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"Conversations with Harold Hudson Channer" Upcoming Cable Television/Web Show: For details of airing see bottom of page
Guest For
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER
2, 2011
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ GUESTS: (Originally aired: May 1989) DR. ROBERT JAY LIFTON (first 40 mins)
Distinguished
Professor - John Jay College /
Author: "Destroying the World To Save It" &
JEREMY RIFKIN (18 mins) Economist, Writer, Public Speaker
Author: "The End Of Work" Robert Jay Lifton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJeremy Rifkin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The program can be viewed in its entirety by clicking the you tube link below: - Dr. Robert Jay Lifton & Jeremey Rivkin------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More about: DR. ROBERT JAY LIFTON & JEREMY RIFKIN
Robert Jay LiftonFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Jay Lifton (born May 16, 1926) is an American psychiatrist and author, chiefly known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of war and political violence and for his theory of thought reform. He was an early proponent of the techniques of psychohistory. In 2006, Lifton appeared in a documentary on cults on the History Channel: "Decoding the Past", along with fellow psychiatrist Peter A. Olsson[1]. His father was a physicst.
[edit] Education
[edit] BiographyLifton was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Harold A. (a businessman) and Ciel (Roth) Lifton. He studied medicine at New York Medical College. From 1951 to 1953 he served as an Air Force psychiatrist in Japan and Korea, to which he later attributed his interest in war and politics. He has since worked as a teacher and researcher at the Washington School of Psychiatry, Harvard University, and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where he helped to found the Center for the Study of Human Violence. He married the writer Betty Jean Kirschner in 1952 and has two children. Lifton calls cartooning his avocation; he has published two books of humorous cartoons about birds. [edit] The Wellfleet Psychohistory GroupDuring the 1960s, Robert Jay Lifton, together with his mentor
Erik Erikson and
MIT historian Bruce Mazlish, formed a group On Friday October 3rd 2008, Lifton gave a lecture to 60 students at Yale University. Lifton's work in this field was heavily influenced by Erikson's studies of Hitler and other political figures, as well as Sigmund Freud's concern with the mass social effects of deep-seated drives, particularly attitudes toward death. [edit] Theory of thought reform
Lifton's 1961 book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China was a study of coercive techniques that he labelled thought reform or "brainwashing", though he preferred the former term. Othes have labelled it also as "mind control". Lifton describes in detail eight methods which he says are used to change people's minds without their agreement:
His name became further popularly associated with those terms when he testified as a defense witness in the 1976 trial of Patty Hearst, stating that the Symbionese Liberation Army had used similar techniques to produce a behavioral change in Hearst. Contrary to popular notions of "brainwashing", Lifton always maintained that such coercion could only influence short-term behavior or produce general neuroses, not permanently change beliefs or personality. Psychologists like Margaret Singer and Steven Hassan (author of the book Combatting Cult Mind Control), later loosely adapted his theories and applied his terms "totalism" and "thought reform" to the practices of certain religious and other types of groups. The American Sociological Association has stated that it does not consider such an analysis scientifically valid, but have not disavowed Lifton's original work.[citation needed] The American Psychological Association has taken the position that no definite conclusion has yet been reached. (See DIMPAC.) The term thought-terminating cliché was popularized by Robert Lifton in this book. [edit] Studies of war and atrocity survivorsHis most influential books, Death in Life: Survivors of Hiroshima (1968), Home from the War: Vietnam Veterans—Neither Victims nor Executioners (1973), and The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide (1986), focused on the mental adaptations made by humans in extreme wartime environments—whether as survivors of atrocities or, in the latter case, perpetrators. In each case Lifton believed that the psychic fragmentation experienced by his subjects was an extreme form of the pathologies that arise in peacetime life due to the pressures and fears of modern society. His studies of the behavior of people who had committed war crimes, both individually and in groups, concluded that while human nature is not innately cruel and only rare sociopaths can participate in atrocities without suffering lasting emotional harm, such crimes do not require any unusual degree of personal evil or mental illness, and are nearly sure to happen given certain conditions (either accidental or deliberately arranged) which Lifton called "atrocity-producing situations". The Nazi Doctors was the first in-depth study of how medical professionals rationalized their participation in the Holocaust, from the early stages of the T-4 Euthanasia Program to the extermination camps. In the Hiroshima and Vietnam studies, Lifton also concluded that the sense of personal disintegration many people experienced after witnessing death and destruction on a mass scale could ultimately lead to a new emotional resilience—but that without the proper support and counseling, most survivors would remain trapped in feelings of unreality and guilt. In his work with Vietnam veterans, Lifton was one of the first organizers of therapeutic discussion groups in which mental health practitioners met with veterans, and he lobbied for the inclusion of post-traumatic stress disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. [edit] Theories of totalism and the protean selfTotalism, a word first used in Thought Reform, is Lifton's term for the characteristics of ideological movements and organizations that desire total control over human behavior and thought. (Lifton's usage differs from theories of totalitarianism in that it can be applied to the ideology of groups that do not wield governmental power.) In Lifton's opinion, though such attempts always fail, they follow a common pattern and cause predictable types of psychological damage in individuals and societies. He finds two common motives in totalistic movements: the fear and denial of death, channeled into violence against scapegoat groups that are made to represent a metaphorical threat to survival, and a reactionary fear of social change. In his later work, Lifton has focused on defining the type of change to which totalism is opposed, for which he coined the term the protean self. In the book of the same title, he states that the development of a "fluid and many-sided personality" is a positive trend in modern societies, and that mental health now requires "continuous exploration and personal experiment", which reactionary and fundamentalist movements oppose. [edit] Critiques of modern war and terrorismFollowing his work with Hiroshima survivors, Lifton became a vocal opponent of nuclear weapons, arguing that nuclear strategy and warfighting doctrine made even mass genocide banal and conceivable. While not a strict pacifist, he has spoken against U.S. military actions in his lifetime, particularly the Vietnam War and Iraq War, believing that they arose from irrational and aggressive aspects of American politics motivated by fear. Lifton has also criticized the current "War on Terrorism" as a misguided and dangerous attempt to "destroy all vulnerability". However, he regards terrorism itself as an increasingly serious threat due to the proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons and totalist ideologies. His 1999 book Destroying the World to Save It described the apocalyptic terrorist sect Aum Shinrikyo as a forerunner of "the new global terrorism". [edit] Notable AppearancesOn May 18, 2008 Lifton delivered the commencement address at Stonehill College and discussed the apparent "Superpower Syndrome" experienced by the United States in the modern era.[2] [edit] Bibliography
[edit] Lifton as editor
[edit] See also[edit] External links
[edit] References
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeremy RifkinFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
He has testified before numerous congressional committees and has engaged in litigation extensively to ensure "responsible" government policies on a variety of environmental, scientific and technology related issues. Since 1994, Rifkin has been a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Executive Education Program, lecturing CEOs and senior corporate management from around the world on new trends in science and technology.
[edit] EducationRifkin earned degrees in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and in international affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. [edit] Published worksRifkin has published many books—primarily focused on the impact of scientific and technological changes—in which he has speculated on the end or change of work, property, the American dream, the potential of dangers unleashed by biotechnology, and on the beginning of a new hydrogen economy. Rifkin became one of the first major critics of the nascent biotechnology industry with the 1977 publication of his book, Who Should Play God? His 1995 book, The End of Work, an international bestseller, is credited by some with helping shape the current global debate on technology displacement, corporate downsizing and the future of jobs. His 1998 book, The Biotech Century, addresses the many critical issues accompanying the new era of genetic commerce. [edit] Renewable hydrogen economyAfter the publication of The Hydrogen Economy, Rifkin worked both in the U.S. and the EU to advance the political cause of renewably generated hydrogen. In the U.S., Rifkin was instrumental in founding the Green Hydrogen Coalition. The GHC consists of 13 environmental and political organizations (including Greenpeace and MoveOn.Org) that are committed to building a renewable hydrogen based economy. [edit] Foundation on Economic TrendsThe Foundation on Economic Trends (FOET), based in Washington D.C. is active in both national and international public policy issues related to the environment, the economy, and biotechnology. FOET examines new trends and their impacts on the environment, the economy, culture and society, and engages in litigation, public education, coalition building and grassroots organizing activities to advance their goals. [edit] CriticismRifkin has sparked controversies about his positions. Critics in the U.S. have called him a professional scaremonger for supporting precautionary principles, one group going so far as to brand him "the intellectual guru of the neo-Luddites," as they view many of his positions as obstacles to technological advancement. Some groups, like the right-wing Center for Consumer Freedom through its ActivistCash website, assert that Rifkin's books are "littered with errors and false predictions." Time Magazine went so far as to call him "the most hated man in science",[1] although groups like the Union of Concerned Scientists have cited some of his publications as useful references for consumers.[2]As well, many have considered his understanding of the American economy to be absolutely flawed - for in his book, European Dream, he blamed the vastly unequal distribution of wealth in America to be the result of unbridled market capitalism, while many claim that the vastly disparaged class of America have gotten that way by the government disruption of free markets, through massive bailouts in favor of large industrial and financial corporations, resulting in vast debt and inflation. For example, conservatives like Ron Paul would argue against Rifkin on this basis and maybe state that Rifkin actually doesn't understand how the the American economy works at all - the former clearly describes how our ills have become resultant from excessive government intervention and that the free-market Rifkin speaks of is only a reality in the words of the political candidates, not in the economic reality of America. Nevertheless, Rifkin is a well known writer for his works on political economy and socio economic interpretations of the western world. [edit] Books
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday November 3, 2011 Individual programs can be viewed each week day10:30 - 11:30 AM / (NYC Time)
Channel 34 of the
Time/Warner & Channel 82 of the RCN The Program can now be viewed on the internet at time of cable casting at
www.mnn.org
& click on channel 34 at site
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241 West 36th StreetNew York,N.Y. 10018 Phone: 212-695-6351 E-Mail: HHC@NYC.RR.COM
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