Showing posts with label youth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label youth. Show all posts

Sunday, 27 July 2025

Post No. 3,198 - From social media this week

My activism this week includes the following (lightly edited), which was written based on my response to this thread

Dear Members of Parliament, 

I see the US medical profession is reviewing the Diagnostic and Services Manual (DSM) again. Although that can potentially be a good technical reference, it is heavily biased by the fact that it is a US publication, and thus is written for their ludicrous mismanagement of health and their often backward social values. 

In particular, I came across an article (at https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/apa-unveils-early-plans-next-dsm-2025a1000eu1) which suggests the USA's American Psychiatry Association is thinking of adding a condition for suicidality on the basis that “... a recent report estimated that 19.6% of individuals who attempted suicide did so despite not meeting criteria for any existing psychiatric disorder”

I would like to know (but have no way of finding out) how many of those 19.6% were living in poverty, living with conditions that they were unable to get diagnoses for, or a combination of both? (I also note that some mild depression is because the mildly depressed people actually have a better [more accurate] understanding of reality than those who are not depressed - e.g., about the very real existential threats of the climate crisis.) 

That aspect, however, is unlikely, IMO, to have received genuine consideration in the USA (despite the paper also noting "The Social Determinants subcommittee is tasked with assessing the impact on mental health from factors such as ethno-racial backgrounds, sex and gender, belief systems, personality, income, an individual’s living circumstances, and exposures through the years to both advantages and disadvantages") because of that nation's political biases since Reagan, which have become extreme since the current autocrat came to power earlier this year. As a result, they are likely going to blame victims for what is a political problem, with political solutions. 

Whatever comes out of the USA for some time will need, IMO, to be viewed with extreme caution by us - both for the usual adaptation to our culture and political philosophy, and also because of the extremist distortions that it is currently exhibiting, and I urge that changes to the next DSM (which, as also noted in the article, will be years off) be most carefully reviewed for credibility, suitability to Australia, etc before being allowed to influence our lives. 

I also noticed the following article, by Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice at (UK) Sheffield University Management School Richard Murphy: 

"The crisis we face is because of our failure to meet the needs of young people"   https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/07/26/the-crisis-we-face-is-because-of-our-failure-to-meet-the-needs-of-young-people/   

That article also needs to viewed with some caution, as it is based on what is happening in the UK, including a housing situation that does not have the restorative building programmes that we have had for some time now. 

However, the graph showing differences in stress between "the anglosphere" and western Europe is quite striking, and it may be that we could learn something from an examination of that as well. 

I also note that the UK has recently committed to lowering the voting age to 16. The possibility of doing that here has received some media attention of late (and I consider suggestions of better civics education should also be applied to those who can already vote, as I am of the view that many young people are actually more aware of key issues than older voters)

I also note that the recent Youth Parliament of Victoria, which is open to people as young as 16, shows the political acuity and capability of young people - and I note, from https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/news/general-news/yp24opening, that "More than 30 pieces of Victorian legislation have originated in the Youth Parliament, including roadside drug testing, over the counter contraception, mandatory bicycle helmets and removal of glass from high-risk entertainment venues"

We may not be going to lower the voting age, even by providing voluntary voting for 16 and 17 year olds, but it would be good to see any bill that came out of the recent Youth Parliament that addresses climate issues adopted - especially as it would help emphasise the difference between progressive politics and the neoliberal conservatives who are still, in essence, debating whether climate change is real - which shows they don't understand climate science, and do not understand what [people in my home state] and Australians want. 



In response to a social media comment (by an Irish person) on   “Two in five arrested for last summer’s UK riots had been reported for domestic abuse”   https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/26/two-in-five-arrested-for-last-summers-uk-riots-had-been-reported-for-domestic-abuse   which included:   

“The link between domestic abuse & the far right has been anecdotal up to now AFAIK. A number of the far right Irish yobs, who regularly riot, have barring orders, served time or been prosecuted for domestic abuse. Their’s is the behaviour of criminality, in public & in private life”   

I posted (lightly edited for flow)

“I’ve read research indicating that if a person has one form of bigotry they're more likely to have another, and I’ve been on the receiving end of far right hate (in Australia), and that has led me to be wary of being on the receiving end of violence from some of those on the right, but I don’t know that it counts as evidence unless one views the current trend towards fascism and its inherent patriarchal views as part of the equation, in which case, MAYBE   https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091743520302097 (2011) Other research that MIGHT be relevant (by the way, it is late here, and I am ill - apologies for any lack of clarity) includes   https://www.livescience.com/16961-sexism-racism-linked-personality.html   https://www.shortform.com/blog/intersectional-racism/   and   https://theconversation.com/the-intersectionality-of-hate-helps-make-sense-of-the-ideology-of-donald-trump-and-the-far-right-230268   

 


Possible flaws 

Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider: 

  • there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan  Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking” 
  • I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.

 

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below, and theres also other options. Also, I am now on SubStack 

Note that I am cutting back on aspects of my posts - see here

(Gnwmythr is pronounced new-MYTH-ear)  

Remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering” (just as binary gendered [men’s and women’s] sporting teams are either both given the gender descriptor, or neither).

#PsychicABetterWorld   and  

Copyright © Kayleen White 2007-2025     NO AI   I do not consent to any machine learning aka Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI, large language model, machine learning, chatbot, or other automated analysis, generative process, or replication program to reproduce, mimic, remix, summarise, or otherwise  replicate any part of this post or other posts on this blog via any means. Typos may be inserrted deliberately to demonstrate this is not an AI product.     Otherwise, fair and reasonable use is accepted under Creative Commons 4.0 on an Attribution-ShareAlike basis https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/  




 

Monday, 17 June 2013

Post No. 453 - Afterlife and reading

Recently, The Wild Hunt had a post asking what happens in terms of an afterlife from a pagan perspective. Well, my understanding is that Druidry includes a belief in reincarnation - as does the Tel'Ennyn Asur and some other specific paths. Fortunately for me personally, I've not only been a pagan: I've also had experience with Spiritualism, which I consider the premier religion / faith / path when it comes to consideration of the afterlife - experience which is also consistent with sources such as Near Death Experiences [2] - see also http://iands.org/home.html, and a range of New Age authors (e.g. see here). So, I am a pagan who DOES know what happens after death, and it is more complex than just having one single level of reality that people all go to: there are multiple levels of non-physical existence, and we go to possibly more than one as we heal after our most recent incarnation, until we eventually get a level where we make, with BPF Guidance (mostly from our own Higher Self), about whether we return, move on, stay a while and then return / move on, and so on.

Maybe that uncertainty around death is a flaw in those forms of paganism that the post author has come across or follows, but not so for all pagan paths. Still, it is s topic and post well worth thinking about to determine what YOU believe (or know!) ...

And here's a few other links to hopefully help the thinkin' along ...



[1] BPF = Balanced Positive (spiritual) Forces. See here and here for more on this.

[2] Please see here and my post "The Death of Wikipedia" for the reasons I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of h2g2, although that doesn't appear to be as extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather engagingly - to be the Earth edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy").

Love, light, hugs and blessings



Gnwmythr
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear")

My "blogiography" (list of all posts - currently not up to date) is here.  

I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ...  See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "pagans for peace" project, and here for my bindrune kit-bag.
  • One size does NOT fit all. 
  • May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
  • A home is for living in, not feeling, becoming or being rich or a “better” class than others.
  • The secret to being (financially) rich is not to have lots of money: it is to have an income above the poverty line, and then make whatever sacrifices are necessary in order to live within 90% of your means.  
  • Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master. 
  • Armageddon is alive and well and happening right now: it is a battle between the indolence of "I only ..." and/or "I just ..." and what Bruce Schneier [2] calls "security theatre" on one side, and perspicacity and the understanding that the means shape the end on the other. 
  • The means shape the end.  
  • Sometimes you just can't argue with a biped that is armed with a sharp stick, a thick head and not too much in the way of grunts.
  • Spiritual love is far more than just an emotion - it is a concept, thoughts, actions and a way of living.
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger [people]. JOHN F. KENNEDY 

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing. (based on writing by) EDMUND BURKE

Your children are not your children. ... They come through you but ... they belong not to you ... for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow KAHLIL GIBRAN

We didn't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.


True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Those whom we cannot stand are usually those who we cannot understand P.K.SHAW


People I'm currently following or reading, or have considerable respect for, include: 

Tags: death, discrimination, gender, prejudice, reincarnation, sexism, society, youth,

First published: Sunnudagr, 17th June, 2013

Last edited: Sunday, 17th June, 2013

Sunday, 22 May 2011

Post No. 272 - Semantics theatre and other Sunday thoughts

It has been longer and harder than usual this last month or so for a range of reasons. One of those reasons has been that my partner has had a series of meetings here for a committee that she is on. They were important meetings, dealing with some contentious matter that I still don't know of, going for up to six hours. As they were in the house we share, I have had to do an enormous of energy work - work done partly with a view to helping the meetings progress smoothly and effectively, and partly with a view to keeping my home in a reasonable energetic state.

It has been utterly exhausting - for both of us

What hasn't helped this - for me - is that part of our household was locked away during this process. Partly for their sakes, and partly because of the incompetence of some cretins with doors (some doors were not shut properly after the first of these meetings, and thus some of our indoor cats escaped for a short time - and my back was injured getting them back inside) - or possibly because they refuse to accept other people's rules under their roofs (they certainly made a few jokes, probably thinking no-one could here them), our cats and dog were locked away. Whenever that happens, as a matter of principle to demonstrate that they are of equal value to humans, I share the cats incarceration.

However, every cloud has a silver lining. In this case, I found a visualisation that was quite effective at concentrating positive energy into the locked-off room where these mysterious meetings were being held. I brought in a beam of light from the Universe - which ,for convenience, I perceive as being from above, then, just above the meeting room, I split it into three beams to form the sides of a tetrahedron, with a fourth part continuing directly into the meeting room. Where the three beams met Mother Earth, Her energies blended with the Universe's energies and formed the corners of the base of the tetrahedron, with some of the energy forming beams around the edges of the tetrahedron, and others radiating from the corners to join the original part from the Universe, thus concentrating a great deal of energy into the centre of the tetrahedron, where the meeting was being held.

It worked quite well - I even had a perception of a "humming" sound, a bit like that associated with UFOs (listen to the space city in the final meeting in the film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" to get an idea of this sound).

So now, let's move on to other matters.

The undue, active influence of the world of commerce
I consider this world to be far too materialistic. Some of this is due to the inherent desires of many - not all - people, but some of it is due to the influence of the world of commerce. I have heard leaders of that world claim that they do not influence people, they "just" provide what is desired by people.

Well, that is a lie: those same leaders indulge in advertising aimed at the vulnerable (look at fast food and smoking advertising), and they actively lobby governments to make laws that make their aims of making a profit easier.

I am happy for commerce to make a fair profit - after, I work in that field, and it is what enables me to support my family.

But there comes a time when enough is enough: I read recently something about life in the alleged inner surface of the earth (i.e., the idea that the earth is hollow, which is something I am working on a post about - and is something I have doubts about, which I will discuss in that post): the point that struck me, though, is that in this world people work on a volunteer basis for around 20 hours per week. I've read elsewhere that hunter gatherers average (there is seasonal variation) around 25 to 30 hours a week. That all suggests that the current 40 to 70 hours (or more) people work is too much ...

Maybe the people in the world of commerce need to start lobbying for a serious reduction in the hours of work they expect people to do ...

Semantics theatre
One of the things my partner and I have discussed of late is the USA's "zero tolerance" approach to crime - which, for the record, I consider a problem. It puts more people in jail, and may contribute to a feeling of security for the middle classes, but it does nothing to address the causes of crime. In other words, it is just more security theatre.

Something that I've come across is people taking a similar attitude towards human rights matters. One of my past bosses in particular, a truly nasty human being with a superficial veneer of trying to be a father figure, would respond to me raising human rights issues by trying to take control. He would more or less try to create a "zero tolerance" workplace, and then aim to use to "cut down" those from minorities who were trying to improve the situation of those who were invisible or otherwise discriminated against. So, my experience of "zero tolerance" is that it is a tool used by bigots to try to re-establish their environment in such a way that lip service - and no more - is given to human rights issues.

My partner puts this more nicely: she calls it "semantics theatre" ...

Spiritualist College
Something I came across recently is that the spiritualist movement in the UK has a college for training: the Arthur Findlay College, named after Arthur Findlay, who was significant in early spiritualism, and the newspaper Psychic News and also a founder of the International Institute for Psychical Research.

Their curriculum is interesting:
I also found a Wikipedia link which, in part, addresses the type of healing I use: see energy medicine.

New crystal book from respected author
Now, I should make it clear that the "respected" means respected by me: I don't know what your opinion will be, nor that of others. The author is Katrina Raphael, whose writings include the Earth Star, Causal, Stellar Gate and Solar Gate chakras which form part of my 13 chakra system (13 ... one for each full moon of the year ... hmmm ... have no idea if there is any significance to that :) ), as well as some good instruction on types of crystals and ways of doing layouts.

She has a website which advertises on line courses, and also her books, including the fourth one, "Crystalline Illumination". I'm looking forward to getting a copy from my local crystal shop ...

Young people
I did some shopping during this Sunday of reflection, and particularly noted the disinterested, vapid, vacuous states of the young teenagers who served me - not even a "have a nice day", let alone a "hi, how are you?" Obviously, they've been pushed into this terrible thing called work by parents who - gasp! shock! horror! - actually care about the apprenticeship - as my partner puts it - those young people are undergoing :)

Some ancient Greek philosopher described young people as rude, lazy, etc, etc, etc - it sounds like the sorts of complaints often made about the young now, and is often trotted out to say "well, hey, they're actually all right - it's not worse than it was".

Well, maybe it is actually worse - if you take the right timeframe :)

Something that has been written about is that we have a "stone age biology", which affects our eating habits. We crave sugar, salt and fat because, in hunter-gatherer lifestyles, those foods are rare, but have excellent survival value. Now, in our sedentary, over-catered for lifestyles (in most - not all - of the developed world!), that same desire becomes a problem leading to heart problems, diabetes, etc, etc, etc.

Well, I think something similar applies to the teenage years. In hunter gatherer lifestyles, teenagers would be hunting, gathering, and possibly even marrying or starting families. That gave teenagers lots of outlets which are now lacking. That's not to say we necessarily should try giving teenagers similar levels of responsibility - today's world is far more complex and challenging, in my opinion, than when your greatest danger was "simply" whether or not you would have enough food to get through the winter. Doubt that? Have a look at modern stress levels, and compare them to, say, traditional Australian aboriginal stress levels.

Going back to teenagers, maturity is something I have written about previously (e.g. see here, here and here), and my opinion is that many so-called adults in today's societies are not mature. However, that isn't necessarily the issue: the issue is, can the person survive on their own, withOUT the nurturing, protectiona and care of their parents? If they can, and that includes being financially independent, they're entitled to be an adult. If they can't, they're still a child.

Across the road from our house is a Greek family. The son is in his 30s, and still living with his parents. As far as I am concerned, he is not an adult.

Going back to attitudes and behaviour, I consider many young people to be presumptuous (i.e., what is yours is mine, what is mine is mine), rude, self centered, egotistical, highly arrogant brats. I should know - I was cursed with some of this as well (not all, by the way, which is why I feel very comfortable objecting to those morons who claim that "all young people experiment with getting drunk, or being rebellious"). The problems are, however, worse now because of the spread of things like "helicopter parenting", in my opinion. We need, as a society, to stop thinking that caring excludes discipline, and maybe even consider options to ensure the state of teenagers is assessed objectively.

If we don't, things will largely continue as they've been - status quo. I personally, however, would like to see this world become a better place.


And now, 'tis time to go and start the next week's drudgery ... however, may your week, dear Reader, be blest :)

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear")

Tags: energy work, visualisation, respect, disrespect, materialism, spiritualism, chakras, crystals, youth, communication,

First published: Sunnudagr, 22nd May, 2011

Last edited: Sunday, 22nd May, 2011

Thursday, 23 December 2010

Post No. 192 - Life experience and Generations BB, X and Y

Yesterday at work we had a farewell lunch for a young colleague who is moving on to better pastures (well, closer-to-home pastures, at any rate :) ). It was a fairly typical send-off lunch, but a couple of comments caught my attention and tied into a line of thought I have been developing.

The comments were:
  1. a bit of a discussion about which "generation" - in the sense of Baby Boomer, X or Y - the younger colleague "belonged to" (the conclusion was that, although her age put her in the Generation X category, her attitudes put her in the "Baby Boomer" category); and

  2. during a discussion on relationships (whose had ended, etc), one even younger female said categorically "you must have a clean, total break at the end of a relationship".
Yeah right, voice of experience-not. Still, this highly sweeping, erroneous comment did, as I mentioned, tie in with some other thoughts I've been having in response to a current news story, a controversy involving a female teenager and some young footballers. Now, there have been quite a few such controversies, and my general impression - as a member of the public who has only the information placed before her by the media - of most of them is that the footballers are in the wrong. I am, however, pleased that the AFL has taken some reasonable steps towards educating young male footballers about respect for women (and, to some extent, respect for minority ethnicities).

But this case is a different as the young woman concerned is making no bones about her motivation for her current actions being desire to have revenge on all male footballers and the entire football world. Now, it seems that the story is something along the lines of the following:
  • this young woman was attracted by what she considered (although not in these words) to be the glamour of "hot" footballers;

  • as a result of the sex she had, she wound up pregnant;

  • while pregnant, she took action which made the media, possibly not the ideal action to take, and possibly not clearly thought through (e.g., why not just take a paternity suit against father?), but the police investigation led to a determination that no illegal behaviour had occurred (on any part, presumably);

  • while this matter was in the media, the young woman states that she was abused by others when took action;

  • her children were stillborn, and she now is taking action to seek vengeance (highly reported in the media) AND to warn other young women not to become involved with young footballers (not so widely reported in the media);

  • today I read an article in the online edition of "The Age" where senior columnist Karen Kissane claims this young woman is behaving as a woman has been scorned - but one who is "at the age of narcissism" who also has access to Internet.

Now, some immediate reactions I have here are:
  • not all young males are "bad" people, nor is it a case that all young females are "bad";

  • some young people, male and female, ARE "bad" - just as some older people, male and female are "bad";

  • some young people at that age can be a downright pain - as can some older people;

  • lot of males and females, old and young, are actually simply trying to do the best that they can - as has the AFL been trying to do on the issue of respect;

  • as the young woman herself is reported to have posted, we don't know those involved, so we shouldn't judge them: that is true, but that applies to both sides so I won't pre-judge the footballers as she seems to be asking us to do either (this lack of having full information is something which often applies to media reporting);

  • I don't see much basis for Kissane's assertion that this is a woman scorned, but that might be just my engineering/activist-focused-on-precision-and-legal-implications bent coming out.
Actually, that is probably my main point here: most of the time in life we don't know the full story - even for things we are part of. Soooo ..... don't leap to too many conclusions/judgements.

That also includes:
  • don't judge those older than yourself ...
... they might actually know what they're talking about :D

Now, links. I've deliberately held off putting links in until now, so you could read and think about this. Some links I would like to include here, though, are:
As you work through those links, keep in mind that, spiritually speaking, someone who could be considered an adult chronologically, may actually be a young (or very young) soul ... and vice versa.

Now, just to throw a different perspective on this, we're just watching the film "Little Man Tate", about (to over-simplify!) a child prodigy - which is a word I hate, as a result of being on the receiving end as a teenager: it cut me off from my peers (until I took up sailing).

Finally, the day after I wrote the above, the young woman, who has reportedly now been told to appear in court and is apparently making light of, or ignoring it, is claimed to have told The Age:

The teenager admitted her revenge campaign against the AFL and St Kilda might not have been thought out. ''I think that I have handled the situation immaturely, but I would not say that I am mentally unstable,'' she told The Age.

(See here).

So ... where are we?

Well, the train of thought I had been having when I started this was along the lines of:
  • "young soul"-type people tend to be sure that what they are doing is right, whether it is or isn't, whether they are a (to use Kissane's wording) narcissistic teenager lacking in life experience or an older person who has become set in a small-minded rut because of lots of repetitive, limited life experience;

  • "old soul" type people will be aware that there are other points of view, many shades of grey, and that they could be wrong in anything they are doing (but will still do the best that they can, sticking to what they consider to be most inclusive and considerate and spiritual as they do so).
In the case of the young woman who is the centre of the current media storm, I do not know "The Truth" of the matters - and I have no interest or inclination to waste any of my time, energy or abilities trying to find out what is "The Truth". It does, however, illustrate aspects of young soul-old soul behaviour on BOTH sides.

(It also raises the issue of what is appropriate "punishment" for whoever has done any wrongs - and that includes the football players, AFL and media, not just the young woman who is being focused on - who has made the mistake of treating the courts casually, thereby giving an impression she thinks she is above the law [see here].)

On the Young Soul behaviour, I would like to have a neat 'n' natty little way of describing this. I thought of inventing a new phrase and acronym (PAPH), but you can't say that without risking blowing a raspberry, so maybe not ...

Oh, PAPH stands for "Passive/Aggressive Proselytising Hubris".

Hubris - pride and self centred arrogance, the emotion which is often described as going before a fall

Proselytising - this was included to cover the tendency of Young Souls to advocate their way as the Sole Way to all and sundry, whether those Young Souls are old TV evangelists, or young 'uns who won't listen to any other points of view

Passive - for an example of PAH, see the film "The Scarlet Letter": it covers a range of social control mechanisms through socialisation, exclusion/inclusion controls (see - to put my tongue into my cheek - your neighbourhood corner group of teenagers for a working study [3])

Aggressive - for the evangelistic types of behaviours, including - if she is WRONG/LYING - the young woman I have mentioned.

See also "passive aggressive".)

Maybe a better way to get a nifty handle on this is to invent a new word. Let's see ... no, maybe I'll just stick with pugnacious or truculent as words to use for "Young Soul"-type behaviour.

Now, for a future post, maybe I'll write about how I got myself out of that stage, a looong time ago ...

Update: this article inclines me more towards Kissane's position of a woman s corned ...

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

Notes:
  1. Teen adds tech touch to wrath of a woman scorned, 22nd December, 2010 - 3:00AM
  2. See here, here, here, here, here and here.
  3. Although I have touched upon the problems of bullying before - see,. for instance, the book "Queen bees and Wannabes".
This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: attitudes, prejudice, racism, sexism, sport, youth, young soul, old soul, maturity, immaturity,

First published: Thorsdagr 23rd December, 2010

Last edited: Sunday 26th December, 2010