ARK3 Returns, Trauma and Rage, PTSD, & Violent Parenting (1h3m) – Episode 428

Episode 428 welcomes back Alex R. Knight III to chat with Skyler on the following topics: finally making the connection between his former alcoholism and trauma he experienced in childhood and adolescence; accepting failure as okay, and not as shameful; post-traumatic stress disorder experienced by both of them; family disfunction and divorce; the roots of authoritarianism in violent (physically and psychologically/emotionally) parenting; laws against spanking; the effects of prolonged brain exposure to stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline; stress in infancy, such as “cry-it-out”; evolutionary reasons why kids protest bedtime; Skyler’s family bedroom; and more.

Why Unity is Bullshit

“Unity” is usually a message to merely shut you up and to get you to go along with bullshit. It is a message of social intimidation. Once a person and/or their values can be justified in defining the group, they perpetuate their power by telling everyone that unity is doing what authority wants. It is perpetuated by those with power and dim people looking to merely get along, and is used to otherize dissent. It is used to make people look at dissenters as disunifiers and for people to make them outcasts.

In Government We No Longer Trust

The results, so far, of the 2020 US presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden have been nothing so much as chaos – and where they go from here is absolutely anybody’s guess, but I’ll venture one (admittedly obvious) prediction: Whichever “side” loses will regard the outcome as having been stolen and achieved fraudulently by the opposition.

Autonomous Individualism

Until I heard Professor Ryan, I was in danger of mislabeling myself.  For the past year, I have been confused because I have not been aware of failing to be a voluntaryist, many longtime friends seemed to be going down a garden path, and by implication I was being called unpleasant things since I was taking care of myself.  In other words, I was wearing a mask when it seemed prudent.

A Sad Process to Watch

When the lockdowns were imposed last spring in the USA (slightly later in Mexico), the rationale was to flatten the curve so that hospitals would not be overwhelmed. It was acknowledged then, if only implicitly, that lockdowns would not eliminate COVID-19 or keep it from spreading.