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The Silent Epidemic In A Broken, Deranged System: Stress
Submitted by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds
The Silent Epidemic In A Broken, Deranged System: Stress
Longtime readers know that I see our system not just as financially sick but as spiritually and psychologically deranging. The illnesses are related, of course--a distorted economic system (i.e. financialization) that rewards parasitic sociopathy and political predation cannot help but make its participants physically and psychologically ill.
Here is a selection of the many entries I've written on this largely ignored topic:
Serial Addictions, Serial Speculative Bubbles: a Sickness Unto Death (Feb. 2, 2010)
Welfare Nation: Addiction, Denial and Magical Thinking (February 1, 2010)
The Wider Context for Twenty-Somethings (Gen Y) in America (February 19, 2010)
Opting Out and the Culture of Entitlement (March 29, 2010)
Readers are often puzzled by the term The Politics of Experience, which is the core of the Survival+ analysis. The term comes from psychiatrist/author R.D. Laing, and I use it to describe the subtle ways that our worldview is molded to make certain forms of political and financial dominance so "natural" that we lose awareness of its arbitrary, carefully engineered structure.
America Is Just Going Through the Motions (November 19, 2010)
The Junkie in the Pool and False Idols (August 10, 2011)
Japan and the Exhaustion of Consumerism (October 18, 2012)
Narcissism, Consumerism and the End of Growth (October 19, 2012)
When Belief in the System Fades (March 12, 2008)
I recently received this commentary from Kenneth Daigle, a 33-year veteran stockbroker/financial advisor on the subject of chronic, systemic stress. (He requested that his full name be published.) Kenneth succinctly ties together the nation's economic distemper, its broken healthcare system and the culture of high expectations and consumerism:
I talk to hundreds of people in my practice, and I want to share with you an observation that I have made. With all the media attention lately on the fact that America has hit 90 million people who are not in the workforce, I see very little being written, asking the big question, WHY?
It is easy to say that the main reason is the entitlement culture affords people the ability to not have to work, but I am hearing the real reason is STRESS. People are reluctant to admit that they just can’t take the pressure anymore of day-to-day living, and the biggest way to relieve stress is to not work.
Think about how our culture is now structured for the average adult: STRESS, everywhere you look--commuting in horrible traffic, as you want to scream in frustration--money stress, to pay rent/house note, tuition, utilities, gas, insurances, vacations, cable bill, rising food costs, and on and on and on--stress from family problems, divorce, delinquency, drugs, crime, infidelity, keeping up with the Jones, etc.
People have too high an expectation of what they should have out of life, and get overly stressed over it all. How does all of this manifest itself? A prescription drug culture (Zoloft, Xanax, etc.) that tricks people into thinking a pill will knock back the stress, when these drugs, in my opinion, only make things worse.
I am hearing more and more that people just want to drop out from it all, as they are reaching a breaking point, and have decided less income and dependency on entitlements will reduce their stress, and is not so humiliating, so giving up working becomes more acceptable, to KEEP ONE’S SANITY.
I know I am correct, from the feedback I hear every day, and the financial media does not see this like I hear it every day. People don't want to admit that they are too weak to deal with stress, so the financial pundits are not aware of this critical factor because they don't talk to Joe Sixpack.
The government can stimulate all they want, but the unemployment/job problem will not improve because the root cause is not being recognized. We have built a culture that is far too stressful for millions of folks, so they do what they must for their mental sanity, by removing the stress of work. It matters not what level of pay they may earn, because their mental health is more critical than high income.
More and more, it is like a spiritual awakening, as people realize chasing after materialism was making them crazy with anxiety and stress. They find not working, and downsizing their expectations, makes it easier to cope with all the other aspects of living. If you wrote about this, perhaps it would help stimulate a national discussion addressing this issue.
Thank you, Kenneth, for your report from the world we actually inhabit, as opposed to the one that is dutifully reported in the mainstream media (i.e. everything's fine, unemployment is only 7.6%, go out and buy a new car, no down payment and easy credit, etc.)
In my view, the high cost of living is a direct contributor to chronic stress. While there are numerous explanations for the rising cost of living--Baumol's Cost Disease ( Productivity, Baumol's Disease and the Cliff Just Ahead December 8, 2010) and the rising cost of energy, to name but two--the one key driver that nobody dares discuss is the state-cartel (crony capitalism) structure of our economy: cartels (defense, energy, sickcare, education, etc.) avoid competition, enabled and enforced by the State (government).
This explains why sickcare and education costs have skyrocketed far above the rate of inflation. Apologists try to invoke Baumol to explain the lack of productivity in sickcare and education, but the primary cause is the cartel structure of these industries which ruthlessly eliminates any real competition.
People respond to incentives and disincentives. If it's easier to fake a disability, get Section 8 housing, food stamps, etc., than it is to earn a productive livelihood, then people will fake a disability, etc.
As it becomes increasingly costly and risky to start a business and hire workers, then people won't start businesses or hire workers--unless they have a guaranteed government contract, i.e. they are quasi-public-sector employees.
Another factor few dare mention is debt-serfdom. By the time the brainwashed consumer has loaded up on the "absolutely necessary" debts--$100,000+ for college, $200,000 for a home mortgage, $20,000 for a vehicle loan, and whatever he/she can swing in credit card debt--the options to escape stress shrivel.
Bankruptcy and opting out is one option, but that requires sacrificing all the signifiers of identity and success--the very factors in a consumerist society that establish not just identity but self-worth and personhood.
I say few dare mention state-cartels and debt-serfdom, because once you question these you question the entire debt-based "growth" that underpins our social order. If people refuse to become debt-serfs, the system will implode. If the cartels were boycotted, the State would implode, because the political order depends on the concentrated wealth of private-sector cartels and the financialization Aristocracy.
In other words: eliminate the real sources of stress and you bring down the entire economic, political and social order. The Status Quo hopes another med or two will make all the debt-serfs' stress decline to manageable levels, but it's not only the individual who needs help adjusting to chronic stress--the deranged system he/she inhabits needs to change.
Kenneth also forwarded these chronic stress-related links:
10 Simple Ways to Live a Less Stressful Life
Are You Stressed Out at Work But Too Afraid To Quit Your Job?
STRESSED AND DEPRESSED: The unreported health crisis of the Obama era
'DISABLED' OUTNUMBER WORKERS IN U.S. MANUFACTURING
Cornell Professor Richard Burkhauser, a disability policy expert, warns, “SSDI is increasingly being used as a long-term unemployment program for workers who, given the appropriate rehabilitation and accommodation, could work.”
The sheer number of people on disability is staggering, without even considering the policy’s other consequences. The number of people on disability, 14 million, is “more than the total number of employees in the manufacturing sector of the economy,” observed Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute.
The government spends more on disability than it does on both food stamps and welfare combined, according to a blockbuster NPR report. The dependency trend and fiscal trajectory continue their death spiral, unmoved by the supposed economic recovery.
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I'm afraid the majority with the skill sets you imply may serve the dish hotter than they anticipate. A lot of anger building out there and who knows what will happen after a few sparks. Those platitudes of which you speak cannot stop the tsunami when truly unleashed. More and more they are being seen as empty and meaningless.
Miffed;-)
Is it the (crony capitalism, communist, socialist, etc) system that makes the man mad or is it the mad man that makes the crony capitalism? In my opinion our madness springs from within and our socioeconomic system is simply an expression of our inner madness.
As frustrating as it may seem to those who are seeking the answers to our problems externally I suggest that it all begins within. It is the only explanation for thousands of years of cyclic insanity.
Under crony capitalism, man exploits man. Under socialism or communism, its exactly the opposite.
People have innate survival behaviors. They will use confirmation bias to justify them in every aspect of their lives - even beyond the point that they are obviously failing.
That can ruin a person's life, but for those whom control of others is imperative to their survival, it will ruin the lives of many.
"In my opinion our madness springs from within and our socioeconomic system is simply an expression of our inner madness."
Or madness is being "inserted" into our subconscious by our supposedly sane society?
To sum up:
Beer, yoga, and a good long rant on ZH cures stress.
I recommend posting while drunk in the lotus position.
My research, and I don't mean to sound like a pompous krugman, but my extensive research shows that women and men have changed rather dramatically over the years which, I hypothesize, contributes to the ever increasing cognitive dissonance of today's men and women.
The following link underscores a large portion of my work. Too sciencey for most. However, if my good man, Dr. Paul "Nobel Princeton Future Fed Chief I hope!" Krugman happens upon the site (I mean the stoodge who pretends to act like his worthlessness), perhaps we could talk smuggly with one another, I regarding psychological innacuracies, and he regarding his usual: economic ramblings of a broken down, yet still effective mascot of modern American Finance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d8FTPv955I
Think about how our culture is now structured for the average adult: STRESS,
Yeah but that's why we have so many cool psychotropic drugs that enhance homicidal and suicidal tendencies. Ask Jimmy Holmes.
Friend of mine just got back from the Phillipines. Said the people there were happy, peaceful, friendly, intelligent, educated, the standard of living was very good, and the cost of living was very cheap. I've been all over but not there yet. Said it was like a Catholic version of Thailand, only cheaper.
I'm no Simon Black but I do know there are a lot of alternatives to the pale cast of life that we've been indoctrinated into.
A Catholic version of Thailand. In other words, hell.
Sex with guilt! That's absolved by Service Provider. For a small fee and ritual.
Sounds to me these allegedly happy Phillapidos need the USDA daily dose of drone death.
Showing gullible Americans a life without rampant consumerism can be a happy one is CLEARLY an act of war against the USA.
Please exit your ramshackle homes and form a dense brown knot in an open space so justice can be served efficiently.
Your analysis verges on blaming the victims of the system rather than the system. If there were a concerted effort to create jobs by the government and the only criteria for taking a job was wanting to work, that would do away with some of the stress. The jobs should not be " make work" of "welfare work" but should come from the communities in which the work is needed so that some of the stress factors you name would not apply, such as communting in stressful traffic. By the way, this idea already has been tried in a South American country and it appeared to work well. In my community, for example, there is a need for cleanup crews and people to educate everyone about not throwing garbage out their car windows. A job could be created by government with such a description. Now, that is probably not the best job going but there are many other jobs: home maintenance for the elderly, care for the homebound, home care for ill, etc.
The government would have to pay a wage that is above our present minimum wage plus health benefits and baby sitting services but would not compete with the private sector. Once the project is up and running, then the private sector could hire the workers for their own companies. I do not think that people who don't work are shirkers and the above idea would help prove the point.
The Argentine example of a work program called Jefes Plan shows how work can help eliminate poverty.
"The love of possession is a disease with them." An actual quote from the chief of an Indian tribe amazed at how settlers acted.
Consumeristic greed is aggressively cultivated in every single citizen from the time they are old enough to respond to mass media....about the age of 4 or so. Advertising and almost every form of entertainment is intentionally aimed at creating want, want that can only be satisfied through acquisition. Consumerism in every form drives debt because the only barrier to buying more is running out of credit. People don't run out of want, ever. Even when totally debt ridden they still try to figure out how to buy more things.
Consumerism is the absolute backbone of our society. Take that away and the whole economy collapses. Debt is simply a facilitator of consumerism it is not the cause.......although debt itself is sold as a commodity through introductory rate credit card offers and the like.
What made the 1960's so really dangerous to the over culture was the side trend, forget the left/right thing, against consumption and toward a simple life where spiritual, social, and personal experience was more important than buying and owning things. Every other youth trend, cultural trend, before or after was coopted by product promotions and ownership badges that exploited or coopted the trend of the day.
Consumption.....because it is so temporarily gratifying yet consumes so much time to make possible....via work and shopping, it seldom satisfies the true underlying emotional needs of people for very long although really very few ever turn away from the lifestyle to an intentionally simpler one. That becomes the source of frustration and dissatisfaction.
The problem is, essentially, capitalism.....it requires an inequality of outcomes for people to create competition and it depends on ever greater amounts of consumption.....of essentially worthless items once basic needs are well past satisfied.
I don't advocate any alternatives any more as the victims love their velvet lined chains. Its all a game anyway, every bit of it, all the time.
'Capitalism', like the ideas of 'free markets' and 'democracy' come in different flavors in different places.
American 'Capitalism' has developed historically, such that it is predicated on land and resources taken at will (whether occupied or not). Since it loves cheap resources and cheap labor, it is no wonder that we then got 'cheap money'. But...
But the whole concept is founded on a built-in, fatal flaw: Limitless growth. The financial & political shenanigans we see, is merely a desperate attempt by the Kings of American Capitalism to push that limited concept beyond established boundaries. Stretching limits does not eliminate them.
That which cannot be sustained, will not be sustained. Hedge & plan accordingly.
"The love of possession is a disease with them"
As spoken by someone who possessed only the property concepts of the animal world: my property and our property, but not your property.
That others are entitled to own property is a very recent development, which, by the way, is currently being destroyed by most of the world's governments.
A sign that we are sliding back into the animal world.
I don't know if I fully agree. The world is a tough place and always has been. People's standards are much higher now than they were 50 years ago. They want more and better stuff and there is a price to be paid for that. But, there is no doubt that wages have not kept up with the cost of living. It's an interesting premise that people are opting out of the workforce. I think most people want to work and feel productive and have something to do, however, if you can't make a wage that covers the basics of housing, education and healthcare, you certainly won't be happy. And no one wants to be a debt slave. However, dropping out isn't going to make one happy either.
I do think the government is responsible for a large part of the problem in that every well-meaning but misguided program has increased the cost of living. Think of how financial aid allowed colleges to keep raising tuitions, mortgage programs allowed housing to inflate, etc. The other part is global. Many jobs have foreign competition they never had before holding down wages. And we know what the Fed has done to the value of the dollar over the decades.
Other than complaining, what else can you do besides move to a Greek island and grow figs and raise sheep
Stress is engineered for economic stimulus. Can't have healthy happy people cause they stand in the way of record bonuses and fixing problems.
Can't have bullshit wars on arbitrary matters if people aren't broken down to not question them.
Thank you Charles for this post. I concur completely. Everything is connected to everything else. That sounds so hippie dippie, but every aspect of our lives is distorted by our shared way of living. "The center cannot hold, the best lack all conviction, the worst are full of passionate intensity" Plus ca change.
For the love of money is the root of all evil.
This planet just runs a slighty different version of ' The Hunger Games '.
We are all slaves to debt in one form or another because that is how the system is designed to work.
The only escape is death (and even then your debts can be passed on).
"(and even then your debts can be passed on)" is misleading, as is the so-called "death tax". The fact is your debts after your death are paid by YOUR estate, not your heirs. This seems just to me. The "death tax" is a tax on your heirs, not YOU. YOU are dead and no-one can do anything to you. If we accept taxation as a necessary way to pay for roads, water systems, self defense, etc...it stands to reason to apply tax to a windfall. You did nothing to earn that inheritance, it just landed in your lap.
Unless, of course, you have been working fifty hours a week at the family business most of your life, and your folks, who built and owned the business bite the big one. In that case, the business you have worked to build with your family will now be taken from you unless you cough up a large percentage of its value in the form of cash to the Feds.
A "tribute", to "The Ruling Classes".
DO you get any "better services" or "extra services" for this fee? NO.
The money is "excised" simple because those who want to take it can, and will.
You work, for their benefit.
(and everyone wonders why there are so many "Black Market" activities Worldwide!)
BASE jump for me. Relieves me of all problems in life.
Tell that to Blankfein and Dimon.
Whether you view our universe and world as some "God" created physical existence or the inside of some virtual reality computer where the program has virtually infinite size and possibility (with our physical manifestation and brain being the interface that interprets the programming around us), all of the historical writing refer to a satanic presence (with accompanying hoards of demons) that acts as our adversary (not necessarily evil per say, but the adversary that tests us) while we exist within this "universe". (this might be easiest for people familiar with MMRPGs to envision)
It may or may not be our purpose to fight and defeat this satanic (adversarial) presence (because by defeating it we would become it, maybe), but it is definitely our purpose to learn how to deal with it and to survive its tests so that we can survive. accomplish and learn.
Stress is negative feedback within the test loop. It is expected when money has replaced the whip as a means of control of the population ... and fearing the whip or fearing the lack of money is probably pretty much the same thing. Obviously the way to deal with it is to care neither about the whip nor the money and the stress will be eliminated ... but that is tough.
Baumol's Cost Disease is a bunch of garbage. There are many professions where productivity has not changed over time, but only certain ones have had the pricing power to keep ahead of inflation. Most of these are government supported: education, medicine, law. The original classical musician study is better explained by a dramatic reduction in supply and demand except at the extreme margin--the extremely wealthy subsidize the arts and there are not very many professional classical musicians anymore. Performing arts went from a mass audience in the 19th century back to a wealthy niche, which is counter to the trend of most things.
It still takes about the same amount of time to cut hair as it did 150 years ago, yet barbers have not benefited from Baumol. They have no government-granted pricing power.
The system needs you to be a battery.
Any other 'original' ideas?
I am 52 and often, nay usually told by the Chinese gals who give me my therapeutic massages that I look closer to 40.
I have an addictive and tense personality; not a hale-fellow-well-met, not particularly well-liked.
I essentially left the American male realm of beer, cigarettes, football and coffee in favor of green tea and cannabis and yoga.
Jogging/Running costs nearly nothing and is an intense yoga that cleans the system like nothing else.
Have not in my adult life owned a television set.
Everything paid for in cash but the mortgage. I maintain an executive account and cc for my extra-curricular activities; which consist mainly of expert massages 2-4 x per month from very pleasant young ladies with whom I practice my Mandarin.
Stress is fear. No debt no fear. Have 1-2 nice suits when you need them. Otherwise, looking a little shabby is in vogue at least in S.F.
To the extent possible, have no debt and partake in no fear.
Does anyone from SF 1990's remember the guys wearing the sandwich boards in fron of the SF Center? One read:
For fallen, fallen, fallen is Babylon the great
She who has made all of the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication
Come out of her my people, says the Lord
That you may not participate in her sins
and that you may not receive of her plagues.
Actually this whole mess is due to one thing that the modern world will not admit, addiction.
You have Physical and Emotional addiction.
Physical - Fags, drugs, food, possesions. Emotional - celeb, power.
Addiction shows in those that do not have to struggle daily to survive.
Do not get confused about the side affects of addiction though as a crack head will have diffrent side effects to say Benny and his printer but they both must satisfiy their addiction or they do not fill whole. Polititions, central bankers, etc all show signs of addiction in that they do not care about anything but their next hit of power.
Being a cog in the wheel makes us worthwhile persons, and being outside of it all makes us non-entities. Sounds like something ol' massa would say.
Another BIG stress factor is THE CENTRALLY PLANED WEATHER.
"Weather: The Force Multiplier"
Own the Weather in 2025"
If you have not heard these phrases or know what they mean,learn them on up Please...!!!
You think finances are your main worries.....?
Have u witnessed it visually in real time?
I've got screen captures that will blow u away.
Took the day train from Penang to Kuala Lumpur yesterday and chatted with a nice young Jewish gentleman from B.C. Canada. We talked the whole way covering most everything you can imagine. Mainly we talked about the human condition and both of agreed that the Chinese and the Jewish people are among the least happy folks on planet Earth. In fact, he brought up the topic...honesty and human-heartedness make a good combination for us all.
"Relax, the Fed hasn't killed anyone?"
Wrong!
What should be mentioned is that, these days, the average job is actually five jobs in one. The reason is that, with the quickly rising cost structure, employers can't afford to hire as many employees as are really needed. So, each person does the job of many.
The inevitable result is a truckload of stress for the average employee. After all, he or she is sometimes doing the work of an entire department.
I've seen employment ads that combine so many different jobs into one, that the job title is a hybridized mess.
And, when you read the job description, you see a veritable laundry list of requirements. I then ask myself, "What else should I do? Should I also stick a broom up my ass and sweep the floor?"
I like to take a codeine and watch Judge Judy. That shit cracks me up.
More horse-shit from Chuck-You.
The U.S. is one of the wealthiest countries in the world and with wealth comes less stress, not more. If you want stress, trying living in India or Egypt or any place where you have to worry about where your family’s next meal is coming from. Or Syria where the government is bombing you.
And by the way, the reasons that healthcare costs are rising faster than inflation are 1) government subsidies of healthcare and 2) third-party payers taking the incentive to shop on price.
you do have a point.
"...where you have to worry about where your family’s next meal is coming from."
More and more people in the US worry about this everyday. Some admitedly put themselves clsoer to poverty by living beyond their means, but those people are exactly who the article is aimed at. many Americans who are stressing are doing so by a concious/unconcious choice to participate in this country's consumerist orgy. As more and more realize it's not worth is we may see a change (we can believe in! ;-)
America is a victim of predatory lending.
As Max Keiser pointed out some weeks ago it is part of the power game using stress to control and mark out top dog
http://meeja.com.au/2013/roborat-is-the-nelson-muntz-of-the-rodent-world/
The whole debt-slave routine is to enslave and force submission. The ideal case is overpriced mobile phones sold on consumer credit terms disguised as a phone contract, or even gym memberships.The game is to get a Consumer Credit Agreement and attach the human to a milking machine. When not on the milking machine the human must be harried and bullied into signing up for another treadmill-deal to keep the financial flows going.
The whole system is finished in reality. I can happily walk around mobile phone shops and ignore the pretty cases, and ignore TVs and most supermarket racks. I am totally bored by this system. It is easy to reat it all as fading and irrelevant when the whole system collapses. Who can honestly believe that this system has any long term future, led alone medium term
Perhaps, it should be also pointed out, that the idea of making elsewhere with slave labor and selling here for a lot of money (aka record profit margins) can only work temporarily through the growth of debt? And yet, this is still the pillar of a "conservative revolution"? What can prevent this process but some form of regulation?
Love that the ZH website gives us context sensative web ad placements so we can get pitched for 'Anxietin - for safe natural anxiety relief'. LOL!
Ha! I've got coffee ads.
Check out my book "Debt Hope: Down and Dirty Survival Strategies"