Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Are extreme right/left political leanings a sign of/form of mental illness?
 
  • Locked thread
Periodiko
Jan 30, 2005
Uh.
There are plenty of examples of extreme US politics that were community driven, that were "normal" for particular groups/subcultures, yet were extreme enough to lead to violence by or against. If you look at something like the KKK, it seems really strange to view that as the expression of the "mental illness" of a mass of individuals rather than an authentic cultural movement. At the other pole, it's just bizarre to look at something like anti-Vietnam protesting or abolitionism or black nationalism as an expression of the biology of individuals rather than a social reaction to circumstances.

Also, while we're getting there, I don't think we've yet diagnosed morality or social consciousness as mental diseases.

Periodiko fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Oct 3, 2016

* # ¿ Oct 3, 2016 17:18
  • Quote
Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 15, 2024 01:31
  • Quote
Periodiko
Jan 30, 2005
Uh.

Jenner posted:

There were quite a few very paranoid beliefs behind the reins of the KKK and Black Nationalism. I'm biased so I believe the Black Nationalists paranoia was largely proved legitimate while the KKK's paranoia was racist and stupid. As far as anti-Vietnam protestors or abolitionists, I don't know much about what spurred those movements beyond the basics.
- Anti-Vietnam people believed the war was too expensive financially and in the price of lives. They felt that killing a bunch of people (our own people and their people) in a conflict we weren't winning and possibly couldn't ever win was stupid.
- Abolitionists believed slavery was wrong (for many reasons) and that slaves should be free.
Neither of these basic beliefs seem to be conspiracy theories or paranoia, I'd have to look deeper.

And I don't think we should consider morality and social consciousness a mental illness. But we should probably consider people who are moralistic and/or socially conscious who believe in conspiracy theories and are paranoid mentally ill.

But then you're pared it down to saying "paranoid belief in conspiracy theories" is a sign of mental illness which is an entirely different thing, and also less controversial. Many conspiracy theories don't really fall into a political spectrum, or they try to negate modern political ideology by postulating a mythological understanding of the world.

Periodiko fucked around with this message at 17:58 on Oct 4, 2016

* # ¿ Oct 4, 2016 17:56
  • Quote
  • Locked thread
The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Are extreme right/left political leanings a sign of/form of mental illness?