The Reason For Now

We discuss evidence of vested interest of the large pharmas to have an illness for which every single member of society needs to have a vaccine and the fact that the Senate passed litigation indemnity for large pharmas with respect to vaccines.
Lock dow is all about stress. Stress is about control. Control comes with routine and structure and planning. Quality of life at home comes with mindfulness and spoiling your partner. Boosting the immune system comes from positive thinking, humour, sense of control, exercise, good diet low in sugar and corn oil and with Vitamin D3 and Magnesium supplements. Physical symptoms of anxiety can be dealt with abdominal breathing, breath holding, straining against a closed glottis and controlled exhalation. We can also use this gift of time for processing events that have already happened and planning for the future. Plenty to be getting on with and without mentioning social media or X boxes!

We have said from the beginning that a media driven frenzy of panic is not the best way to influence the nation and in turn elected politicians who then listen to academics with unidimensional models that completely neglect equally if not important factors. The fact is that now a projected drop of GDP of 7.5% caused by the lockdown is going to kill orders of magnitude more than just the coronavirus. So far world wide the corona virus has killed 58,000 people after 4 months which is effectively the flu season. This is a tiny fraction of what flu kills world wide. In the UK 2800 people have died despite the fact that the flu can kill up to 30000 people a year so one may legitimately ask what the panic is about and is it just an artefact of the media who let's face it have a vested interest in selling digital print and indeed reporting by the media has been proven to barely resemble true world events. So far heat maps of excess mortality accross Europe over recent years show 2020 to be lower than recent years. We discuss this finding critically. One good thing to come out of this situation is a potentially more authoritarian state and a reduction in permissiveness. Over the millennia excessively permissive societies are usually a harbinger of collapse of that civilisation. So more structure and instruction by the state is good for the longevity of that particular society and indeed by reducing choice and increasing structure mental health of the nation will also improve.

There are many conspiracy theories but even more panic and media hype. The reality is that coronavirus world wide still has not killed as many as normal flu in one year in the UK alone. Given effective modern medical treatment (in this case ventilators) mortality should be about the same as normal flu. Conversely death and suffering from economic collapse and social lock down will be much more. As an example following the 2008 credit crunch 5000000 people died from cancer caused by stress. Stress itself will reduce the immune system and cause depression, anxiety, suicide, heart attacks, diabetes , strokes, domestic violence etc. Social isolation is used as the most draconian torture and punishment and in some countries it is outlawed. Loneliness is an epidemic in the Western World destroying mental and physical health. From a psychological perspective the general population will not respond to optional measures because people do not like to think or change habits but once choice is removed with clear instructions, not only do they follow but they are happier doing so. The irony is that years of austerity and pairing back of the heath service is now necessitating an order of magnitude greater spending in cost and illness, suffering and death.

The statistics of Corona virus indicate that where modern medical care is available then the mortality is no more than the common flu. But in contrast to usual flu those few seriously affected are more likely to need Intensive Care. The higher mortality rates in Italy may reflect an older population where a large proportion also are smokers as well as the Italian tradition of greeting in social groups by hugging and kissing. Or it may be an artefact of data collection where most cases of people mildly affected are simply missed. The UK has taken the far more sensible approach of accepting that this is for the vast majority nothing more than a mild flu like illness and allowing it to spread , even keeping schools open which one would expect to be one of the commonest sources of infection while at the same time providing sensible hygiene advice and allowing self isolation in order to try and flatten the infection curve in order to prevent the NHS from being swamped.
Yet financial markets have been in free fall. All from a mild flu like illness? This is not the plague or leprosy or even SSARS. It can however been used as a convenient excuse to tighten borders and re establish national identities in permissive fluid societies lost in faceless swamps of political correctness. Viral Brexit?

Corona Virus is in the same family as the common cold. The clear statistics are that mortality rate is not much higher than the flu and may be lower. Those vulnerable to serious illness are the elderly and immunocompromised as with all flus and medics involved in direct care who are likely to be exposed to much higher doses. The main difference is that if it affects a patient seriously then ITU is more likely to be needed. So it is correct for the NHS to declare a level 4 emergency as thousands of extra ITU beds will be needed. Nobody has ever stopped the cold and flu virus and its not going to happen now. So why and what is the purpose of this panic? Is it media generated, is the halo effect of swine flu and SSARS or is it an excuse to impose strict control at borders? We also discuss the power of likability or not and how it applies to Boris Johnson, Priti Patel and Greta Thumberg as well as psychopaths in general. Those who are charming are more likely to end up as CEOs and those without charm, intellect or luck are more likely to end up in prison.
So its not what you do its how you do it with a dose of luck.

Harvey Weinstein has finally been convicted. We discuss the paradox of how a bountiful capitalistic permissive society rapidly becomes unequal giving rise to resentment and identity politics and ultimately to the Me Too campaign. A permissive tolerant society is not necessarily the surroundings in which humans will flourish because the main predictor of whether anyone will do anything is if they can which will lead to inequality, abuse of power and limited accountability. And if accountability is eventually applied it occurs in an atmosphere of unrest from destructive resentment amongst waring factions which will also leave countless innocents harmed as the vested interest of the few once more leaves harmony as a pitiful casualty. The answer? Self awareness. Understand the nature of humans. Permissiveness is toxic where it replaces taking responsibility. We are tribal and require structure and hierarchy and leadership with clear assimilation and identity.

We discuss some of the origins of sexuality and the importance of being true to yourself .

Humans like all animals are hard wired to survive and where life is on the line the quickest response is reflex or instinct which short circuits rational thought. This is the Amygdala Hijack. Most of human behaviour is driven by emotion and has little logic behind it. In addition to this we are tribal and are programmed to respond to structure hierarchy and leadership and therefore often act without questioning authority figures. The more intelligent someone is the more possible it is for them to think rationally but in an emotional state no one can. Even the human quest for significance is an artificial construct where what we really seek is understanding and valuing of our emotions. This origins of of a lot of extremism is of the disintegrated members of society who find an illusion of understanding and value and acceptance in an extremist group. It is also well known that during elections the electorate votes on how it feels not what it thinks and questions the validity of democracy. We therefore controlled by our emotions. Professionals take emotion out of their decision making by being so well versed in the knowledge of what to do in specific situations that they are able to act reflexly without the need for conscious thought. Otherwise in an emergency and without training no one can think rationally. Next session we discuss how to start taking some control back from our emotions in order to get us closer to peace of mind.

Humans like almost all living organisms are tribal. We are therefore hard wired to function in relatively small close knit groups of very similar people. Nature therefore makes us like this and it is biologically good for us both mentally and physically. Modern society is almost exclusively focused on instant gratification which by definition is the experience of the individual. Studies on longevity show that the most important factor of all in living longer and also in happiness is daily human interaction and close family. Conversely those earning more money are usually unhappy and if millionaires are asked what would make them happy they say doubling their money and therefore by definition they will never be happy. Therefore society ascribes value to the wrong things and in so doing further weakens the fabric of society and worsens the human condition. Furthermore social media mostly designed by socially inept people and the algorithms it uses also designed by Asperger's spectrum individuals will become increasingly unhealthy for the average human. What is the answer? Certainly not on an individual level as humans have proven themselves largely incapable of logical self directed behaviour. It is the leaders of society who need to emphasise close relationships, family and community and integrate everyone under a common national identity. Permissivness is poplular among individuals which is why the West is the playground of the World but it makes society unhappy and sews the seeds of its destruction.

We discuss Royal Duty versus self interest. Megan is apparently suffering from anxiety and trauma. We look at just how common trauma really is an reveal some startling statistics that suggest modern daily life is not suited to humans. We are anachronisms in a society of our own making. Andy posits it is as simple as making choices. Theo explains that as humans very little of what we do and the decisions we make in daily life are under our conscious control partly because almost all decisions are emotional so that voting reflects not what people think but what they feel and secondly because we are hard wired to respond to structure and authority and therefore not only are we easily led but we seek leadership. In fact generally most people do not want to and cannot think. We discuss how a lot of modern psychology is fundamentally flawed and how we can all start taking control.