Chris Hedges "Fascism in the Age of Trump"

Anger is a developmental disability

When you're an adult, you should have the capacity for introspection, the ability to examine your own emotions.

According to many theories of cognitive development, by the age of 25 you should have full ownership of your emotions, and you should understand that you choose how to respond in any situation. You should know that anger is a completely inappropriate response to any situation.

When you take ownership of your feelings, you know that you choose how you feel, unless, like me, you suffer from chronic anxiety disorder, then negative thoughts and feelings will play on the surface more frequently. But since I own my feelings, I know that what I perceive around me is through a lens slightly tinted with negativity.

You feel any way you choose to feel. Everyone chooses how they feel unless they have a neurological disorder. I may not be able to choose not to feel anxious most of the time, but I at lease understand that the feelings of anxiety are mine alone.

That means that feelings are not any other person's fault. Take the fight-or-flight response any way you like, but don't let your emotions cloud the situation and make you unnecessarily violent.

Renters versus Employers

Employers are complaining that they cannot find workers because they don't want to pay wages high enough for workers to afford housing nearby. When wages do go up, landlords raise the rents further out of reach.

The Separation of Truth and Power

Morality is made up of empathy, fairness, and reason. If you have those skills you should feel guilty for not telling the truth. Part of the sociopathy diagnosis includes lacking empathy and fairness. Other conditions can then be applied, such as Narcissism and Megalomania.

People in power can develop contempt for journalism and refuse to be interviewed, but this contempt seems to have developed almost quantifiable stages of extremes to the point where someone such as the United States Ambassador to The Netherlands, Pete Hoekstra, apparently has contempt for the media to such a degree that can only best be described by other sources here, as I myself have few words:

• US ambassador to the Netherlands describes his own words as 'fake news' 
• US ambassador to the Netherlands says sorry for 'fake news' interview debacle 
• Meet Peter Hoekstra, epitome of the Trump regime 
• Ambassador to the Netherlands: Who Is Pete Hoekstra? 

The news media, also known as the 4th Estate, serve to educate the public so they can make informed civic choices, but the public has grown cynical of the news media and cynical of congress, to such a degree that the majority of the public does not vote.

Hate is a symptom

People who claim they hate someone or something don’t have full comprehension of their own emotions. Such feelings are a symptom of a preexisting neurological condition, rendering them vulnerable to psychological manipulation, cult programming, brain-washing, gaslighting or the influence of propaganda.

Cognitive Development Deficit