Whoa. . This piece is unbelievably tight and well-argued. ..So much to think about and respond to, it's hard to know where to begin..reads like the insights of a profound mushroom trip put to words...
I don't think it is religion that explains the mental health difference between liberals and conservatives.
I suspect the constant barrage of cultural ridicule and shaming of conservatives has made them more resilient, while the constant cultural affirmation of liberals has made them fragile.
I believe there's also some research on the amount of community groups that conservatives participate in that are separate from politics.
I've observed that liberals tend more towards activism, protesting, and politics as their social outlets, which I tend to doubt is very healthy mentally, especially these days.
The social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and his colleagues have been conducting an investigation of the mental health epidemic in adolescent girls. They found that the girls who identified as "liberal" endorsed more mental health symptoms than girls who identified as conservative. They then recruited a comparison sample of conservative girls, and found that the number of hours girls spent per day on social media, not their politics, was the variable most related to mental health symptoms.
Liberals are more likely to seek a diagnosis that will get them a prescription to smoke weed. All kidding aside, the communist influence on the Statists leading the radical left values failure over success, need over productivity. As the poor souls are lured into The Ideology, they quickly learn the upside down nature of the new normal and the race to the bottom ensues as people strive to be the neediest failures to succeed.
I have followed Jonathan Haidt’s research on this, but I am unconvinced that the medium is the problem, rather than the message. It seems to me like blaming Gutenberg and the printing press for the Reformation, and ignoring the contents of Luther’s 95 Theses.
Yes, I agree. Haidt et al have done well in narrowing down the factors contributing to the mental health disaster among young liberal white women, but there is still more to discover. I don't know how many of the liberal or conservative girls are viewing political content on social media, so much as they are viewing narcissistic trans males pretending to be what their viewers already are---real girls.
I might say it a little differently. I am in the camp that believes "Woke" is a religion. The problem, though, is that unlike a traditional religion, "Woke" is constantly changing. Today you might be "in" when you stand for Ukraine and condemn Russia, or claim gender is a construct and call for open borders. But, tomorrow's Woke orthodox might see you thrown under the bus -- you said it the wrong way when you proclaimed you weren't trans-phobic, so now you're on the outside.
I imagine it must be a bit like living in Stalinist Russia. The system itself was the problem, but Joseph Stalin could never admit that. So, there were progressive purges. It's the clergy's fault. It's the engineers' fault. It's the kulaks' fault, etc. They all got "Ten'ers" (exiled to Siberia for 10 years). And everyone joined in condemning the new "out" group while secretly hoping they would not be next. That can be a mental health challenge.
The sudden dogma switches are common in authoritarian cults, but in those cases an erratic narcissistic leader is ordering the switches. One interesting difference about the woke cult is that it does not have a leader like Stalin. It does seem right for one to come along, which would really become more of a problem.
It's like the boy who cried wolf for conservatives. Enough criticism and ridicule and you cease paying attention. Also, fearful people being more easily controlled partially explains the Left's obsession with gun control.
We are really seeing why it was so important to protect the rights included in the Amendments, and we are also seeing that the leftists share that knowledge.
We (most of us) did, however, willingly close schools, line up to get jabbed, lined up to stay 6 feet away from other humans, even if we were carrying.
I have to disagree with you. Faith doesn’t keep us from having challenges in life but the belief that God is directing my path provides comfort, peace and strength when facing trauma or difficulties. Whenever an unbeliever dies without Christ, there is great loss for the family as there is no hope of Heaven. For Christians, we have the assurance that we will be reunited with our loved ones for eternity. I had an aunt who had schizophrenia and she faced much heartache in life, both mental and physical. She was a strong Christian and when I think of her in Heaven with a sound mind and a healed body, it brings a smile to face and usually a few tears.
So many thoughts as I read your article. Driving through Midwest America you see people busy raising their families, being content but also worried about inflation, and focusing on life rather than the horrid political scene this administration has caused. Listening to Biden push his hate & racist ideas is enough to scream. Tried to listen to Obama’s but his fake accent was annoying. Obama pushed racial division every chance he got, so surprised he wasn’t in this speech. Then I read about the abortionist murdering an 8 month term baby. That was not abortion but outright murder. When society thinks this is normal, we have lost all respect for humanity. No wonder the younger generation feels depressed and lost. When parents proclaim abortion as a human right 🤦♀️ instead of a rare incident, children see themselves as irrelevant. When trans/gender identity nonsense is pushed as healthcare instead of mental illness, no wonder adolescents are confused and suicidal. These illusions destroy the meaning of life and make them out as mistakes instead of a gift from Our Creator, Father God. These far left ideas are destroying the family unit, the specialness of being a female, a woman, and saying individual selfishness should be of top importance. Sad to think about these false hopes & idols, when most important is our love of God, family, and country.
Coincidentally, I was thinking "Munchausen" syndrome when reading Lisa Davis' column on Bari Weiss's Substack account about psychologists forcing CRT on their patients or cancelling them.
"In general, he aborts babies with 'fetal abnormalities'"
Just abnormalities? Not life-threatening defects? That is no justification, either – but just what might these abnormalities be? Does not that special-needs child deserve to live as much as one who is, "normal?"
"— to condition women to not care, even a little bit, about aborting their babies is odd."
Odd? It is nothing short of evil.
I cannot suggest strongly enough viewing the video series, "How Should We Then Live: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture" along with reading the book by the same title, by Francis A Schaeffer. Its content was all too prescient in 1976.
"It means voting for leaders who believe in merit over equity."
Well, that means voting Republican for the next few cycles, until enough Democrat candidates can reclaim the party's soul and be a legitimate alternative America-First party. That may not happen for a while.
I might ask those on the left, of the many fears you had of a Trump presidency, how many actually were realized? I'll bet the answer is none. There is no reason, other than a healthy skepticism, to fear another Trump administration, or any other Republican office holder – at least, until he/she is no longer a republican.
Abortion used as birth control by women, who most likely have a revolving door in their bedroom, and then demanding up to time of birth is why Roe vs Wade was finally defeated. Typical leftist push an agenda to a breaking point. Leftist radicals are now using trans and drag performers to push LGB too far when they demand every sexual orientation extreme be considered worthy of praise and acceptance. Drag has been around forever, but now pushing on children and at libraries. The adults participating in this evil (performing, promoting, recruiting) should be ashamed and should be charged with delinquency of a minor. Stop accepting this garbage as ‘love all’ and call it out. It’s evil.
I hope that Roe was defeated because convincing women to murder their babies, aka infanticide, was not only considered morally reprehensible but antithetical to the "unalienable rights endowed by our creator of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness"...you know...you know ...the thing...🤪.
Re-naming it to a more palatable "abortion", "pro-choice", or God help us, "women's health" was Orwellian to the extreme.
So now, just like in 1820, we have progressed to "allowing" the individual states at least get to vote on if its ok to consider human life as chattel or property that can be killed at will. Its progress I guess, but I still feel like we are barbarians. I will not live to see the day we are truly "woke".
Thanks. And how long will it be until society figures this one out…again? Most likely about 40 years I think (generational and biblical reference fully intended)
And what will the next be? I am thinking it will be Ai
My HS daughter (public school in suburb of Portland, OR) just shared that Advanced Placement History course would not be offered in the coming year for ‘equity reasons’ … we attended a college fair of Jesuit schools and surprising # of recruiters downplayed test scores for admission. We’ll be avoiding those schools. Yes, the defining cultural battle of our time is meritocracy vs. equity and its chip, chipping away… standing by for SCOTUS June ‘23 ruling in SFAA v. Harvard
The Harvard (and UNC) cases may be the Gettysburg of our time. If the meritocracy is not soon restored then mediocrity and idiocracy is inevitably in store for us all. The Supreme Court should also overturn Chevron deference to the administrative state, which is a cancerous growth on the nation. The Raymond case offers them that opportunity (although not until next year).
We, as a nation, are spiritually sick. There is a spiritual shift, an ideological shift and an emotional shift when you realize WHO you are in relationship with the Messiah. That you are loved, have worth, that you were made for dignity, that you are cleansed and restored to the Father… and that He is HOLY and completely GOOD. People hunger for true goodness, mercy and truth…and it is to be found in Christ. I am so grateful for Him in my life.
“It means voting for leaders who believe in merit over equity.”
No one does this better than Vivek Ramaswamy. He will bring much needed attention to this issue. Very intelligent, knowledgeable, articulate and actually seems to enjoy fighting demons. Very impressive.
Munchausen by Proxy is a brilliant analogy. The first step in treating it is to separate the abuser from the object of abuse. Biden and the corrupt regime have to go, but his corrupt allies in Congress and the media will continue the abuse and oppose any efforts to heal the victim. The corrupt and sadistic media has to be canceled, and the racist Democrats removed from power until they reform.
I emigrated from the USA to the Philippines eight years ago. It's still relatively sane here with Wokes vastly outnumbered for now by conservatives, traditional liberals and moderates. I hope it can stay this way.
Unfortunately the minority or lunatics dominate the cultural institutions in this country and are gradually poisoning the brains of scores of children and young adults.
You're dealing with demons. Yes, it's that elemental. There is no end game except for suffering and destruction. Most followers are blinded or acting out of what they think is self interest. Scratch any lemming liberal and you'll find someone who has replaced God with Man. They think by doing so they're just smarter than the rest. Not only that, they're noble.
Go further and you'll find worse. Ever disagree with the social justice crowd on Twitter? A vile viciousness will descend. They get their joy from hate. They would kill you if they could. Those people are lost forever barring some miracle.
Within that crowd and leading it are devils. People so spiritually corrupt that all is practically lost. They spew out hate for its own sake. They even mask it because Satan sometimes appears as an angel of light. That's where tolerance and moral ambiguity comes in.
To say we are fighting for the soul of a nation is no cliche. It starts with what we will tolerate in our personal lives and standing with love and truth. That love and truth is God. There is nothing relative about Him.
As for politics, think globally and act locally as they used to say. And do it with a smile. Pray and read the Bible everyday. Do it and see.
Dems will get 95% of the black vote in 2024 because the vast majority depend on government jobs, government contracts, government services, discrimination based hiring legislation in the form of Affirmative Action, welfare, SNAP food stamps, fewer arrest/prosecution/incarceration policies, and easier entry into colleges based on DEI. They will vote for the money and not the freedom of a life that minimizes government dependence.
Yes, and Dems will get around 100% of the vote of the disaffected liberals who are still registered as Dems, and about 95% of the "left-leaning independents" who claim to be appalled by the woke cult. It will be up to the "swing voters" again, and we probably won't know who won until mid-2025.
I am universally unlike everyone you might know and for that I will not apologize but want to prepare you for the alarm that my worldview most likely will inspire.
I subscribed to your substack because I appreciate your struggle to discover whatever is true about America. You should be supported in your journey in that small way.
You discovered that people are persons and being persons you may have discovered that people should be approached based on our commonness as persons rather than our differences as members of the animal kingdom. Those people that only see us as animals are those who want to murder babies, sterilize children and turn them into sexual objects to satisfy animal appetites.
Holding to a worldview asserting people are persons risks being overwhelmed by the monolithic dehumanized worldview of the Animators that debase us. After decades of thinking about it, (I'm 70 years old) I concluded that the Judeo-Christian Creator offers the best explanation for our personhood. If you looked for the Creator's personhood in the first few chapters of the Old Testament you would learn what you and he have in common and it might bolster your standing against the monolith.
Whoa. . This piece is unbelievably tight and well-argued. ..So much to think about and respond to, it's hard to know where to begin..reads like the insights of a profound mushroom trip put to words...
I don't think it is religion that explains the mental health difference between liberals and conservatives.
I suspect the constant barrage of cultural ridicule and shaming of conservatives has made them more resilient, while the constant cultural affirmation of liberals has made them fragile.
I believe there's also some research on the amount of community groups that conservatives participate in that are separate from politics.
I've observed that liberals tend more towards activism, protesting, and politics as their social outlets, which I tend to doubt is very healthy mentally, especially these days.
The social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and his colleagues have been conducting an investigation of the mental health epidemic in adolescent girls. They found that the girls who identified as "liberal" endorsed more mental health symptoms than girls who identified as conservative. They then recruited a comparison sample of conservative girls, and found that the number of hours girls spent per day on social media, not their politics, was the variable most related to mental health symptoms.
Liberals are more likely to seek a diagnosis that will get them a prescription to smoke weed. All kidding aside, the communist influence on the Statists leading the radical left values failure over success, need over productivity. As the poor souls are lured into The Ideology, they quickly learn the upside down nature of the new normal and the race to the bottom ensues as people strive to be the neediest failures to succeed.
I have followed Jonathan Haidt’s research on this, but I am unconvinced that the medium is the problem, rather than the message. It seems to me like blaming Gutenberg and the printing press for the Reformation, and ignoring the contents of Luther’s 95 Theses.
Yes, I agree. Haidt et al have done well in narrowing down the factors contributing to the mental health disaster among young liberal white women, but there is still more to discover. I don't know how many of the liberal or conservative girls are viewing political content on social media, so much as they are viewing narcissistic trans males pretending to be what their viewers already are---real girls.
I might say it a little differently. I am in the camp that believes "Woke" is a religion. The problem, though, is that unlike a traditional religion, "Woke" is constantly changing. Today you might be "in" when you stand for Ukraine and condemn Russia, or claim gender is a construct and call for open borders. But, tomorrow's Woke orthodox might see you thrown under the bus -- you said it the wrong way when you proclaimed you weren't trans-phobic, so now you're on the outside.
I imagine it must be a bit like living in Stalinist Russia. The system itself was the problem, but Joseph Stalin could never admit that. So, there were progressive purges. It's the clergy's fault. It's the engineers' fault. It's the kulaks' fault, etc. They all got "Ten'ers" (exiled to Siberia for 10 years). And everyone joined in condemning the new "out" group while secretly hoping they would not be next. That can be a mental health challenge.
Woke: A religion with original sin but no redemption
Bingo!
The sudden dogma switches are common in authoritarian cults, but in those cases an erratic narcissistic leader is ordering the switches. One interesting difference about the woke cult is that it does not have a leader like Stalin. It does seem right for one to come along, which would really become more of a problem.
Bingo👍
It's like the boy who cried wolf for conservatives. Enough criticism and ridicule and you cease paying attention. Also, fearful people being more easily controlled partially explains the Left's obsession with gun control.
At this point the left is attacking rights protected in Amendments I, II, IV, V and VI in an open way.
Yes. On 2A, they know that people will not willingly get in the boxcars.
We are really seeing why it was so important to protect the rights included in the Amendments, and we are also seeing that the leftists share that knowledge.
We (most of us) did, however, willingly close schools, line up to get jabbed, lined up to stay 6 feet away from other humans, even if we were carrying.
Correct you are. On the other hand, they do seem desperate to disarm the people.
I have to disagree with you. Faith doesn’t keep us from having challenges in life but the belief that God is directing my path provides comfort, peace and strength when facing trauma or difficulties. Whenever an unbeliever dies without Christ, there is great loss for the family as there is no hope of Heaven. For Christians, we have the assurance that we will be reunited with our loved ones for eternity. I had an aunt who had schizophrenia and she faced much heartache in life, both mental and physical. She was a strong Christian and when I think of her in Heaven with a sound mind and a healed body, it brings a smile to face and usually a few tears.
So many thoughts as I read your article. Driving through Midwest America you see people busy raising their families, being content but also worried about inflation, and focusing on life rather than the horrid political scene this administration has caused. Listening to Biden push his hate & racist ideas is enough to scream. Tried to listen to Obama’s but his fake accent was annoying. Obama pushed racial division every chance he got, so surprised he wasn’t in this speech. Then I read about the abortionist murdering an 8 month term baby. That was not abortion but outright murder. When society thinks this is normal, we have lost all respect for humanity. No wonder the younger generation feels depressed and lost. When parents proclaim abortion as a human right 🤦♀️ instead of a rare incident, children see themselves as irrelevant. When trans/gender identity nonsense is pushed as healthcare instead of mental illness, no wonder adolescents are confused and suicidal. These illusions destroy the meaning of life and make them out as mistakes instead of a gift from Our Creator, Father God. These far left ideas are destroying the family unit, the specialness of being a female, a woman, and saying individual selfishness should be of top importance. Sad to think about these false hopes & idols, when most important is our love of God, family, and country.
Many in Middle America would prefer that the two coasts just go away.
Easy to see why
Coincidentally, I was thinking "Munchausen" syndrome when reading Lisa Davis' column on Bari Weiss's Substack account about psychologists forcing CRT on their patients or cancelling them.
A Sasha Stone piece w an embedded Peachy Keenan tweet?! Day. Made.
Great insights, Sasha. Safe travels & keep the writings coming!
"In general, he aborts babies with 'fetal abnormalities'"
Just abnormalities? Not life-threatening defects? That is no justification, either – but just what might these abnormalities be? Does not that special-needs child deserve to live as much as one who is, "normal?"
"— to condition women to not care, even a little bit, about aborting their babies is odd."
Odd? It is nothing short of evil.
I cannot suggest strongly enough viewing the video series, "How Should We Then Live: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture" along with reading the book by the same title, by Francis A Schaeffer. Its content was all too prescient in 1976.
"It means voting for leaders who believe in merit over equity."
Well, that means voting Republican for the next few cycles, until enough Democrat candidates can reclaim the party's soul and be a legitimate alternative America-First party. That may not happen for a while.
I might ask those on the left, of the many fears you had of a Trump presidency, how many actually were realized? I'll bet the answer is none. There is no reason, other than a healthy skepticism, to fear another Trump administration, or any other Republican office holder – at least, until he/she is no longer a republican.
Well said. Appreciate and agree with your view.
Abortion used as birth control by women, who most likely have a revolving door in their bedroom, and then demanding up to time of birth is why Roe vs Wade was finally defeated. Typical leftist push an agenda to a breaking point. Leftist radicals are now using trans and drag performers to push LGB too far when they demand every sexual orientation extreme be considered worthy of praise and acceptance. Drag has been around forever, but now pushing on children and at libraries. The adults participating in this evil (performing, promoting, recruiting) should be ashamed and should be charged with delinquency of a minor. Stop accepting this garbage as ‘love all’ and call it out. It’s evil.
I hope that Roe was defeated because convincing women to murder their babies, aka infanticide, was not only considered morally reprehensible but antithetical to the "unalienable rights endowed by our creator of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness"...you know...you know ...the thing...🤪.
Re-naming it to a more palatable "abortion", "pro-choice", or God help us, "women's health" was Orwellian to the extreme.
So now, just like in 1820, we have progressed to "allowing" the individual states at least get to vote on if its ok to consider human life as chattel or property that can be killed at will. Its progress I guess, but I still feel like we are barbarians. I will not live to see the day we are truly "woke".
Absolutely agree. Abortion is murder. Life is a gift.
Good points, Eric. Yes, the Supreme court's ruling is somewhat reminiscent of the Missouri Compromise with slavery in 1820. Sigh.
Thanks. And how long will it be until society figures this one out…again? Most likely about 40 years I think (generational and biblical reference fully intended)
And what will the next be? I am thinking it will be Ai
The movie “Grounhog Day” was about Hell
Thank you!
I appreciate the feedback!
It's nice to have my viewpoint validated!
My HS daughter (public school in suburb of Portland, OR) just shared that Advanced Placement History course would not be offered in the coming year for ‘equity reasons’ … we attended a college fair of Jesuit schools and surprising # of recruiters downplayed test scores for admission. We’ll be avoiding those schools. Yes, the defining cultural battle of our time is meritocracy vs. equity and its chip, chipping away… standing by for SCOTUS June ‘23 ruling in SFAA v. Harvard
The Harvard (and UNC) cases may be the Gettysburg of our time. If the meritocracy is not soon restored then mediocrity and idiocracy is inevitably in store for us all. The Supreme Court should also overturn Chevron deference to the administrative state, which is a cancerous growth on the nation. The Raymond case offers them that opportunity (although not until next year).
Good luck with the college search! I hope you find some that still teach something besides crt.
We, as a nation, are spiritually sick. There is a spiritual shift, an ideological shift and an emotional shift when you realize WHO you are in relationship with the Messiah. That you are loved, have worth, that you were made for dignity, that you are cleansed and restored to the Father… and that He is HOLY and completely GOOD. People hunger for true goodness, mercy and truth…and it is to be found in Christ. I am so grateful for Him in my life.
“It means voting for leaders who believe in merit over equity.”
No one does this better than Vivek Ramaswamy. He will bring much needed attention to this issue. Very intelligent, knowledgeable, articulate and actually seems to enjoy fighting demons. Very impressive.
Your ability to put into words these huge problems we are having, and yet not lose us by saying too much is your gift. Thank you.
Munchausen by Proxy is a brilliant analogy. The first step in treating it is to separate the abuser from the object of abuse. Biden and the corrupt regime have to go, but his corrupt allies in Congress and the media will continue the abuse and oppose any efforts to heal the victim. The corrupt and sadistic media has to be canceled, and the racist Democrats removed from power until they reform.
I emigrated from the USA to the Philippines eight years ago. It's still relatively sane here with Wokes vastly outnumbered for now by conservatives, traditional liberals and moderates. I hope it can stay this way.
Unfortunately the minority or lunatics dominate the cultural institutions in this country and are gradually poisoning the brains of scores of children and young adults.
Stone is damn brilliant.
White liberals with mental illness guiding the Black race back to segregation and a deficit that is out of control.
Thanks Biden and all the feckless Democrat voters.
You're dealing with demons. Yes, it's that elemental. There is no end game except for suffering and destruction. Most followers are blinded or acting out of what they think is self interest. Scratch any lemming liberal and you'll find someone who has replaced God with Man. They think by doing so they're just smarter than the rest. Not only that, they're noble.
Go further and you'll find worse. Ever disagree with the social justice crowd on Twitter? A vile viciousness will descend. They get their joy from hate. They would kill you if they could. Those people are lost forever barring some miracle.
Within that crowd and leading it are devils. People so spiritually corrupt that all is practically lost. They spew out hate for its own sake. They even mask it because Satan sometimes appears as an angel of light. That's where tolerance and moral ambiguity comes in.
To say we are fighting for the soul of a nation is no cliche. It starts with what we will tolerate in our personal lives and standing with love and truth. That love and truth is God. There is nothing relative about Him.
As for politics, think globally and act locally as they used to say. And do it with a smile. Pray and read the Bible everyday. Do it and see.
Dems will get 95% of the black vote in 2024 because the vast majority depend on government jobs, government contracts, government services, discrimination based hiring legislation in the form of Affirmative Action, welfare, SNAP food stamps, fewer arrest/prosecution/incarceration policies, and easier entry into colleges based on DEI. They will vote for the money and not the freedom of a life that minimizes government dependence.
Yes, and Dems will get around 100% of the vote of the disaffected liberals who are still registered as Dems, and about 95% of the "left-leaning independents" who claim to be appalled by the woke cult. It will be up to the "swing voters" again, and we probably won't know who won until mid-2025.
I think they do a GREAT job at the post office.
The local post office here in Texas is the best-run and most efficient one I've ever encountered - and it's staffed almost exclusively by white guys!
Never been in one of that particular, um, complexion. Looks like I'll have to pay a visit to Texas...
I would love to move there, but it's too hot.
Only in the summer months!
Sasha
I am universally unlike everyone you might know and for that I will not apologize but want to prepare you for the alarm that my worldview most likely will inspire.
I subscribed to your substack because I appreciate your struggle to discover whatever is true about America. You should be supported in your journey in that small way.
You discovered that people are persons and being persons you may have discovered that people should be approached based on our commonness as persons rather than our differences as members of the animal kingdom. Those people that only see us as animals are those who want to murder babies, sterilize children and turn them into sexual objects to satisfy animal appetites.
Holding to a worldview asserting people are persons risks being overwhelmed by the monolithic dehumanized worldview of the Animators that debase us. After decades of thinking about it, (I'm 70 years old) I concluded that the Judeo-Christian Creator offers the best explanation for our personhood. If you looked for the Creator's personhood in the first few chapters of the Old Testament you would learn what you and he have in common and it might bolster your standing against the monolith.
D.