Editorial Philosophy
The shaping of current social beliefs, habits, and priorities is largely determined by agreement among four groups. The agreement benefits each group for its own purposes. Regulated professionals constitute the first group. Among these are attorneys, medical doctors, educators, psychologists, and allied professions. Government, its politicians, divisions, and bureaucracies constitute the second group. This includes civilian departments, the military, the spy and security agencies, and their contractors. Corporations and large businesses comprise the third group. The energy sector, the medical-pharmaceutical industry, the defense companies, technology corporations, and their lobbyists, public relations firms, and PACs. Considerable overlap occurs among corporate entities and government agencies in the biotech, military, and security arenas. The fourth class is a shadow elite with overlapping appointments on multiple boards of international corporations and who exercise influence over finance and money. NGOs play a support role to finance, coordinating among these interests and making policy recommendations. The resulting regulations, and policies emanating from these groups constrain the commons and what passes for news, informed opinion, and policy.
Fortunately, Americans are still granted freedom of speech and so alternative views may find expression. The purpose of the essays found on this website is not to challenge the status quo or the woke voices of authority, but to speak from an informed perspective about topics important to individuals and society. The essays cover a potpourri of content and are opinion only.
Leland van den Daele, PhD edits lelandv.com. His research has appeared in Developmental Psychology, Genetic Psychology Monographs, the American Journal of Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought, Journal of Genetic Psychology, Perceptual and Motor Skills, Journal of Humanistic Psychology and other peer-reviewed journals. He has taught at the University of Illinois, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Rutgers University, among others. Leland was granted his PhD at Purdue University, served as a senior NIMH postdoctoral fellow at Educational Testing Service, and was certified to practice psychoanalysis by the American Institute for Psychoanalysis (AIP) in New York City. He is Professor Emeritus at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and maintains a private practice in Petaluma, CA.
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