USA's Roller-coaster: Over-reaction -- Apathy

I've stumbled across a couple of articles this week where the writer compares, unfavourably, the attitudes of most people in the USA immediately after 9/11 events, to the attitudes of the British during attacks on their country during World War 2. Y'all cannot possibly compare events and reactions to World War 2 with reactions to the event of 9/11 2001 for goodness sake!!

Now....while the idea has often occurred to me that the people of the USA, in general, over-react - tend towards a communal paranoia on several fronts, and display a definite tendency to hyperbole on all fronts, I'd never categorised this as anything resembling cowardice, as implied in the articles I read. Take Stephen Pizzo's piece at Smirking Chimp, for instance. In referring to The Patriot Act:
Be Ashamed, Americans

Snip:

Who gave them the right to do that? Well, we did. Yes we did.

In the flash, 9/11 turned cocky, self-satisfied Americans into a mob of scared school girls. We went screaming to "Daddy" demanding to be kept safe from "terrorists." Spare us the details, we said, and just get-et done, we demanded.

Stop for a moment and compare that response to how the Brits responded to years of terror weapons raining down on their cities during WW II.

"Starting on 7 September 1940, London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 57 consecutive nights. More than one million London houses were destroyed or damaged, and more than 40,000 civilians were killed, almost half of them in London. Ports and industrial centres outside London were also heavily attacked; the major Atlantic sea port of Liverpool was the most heavily bombed city outside London, suffering nearly 4,000 dead."

Americans had never felt such a blow. But, unlike the Brits who, rather than panic, stood up, strapped on a pair, and just kept on keeping on, we freaked out after 9/11. Three jets, a two buildings and 3000 dead, and we went to pieces.

Be ashamed, Americans. Be very ashamed. One attack, tiny by comparison, and our first response is to offer up our freedoms in return for protection.

And so came the Patriot Act; likely the most un-American piece of legislation ever passed by Congress and signed into law by an American president. It was slapped together by panicked government employees, passed by politicians who were far more terrified of their terrified constituents than they were of actual terrorists, and signed into law by the dumbest man ever to serve in the Oval Office.

We did that. Because we let them do that.

An English commenter (L. Harrison) agreed, and adds information about the devastation of the city of Plymouth during WW 2. I'm eligible to add my own views on this. I was born in Hull, a busy east coast port which also came in for blitzing by the Luftwaffe. We never knew from one morning to the next whether we'd still be around, or whether the house next door might be a pile of rubble, especially as we lived near a park with a large boating lake, which was often mistaken by German pilots for the docks, and they sometimes dropped their bombs not far from our doorstep. I was a very young child -just a baby at the start of it all, so have only fragmented memories, but do remember seeing the devastation downtown in the city centre, later on.

Reactions during a World War are something quite different from those following a single event coming out of the blue in peacetime (or what passes for peacetime). During wartime citizens become hardened to the possibility that death is just around the next corner, or will come during the next night. They learn to live with that, little by little. They have to - what else is there? People of the USA would be the same, I believe. 9/11 came out of the blue, a shock to the system, immediate reactions were understandable. What isn't understandable is that people have not demanded during ensuing years, that The Patriot Act be reviewed, rather than renewed. Apathy descended, complacency reigned and there lay the danger. The People can never, ever, afford to become complacent. Apathy isn't cowardice, but apathy of the masses has led to the situation in the USA - on several fronts.

It's as though initial hyperbolic over-reaction and paranoia moves on to dip to the other, more dangerous extreme: apathy.

Paranoia-lite, the USA....and things

Paranoia. The word derives from the Greek: para=outside + nous=mind; literally, being out of one's mind. True paranoia is a very serious mental disturbance, described in medical circles as "delusional disorder." Wikipedia defines it as "a disturbed thought process characterized by excessive anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs concerning a perceived threat."

What we, laypeople, term "paranoia", in general conversation, I'll call "paranoia-lite". I suspect we've all at some point said, or thought, "I'm/he's/she's being paranoid". We all have a touch of it, deep in our nature - part of the human condition. Suspecting that another person doesn't like us, wondering about their motives, questioning whether an acquaintance is sincere, "on the level" or up to no good. Worrying whether one's significant other was ever unfaithful, or is likely to be. Suspecting ulterior motives. Such feelings, and others like them, can arise unbidden from deep inside us, no external evidence necessary. A smidgin of paranoia-lite, though, might even be thought healthy.

Cartoon HERE.

Astrologers propose that the zodiac sign of Scorpio is often prominent in natal charts of those who experience regular attacks of paranoia, so by extension I guess, this applies also to paranoia-lite. Neptune, Saturn and Pluto are also thought to be involved, via difficult aspects, 8th house too, due to its connection with Pluto/Scorpio. I can put my hand up to natal Sun in 8th house, Pluto in 1st house and Mars in Scorpio. I don't suffer often from paranoia-lite, but I have recognised its symptoms in myself on occasion, and I often sense it in others.

In general terms, those with Water signs prominent are more prone to suffer occasional attacks of paranoia-lite than those where Earth, Fire and Air predominate. When faced with a situation in which paranoia-lite could arise, people with Fire prominent in their charts would fight back in some way, Earthy ones would lean on a more pragmatic attitude, and Air people would be likely to apply analysis and logic to the situation. Watery folk, who work from deep emotional triggers, will suffer the most intense reaction to a nasty dose of paranoia-lite.

Astrologer Noel Tyl has written an interesting piece on paranoia - link:
The Dimensions of Paranoia.

As a nation, some consider the USA to be more prone to paranoia-lite than most other nations. I've secretly harboured the thought myself, but try to be understanding of the country's history and the reasons behind this propensity. McCarthy witch-hunts and Nixon's duplicity spring immediately to mind as two triggers - there are dozens more. The nation was born under the Sun sign of Cancer - the cardinal Water sign known for its ultra-sensitivity. I wonder if this is the relevant astrological link?

British TV personality, Jeremy Clarkson wrote some articles, back in 2006 in The Times on this very subject. Here's one sample "The united states of total paranoia"

Snippet:

"I know Britain is full of incompetent water board officials and stabbed Glaswegians but even so I fell on my knees this morning and kissed the ground, because I’ve just spent three weeks trying to work in America.

It’s known as the land of the free and I’m sure it is if you get up in the morning, go to work in a petrol station, eat nothing but double-egg burgers — with cheese — and take your children to little league. But if you step outside the loop, if you try to do something a bit zany, you will find that you’re in a police state."

Clarkson goes on to describe some examples of paranoia-lite he encountered. I'm not a fan of his, in general, he's too ascerbic for me, but I can appreciate the points he makes in this piece.


(Today's post includes edited parts of my post first published here in June 2007.)

Parannoying

"You're being paranoid!" - An accusation bandied around a lot these days. I often wonder whether the meaning of the word "paranoid" has evolved, as have so many others in the English language. It now appears to have a much-modified meaning for folks outside of the medical profession. The word paranoia derives from the Greek para(outside)+ nous(mind). Literally, being out of one's mind.

True paranoia is a very serious mental disturbance, which is now described in medical circles as "delusional disorder." Wikipedia defines it as "a disturbed thought process characterized by excessive anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrantionality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs concerning a perceived threat."

What we lay people term "paranoia", in general conversation, I'll call "paranoia-lite". Most of us have a little of it hidden away somewhere in our make-up, it's part of the human condition. Thinking that another person doesn't like us, suspecting their motives, questioning whether an acquaintance is sincere, "on the level" or up to no good. Wondering if one's significant other was ever unfaithful, or will be. Suspecting that someone had an ulterior motive for a kindly act they performed. Such feelings, and others like them, can arise unbidden from deep inside us, no external evidence necessary.

Astrologers say that the zodiac sign of Scorpio is usually prominent in natal charts of those who experience paranoia, so, I guess to a lesser extent this applies to paranoia-lite. Neptune, Saturn and Pluto are also thought to be involved via difficult aspects, 8th house too, due to its connection with Pluto/Scorpio.

Hmmmm - well, I can put my hand up to Sun in 8th house, Pluto in 1st house and Mars in Scorpio. I don't suffer often from paranoia-lite, but I have recognised its symptoms in myself on occasion, and I often sense it in others.

It seems to me that, in general terms, those with Water signs prominent are probably more inclined to suffer from paranoia-lite than those where Earth, Fire and Air predominate. When faced with a situation in which paranoia-lite could arise, people with Fire prominent in their charts would fight back in some way, Earthy ones would find a practical solution, and Air people would be likely to apply analysis and logic to the situation. The Watery ones, who work from deep emotional triggers, could suffer the most intense reaction from a nasty dose of paranoia-lite.

Here are links to a couple of articles by astrologers on the topic of paranoia.

Anyara Essays

The Dimensions of Paranoia by Noel Tyl

and on a lighter note, from Anyara Aphorisms
I like the Aquarian version:
Aquarius:
A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what's going on. (William S. Burroughs)

I'll drink to that!

(Photograph courtesy of Bradford University and bbc.co.uk )