EQI.org Home | Abuse | Emotional Abuse Abusive Governments In 2008 a reader named Wayne wrote me and raised the issue of whether governments are abusive. (see below) I wrote this in 2010. Now it is 2015 and I have been thinking more about whether, and how, governments are abuisive. Today is April 12 and I am still working on these ideas but for now here is what I have. I am editing what Wayne wrote to me in 2008, adding my thoughts and clarifying his. S. Hein -- Last update April 13,
2015 |
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Aptil 13 I am thinking about 2 things... 1. Caring vs. Control - Delma, Back Up alarms 2. What it feels like to be living in an abusive or dysfunctional family when you are the only one who realizes the family is abusive or dysfunctional. See more from April 13 below... |
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2010
Writing by S. Hein In 2008 a reader named Wayne wrote me raised the issue of whether governments are abusive. Wayne made comparisons
between abusive relationships and abusive governments. I
have given this some thought. I'd say that if you
are in any kind of relationship where you need someone
else's permission to fill your own natural survival
needs, including your emotional needs, then it is an
abusive relationship. If you need permission to get away
from someone who is hurting you, then it is an abusive
relationship because those that have the power to stop
you from leaving are stopping you from doing what is in
your own best interest. Even worse, they are convincing
most of you that actually what they are dong is in fact
in your own best interest and that might be the biggest
lie of all. I wouldn't say that most people who repeat
such things are deliberately lying, though. Most of them
sincerely believe what they have been told. Just like
Muslims sincerely believe what they have been told, Jews
sincerely believe what they have been told and Christians
sincerely believe what they have been told. The problem
is, or one of the problems, is that there are conflicting
things being said. (For example, I was told by a Muslim
that anyone who is not a Muslim will go to Hell. I have
also been told by many Christians that anyone who is not
a Christian will go to Hell.) S. Hein Links referenced in
the above article - |
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Wayne's writing on abusive
governments Here is what Wayne sent me. I am just uploading this now, in 2015, though he sent it several years ago, in 2008 I believe. It makes more sense to me now than it did then. I apologize to Wayne and others that I didn't upload it sooner. In any case, recently I took another look at it, after I found it by chance in my files when I was looking for something else (Wayne Payne's paper.) I no longer have the original email with his name and I am not sure he would even want me to publish his last name, but inhis mail, he said, in part,
I have taken out his writing on "Creation and History of Government Abuse" but you can read it in the original text he sent. I have edited it slightly, for example, dividing into sections, expanding it and adding some notes. I am still working on it as of April 12, 2015 S. Hein ------------------------------------ ----------------- Does this sound like your
government? * Does your government
isolate (imprison) you and keep you from family and
friends if you break the rules? * Will it take things
which are important to you, necessary and even precious?
Will it take a loved one from you? For example, by forced
military service, or forced schooling (which separates
children from their families) or separating them from you
with prison? Intimidation
Your abuser may use a variety of intimation tactics
designed to scare you into submission. Such tactics
include making threatening looks or gestures, smashing
things in front of you, destroying property, hurting your
pets, or putting weapons on display. The clear message is
that if you don't obey, there will be violent
consequences. * Does it seem that your
elected officials and other government employees never
take the blame for what went wrong? --------------- Cycle of violence Abuse falls into a common
pattern, or cycle of violence: "Normal"
behavior The abusers do everything they can to
regain control and keep the victims in the relationship.
They may act as if nothing has happened, or he may turn
on the charm. This peaceful honeymoon phase may give the
victim hope that the abuser has really changed this time. * In what ways does your government act to "keep people in the relationship" with them? For example, does your government require you to send your children to their schools? Does your government require you to get permissions, permits and licenses to build a house, practice your profession, or drive a car or ride a motorcycle? Does your government require you or your children to have permission or a passport to leave its borders? next item needs work/thought.... Fantasy and planning
The abuser begins to fantasize about abusing his
victim again, spending a lot of time thinking about what
the victim has done wrong and how they make victim pay.
Then they make a plan for turning the fantasy of abuse
into reality. *** sph selling hope each
new election Set-up The abuser
sets up the victim and puts their plan in motion,
creating a situation where they can justify abusing their
victim. Control Freaks are the
only ones interested in government power. You give them a
little they want more. Thats why every year they
put thousands of new laws on their books and rarely do
they take laws off the books.
This is similar to other quotes on the net, but as of April, 2015 there was no exact matchfor that statement anywhere on the net, according to Google. He then adds this widely quoted statement about depression:
And this, which is also copied from the net, but not as widely quoted:
Then he asks:
So what Wayne is suggesting is that to the extent we feel controlled by the government, it is understandable that we would feel depressed. - SH - I have added this section, which came from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_and_control_in_abusive_relationships - Acces April 11, 2015 Using privilegeMain article: Privilege (social inequality) Using "privilege" means that the abuser defines the roles in the relationship, makes the important decisions, * Do those in power in your government write the laws, define the terms, and "make the important decisions" (for example, who gets arrested, put in jail etc?) See below for more of the Wikipedia notes |
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Seems much of this could be said about
most if not all countries... SH-India: Is the justice system broken?Excerpt Despite well-written laws and legions of well-intentioned cops, lawyers, judges, and activists, the ... justice system is abusive, arbitrary, and above all ineffective. - Jason Overdorf Jan 15, 2013 @ 1:56 AM A wag once remarked that a trip through the Indian court system is as near to experiencing eternity as a living soul can get. But it's not just slow. Despite well-written laws and legions of well-intentioned cops, lawyers, judges, and activists, the Indian justice system is abusive, arbitrary, and above all ineffective. In short, it's badly broken. And the only answer that seems to gain any traction is to make it tougher, or more arbitrary. The current arguments run that the death penalty to be meted out to rapists, or that juveniles should be tried as adults, or, as a cop friend pointed out, that the police must be freed from petty concerns about human rights, to strike fear of law and order into the hearts of criminals. But consider some stats put together this week by the Wall Street Journal's Real Time blog, as part of a seris on the justice system. India's prisons house nearly 400,000 inmates, but only about a third of them have actually been convicted of a crime. More than 1,000 have spent five years behind bars without ever even seeing the inside of a courtroom. As Prem Shankar Jha points out for the Hindu: According to the National Crime Records Bureaus annual report Crime in India 2007, between 2003 and 2007 citizens filed 282, 384 complaints of human rights abuses against the police. Of these only 79,000 were investigated; only 1,070 policemen were brought to trial and only 264 less than one in a thousand were convicted. All but a handful stayed at their posts, free to wreak vengeance on those who had dared to complain against them. |
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Here is something I am working on.... Comparing this
to governments, poliice, judges... - SH - From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_and_control_in_abusive_relationships April 11, 2015 Tactics Controlling abusers use multiple tactics to exert power and control over their partners. According to Jill Cory and Karen McAndless-Davis, authors of When Love Hurts: A Woman's Guide to Understanding Abuse in Relationships: Each of the tactics within the power and control wheel are used to "maintain power and control in the relationship. No matter what tactics your partner uses, the effect is to control and intimidate you or to make you feel that you do not have an equal voice in the relationship." Coercion and Threats Main articles: Coercion and threats A tool for exerting control and power is the use of threats and coercion... At its most effective, the abuser creates intimidation and fear. The victims are at risk of anxiety, dissociation, depression, shame, low self-esteem and suicidal ideation. Intimidation Main article: Intimidation Abused individuals may be intimidated by the brandishing of weapons, destroying their property or other things, or using gestures or looks to create fear. (or uniforms) Economic abuseMain article: Economic abuse An effective means of ensuring control and power over another is to control their access to money. One method is to prevent the abusee from getting a job. Another is to control their access to money; This can be done by withholding information and access to family income, taking their money, requiring the person to ask for money, or giving them an allowance. Emotional abuse
Isolation Main articles: Social exclusion and Solitude A psychological control is the isolation of the victim, male or female, from the outside world. Isolation includes controlling a person's social activity: who they see, who they talk to, where they go and any other method to limit their access to others. It may also include limiting what material is read. It can include insisting on knowing where they are and requiring permission for medical care, The abuser exhibits hypersensitive and reactive jealousy Minimizing, denying and blaming Main articles: Minimisation (psychology), Denial and Blame The abuser may deny the abuse occurred to attempt to place the responsibility for their behavior on the victim. Minimizing concerns or the degree of the abuse is another aspect of this control. Using privilegeMain article: Privilege (social inequality) Using "privilege" means that the abuser defines the roles in the relationship, makes the important decisions, |
April 13 Detail | |
Privilige Who defines what "abuse" is? Who defines what our "rights" are? Who defines what "consent" is? " Married" is? Will government try to tell us one day what love is? Will the politicians tell us they "love" us? Do they already tell us we should "love" "our" country? Is it "our" country, or theirs? |
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what i wrote to soulriser... today... i really wanted to get ur opinion on this thing about abusive govts. it is very "heavy" to me... very serious. the implications are huge... |
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i am thinking about abusive organizations. churches,
cults for example. i remember now watching a video called something like statism is a religion.... also thinking ... how do u tell ur family members ur family is dysfunctional, abusive? when they are all products of it and all believe in the importance of the family etc? and they all follow all the unwritten, unspoken rules? but in governments, there are even writen, and spoken and explicit rules. in faimillies the abuse is usually accidenttal i would say. the ways they control are informal rather than formal. and their is usually not a specific person or sub group in the family for what we would call "propaganda" and there is a natural bond which could make it more likely someone will actually listen to yuu and care, or "love" youi. so they might care when you tell them yoyu are in pain. they might also simply invalidate yiou... tell you there is something wrong with you, not the family... |