A compassionate understanding of the gay sexual orientation had a promising beginning with socialist humanists more than a century ago. But psychiatrists like the late Erich Fromm clearly thought that modern " psychotherapy " had been corrupted by a mindless -but lucrative -acceptance of the capitalist social order. In the 1950s a group of young, alienated persons- who became known as The Beat Generation-openly rebelled against " the system ". Life Magazine ( Nov.30 , 1959 ) described them as " The Only Rebellion Around " in the conformist 1950s. In his cult poem " Howl " Beat poet Allen Ginsberg defended both his own liberated homosexuality and the " communist " social philosophy of his " insane " and committed to a mental hospital mother. Ginsberg also opposed the Vietnam War. But back then most professional psychiatrists were devoted to greasing the " Odious Machine " ( Mario Savio, Berkeley Free Speech Movement ).
Only rich people can afford psychotherapy anyway today. So there is no chance for poor or working class gay kids to be talked into a return to " normalcy ". But how much real mental illness is induced by a stressed out " adjustment " to the capitalist rat race in America ? How conducive to mental health is the ferocious competitiveness of global capitalism ?
And how many poor victims of killer cops are just the neglected mentally ill ? Whole books have been written by dissident professional psychiatrists on the moral catastrophe of 50 years of DE-INSTITUTIONALIZATION .
American psychiatrists with any SOUL left should be ashamed of our sick society.
NOTE : Erich Fromm wrote a still relevant book titled " The Sane Society ". He too was a democratic socialist.
*****
[ " A young, gay Jewish man. But that's not all, of course. He was raised by a mentally ill mother, which ended up having a pretty big influence on his social philosophies—clearly, modern life drove people mad.
And, perhaps most importantly, Ginsberg was the flame that lit the fuse of the American cultural revolution. What he revealed to the world doesn't seem that shocking today. Because after the Beats came the 1960s. " ]
Only rich people can afford psychotherapy anyway today. So there is no chance for poor or working class gay kids to be talked into a return to " normalcy ". But how much real mental illness is induced by a stressed out " adjustment " to the capitalist rat race in America ? How conducive to mental health is the ferocious competitiveness of global capitalism ?
And how many poor victims of killer cops are just the neglected mentally ill ? Whole books have been written by dissident professional psychiatrists on the moral catastrophe of 50 years of DE-INSTITUTIONALIZATION .
American psychiatrists with any SOUL left should be ashamed of our sick society.
NOTE : Erich Fromm wrote a still relevant book titled " The Sane Society ". He too was a democratic socialist.
*****
[ " A young, gay Jewish man. But that's not all, of course. He was raised by a mentally ill mother, which ended up having a pretty big influence on his social philosophies—clearly, modern life drove people mad.
And, perhaps most importantly, Ginsberg was the flame that lit the fuse of the American cultural revolution. What he revealed to the world doesn't seem that shocking today. Because after the Beats came the 1960s. " ]
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