January 28, 2022
I'm thinking about play and games. When young I played marbles and got good at it. With my thumb, eyes trained at the group of marbles in the middle and goal of getting that prized marble out of the circle. Or stick ball with the broomstick and harder rubber ball pitched at you with the goal of hitting the ball away! Then there were our adventure games including researching various chemical mixtures that could cause an explosion and different colored flashes. Those days we could go to the pharmacies and talk the pharmacist into getting us various metals and chemicals that we would mix and then fire up. Dangerous, exciting, and rebellious. Basketball was fun and competitive though my proficiency was mediocre. Sure I played card games with parents, grandparents, and friends. Cheating was learned behavior and increased with certain groups of friends. Magic tricks and illusions with slight of hand and skills designed to deceive others became fun. Dangerous risk taking gaming included football, then later skiing, mountain climbing, and even houdini rope tying to escape. I wanted to belong and be seen as a good player yet wanted to compete and win and be admired for my skill and proficiency. So cheating and not following the rules were learned with poker facing and prevarication part of my repertoire.
In the news we have read about parents hiring professional cheaters and influencers to coach their children and influence the colleges to accept their children for admission. The examinations for proficiency such as the SAT's have safe guards to prevent cheaters though innovations have made these safeguards less secure.
Eric Berne popularized game playing with his books including Games People Play. He pointed out that we sometimes interacts with others to set up situations in which our goals for happiness turn out in defeat, humiliation, guilt, and repetitive interactions that cause us unhappiness. So though you would think that you play games to interact wholesomely and to win but really other motivations come to play that are hidden from our view.
I'm thinking that our societal conflicts in which outlandish completely bogus viewpoints are accepted by large swaths of our populations is related to game playing gone array. We have different teams vying against each other so that uniforms include masks or not masks, vaccinations or not, loyalty to political parties beyond what they deserve, and cheering on our heros in the game against the evil machinations of our opponents!
So if there is now evidence of inflation in which I then feel I'm losing in that game I can claim it's due to the Biden presidency and my Republican team is not responsible. If illegal immigrants still cross the border and are transported around the country for their processing and safety the Biden presidency is responsible though the same problems were occurring during the previous administrations. It's whose team is responsible for the bad outcome rather than solving the problem. Blame rather than solution ie Game playing. Since my finances are not as strong today due to the economic changes and due to my mistakes or errors in handling my financial resources I can blame this on my political rival team as mismanagers. If I don't like to pay taxes since my wealth has declined somewhat I can blame the current administration for taxing me rather than see that when the previous administration my team in office were playing the game when in power they let people with tremendous wealth pay less to nothing in tax revenue while lowering taxes minimally for the average person. Since the current stock market has declined and bonds have fallen I can blame my opponent team, though the various residential properties I own have increased substantially in value. The facts of our country's economy belie these simplified game winner or loser tendencies.
Heather Cox Richardson in her recent newsletter wrote "Numbers released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which is part of the U.S. Federal Statistical System producing data and official statistics, show that the U.S. economy grew by an astonishing 6.9 percent annual rate from October to December 2021. That puts the growth of the U.S. economy for 2021 at 5.7 percent in 2021. Despite the ongoing pandemic, this is the fastest full-year growth since 1984.
At the same time, the U.S. added 6 million jobs in 2021, pegging the unemployment rate below 4%.
Economists predict that in 2022 the economy will continue to grow at a much higher rate than the 1.8% policymakers generally expect, expanding at 3.9%.
This growth is the outcome of a dramatic change in economic policy launched by the Biden administration through measures like the American Rescue Plan and the bipartisan infrastructure law." https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-27-2022
What I'm getting at is that by life being a game we lose sight of reality of facts that make such oversimplified conclusions and behaviors of some of our team a joke.
In my previous posts I discuss our current understanding of how suggestible and pliant to external influence some of us are in part related to inherent suggestibility measured in part by our ability to undergo hypnosis. I wrote that certain people can take advantage of those of us who are high on this scale to join their group, become sycophants and followers. Cult leaders know how to manipulate these tendencies so they become objects of veneration and adoration well beyond the reality of their supposed gifts. Some politicians have also joined this crowd of the adored to my consternation and amusement. I know that the psychology of suggestibility, hypnosis, cult following and political enthusiasm of the cult of personality are simplified but they do contribute to my game playing theme today.
Psychopathic behavior includes duping others to gain an advantage. I recently received a message on my iPhone explaining that I had renewed my subscription for Mcafee software. The scam was for me to call the number on the message and then give my credit card information away. Trump worked with various other politicians and followers to game the electoral system of election for president so he would be declared the winner rather be the title of loser he currently holds. My understanding of his mo (modus operandi) is he believes something so he must get others to agree, he says something so it must be true, he wants something so he should have it, etc. He now has followers who behave similarly and want to lead the nation towards their cult of personality. Throughout history we have many example of people with these characteristics who have gained the reins of power over large population leading them to wars and horror. One such want to be in my opinion is Putin who has been implicated in murder, poisoning, and incarceration of his opponents. Interesting that recently some conservative groups have come towards suggesting we should have an alliance with him rather than supporting Ukraine. In college I read Machiavelli's The Prince a book on suggestions on how to rule using subterfuge, prevarication, and manipulation to gain power and hold onto influence. Here’s a modern version being used to foster us versus them and turn a profit.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/28/technology/trump-coins.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuonUktbfqYhkSVUZCybJUNMnqBqCgvfeh6Amm3rmaSOSSDBZieQJBozKs2H8WZ1eXfphlTKKWI0Gd7Y1WP15yuIYYxRnRlOl-cXBx51eKGBo8tvoG2pujsyIUepjrGG0MzfgIewjjvWlsh2HERTiWKbY1XYjIgd389AyJRzxhyt-luqSGfV129J-wf4iGptwIDwDbyWOtPTsYA5sbJTENlqPr1lrBJwKHG3bjtWe6LkfcQ5NCVqgT3t35Wk07d00K8oC1Pj8Do2PgCy5R7Yv3fq2&referringSource=articleShare
There is an industry of hackers who attempt to take over the computers of large organizations and infrastructure utilities to extort ransom. It's a business accepted readily in Russia and other places allowing illegal activities to flourish. Lesser publicized but just as nefarious are other individuals happy to lock up your computer for a fee to free it. A game of life in which we must now follow rules to safeguard our computer. They could be living near us living as we do just scamming as a living!
So ethics and morals prevent me from pursuing the dark side I'm exploring today. Or maybe I'm just weak and conforming lacking the guts to journey to that side.
Seamus Heaney has a beautiful poem he wrote to his wife during a time of conflict in their relationship.
Scaffolding
Masons, when they start upon a building,
Are careful to test out the scaffolding;
Make sure that planks won’t slip at busy points,
Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints.
And yet all this comes down when the job’s done
Showing off walls of sure and solid stone.
So if, my dear, there sometimes seem to be
Old bridges breaking between you and me
Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fall
Confident that we have built our wall.
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