Tag Archives: Steven Mnuchin

Greta Thunburg, Courage, and Trumpian Cowardice

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A friend this morning was crowing about Greta Thunberg, and even likened her unto Jesus.  I have some hesitation in even sharing this as I know Thunburg would grimace at the comparison.  But I know what my friend had in mind.  Thunberg is a “voice crying in the wilderness” with the “wilderness” consisting of those of us who live lives of “quiet desperation” with our voices muted into compliance of the status quo.  Sure, Thunberg has battled depression as her father noted and this activism is a very healthy and productive means of addressing the bottled up frustration that contributes to depression.  We are all motivated to do and say the things that we do and say. And whatever is driving Greta Thunburg is beautiful and powerful.  It is so sad to see how prominent people like Steven Mnuchin and Donald Trump have sought to diminish her. They are totally unwilling to look at their motivations, their dark side.  They cling to their “objectivity.”

I want to share with you an observation from one of my blogging friends in response to my post of several days ago, quoting Jim Green’s remarks from his book, “Meditations and Depressions”: It is unrealistic, and a misunderstanding of the inner life to aspire to a state of consciousness that is entirely untouched by the storms and the tremors of our passions and our sometimes chaotic thoughts. That would be a rather sinister dream of a meaningless purity – and the end of our humanity. Our pathology and our psychopathology will always be with us. But they don’t need to be always in control. Through our askesis – our practical training and exercise – we can put them in their place: held and embraced by the infinite peace and generosity of the heart.

Greta Thunberg is More Wise Than Steven Mnuchin.

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Today U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin took a swipe at the climate change heroine Greta Thunberg, saying she is in no position to give advice on the matter since she has not been to college yet.  Well, let me point out he has been to college yet he works for a man who is so insecure that he had to reassure the nation and the world about the size of his penis and lacked self-awareness to the extent that there are numerous recordings of him clearly voicing his lecherous designs on his own daughter.  And these are but two “trivial” examples of Trump’s impaired judgement. Sometimes human judgement is less impaired when one has yet to be ensconced in the comfort zone of a group think that constitutes reality in her/his culture.  And yes, she is “autistic” and thus can be described as “mentally ill” given the “authority” of the DSM-V, but “mentally ill” is not so “mentally ill” in a culture that puts a mentally ill man at the helm of its government.  This brings to mind a note by Carl Jung, “If you find a sane man, bring him to me and I will cure him.”  Jung knew well that there was a “psychopathology to everyday life” that could produce madmen who would pass as “sane.”  From Thunberg’s “seclusion” in her very private world, she has not lost the ability to peer out and look upon this human comedy and offer critique, not unlike Shakespeare who noted so famously that, “Tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in its petty pace to the last syllable of recorded time. Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”  Shakespeare saw the lunacy of his day and brought it to the attention of his fellow-travelers in 16th century England.  This lovely young 17- year old lady has the courage to offer a similar critique to our day; a prophetic vision always comes from beyond the pale.