World-Wide Anger

by Richard C. Raynard, Ph.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist

On the one hand, is there a single country today that does not have some form of peaceful - sometimes violent - protest?   Besides most every country in Africa, South America and the Middle East, you have East Asian and European countries as well. Even in mature democracies like Britain, Sweden, and Australia. The protest comes from everyone's basic insecurity and lack of voice in the face of corrupt, enriched and imbedded politicos of all stripes.

On the other, there is increasingly a call for "systemic" change in the media, and not just in other countries.  Proposals in the USA  - prison overhaul, immigration reform, taxes on the wealthy, local farming -  have burgeoned in most every public sphere. The most thoughtful have prioritized such change, making free, open elections the very top priority.

All can vote

In my book Anger, I clarify that the purpose of anger is to find satisfaction of a basic need and not to fall into the instinctive trap, emotionally, of blame, disillusionment, and warfare. In so many movements, and particularly the Occupy movement, there has been confusion and uncertainty about what systematic change was demanded. And so across the world, protest movements have faltered, having no clear agreement about priorities for change, after the corrupt have been kicked out.  Think Libya, Egypt or Thailand.

My common sense says that free, open elections could be the top priority of all protests. Anger at no voice is satisfied by ensuring a fair, free electoral voice. So here goes:

  - All electoral campaigns are limited strictly to a 3 month period.
  - All funding is public, all donations limited to $250.
  - 5% of prime time in all publically licensed media is reserved for campaigning.
  - Amendment re Citizens United: money is not speech; corporations are not persons.
  - All elections, state and federal, abide by the Federal Electoral Commission.
  - Candidates show 2 months before election day how they will vote on 40 key issues.
  - Candidates who reverse on 5 or more key issues will be subject to recall.
  - All votes are recorded on paper, one for electronic tally, a copy for the voter.
  - One month early voting is allowed, as well as mail in and weekend voting.
  - All proven citizens over 18 can vote, including ex-felons and dual citizens.

Common sense -yes!  Idealism - yes! More than political will, it takes the will of people to band together and insist on such a key issue. What could be a more basic need in the protests than each citizen have a vote, make clear choices and ensure their will is carried out?

Some of my readers have asked for solutions.  There is one of them. Want more?

About Dr. Raynard
Dr. Richard Raynard is a licensed clinical psychologist with 35 years experience resolving a broad range of emotional problems. As a cognitive-behavioral therapist who has specialized in anxiety and phobic disorders since 1980, he has spent the last 35 years fulfilling his life-long desire to explore and define the true purpose of emotions and how people can easily use emotions to create meaning and satisfaction in their lives. Dr. Raynard's series of books on emotions can be found on Amazon.com. His other books include Don't Panic, and Anxiety & Panic Medications.

Peace for the Insecure

 

by Richard C. Raynard, Ph.D.

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

The emotion is insecurity, the feeling you can't take care of your basic needs. It teams up with the emotion of disgust, leading to the crushing of hope and self-esteem. Insecurity fuels the emotion of envy, firing the greed of the wealthy.

Basic needs

Can you see the effects of insecurity all over the world? We live in an explosive, disruptive time when, in almost any country you can name, there are demonstrations, protests and riots by the impoverished in the streets and offices of the wealthy. This protest is not just "the 1% and rest of us". Depending on the country, it can be the political elite and the disenfranchised, the bankers and the manipulated, the African despot and the ignored, the government insiders and the unheard, the ruling religion and the unworthy, the corporation and the outsourced workers. In other words, the moneyed and the poorest.

All have essentially the same protest: their work is not honored or rewarded by a fair, living wage.

Imagine the peaceful prospects if America were to lead the rest of the world by decreeing a minimum, livable wage for all of its citizens. This would increase health, educate and train more, reduce labor abuse, reduce excessive executive payroll, reduce welfare roles, and increase demand in the economy.  This example, and its benefits would be witnessed, sooner or later, by the whole world. This initiative and example by a world leader would invigorate equalitarian movements the world over.

Peace is not a passive state of detachment. It is a dynamic state when all our basic needs are met: for safety, food, shelter, and education, so that we are able to pursue what we love most. The emotion of insecurity is most stressful and demoralizing until it is satisfied with basic self-care.

Pie in the sky? Wherever there is the livable or highest minimum wage, that country is measurably more peaceful and happy (Wikipedia). Think Norway, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden or Canada.

Better than drones in the sky! What do you think?

About Dr. Raynard

Dr. Richard Raynard is a licensed clinical psychologist with 35 years experience resolving a broad range of emotional problems. As a cognitive-behavioral therapist who has specialized in anxiety and phobic disorders since 1980, he has spent the last 35 years fulfilling his life-long desire to explore and define the true purpose of emotions and how people can easily use emotions to create meaning and satisfaction in their lives. Dr. Raynard's series of books on emotions can be found on Amazon.com. His other books include Don't Panic, and Anxiety & Panic Medications.