The Psychology of Socialism # 2 ( Modernization)
I judge that the the social and political infestation of Marxist Socialism in America is analogues to any disease that sickens an individual. When someone’s immune system is sufficiently weakened, they become increasingly susceptible to various diseases; some of which are lethal.
The psychological and spiritual health of our population greatly affects America’s resistance to the killing effects of Marxism on societies and their cultures.
Factors that affect the psychological health of America’s population is the topic of what follows.
It is critically important to know about the Psychological Laws and Principles that tend to shape a population’s behavior patterns; the ones that I explained in my previous post, “The Psychology of Socialism #1 (The People)”. The psychological Laws and Principles that increase or decrease the frequency of good or bad behaviors; and useful or self-defeating behaviors in individuals and groups of individuals…including societies of individuals.
Please scroll down the list of my topics on this page to refresh or learn these Laws and Principles for the first time. Perhaps you will have to search for its #1’s title in my search box located on the upper right of my home page.
All of these Laws and Principles tend to influence the behaviors of both individuals and populations in much the same ways. They increase or decrease the frequency of occurrence of behaviors within individuals, groups, or entire societies.
The susceptibility of humans to be influenced by these Laws and Principles of Psychology, and to show other innate characteristics and tendencies, should be what we mean by “Human Nature”. That is, it is most common for humans to prefer faster, bigger, more frequent and more convenient rewards, rather than rewards that come slower, smaller, less frequent and more difficult to achieve. It is also human nature to tend to avoid and escape unpleasant or painful experiences by any easy and immediately effective way that works.
All of this may sound like common sense…and it is! But, it includes a heck-of-a-lot more than common sense. These scientific facts have been validated by nearly 100 years of effortful replicated psychological research.
Also, it is easy to see that what we call common sense–is not so common as we once thought!
Like it or not, deny it or not, these Psychological Laws and Principles are inalterable truths that can increase good behaviors in individuals, all human organizations, and societies. Unfortunately, these laws and principles can also increase harmful and even destructive behaviors in all of these venues. Like nuclear power they can sustain individuals and societies, or destroy them.
From this perspective, it should not be a surprise to learn that the strength and endurance of our behaviors are influenced by the rates and intervals governing how often, or how difficult it is to gain our rewards and avoid or escape unpleasant or painful conditions.
Citizens in primitive societies learn to work very hard to secure their rewards (safe shelter, food, water, warmth and protection from various dangers, etc.). They must learn to cope with the stresses of survival in very difficult, disease-ridden even war-torn environments. They learn, as other animals do , to work very hard to live in these circumstances that demand greater tenacity, perseverance, inventiveness, strength and courage to survive. Furthermore, they tend to adopt comforting religions that help them to cope with a great many stressors over which they have little personal control. This last matter will be discussed in greater detail in a later blog.
It is essential for parents in more primitive cultures to teach their children these skills and beliefs because, during the parent’s old age, they must rely upon their children’s care in order to survive.
As modernizing societies continue to develop through the generations of citizens, the strength and adaptive qualities of the population’s behavior tends to diminish. The once more common levels of tenacity, perseverance, inventiveness, courage to survive hardships, and the solidifying faith in historical traditions and religions tend to be weakened. People become dependent upon the advances of knowledge, science and new technological conveniences.
However, human wisdom about how to best cope with these evolutions appears to lag very far behind.
In modernizing societies the historically greater demands of life give-way to more frequent, more plentiful, bigger and more easily gained rewards. Simultaneously, more convenient and certain strategies to escape or avoid discomfort, pain and even death become a new and comforting part of life. With these increasing advantages and without formally taught adaptive counter-measures to preserve the older self-sufficient skills; as well as the mental and physical hardiness of former populations; survival skills and abilities weaken. The new relatively easy life-style brings the tendency among an increasing percent of citizens (I.e., the prevalence) of the modernizing society’s population’s to lose former generation’s hardiness, tenacity and perseverance. It is important to remember that the soft and easy life, is only so…relative to the demands of life-styles. Therefore, this tendency of population and cultural decline, presumably, has been a factor in the decline and collapse of societies throughout history.
The so called “law of least effort” facilitates the weakening of population behavior. This tends to show-up in behavior patterns we may label as laziness, impatience, low frustration tolerance, poor self-control, and decreased inventiveness, etc..
Look at our own behavior patterns today.
Why warm stuff in the oven when there is microwave? Why wash the dishes by hand when there is the dish washer? Why shovel the driveway when you have a snow blower? Why climb the stairs when there is an elevator? Why abstain from sex when easy birth control medication and abortions-on-demand are easily available? Why practice common courtesies when population density and mobility ensures you will never see a person again? Why not eat what you wish when there is medicine to treat high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease? Why walk when you can ride? Why take time and effort to shop at a store when you can order stuff over the internet? Why go to school when you can do computer assisted education? Why work when you can get welfare? Why get married when you can “hook-Up” and have sex, all the advantages of a home, and irresponsibly come and go as you please? Why have children and raise them with great care, when it costs so much, is inconvenient and stressful, interferes with earning more money, and achieving a great career, and so on?
It is often said that humanity has made great gains through science and technology. This is obviously True!
But what is also true, but not so obvious, is that science and technology have also had many negative psychological effects upon the the behavior patterns of the citizens within modernizing societies. It is essential to understand that the quality of citizen’s behavior patterns is influenced by sociocultural evolution, and Sociocultural evolution is influenced by the quality of citizen’s behavior patterns.
All of this, and more of course, has been an important part of the rise and fall of the greatest societies in the history of planet earth.
It is now essential to further evaluate the effects of America’s cultural evolutions upon the psychological health and viability of our society’s citizens, and visa-versa.
V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D., 1/15/21
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