Here’s kind of a weird thing. I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I’m suffering, the last thing I need to hear from a friend or a loved one is optimism. There are a lot of examples of it. It really depends on the situation. But, you know, “Hey, it’ll get better, Michael. Give it time. Time heals all wounds. You know, it could be worse. It is what it is. Shit happens for a reason, Michael.” These are examples of what’s known as, and what I think is appropriately known as, toxic positivity. And I just hate it.
In this webcast, I am interested in using the insights of psychoanalysis to better understand what is going on in the wider social, political, and cultural worlds. I have been a practicing psychotherapist and psychoanalyst for over 40 years and have written extensively about these issues at the interface of psychology and the social/political/cultural worlds (see my publications on this website). I hope to explore matters that are related to current events, but also provide some discussion and understanding of more general issues about human development and psychology.
Moral Injury
Let me start today by, being clear about one thing. I’m a 72-year-old, upper-middle-class, married Jewish professional.
As much as some progressives, draw parallels to Germany in the 1930s, I don’t believe I’m in danger of roving gangs of skinheads pulling me and my wife out of our home and sending us to camps. Although Donald Trump may yet wreck the economy, of course, and endanger my finances, I don’t believe I’m at risk of being driven into poverty as many others are.
And maybe the most likely tangible impact I feel from Trump’s authoritarian agenda will be worsening climate change and the resulting damage to what remains of my life. But, like so many of my peers, actually, I am acutely suffering under the yoke of this reactionary authoritarian regime.
And what I—and so many others—are suffering from is not necessarily, you see, less important than objective economic exploitation and political oppression, which is also, of course, happening every day. We’re experiencing—I’m experiencing—extreme moral injury every day.
Grief and Joy in the Town Square
A strange thing happened when I was standing in a large crowd at a recent No Kings anti-Trump demonstration a week or two ago. The energy was high, people were chanting, there were hundreds of signs that were both sharply political and funny. A surprising thing happened, I found myself starting to cry. An entirely unexpected expression of what I could only suspect was some kind of grief or loss or sadness.
Let’s Stop With the Self – Help Cliches and Bromides
In this video, we break down popular self-help and New Age clichés like “It is what it is” and “It wasn’t meant to be.” These sayings may sound comforting, but they often dismiss real pain and discourage emotional honesty. Let’s talk about why it’s okay to feel, to grieve, and to reject toxic positivity.
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