A Discussion of Dr. Mary Trump's Book About Donald Trump

07/20/20 • 43 min

A critical discussion about Mary Trump's psychological insights about how her family's dynamics shaped the personalities of its members. Dr. Trump is a clincal psychologist and provides a well written, easy to read, and in my opinion an important volume on her theories concerning the rise of Donald Trump and the fall of her father, Freddy, Donald's older brother. I will frame my discussion to include the question as to why and how Donald Trump became the personal savior to millions of American Citizens. www.bookbaby.com/book/psychotherapy-and-the-stories-we-live-by

Previous Episode

Stories About Police Brutality, "Racism" and Dehumanization

I will present an arguement that America's current attempts to deal with "racism" and police brutality are best understood as common elements of authoritarian political structures. Authoritarianism is the dominant type of politics both in our world and the historical past. Authoritarian political structures are always hierarchical and maintained by convincing their citizens that those in the higher levels are inherently superior as human beings than those in the lower strata of society. The psychological mechanisms of control involve dehumanizing some individuals and demonizing those who would seek to rebel against their fixed position in the hierarchy. The police and the military usually represent the mechanisms to enforce compliance and punish rebellion among those dehumanized and demonized. The solution to the problems created by authoritarian heirarchies are found in democratic political structures adhering to the idea that all human beings are equal in their essential worth, have equal rights, privileges and responsibilities and that all its citizens are more human than otherwise. These ideas are explored in my book "Psycho'therapy' and the Stories We Live By" to be found on Amazon.com, BN.com, and store.bookbaby.com/book/psychotherapy-and-the-stories-we-live-by

Next Episode

Stories About Human Nature and How They Shape Politics

Are human beings the products of their genes, how they are treated by other human beings in their environments or by a combination of both? Are some human beings basically good and some basically evil? Do we have any control as to how human beings turn out and if so how can we describe that control? I do not pretend to know the answers to these questions but I will try and clarify how to approach these thorny, but very important issues. How do the answers to these questions shape the politics practised in any given family, social group or society? For further discussion see my book at store.bookbaby.com/psychotherapy-and-the-stories-we-liveby