Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Millennial Chutzpah

Coping with assertive family members has been excellent training for dealing with students. The other day, and this is a true story, I received an email from a student at another university telling me that his psych professor had assigned them a paper that I had written for them to critique. The student had the chutzpah of asking me to write a few points critiquing my own bloody paper! I hadn’t heard such chutzpah since the son who killed his parents asked the judge for leniency because he was an orphan. 

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Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Family Democracy

When I was building my family, I was all for promoting self-expression. I was all for women’s liberation and children’s liberation. I wanted my wife and son to feel free to express their views and feelings. BIG MISTAKE! 

As a result of my foolishness, I have spent the last thirty years surrounded by overly assertive family members who challenge my every word, question my judgment, and want me to experiment with colors other than brown. Our son never had a thought that didn’t find its way into his mouth. My wife, in turn, never had a grievance she didn’t express. Oh, the joys of democracy.

 But I have to admit that both have made me a better person: more empathic, more sensitive, more egalitarian, more democratic, more in tune with my feelings. So much so, that I can never speak to male friends anymore. So much so, that every major decision in the house, like the color of my underwear, requires a meeting with minutes and secret ballot. 



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Monday, May 9, 2016

Personal Responsibility

I came to this country because I thought that personal responsibility was big here. Instead, I found a bunch of low performing, mediocre politicians, professionals and celebrities ready to blame the world but themselves for their shortcomings. No wonder that the totally politically incorrect Amy Chua is gaining traction. The author of Battle Hymn for the Tiger Mother and The Triple Package (with hubby Jed Rubenfeld) claims that success relies on three characteristics: impulse control, feelings of inferiority, and feelings of superiority.

 I think I’m going to join the Amy Chua movement of sadomasochist believers in high expectations. I already fulfil two of her requirements. In fact, I invented impulse control and feelings of inferiority. I’m working now on feelings of superiority, but it’s not going well. Nobody believes me.  


Sunday, May 8, 2016

Modesty and Moderation

Today I want to address the topic of modesty. I think it's important to practice modesty in moderation. 

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Monday, May 2, 2016

Influenza and Affluenza

Instead of taking responsibility for their actions, many people blame diseases for their ethical obtuseness. Instead of expecting decent behavior from their son, the parents of Ethan Couch hired a psychologist who claimed the teenager had a bad case of Affluenza: the result of rich parents who never set proper limits for the kid. Ethan, for whom his parents had no expectations, killed 4 people while drinking and driving and got away with only probation. Ethan and his mother were recently found in Mexico, blaming the severe winter for skipping probation. They were afraid to catch the Influenza virus.  


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