Authority, elites, the wealthy and the powerfull are mired in their ego and guilt - they cannot see reality.

Date:   4/15/2012 1:47:10 PM ( 12 y ago)

                                                                  Delusional Authority

   We could be in big trouble when our leaders, officials, and authorities are delusional about things they believe about themselves and the world.

   As the world changes, especially in times where changes are happening quickly, experts and authorities tend to hold onto their old ways, even when those ways are clearly no longer valid and will not help solve the crisis at hand.

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Normalcy Bias

  There are new studies showing how authorities tend to become delusional when crisis hits.

  One such study is called Normalcy Bias - here is a Quote from it:
     "Normalcy bias refers to a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects."

   So just when we need them most, they turtle.


Success Regrets Nothing

    The successfull people, the winners, the wealthy and powerfull, have a few reasons to dislike change. Obviously, one such reason is that they were "doing just fine, thank you" as things were.  When on top, change can only mean trouble.

    Also, many elites and authorities have GUILT to contend with. Politicians who were bribed or enticed in some fashion to allow pollution to go unregulated, and those who benefited from such activities, those that did harm to nature or people, have shown a complete unwillingness to face the facts of what they have done. It appears that many of them actually believe "it was all good", which is more dangerous than simply lying about it.

   An oilman's fortune is not better than "ill gotten gains" of criminal enterprises - indeed, by breaking pollution laws and bribing/enticing politicians to refuse to regulate their industry, they could be considered criminal in every sense.

   The point - due to guilt, and ego, and in defence of their fortunes, they cannot face reality. Crisis situations require a solid footing in reality by those who might be able to avert the crisis. It is doubly bad if they get in the way of solutions, such as denying that global warming exists, or that pollution causes illness [cancer], or that the oceans are not becoming to acidic for aquatic life to thrive in.


Groupthink

      Another example is that engineers - also typically successfull people with power and wealth - tend to think as a group. They can be heard saying that "those Japanese engineers are wonderfull, they have things well under control with Fukushima" [that quote came from an engineer].

   Delusional is the best way to describe them. Fukushima is actual teetering on the bring of catastrophe!!

  The people we depend on are deluded.


Economics

   An issue that everyone can relate to, the wealthy and "us little people", is the economy. The wealthy have "everything to lose", and although most of the rest of us spend all we have by the end of each month - many of us spend more than that - it is a matter of stability to keep the economy afloat.

   It is in serious danger of not floating. The elites are refusing to recognise this fact.

   And, if we get through this period of economic crisis, we, the little people, also the majority [if democracy still matters], would be much better off with an emphasis on STABILITY rather than having this speculative, ultra-wealthy oriented, financial system.

  Here is a secret - the wealthy HATE the idea of equality. No duh, eh? If we were anything close to equal, they would not be "uber-wealthy".

   So, are we born equal or not? Do human rights matter, or not? Is speculating on food, and defining food as a "commodity", negating that basic right of living things [including humans] to EAT?? Arrrgggg, it enrages...

    OK, the crisis is - despite facing mountains of debt and that there are only tiny molehills of collateral, politicians are still saying "No problem, things slow down a bit but it allways comes back stronger than before". They are either deluded, or doing their job of placating the public [which is of no help whatsoever].

   Worse yet, the financial industry is hopping happily along as if nothing happened in 2008, as if that all got fixed, as if entire nations and complete currencies are not crumbling under mountains of debt.

   Capitalism depends on GROWTH, and growth depends at least partly, on creating debt, and there is no more room for any more debt.

  They are deluded, and they are in charge. We are in trouble.

  At some point, someone will admit that the paper wealth is only worth what the financial industry produces - nothing ; nothing we can touch, nothing we can use, nothing of actual value. The financial industry, which includes those who speculate on food as a commodity, must be trashed, ended, put to rest. Money traders are evil. Period. It enrages...



CONCLUSION

  Why am I pointing all this out? It is not sour grapes, or at least not ALL just sour grapes...  I would suggest that the elites, the wealthy, the powerfull, the authorities, the engineers who are now in charge, the economists who got us to this point - they MUST ALL STEP ASIDE and let others attempt to avoid the pending crisis's we are now facing.

   Namely, these crisis we are facing include the Economy, Fukushima [Arne Gunderson has been ignored, let him direct the show now], Energy [as in, how we get our energy and the way we use it, so as to reduce emissions from fossil fuels], and Preparedness for a period of increased tectonic activity [nuclear reactors in earthquake zones must be shut down as soon as possible]. There are surely other problems, but those are big ones, a good place to start.

  Indeed, we need a change of the guard if and when crisis hits. It is a mistake to assume the people in charge now can handle it. A CRISIS TEAM for every essential area of life should be selected immediately. Then, in a few years time, we can begin cleaning up the other messes of deluded authorities, and return the power to the real majority.

 ------------links supporting authority insanity -

* Note - these links do not appear to be "live", so you may have to copy/paste them into browser window. {mods? can fix?}

1] Science of authority delusion and panic -

> http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1451327

2] "Self-delusion a winning strategy in business, sport and war"

> http://scienceagogo.com/news/20110815011916data_trunc_sys.shtml

3]   exerpts from the new book,  by Chris Mooney on  "The Republican Brain":

  http://tinyurl.com/7couwzv ["why they deny science"]

 http://tinyurl.com/7yggw2s {"The Republican Brain on the Republican Brain"}

  4] NEW!! April 25 2012 -

The Self-Made Myth: Debunking Conservatives' Favorite - And Most Dangerous - Fiction

link:
http://tinyurl.com/85ooxgp
 

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