Charles Konia, M.D.

Of all the reasons given for the slide in Turkish politics from secularism into Islamism there is no mention of the characterological forces that are operating within the Turkish people to the current world situation. From a characterological standpoint Turks generally belong to the Right of the socio-political spectrum and most Turks are conservative characters in different degrees. Because of their conservative structure, they are uncomfortable with social conditions resulting from the shift to the extreme Left in Western countries. It is only natural for any people with a conservative structure even those living in Western countries to move to the political Right under these social conditions.

Unfortunately, this situation provides the emotional plague to enter and take advantage of what is happening. The Prime Miniser of Turkey, Tayyip Ergodan is fully aware of the opportunity that this situation provides for advancing his political power over the nation and the world by fomenting trouble between Islamc countries and the West.

June 7, 2010
Categories: Politics, Social Sciences . . Author: Charles Konia, M.D. . Comments: 1 Comment

There are only two possible outcomes to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Either Israel will survive as a democratic nation in the Middle East, in which case the Arab states will eventually be transformed into Western-style democracies, or Israel will be destroyed, in which case the reactionary Arab autocracies will continue into the indefinite future.

The forces of the emotional plague employed by Islamic jihad are constantly at work to bring about the destruction of Israel.  One of the characteristics of the emotional plague is that no matter what course of action is taken in response to a plague attack, the victim is in the wrong.  The latest example of this plague tactic happened when Israeli commandos boarded a ship containing arms and pro-Palestinian activists headed to the blockaded Gaza strip.  This action resulted in nine Palestinians dead.

The alleged reason for the flotilla was billed as a “humanitarian” mission.  The real reason was the importation of military equipment to arm Hamas, a terrorist organization that is dedicated to the eradication of Israel. From Israel’s vantage point the interception of the flotilla by the commandos was a no-win situation. Allow safe passage to the ships and the cargo would be used to supply Hamas, creating a future channel through which Hamas could be supplied with ever-more advanced weaponry.  Or, prevent the ships from reaching their destination and risk international condemnation. This is exactly what happened.  Israeli’s action evoked harsh criticism of Israel from the entire world.

This incident is a clear example of the emotional plague in operation, directed against Israel by Islamic terrorist organizations.  The free world is completely helpless  to effectively fight this battle because the existence and operation of the emotional plague goes unacknowledged.  If this situation continues, there are only two possible outcomes: Either Israel will be destroyed by the Islamic fanatics or the world will see another outbreak of a major war.

June 4, 2010
Categories: Politics, Social Sciences . . Author: Charles Konia, M.D. . Comments: Leave a comment

There has been a loss of public confidence in American institutions such as Big Business, Banks, Congress, the Supreme Court including the government according to a May 25 2010 article in The Wall Street Journal entitled Voters Faith Deficit Widens.

The underlying reason for this turn of events cannot be satisfactorily understood without knowing the operation of the emotional plague and socio-politics (see glossary).  Around 1960 there was a transformation in the form of American society from authoritarian to anti-authoritarian.  This was accompanied by the breakthrough of enormous quantities of destructive impulses in the younger generation – expressions of the emotional plague – first manifested as hatred of all authority figures and later, when these young people grew up and became adults, as impulsive or psychopathic behavior. Some of these people became the union bosses, CEO’S of large corporations, politicians, bankers that today populate positions of influence. We know that emotional plague-ridden  individuals are attracted to centers of power because of their need to exert control of people.  The anti-authoritarian transformation of society allowed the emotional plague in the form of psychopathic behavior to spread easily throughout institutions of power. This resulted in the widespread corruption of these organizations followed by people’s loss of trust in them that we are seeing. This subject is covered in my upcoming book, Neither Left Nor Right.

May 28, 2010
Categories: Politics, Social Sciences . . Author: Charles Konia, M.D. . Comments: Leave a comment

Of all the reasons given in Bret Stephens article in The Wall Street Journal (“What Is Happening to Turkey? May 11.2010)  for current events in that country, no mention is made of the single most important determinant of human social behavior: people’s socio-political character structure (see section on socio-political characterology in my book The Emotional Plague: The Root of All Evil).  The political center in Turkey is somewhere to the right of center and the socio-political character structure of most Turkish people belongs on the right and is conservative in varying degrees.

In contrast, the political center in America has, especially since the Obama election, shifted to the far left.  To most Turks who do not have first hand knowledge of the current situation in this country, America appears to be dominated by and driven by the far left.  This view of America makes most Turks anxious and uncomfortable with America and her ally, Israel (America’s favorability rating among Turks is at around 14%) and they prefer to gravitate toward other Moslem “brothers” on the far Right such as Syria.

Without giving serious consideration to the characterological factors driving human behavior, all attempts at arriving at a complete understanding of socio-politics, such as the current deterioration  in the relationship between America and the Turkish people, must remain speculative.

May 16, 2010
Categories: Politics, Social Sciences . . Author: Charles Konia, M.D. . Comments: Leave a comment

Any experienced psychiatrist can predict what will happen in an interaction between two people in which one has sadistic tendencies and the other has masochistic tendencies: the sadistic individual will behave in an aggressively destructive manner toward the masochistic individual. Any well trained social psychologist can predict what will happen between two groups in which one group has sadistic tendencies and the other has masochistic tendencies: the sadistic group will behave in an aggressively destructive manner toward the masochistic group.

This is exactly the situation that exists between a blood-thirsty group – the sadistic Islamo-fascists –  and the masochistic  “peace loving” Western liberals. The Islamic terrorists are preaching jihad against the West and President Obama is not even able to use the term Islamo-fascist or acknowledge that America is actually involved in a war with them.

As they are encroaching on the Western world with their rhetoric of hate, liberals are behaving in helpless, passive retreat on all fronts. According to one jihadist, “Jihad is becoming as American as apple pie and as British as afternoon tea”. The passive response of Western liberals emboldens Islamo-fascists to react ever more violently toward their victim.

This sadomasochistic relationship between Islamo-fascists and Western liberals, if allowed to continue, is a highly dangerous situation that will have dire consequences not only for the West but for the entire world. The subject is discussed in chapter VII of my upcoming book, Neither Left nor Right.

May 15, 2010
Categories: Politics, Social Sciences . . Author: Charles Konia, M.D. . Comments: 1 Comment

In his May 4, 2010  New York Times Op-Ed Column entitled The Limits of Policy, David Brooks concludes that we should all calm down about the importance of politics in our lives. Most of the proposals we argue about so ferociously will have only marginal effects on how we live…What matters are historical experiences, cultural attitudes, child-rearing practices, family formation patterns, expectations about the future, work ethics and the quality of social bonds.

Although Mr. Brooks is correct that politics is not the answer, the following questions remain unanswered: Why do so many people persist in holding on to politics for solutions and why does practically every social issue turn into a political battle between the Left and the Right ? These are some of the questions that my upcoming book, Neither Left nor Right addresses. The answer, in part, is that throughout the ages people have always looked outward to external sources for answers to their individual and social problems blaming this or that group or institution. In the past people looked to religion. Today, many people have given up religion and have turned to politics. The Left blames the Right and the Right blames the Left. Neither Left nor Right explains that the presence of human armor (see glossary) operating within people prevents them from seeing that many of the problems that people are faced with in their lives are the result not of external but of internal forces operating within them.

May 8, 2010
Categories: Politics, Social Sciences . . Author: Charles Konia, M.D. . Comments: Leave a comment

This week, Rush Limbaugh had an article in The Wall Street Journal in which he defended himself against attacks by the political Left of promoting violence. The Left is able to accuse those who oppose their socialist agenda of playing the “violence card” of “right wing extremism” by not making a distinction between natural, healthy aggression and sick, neurotic aggression.

They also confuse all forms of emotional expression as pathological, so that they can place “reason” above it, thus legitimizing their defensive intellectualism in pursuing their political ends.

It must be recognized by everyone that generating confusion and stirring up political agitation is a favorite tactic of the emotional plague used by leftist ideologues. To learn more, see my book, The Emotional Plague, The Root of All Evil.

April 28, 2010
Categories: Politics, Social Sciences . . Author: Charles Konia, M.D. . Comments: Leave a comment