As I see it learned helplessness is a major problem among the not fully terrible people Learned helplessness in response to cognitive dissonance Cognitive dissonance in response to a culture of lies
The abused become perpetrators Without extraordinary effort And to improve is to ostracize oneself
The culture is whiteness The lies are that whiteness exists, that white existence is superior to all other human existence, that America is exceptional (in a good way), that America has ever been more good than bad, that America believes in liberty and justice for all. There are so many lies. The cognitive dissonance is so intense that it causes widespread dysfunction. The cognitive dissonance must either be reckoned with or avoided with great effort. The cognitive dissonance is so strong that avoiding it requires epidemics of drugs, drunkenness, overeating, overspending, waste, violence, sleeplessness, conspiracies and other nonsensical beliefs, and so much more. America is by far the worst nation on a range of issues, and it's much much worse when taking our wealth into account. The current most widespread avoidance technique is never thinking at all. None of these coping strategies result in peace of mind but they do enable the state of cognitive dissonance to continue rather than it being faced and overcome. The cognitive dissonance causes learned helplessness because brains do not work well under the above conditions. Being able to make decisions, knowing what one wants, clear perceptions — all are impaired.
This is the standard status of a majority of my fellow white Americans, in my opinion. I do not speak to the rest of the population because I am not sufficiently familiar with nonwhiteness. Based on voting alone I'm gonna say that other groups are doing their best and the problem is with my fellow white folk. These feelings that I have as an insider raised in affluent white Christian America are why I have no hope for humanity.
Prove me wrong. Please.
By Rob Middleton who can be reached @[email protected] on Mastodon