In search of answers to critical national issues

Psychology is not my field of study, but it is a nearby cousin and one that I find intriguing to venture into from time to time. The title of this essay also suggests that economics and psychology overlap. They do. That should not come as a surprise in that both are concerned with human behavior, rational and irrational. It’s too bad the two groups of practitioners don’t get together oftener and exchange ideas. We could all profit from them (pun intended). As you will see there could also be room for theologians, futurists, and even comedians to contribute to this topic.

Greed by definition is an excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth. The term is from antiquity and is couched in religion. It is one of the seven deadly sins according to Pope Gregory. It is apparently linked to a fear of death. Religion offers some comfort of symbolic immortality by providing the sense that we are part of something greater that will ultimately outlive our bodies. Moreover, psychologists and Terror Management Theory (TMT) tell is that human beings are uniquely able to understand our mortality. This theory posits that a basic psychological conflict results from our having a desire to live but we realize that death is inevitable. We need to somehow resolve, diminish, or hold at bay this conflict between our desires and our outcomes.

Let’s first take a look at why we fear death.

Top 7 Reasons Why People Fear Death: [1]

1. Decomposition of the body, being consumed by insects or worms.
2. Loss of consciousness and awareness of self.
3. Fear of how death will affect loved ones.
4. Fear of being forgotten forever.
5. Fear of an unknown reality awaiting us in the afterlife.
6. Fear of the consequences of our acts when we were alive.
7. Fear of not having achieved our life's goals.

Psychologists tell us that in order to reduce the mental anguish that arises from these fears, we set up a buffer zone between our cognitive processes that allows us to function in our everyday activities in spite of these fears about death. They call this defense mechanism our Anxiety Buffer zone.

Our Anxiety Buffer zone consists of a set of mental constructs each of which acts to shield us from worry about death. One of the strongest defense constructs is self-esteem. TMT describes self-esteem as the personal, subjective measure of how well an individual is living up to his/her cultural values (nationalism, posterity, cultural perspectives on sex, and human superiority over animals}. Like cultural values, self-esteem acts to protect us against the terror of death. However, it functions to provide our personal life with meaning, while cultural values provide meaning to life in general.

Self esteem is marked by confidence in ourselves, in what we do, in who we associate with, in our hobbies, our avocations, our interests, our tastes in food, the arts, travel, and in who we love. When they are all positive and enriching, we can pretty much face whatever life has to throw at us knowing we will survive even if we lose all of life’s “things.” The fear of death is thus held at bay without the need to participate in rituals or the requirement to obey the commands of others.

It is easy for someone with low self-esteem to confuse these attributes, appearances, and possessions as the cause of the underlying confidence. He may see someone with a lot of self confidence who is well-dressed, well-groomed, with money, an attractive family, nice home, and wealth, etc. —and conclude that wealth produces the confidence and the self esteem. He concludes that money is the source of his needs. It will make him strong and confident. This person thus becomes a wealth seeker. He or she seeks riches and what they can buy, and surrounds him/herself with them. The more, the better. Throw in a lot of luxury, and that is better still.

Wealth seekers, however, soon find that their wealth does not bring about a heightened defense against their fear of death, nor does it build up their confidence and self esteem. So they seek more wealth. And more wealth. And more wealth. Like the alcoholic or the drug addict, they do not care nor even think about the anguish their hoarding causes others.

Other psychologists have found many personality factors that describe this same person. Among them are: a low sense of humor, conformity, a dogmatic approach to life, fear and aggression, intolerance of ambiguity, need for cognitive closure. Moreover, all of these factors are associated with conservatism. These conclusions were based on analyses of 50 years of studies involving more than 22,000 participants, from 12 different countries. [2]

So where does all this leave us? In simple terms, conservatives in general have a lot of psychological issues including low self-esteem, need for closure in their attitudes, and greed as a way of alleviating their anxieties and death fears, and some of them seek out more and more riches as a way of bolstering their mental Anxiety Buffer zone as a shield against death anxiety. Failing to achieve their desired defense, they resort to hoarding, control, and manipulation of others in their search for anxiety closure.

Have we struck pay dirt and found what makes the Koch brothers and Mitt Romney tick? Is this the secret behind the entire Tea Party movement and our present dysfunctional Congress? Almost as importantly, has the U.S. Supreme Court aided and abetted them with their ruling in Citizens United that corporations may finance political candidates with unlimited funds? Virtually the entire top one percent of wealth holders in America are conservatives.

I am only asking the questions that arise from the research efforts of others. I won’t try to make psychological pronouncements. But they have certainly given me in insight to a big problem that absolutely most be solved.

In economic terms, America is indeed in a state of crisis. The fundamental cause of our problems is too much wealth in the control of too few individuals. The research behind that conclusion is overwhelming, and I understand every bit of it. The gridlock in Congress is preventing the government from passing legislation that can put our economy back onto the path to prosperity. On paper, the solution is simple. But in practice, one percent hold nearly all the wealth, fund and control a large percentage of Congress, and have found a majority of the Supreme Court as their friends. Now I can imagine a space craft from another galaxy passing by, and after doing a scan and analysis of our planet, concluding that “inhabitants of earth are dominated by small groups of psychological weaklings who are afraid of dying, and they have hoarded all the wealth and are trying to take it to the grave with them. Let’s pass this planet by.”

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[1] Phillip R. Shaver, Helplessness: A Hidden Liability Associated with Failed, Defenses against Awareness of Death, Mario Mikulincer, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC)
[2] Jack Glaser, Frank Sulloway, John Jost, Ari Kluganski,, US Berkeley News, 22 July 2003.