Rise Like Lions After Slumber

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Rise like Lions after slumber; In unvanquishable number; Shake your chains to earth like dew; Which in sleep had fallen on you; Ye are many; They are few." ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

I came across the following essay "The Genetics Of Tyranny: Psychopathology, Parasitism, and Totalitarianism" (via SOTT ) which focuses on the parasitic nature of the psychopath. I thought it was worth sharing in it's entirety. The folks at SOTT call Paths an Inter Species Predator which I find an appropriate label considering their voracious appetite for death and destruction. I believe the author Richard Posner makes a similar case with his analogy of a parasite that is destroying it's host along with itself. His concluding "Prognosis" is difficult but I understand why he goes there. I pray it is not too late and that we, the empathic human beings will rise like lions after slumber.

The Genetics Of Tyranny: Psychopathology, Parasitism, and Totalitarianism
by Richard William Posner

Whilst doing research online I sometimes come across some really fascinating, albeit unrelated, information. One small joy of life in a world that becomes grimmer each day.

While scrolling down any given web page, reading an article for information pertinent to the current research, I may notice a heading or a phrase with a link to another page, which I find intriguing even though it's not specifically relevant. Often it's just a waste of time, sometimes it's so enticing that I abandon what I'm doing and become engrossed in the new find.

Just Lucky I Guess

In some of my writing and in comments I have made on the writing of others, I have alluded to my opinion that the psychopathic condition of people who seek dominance over all others is the result of a genetic aberration. It now seems my conjecture may not have been without merit.

In one such comment I stated my supposition that inimical traits -- predatory, tyrannical, ruthless, pitiless -- found in virtually all members of the ruling, upper, or elite class are not dominant among humans in general and only manifest in a small portion of the population. I also expressed my view that it is our intrinsically cooperative nature and our innate desire to be helpful that makes such a large segment of the human race susceptible to victimization by a small minority of individuals who are afflicted with what I consider to be a genetic flaw.

My comment:

For my part, I will say this; I do not accept that human morality, for the vast majority, is based on hate, envy, greed or self-interest. In fact, quite to the contrary, the basic benevolence and cooperative nature of most people is what has allowed a very small, depraved and abhorrent group to prey upon the majority of the species for millennia.

I like to think that this negative trait will eventually be eliminated by evolution, provided our species can survive long enough. That small group of deviant individuals is like a parasite within the body of humanity. They have managed to pass along whatever genetic flaw they possess through the ages. They can only survive if there is a significantly larger population of healthy, sane and basically good people to maintain them.

I recently found some credible data that offers agreement with and support for this opinion.

"Totalitarianism And The Parasitic Psychopath"

The Psychopathic Survival Strategy

"You see, evolutionarily speaking, psychopaths should not exist. Throughout history it can be seen that human beings have needed to co-operate and care about one another in order to survive and produce a new generation that will carry on the processes of society. Most human dynamics are based on people trying to work out their problems and come to resolutions agreeable to the greatest number or, at the very least, in the interactions between two people. The issue of trust is paramount. Someone who betrays your trust is someone you cannot live or work with. Therefore, psychopaths, who are untrustworthy, should have long ago become extinct. But that isn't the way things are. It appears, in fact, as if psychopathy has increased!" Source

So how is it that a few parasitic, psychopathic individuals, incapable of providing for their own needs, can yet manage to carry along a recessive gene for so many generations? As I postulated in my comment above, this small minority requires a large, "normal" population to support their existence.

Evolutionary psychologists regard psychopathy as an inherited personality style that has evolved because glib, deceitful individuals - as a minority within a larger population of trusting folk - often reproduce with much success." Source

From the same source:

Other investigators, such as neuroscientist R.J.R. Blair of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, Md., regard psychopathy as the result of a still-unspecified genetic disorder. The inherited defect interferes with the workings of the brain's emotion system, which is centered in the amygdala, a structure especially concerned with perceiving dangerous situations.

Personally, I see no conflict between these to two conclusions. They seem, to me at least, mutually inclusive. The second gives us the source of the defect while the first explains how those thus inflicted have managed to pass it on through the centuries.

Perpetual Parasitism

There are other examples in nature of parasites with evolved dependency upon a specific host species. If the host species becomes extinct, so does the parasite. It is unable to survive with any other host.

Some species of parasites are termed species specific. This means that they can complete their life cycle in only one species of host. Should they enter the wrong species they are unable to complete their life cycle and die, all generally without the host requiring treatment. Source

It seems clear to me that the psychopath/society relationship is that of highly specialized parasite/host. That the psychopath operates externally to the host in no way disqualifies it as parasite. The common mosquito is without question parasitic, as are the tick, the leech, and many other bloodsuckers. I think this human/human arrangement is unique in at least one regard, however: I know of no other situation wherein the host and parasite are, apparently, of the same species.

The psychopath/parasite cannot survive without non-psychopathic humans to prey upon. It needs the support of other humans, as do we all, but is incapable of functioning as a cooperative member of the population. Nor can it survive on its own or within a group comprised only of psychopaths. Although often highly intelligent, they frequently lack any real abilities or skills, but rely instead on deceit, malicious cunning, and ruthless self-interest enhanced by a complete absence of conscience or remorse.

What's nice about this explanation is that it not only explains why psychopaths exist, but also why we're not all psychopaths. If there are few enough psychopaths in the population, then being a psychopath makes sense because you'll mostly have winning confrontations with nice people. But if there are too many psychopaths, then the gains from taking advantage of nice people will be swamped by the losses from confronting other psychopaths. In equilibrium, you'll get both psychos and nice folks, with each strategy generating approximately equal returns, and with the precise balance determined by the relative payoffs of different interactions. Source

The Matter Of Degree

At the extreme, the psychopath simply resorts to outright violence to satisfy its needs. These cases are by far in the minority however. They may be a separate variety, a sub-group, which is not completely parasitic in some instances. In any case, however horrible their acts may be, they are not nearly as deadly as those who function within the system of government and business disguised as "aggressive", "ambitious" and "savvy" type-A go-getters.

There's currently a bull market in corporate psychopaths, according to psychologist Paul Babiak of HRBackOffice, an industrial-consulting firm in Hopewell Junction, N.Y. Organizations undergoing major changes, such as downsizing or mergers, provide a chaotic atmosphere that savvy psychopaths exploit", Babiak holds. "They cozy up to a firm's power brokers, manipulate coworkers, and intimidate underlings on their way up the corporate ladder, stealing everything possible along the way.

Not all psychopaths resort to violence, however. Highly intelligent people with psychopathic personalities find fertile, nonviolent opportunities in conning and manipulating others, in Porter's view. Source

The ratio of parasites to host must be kept quite small, or the entire host population might be wiped out leaving the parasites unable to survive. In the past, when the drain became too great, the host population has attempted to exterminate the parasite, hence the repeated cycle of bloody revolutions throughout history. Evidently, the effort at eliminating the parasitic infestation has never been fully successful.

Threatened with extinction, the psychopath displays great skill at hiding in plain sight. A psycho-camouflage of sorts is employed, allowing the parasite to mimic a sense of sorrow, dismay or other feelings not actually present in the psychopathic character. Some always manage to survive by temporarily blending with the host population.

The Disease Blames The Afflicted

The most ironic aspect of this condition is that these life-draining parasites, riding on the body of humanity like great, bloated ticks, are the first to scream bloody murder should anyone among the host population require aid in a time of distress. They express indignation and outrage at any action, program or institution that can be seen as benefiting the general welfare. Such people, they insist, are freeloaders and moochers and such programs a drain on society. The hypocrisy is breathtaking. Part of the skill-set I suppose.

Prognosis?

I fear we are now approaching that point where the parasite is perilously close to overwhelming the host. I only say approaching, since I think it will take a little time yet to cross that Rubicon. I have no doubt we will if things continue on their present course. That could mean destruction for all, including the parasite.

Governments of the world, monolithic multi-national corporations, and the international banking cartel are overrun with psychopaths in the highest positions of power. Their parasitic insatiability threatens to consume our species.

It has always been my hope and abiding conviction that humanity would evolve beyond the juvenile, even primitive stage in which we currently seem to be mired.

It seems, at the very least, that we are about to enter into a great transitional period. It promises to be a time of unthinkable hardship, possibly leading to our extinction.

A second possible scenario might produce a small number of human survivors who arise from the rubble, free at last from the oppressor gene to build a new world and the first truly human civilization.

The third and sadly most probable possibility is that within that small tribe of human survivors will be two or three psycho-parasites, hiding in plain sight, waiting for just the right moment to begin the cycle all over again.

Epilogue

Rid at last of the aberration that caused so much damage, in so little time, Gaia will heal.

Though Life will still be taken that Life may continue, never again will it be done with malice or hate.
Nor will death be born of greed, lust or envy.

No ideology, no arrogant certainty of righteousness will ever again bring needless pain, suffering and death to those who's chosen path is not the same.

Pain, suffering and death will remain, but only in the service of Life, without animosity, prejudice or enmity.

Life and death will once again be equal partners.

With the passing of the only creature ever to favor death over Life, the balance will be restored.
No longer will death be a commodity to be sold for profit. Once again, it will be the price for the continuation of Life, an even trade.

Peace at last.

Go ahead people, do your worst.

Comments

Genes that fit

Thanks for posting this, McJ. Love those lines from Shelley smiling

The article is an accurate description of the trouble before us. I have always thought that parasites are never more powerful than they are the day before they kill the host.

However, as the author points out, humanity is in a unique situation in that it is our own species that is both host and parasite. Also unique is the situation that the host is not powerless against the parasite IF enough individual hosts become aware (from slumber)of the debilitating nature of the parasites and reject them. (Rise like lions)

His description of the power of genes is a little outdated though. (I don't mean to quibble but this is good news!) Genes aren't the only things that determine behaviour. Other things like Integral Membrane Proteins affect behaviour as well and these are subject to change from the environment including one's own thoughts and attitudes. These IMP's can also affect change to the DNA so that the DNA is no longer passed down the generations in its original form. This has both good and bad consequences. I'm thinking of generational banking families here.

So thoroughly bad parenting can be inherited but it can also be changed through a changed attitude for the better (and vice versa, of course) and this attitude can be passed on genetically to be followed or changed again by the next generation. So a cycle can be broken.

This is outlined in a book by Bruce Lipton (a cell biologist) called "The Biology of Belief" and is backed up by extensive research over more than twenty years.

The bottom line is that no one is a prisoner of their genes and humanity is by no means a prisoner to these suicidal psychopaths. So Shelley's poem is very apt and his advice is very "doable".

oops

I didn't mean to equate the world's problems with bad parenting. it was just one example.

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molecules of emotion

I loved Shelley's lines as well. They actually keep playing in my mind. smiling

Years ago I read Candice Pert's "Molecules of Emotion" which at the time, I found a fascinating book. I don't remember a lot about it now but I believe she may have been talking about some of the same things you have described from Lipton's book. If I remember correctly, her theory was that the mind (and that includes thoughts and emotions) exists at the cellular level and as such can be 'changed' at that level. So it is entirely possible (and scientifically provable) that we can recode our DNA through our thoughts and emotions. I think this may happen somehow via the mitochondrial DNA (and the RNA) but I can't really remember cause it's been so long ago for this old mind.

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On second thought...

On second thought, maybe I am mixing Pert's book up with other stuff I read. Did some checking, and in a nutshell what Pert was saying is that short chains of amino acids called peptides, and their receptors, are the biochemical correlate of emotion. Peptides are found in the brain, but also in the stomach, muscles, glands and all the major organs. So, she concluded that peptides in these other organs have memories – what she called “the unconscious mind”.

cell memBrains

Lipton certainly refers to Candice Pert's research but i can't recall in exactly what context.

Lipton has shown that the individual cells demonstrate intelligence and this intelligence resides in the cell' membrane (or mem-Brain as he calls it!) not in the nucleus where the DNA resides as has been traditionally thought. Each cell is self sufficient individually as is the body which is a collective of cells. There's a fractal relationship between us and our cells. It is all fascinating. I thoroughly recommend the book to you.

One thing i remember from an interview with Pert was that the brain has these peptide receptors and drugs (such as heroin for instance) plug into these and give you the high that people experience. Trouble is that the body then stops producing the endorphins that would normally be used to 'plug into' these receptors so the body then becomes increasingly dependent on this artificial and external supply of endorphins for any sense of well being. Hence the declining 'benefit' from drugs.
At first there is the body's own supply plus the external supply but the body soon tapers down its own production. Now you are back where you started but with the added side (toxic) effects of the drug.

Anyway to sum it up, yes the mind resides in our bodies, in all our cells and we can effect our cells through our conscious and unconscious thoughts (energy). Cells are also affected by other energies such as from other people and from sources such as microwaves, radio waves, electromagnetic waves such as those emanating from the screen you are now looking at(!) and of course, radiation.

Traditional biology has taken a 'Newtonian' view that we are matter and nothing else. The "New Biology" takes the "Quantum" view that we are matter and energy and that they are one and the same. We are therefore effected by energy as well as matter both from within and without our bodies and there is extensive research to show this is so.

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Very nice summary James.

Very nice summary James. Candice Pert was actually the scientist that discovered the opiate receptors and did extensive research on it. Her book is actually two stories, the story of her discoveries, set against her personal experience moving through the 'old boy network' of science and research, being blackballed and having her work stolen. It's an entertaining and informative read if you are so inclined.

I thought the water crystal prayer was interesting when viewed in a quantum light, so to speak. My memory of Uni physics is pretty sketchy so I am not sure I can explain what I was thinking correctly but I'll give this a shot smiling.

Water (matter) is both a particle and a wave. When it is viewed under a microscope we see it in it's particulate (matter) form. The polluted, or radiation contaminated, particles of water also have existence as a wave or energy. And nature always seeks balance so the 'unbalanced' or polluted 'water energy (or wave)' would be seeking balance. Focusing the energy of love, gratitude and harmony on the water through the act of prayer or meditation may produce a strong enough electromagnetic resonance that the 'polluted' wave or energy form of the water would be rebalanced (like the action of a tuning fork on a piano string.) This would not be dependent on time or space as that is not where the wave has it's existence. Thus, there would be a corresponding effect or reflection on the water in it's particulate form which we would now see as the beautiful water crystals.

Hope that make some sense.

it makes eminent sense to me,

it makes eminent sense to me, McJ. Though i don't profess to know the physics of it. Lipton did talk some on this but i didn't quite follow it. Your explanation sounds better smiling

Maybe if we humans focused on how humanity is supposed to be, we could shake off the pollution that has mixed themselves in amongst us and do justice to Shelley's lines (lions!)

I will read her book. I remember my wife telling me about a woman scientist in the US who was Japanese and also had a physical disability or some sort (that I don't remember) and this woman scientist said of all the various discriminations she suffered in her vocation, being a woman was the worst and most limiting. So much for the much vaunted objective scientist in search of truth above all! haha

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Glad it made sense :)

I am glad it made sense cause I was really struggling with the words to explain what I meant. smiling

After reading Pert's book you will have an even better sense of the discrimination against women within the scientific research community. It's an 'old boy network' and all about grant money and Noble prizes and peer reviewed articles and recognition (which all mean more grant money) and basically greed, greed and more greed. You learn how they hold back discoveries and cures so they can milk them for all the money that they can and how anyone (like Pert) not willing to do this or who breaks the "unwritten rules" is marginalized and pushed out of the funding loop. She had recognition for her research and a noble prize for her discovery of the opiate receptors stolen from her. (It was by, among others, her teacher in Grad school I believe and the Nobel committee ended up having to give the prize to someone else after she blew the whistle on the thieves.). She discovered a cure for a specific kind of lung cancer (from which her father died) but after years of trying was never able to get it to market. She tells the story of another famous female scientist where they actually broke into her office and stole her work so they could get a noble prize. It's a really eye opening look into a very nasty world. You'll never view it the same after you read her book. Surprisingly, it was a real page turner reading more like a really good suspense novel than a dry scientific treatise.

i've just reserved it!

i've just reserved it! smiling

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Oh good!

Oh good! Now you will be able to tell me what it is about. smiling

McJ's picture

Reviews of Pert's book

Editorial Reviews from Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Molecules-Emotion-Science-Mind-Body-Medicine/dp/06...
From Library Journal
Intrigue at the "Palace": back-stabbing, deceit, shunning, love affairs. This is not the plot to I, Claudius but the account Pert gives of her time working at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a.k.a. the Palace. Yet her time at NIH is not the central point here. Nor are the molecules of the title, although they do get due coverage. Pert offers mainly an account of her journey from a conventional scientist to one who also embraces complementary and alternative medicine. The journey is long and not without price. She was passed over for the Lasker and Nobel prizes for her work on opiate receptors while colleagues were recognized; she believes that her development of a potential AIDS drug was thwarted owing to scientific dirty pool as well as her being a woman in a man's world. Along the way, she took control of her career, her life, and her personal mission. This is an eye-opening book for anyone who thinks that people with medical degrees act more civil or are more altruistic than the rest of us, though Pert also shows that some do rise above the fray. Recommended for academic and special libraries.?Lee Arnold, Historical Soc. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Kirkus Reviews
Pert, a self-described ``catalyst in the mindbodyspirit revolution in modern medical science,'' and once a chief of brain chemistry at the NIH, freely intermingles vibrant stories of her professional and personal life with her theories about neuropeptides. Currently a research professor at Georgetown Medical Center in Washington, Pert may be best known as one of the scientists on Bill Moyers's PBS series Healing and the Mind. In the early 1970s, she made a name for herself with her key role in discovering the brain's opiate receptors. For the next decade, however, owing to her protests over her exclusion from the prestigious Lasker Award, her reputation among scientists was more that of feminist troublemaker than pathfinder. Certainly the picture she draws here of the science establishment would seem to suggest a world of aggressive, even ruthless, alpha males fighting for the top prize. She also traces her own evolution from competitive bench scientist to explorer of personal healing modalities. The death of her father, the end of her marriage, her resignation from the NIH, her embracing of the Christian faith, and her discovery of the healing power of dreams--all were, she says, life-shaping events. Pert also explains her theory that neuropeptides and their receptors are the biochemicals of emotions, carrying information in a vast network linking the material world of molecules with the nonmaterial world of the psyche. Her views on mind-body cellular communication mesh well with the concepts of energy held by many alternative therapies, and she is now, not surprisingly, a popular lecturer on the wellness circuit. Her final chapter describes an eight-part program for a healthy lifestyle, and she has appended an extensive list of alternative medicine resources. Strong scientific support for the mind-body school of medicine, sure to rankle those alpha males back in the labs. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

reviews of Biology of Belief

Here are some reviews of Dr. Bruce Lipton's book "The Biology of Belief"
http://www.librarything.com/work/401921

and here it is on Google Books-
http://books.google.com/books?id=p6Pgi7b_ZCsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the...

McJ's picture

Sounds interesting.

Thanks James, it sounds really interesting. Here is an interview with Dr. Bruce Lipton that I found.
http://www.mindpowernews.com/BiologyBelief.htm

Great interview, McJ. Thanks

Great interview, McJ. Thanks for finding it and posting the link

"Each cell is a miniature human. It has a brain, digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems. It has the ability to transmit and receive communication. Some 50 trillion cells make up the human body. Humans can be seen as cells in something larger called humanity. The evolution that we’re facing right now is not the evolution of the human as an individual living organism. It is the evolution of the community of humans."

Imagine what could be achieved in a short period of time if we didn't spend the bulk of our efforts in consciously and deliberately destroying what the rest of humanity was creating. Imagine what would happen if the 50% of scientists and 90% of physicists in the world that are now currently employed in finding better ways to destroy the earth, destroy civilisations and their infrastructure and destroy the humans that build and use these creations.

Imagine if we had a community of humans that were interested in feeding and sheltering people instead of killing them through war and starvation. It'd be cheaper for a start!

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US Troops Fire On Iraqi Detainees -2005


Didn’t I See This in ‘Schindler’s List’?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27875.htm
By David Kramer

April 12, 2011 "LRC" -- Do you remember the fictional scene in Schindler’s List when the commandant of a Nazi concentration camp (portrayed by Ralph Fiennes) is taking pot shots at the Jewish prisoners (i.e., victims) with live ammo? This is a video of professional murderers (U.S. soldiers in Iraq) shooting at Iraqi prisoners (i.e., victims) at a U.S. detention facility in Iraq back in 2005. The victims had started to throw rocks and poles because they were falsely told (according to the murderers’ investigation—How’s that for impartiality?) that U.S. murderers (aka “soldiers”) were stepping on Korans during a search for contraband. Take note of the glee in the voices of some of the murderers as they are shooting. They are as giddy as if they were at a shooting gallery in an amusement park.

War is a crime

I don't know. What can you say about cowards like these. Breathe deep, boys. Feel that DU duing yu good.

War is a crime

they reminded me of Israeli

they reminded me of Israeli soldiers shooting Palestinian kids.

Libya: All About Oil, or All About Banking?

Hey Guys
I'm OT but thought I'd just post this link for yee's to an interesting article about Libya by Ellen Brown on Truthout.
Libya: All About Oil, or All About Banking?
http://truthout.org/libya-all-about-oil-or-all-about-banking/1302678000

Great article. Thanks Sally.

Great article. Thanks Sally. it kinda rips the lid off what's going on, doesn't it?!

"it kinda rips the lid off

"it kinda rips the lid off what's going on, doesn't it?!"

Yes this article is a brilliant addition to your articles about OWC and makes it pretty clear what's going down.

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