There are people who knowingly and deliberately exploit/hurt/torture others. They are evil.

There are people who mean well but are ignorant and confused. They are victims.

There are people who suspect all the bad things, but they DON’T WANT TO KNOW. It would be inconvenient, it would require ‘sacrifices’, it would rock the boat. These are the moral cowards.

There are people who see clearly and shrug. These are the cynics.

There are people who see clearly but accept the status quo because they benefit from it. These are the opportunists.

There are people who see clearly and would like to help but feel powerless. These are the discouraged.

There are people who see clearly and make an effort to help. They follow their convictions toward social justice. Some of them make compromises with evil, some don't. These are the social activists.

And, of course, there are all the combinations in each of us, from day to day, from issue to issue.

Understanding:

Accurate diagnosis is the most important very first step. Without accurate diagnosis, (or with an inaccurate one) we are out to lunch. The only way problems can be solved is by trial an error and pure luck.

Once an accurate diagnosis is reached, the next very important step (before cure) is understanding the cause-and-effect chains. Finding out why, when and how one chose to think/behave in a certain way.

There is always a cause. Ultimately we are all victims of our circumstances and our inherited weaknesses. A good psychologist listens, asks questions and listens again. It is an art, very few practice successfully (I don’t mean the professional psychologists, but the little ones in the back of our minds).

Cure:

For a successful cure we need a successful strategy. Some recommend the shock treatment: tell the patient exactly what the diagnosis is, what caused the problem and how dangerous it is to ignore it. Doctors sometime need to scare patients to make them stop behaving self destructively.

Some others recommend manipulation. Don’t tell the patient what his exact problem is. Cajole him into changing his behaviour. Push the correct psychological buttons in the correct order to ‘cause’ him change his pattern. This can backfire. The patient takes the comforting words, the absolution of sins, and then goes away reassured, without changing anything.

Again, some strategies include the mixture of the first two in whatever proportion.

And, of course, I was talking about social activists rather than medical doctors.

[ November 22, 2002: Message edited by: Zatamon ]