Welcome to From Insults to Respect. Today, we discuss Donald Trump and his supporters taking cheap shots seeking to blame President Biden for inflation. They are doing this despite the overwhelming evidence that countries around the world, regardless of whether they are led by very conservative or liberal governments, have been experiencing inflation. Moreover, it is factually undeniable that the annual inflation rates for dozens and dozens…
Welcome to From Insults to Respect. Today, we discuss Bob Dylan’s song, “Baby, Stop Crying.” According to Wikipedia, it was released in the summer of 1978 as a single and in a longer album version on Street Legal. The song charted at #13 in the UK and was a top-ten song in much of Europe, although it failed to chart in the United States. It…
Welcome to From Insults to Respect. This week, while thinking about what I might write for my next post, I happened to hear an excellent version of “Get Rhythm” by the rhythm and blues band, NRBQ. The song, written and first performed by Johnny Cash, can set your feet kicking up a storm. The lyrics begin, Hey, get rhythm when you get the bluesCome on, get…
Welcome to From Insults to Respect. As this post’s title indicates, today I take up the question, “Is depression really so bad?” In doing so, I imagine many will conclude I must be out of my head or a complete numbskull. My challenging task for today is to see if I can convert such insults to at least a modest degree of respect. As a…
by Jeffrey Rubin, PhD Welcome to From Insults to Respect. In a few days, Super Bowl Sunday will arrive. Sadly for me, my Buffalo Bills won’t be playing. I’m not blaming them, though. Most of us assign blame based on adding together degree of intentionality and harm. Said another way, Blame = Intent + Harm. To me, the Bills did not intend to lose the crucial…
Welcome to From Insults to Respect. The two dominant manuals for “diagnosing mental disorders” are the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and the International Classification of Diseases. (ICD). Their overarching concept is mental disorders. Synonyms are psychopathology, and mental illness. To access mental health services, most people are required to accept being labelled as having a mental illness. Not everyone respects this…
Welcome to From Insults to Respect. This week, I witnessed a guy saying he respected Donald Trump because he is a fighter against the establishment. A skeptic nerve in my body, like an overheated teapot, started going wild. Upon thinking about this, it occurred to me that Trump is a big time businessman whose main businesses are high end hotels, residences, and private golf clubs. Doesn’t…
Welcome to From Insults to Respect. Regular readers to this blog know that I have some serious concerns about dealing with emotional experiences referred to as depression or melancholy with the so called antidepressants. Certainly, people should be free to make their own decision regarding whether or not to take these types of pills, and I recognize very intelligent people decide to take them. That said, because…
Welcome to From Insults to Respect. In today’s world, if you are experiencing melancholy or depression, the pharmaceutical industry very much wants to sell you on the idea that you have an abnormal condition that is deemed an illness. You would think with the popularity of the blues type of music, periods of bluesy feelings would be viewed as normal as trees in a forest;…
Welcome to From Insults to Respect. As the title of this blog indicates, here we are interested in respect. The topic of respect is quite broad, and for a fairly complete coverage of its different definitions I recommend the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s article on respect that can be retrieved for free HERE. The article covers not only the different meanings of the respect concept, it…
