getting real hot in there, and everything started cracking. The lieutenant, Y, said, ‘Too hot. Let’s get out of here.’ Before we could make a move, the floor collapsed and knocked us down. The fire just took off, and we were trapped in there. I was slightly unconscious for a while, then I had to pause a little while to get my senses together, because I was burned on my forehead. #RandolphHarris 15 of 18
“Lieutenant Y was in worse trouble. He was dazed. I had to get him out of there. I grabbed him under the arms and started to lead him toward the back door, but we stumbled over the furniture, and we tripped and fell. So I grabbed him by the hand, and my glove came off. The next thing I knew, my hand was badly burned. Then I started dragging him along the floor, and the next thing I knew, I was stuck. My air mask had stuck on a table or chair or something. I was stuck, and I couldn’t move. It was real scary. It was like being in hell, really. I thought, ‘Lord, don’t let me die like this. I deserve a chance.’ I thought about my wife. We were only married a year. I said, ‘Wow, I’m going to leave my wife right now, and my family.’ The way it happened, it was unbelievable. I was totally stunned. I didn’t believe I would be in a situation like that. From my training and previous experience in other fires, I knew we had to get out of there. I tired as hard as I could to get us out, but every time I tried to move, somehow I was getting weaker and weaker. I thought it was hopeless. Then my air bottle ran out of oxygen. I thought I was going to die of suffocation. I was just hoping I wouldn’t burn to death. But the fire didn’t seem like it was coming toward us anymore. I could hardly breathe in my air mask, and I had too much smoke in my chest. Just then, the other guys managed to get back in there and pull us out. #RandolphHarris 16 of 18
“At the hospital they put a tube into my lungs. They could hardly get it down there, my throat was so swollen. It had been burned by the heat. They were showing it down there, and I was scared. They finally got it down. I don’t remember much of my first three days in the hospital. A lot of people said they came up to see me, but I don’t remember who. I asked somebody if everybody had made it out od the fire all right, and they said no. I saw the other two firefighters who were hurt, but I didn’t see Lieutenant Y. I kind of figure he had died. After the third or fourth day, everything started hurting real bad. My hand. My face. I was in a lot of pain. It took me a while to get over that. The first day was hardest for my wife. She was really hurt to see me, but she tried to hold it back. Afterwards, she didn’t want me coming back to the department, but I told her that that was what I wanted to do. So she respects that, and she supports me. I was in therapy for a year and a half for my hand, using grips and putty. Then I went to this physical therapy center and did all sorts of other things, exercising every day, working with my hand to build things. Today my hand is not as good as it was, but it’s okay. The department was excellent, supportive in every way. Everybody came up to see me, even guys I didn’t know. It seemed like the whole fire department was at the hospital. Anything I wanted or needed, they got for me. They treated me excellently. #RandolphHarris 17 of 18
“I was off the job for about five and a half months, then I was put on light duty for about a year. Now I’m back on the job full-time. Everything is pretty cool. I’m lucky to be alive, right?” Professionalism leads the Sacramento Fire Department to continuously improve their knowledge and skills, always striving to be “first in” with excellent service. The Sacramento Fire Department also strives to sustain and improve the health, safety, convenience, and welfare of the citizens of Sacramento and to plan for the future development of the community. You can help save lives and property by donating to the Sacramento Fire Department. And remember parents, please raise your children to love America, to be patriotic, to love God and Jesus, respect law and others, treat others with dignity and respect, and remind them of the importance of education. To help America survive the global recession and bring manufacturing jobs back to America and to get American wages at pace with inflation, it is important to buy America cars, American meat, American produce and other American made goods and services. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with Liberty and Justice for all. Our Father, our King, be gracious unto us and answer us, for we are wanting in good deeds; deal with us in charity and lovingkindness, and please save us. #RandolphHarris 18 of 18
The Winchester Mystery House
The Menagerie Oddities Market is back this Holiday season!
On every Saturday from November 30 to December 28, from 11am to 5pm, Winchester Mystery House will host the 6th annual Menagerie Holiday Oddities & Curiosities Market, with new vendors every week. Join the Yuletide Oddventure and stuff those stockings with something weird they won’t forget this holiday season! 🎄
Link in bio for more information! https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
Randolph Harris II International 