2 thoughts on “WHAT IF THE STATE OF OUR ECONOMY IS REALLY THE RESULT OF . . .?”
Interesting premise, but somewhat simplistic. As a psychologist who specializes in diversity awareness and multicultural competence, I noticed a very western, individualistic bent to the article. I think it’s important to take into consideration a person’s culture, the degree of privilege & resulting power an individual was born into, and other sociocultural factors, along with the psychological ones. The relationship people have with money is quite complex, and I appreciate the author’s perspective.
Thank you for your comment…and for the addition of another aspect to the discussion. I agree that cultural, formal or informal “class structure” and socio-cultural factors definitely affect people’s relationships with money . . . in many ways. In addition to the wounding from our own personal experience, there is an aspect of ourselves that is “culturally wounded” related to the particular culture in which we grew up. Oftentimes, along with the wounding from within a person’s family or the immediate community of adults around him or her, our cultures, societies, media, and the woundedness of our world also has an effect on that person’s development as well. A classic and most blatant example here in the West would be a young girl who grows up carrying within her the wounds to her self-esteem created by unrealistic body images of women as fostered in the media, or a small boy in a culture that expects him to “suck it up” and not express his feelings. Perhaps an example in the Middle East would be that young girls grow up with wounds to their self-esteem created by outright brutal treatment of women, beginning with their ownership by men. And in these countries small boys are wounded by being taught that they are the ones in power and that women are their possessions. Many wouldn’t think of the boys/men as being wounded, but they definitely are. These types of societal and cultural issues are part of a vicious cycle. They emerge from individual wounding; they are moved out into society as children grow into adults; and then they feed the wounds, thoughts, feelings, and early decisions a person develops in the family and communal unit; but at the very least by feeding the vicious cycle, they also end up creating wounds in and of themselves.
In other words, the individual wounds show up in the collective unconscious and the collective conscious as well, which then, in turn, impacts the individual wounds in the next cycle.
You are accurate that our relationships with money are very complex. My blog post is just the tip of the iceberg. I could write a whole book on the topic. But for now . . .
There are indeed many around the world, including right here in the West, who have been impacted physically, financially, and emotionally by unfair, unjust, and even cruel practices in our societies and our cultures. Doing our own work helps in these situations, as well. If you don’t have clarity and haven’t done the work on your own inner wounding, you tend to stay stuck not only in the wounded place your family put you in, but also in the wounded place your society, culture, or even government has put you in. You may end up “giving up” or “giving in” or even “buying into” the injustices in our world, as you spend all of your precious life energy to defend against your own feelings, rather than using that energy to help end the suffering in our world, financial and otherwise.
Interesting premise, but somewhat simplistic. As a psychologist who specializes in diversity awareness and multicultural competence, I noticed a very western, individualistic bent to the article. I think it’s important to take into consideration a person’s culture, the degree of privilege & resulting power an individual was born into, and other sociocultural factors, along with the psychological ones. The relationship people have with money is quite complex, and I appreciate the author’s perspective.
Thank you for your comment…and for the addition of another aspect to the discussion. I agree that cultural, formal or informal “class structure” and socio-cultural factors definitely affect people’s relationships with money . . . in many ways. In addition to the wounding from our own personal experience, there is an aspect of ourselves that is “culturally wounded” related to the particular culture in which we grew up. Oftentimes, along with the wounding from within a person’s family or the immediate community of adults around him or her, our cultures, societies, media, and the woundedness of our world also has an effect on that person’s development as well. A classic and most blatant example here in the West would be a young girl who grows up carrying within her the wounds to her self-esteem created by unrealistic body images of women as fostered in the media, or a small boy in a culture that expects him to “suck it up” and not express his feelings. Perhaps an example in the Middle East would be that young girls grow up with wounds to their self-esteem created by outright brutal treatment of women, beginning with their ownership by men. And in these countries small boys are wounded by being taught that they are the ones in power and that women are their possessions. Many wouldn’t think of the boys/men as being wounded, but they definitely are. These types of societal and cultural issues are part of a vicious cycle. They emerge from individual wounding; they are moved out into society as children grow into adults; and then they feed the wounds, thoughts, feelings, and early decisions a person develops in the family and communal unit; but at the very least by feeding the vicious cycle, they also end up creating wounds in and of themselves.
In other words, the individual wounds show up in the collective unconscious and the collective conscious as well, which then, in turn, impacts the individual wounds in the next cycle.
You are accurate that our relationships with money are very complex. My blog post is just the tip of the iceberg. I could write a whole book on the topic. But for now . . .
There are indeed many around the world, including right here in the West, who have been impacted physically, financially, and emotionally by unfair, unjust, and even cruel practices in our societies and our cultures. Doing our own work helps in these situations, as well. If you don’t have clarity and haven’t done the work on your own inner wounding, you tend to stay stuck not only in the wounded place your family put you in, but also in the wounded place your society, culture, or even government has put you in. You may end up “giving up” or “giving in” or even “buying into” the injustices in our world, as you spend all of your precious life energy to defend against your own feelings, rather than using that energy to help end the suffering in our world, financial and otherwise.
Hope this helps!