From Schoolyard Bully to Oligarch: How did we get here?

Growing up in a working class neighborhood I was aware of the neighborhood bullies. I’d do my best to avoid them but one day I found myself in a fistfight with a bully who had picked a fight with me. Being a pacifist, I first tried reason with him, but when he was unrelenting, I easily overcame him and sat on him until I figured out how to release him without him taking another swing at me.

I admit that as I continued to mature through college, grad school and post graduate training, I found myself in an intellectual world that insulated me from the bullies until the recent rise in “Bullyism” that characterizes our political wasteland.

It seems that while I was on a path towards education and intellectual stimulation that has led me into a world of ‘truth’, seeking scientific facts, and the importance of honest expression of authentic feelings, I have been reawakened to the phenomenon of bullying, fear mongering and retribution demonstrated by the current state of the world.

I can no longer completely insulate myself from the constant reminders that our world is being challenged by autocratic politicians, making disturbing decisions on a daily basis that seem to support greed, accumulation of power, lack of compassion and an insidious deception of the people who have unknowingly supported their rise to power.

The schoolyard bullies have grown up and now seek to play out their agendas on a worldwide basis. Russia’s expansion into Ukraine, Trump’s plan to annex Canada, Greenland and Panama. These sociopathic bullies tend to never have enough and seek more and more of whatever they feel lacking. Money and power seem like goals that are endless as they attempt to fill an inner emptiness that is unquenchable. The denial of anything that detracts from this end leads to outright lies about scientific evidence, medical knowledge and avoidance of compassionate human behavior. Unfortunately it’s difficult to predict where this endless quest will end.

In the meantime, I take refuge from daily deluge of painful events in my work helping people and in my artwork.

Helping people in my private practice as a psychoanalyst, fills me with satisfaction and a feeling of being a positive force in the world, rather than just being passive and hiding from the reality around me. My artwork, provides me with a way to sublimate my energy and create sculpture that help me to process toxic energy and channel it productively into my artwork.

My hope is that more people my learn to endure the next four years by finding creative outlets for their toxic experiences, while, at the same time, remaining vigilant and ready to challenge the rise of racism, extremism, and other destructive elements of our society whenever we are able to.

The rise of Oligarchs has given great wealth to a few who wield their power as if they have no external control on their greed and no regard for social norms that should offer protection from these bullies. Elon Musk put it so eloquently when he gave a 'Heil Hitler' salute at Trumps’ inauguration. He obviously feels rising support from those who would welcome the second coming of the Holocaust, and feels immune from any consequences of his ‘white supremacy’ origin, beliefs and actions!

It's time to try find a way to ‘sit on’ these bullies to prevent them from committing further abuse and destruction. Hopefully there are still enough adults in the room to fight back with lawsuits challenging their agendas. History will hopefully hold them accountable, even if our current political system has been so corrupted that it is unable to do so.