COMMENTARY
Welcome to the
Brave New World
With the New Freedom Initiative, the state
has psychiatry as its latest tool against dissent.

By Mack White
mackwhite.com

AUSTIN, Tex. March 1, 2005 -- Satire Alert: Beware of a certain article currently making the rounds of the Internet that describes legislation in Congress (introduced by the redoubtable Senator from Tennessee, Bill Frist) that would compel the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to add a new mental illness, “political paranoia,” to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM).

Folks, this article is a satire. It makes a point similar to one I made in a satire last summer (2004) -- namely, that Bush’s New Freedom Initiative, which recommends mental health screening for all Americans, could ultimately be used to institute “political psychiatry” in this country. (See the Geneva Initiative for Psychiatry for a report on the practice of political psychiatry in China.)

However, unlike mine, the satire in question from SwiftReport.com is written as if it were a real news story, and is written so convincingly that the satirical intent is lost on many readers. As a result, it is being posted and linked on a number of web sites as if it were real, and several writers have been sufficiently alarmed by the fictitious legislation to write scathing denunciations of it on Rense.com, though an exception is a PrisonPlanet.com piece that has expressed skepticism about the article’s authenticity, suggesting it might be disinformation. But even this article unfortunately leaves open the possibility that the legislation might be genuine.

Well, it’s not genuine. The article is satire, which can be readily verified by looking at the other articles on the source web site; all the articles are satirical, albeit of a troublesome kind that treads the fine line between satire and hoax. (An examination of reader comments posted on SwiftReport.com reveals that some of the other articles have caused confusion similar to the one in question.)

It is of course understandable why so many have been fooled by this article. After all, any Congress that would pass an atrocity such as the New Freedom Initiative is capable of anything, and without question the New Freedom Initiative does indeed set the stage for the very thing depicted in the Swift Report satire: the use of psychiatry as a weapon of the police state.

This practice is not without precedent, the most notorious examples being the Soviet Union and present-day China. Also, it is a fact that political psychiatry has been recommended by at least one psychiatrist working for the CIA. In 1974, MK-ULTRA scientist Dr. Jose Delgado, Director of Neuropsychiatry at Yale Medical School, stated in testimony to Congress: “We need a program of psychosurgery for political control of our society. The purpose is physical control of the mind. Everyone who deviates from the given norm can be surgically mutilated.”

We dare not lapse into the false security of thinking it can’t happen here. It certainly could happen here, and the New Freedom Initiative brings us much closer to that reality.

But will it happen as the Swift Report satire depicts? Will Congress suddenly, and brazenly, pass a law to compel the APA to declare politically incorrect thought a mental illness? No, of course not; that would be too obvious, and it would be unnecessary. No, when it happens, it will not be suddenly, but rather by incremental steps, and it will not happen in the political arena; it will instead happen within the mental health profession, and it will be made to seem entirely benign.
How do I know this? Because the process has already begun.

There is now serious discussion within the APA, led by Harvard University’s Dr. Alvin Poussaint, to classify politically incorrect thought -- specifically, racism --as a mental illness. Quoting Pouissant: “If we want to do any kind of prevention, psychiatrists have to know and believe themselves that this [racism] is a serious mental disorder.”

That word “prevention” coming from a Harvard psychiatrist is worth our considered attention, for what it suggests is that “racism” can be treated as an organic disorder, either with drugs or psychosurgery. Already, one psychologist, Dr. William von Hippel, claims to have pinpointed the part of the human brain where racism is located. Not surprisingly, it is in the frontal lobes, and thus can be fixed by a lobotomy. (A painless procedure, I’m sure: One slice of the scalpel and -- voila! -- no more racist thoughts. Of course, there are no more thoughts of any other kind either, but that’s beside the point.)

So there you have it. While everyone is engaged in all this brouhaha over a satire, an attempt is already underway within the APA to declare politically incorrect thought a mental illness. And it is no satire; it is real.
Should this attempt succeed -- should racism find its way into the DSM -- then we can expect all the other politically incorrect thoughts to follow: sexism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, xenophobia. And we can expect their definitions to broaden accordingly. One already runs the risk of being labeled “anti-Semite” merely for disapproving of the actions of the state of Israel. And the accusation of being xenophobic has been lobbed at those who object to Arnold Schwarzenegger becoming President of the United States. Can you imagine the implications of these “politically incorrect” thoughts being classified as mental illnesses? Don’t make the mistake of thinking it can’t happen here. The process, as I say, has already begun.

NEW FREEDOM INITIATIVE

With the New Freedom Initiative, Bush plans to screen the entire US population for mental illness. It will start with pre-school children. In order to enroll your child in the local government training center (euphemistically termed “public school”), he or she will have to be evaluated by a government-licensed psychologist. Any child who does not fall within the parameters of whatever the State considers “normal” will be prescribed an “anti-psychotic” drug concocted by the Bush-connected pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly.

The prescription will of course be mandatory; any parents who refuse to “medicate” their children will find themselves in the same position as the father in the news story below. After seeing his child’s personality deteriorate under the effect of Ritalin, he took his son off the poison and now may face prosecution -- except that, in the near future, there won’t be any “maybe” about it. Parents will face prosecution, they will have their children taken away from them, and they will be imprisoned for defending their children.

That’s how it will start. Then prisoners, whether they got into trouble for murder or burglary or marijuana possession or failure to pay a parking ticket or holding “politically incorrect” views or refusing to medicate their children, will be screened for mental illness. And they will be forcibly medicated, or implanted with a device to control their emotions (see news story below). And the average, stupid American citizen will not care, because it’s “only” being done to prisoners.

But then, one day, you will wake up and discover that you cannot get health insurance, a driver’s license, government benefits, or a job, unless you submit to mental health screening. And they will test your “normality” with all manner of diabolical high-tech gadgetry. For instance, they will analyze your brain wave activity to discern whether or not you are lying when they ask you about your finances, your sex life, your favorite television shows, your political views, your religious beliefs, and so on. It will, of course, be junk science, with results subject to any sort of interpretation, but it won’t matter -- it will be the Law that you submit, and if you are deemed “abnormal” you will be medicated or micro-chipped, and you will be “cured.” You will sit in front of the television with a catatonic stare, drooling, like the rest of the herd, watching American Idol and waving the American flag, getting all your opinions from Sean Hannity, supporting the endless War on Terrorism, supporting murder and torture, and always supporting your president.

SATIRE

By Mack White

“So, tell me, Mr. Smith, how long have you been depressed?”
“Well, it started when Bush took office. Then it got worse after we went to war with Iraq. And now that there’s a possibility of the draft being reinstated -- well, it gives me a hopeless feeling.”
“Hm.”
“Can you help me, doctor?”
“Yes, I think we have just the thing for you. It’s a new treatment, but it’s proven surprisingly effective.”
“What is it?”
“Oh, it’s just a little device we put in your brain. Nothing to be afraid of. You won’t even know it’s there.”
“No, I don’t want anything in my brain.”
“Now, now, Mr. Smith, you can trust me. I’m your doctor.”
“No, I absolutely refuse.”
“I should remind you, Mr. Smith, that you were placed in this hospital by court order. We can, and will, do whatever we have to do, as long as you present a threat to yourself and others.”
“No, no, no -- get away from me -- NO! -- AAARRRRGGGHHH!!!!!”

Next day:

“And how are we feeling today, Mr. Smith?”
“I -- I feel -- that is, I think -- I, uh -- I feel pretty good, actually.”
“No more depression?”
“None whatsoever.”
“And when you think of the president, how does it make you feel?”
“President Bush is a kind, wonderful man -- a brave man -- a smart man -- and a true American. We are so fortunate that he is our president during these troubled times.”
“And how do you feel about the war?”
“I want to do my part. I want to enlist. I want to kill. I want to maim. I want to rape. I want to torture the enemy’s children before their parents’ eyes, I want to inflict unspeakable cruelties on their little bodies that will mutilate them for life, and I want to break their trusting little spirits with the vilest and most hideous degradations I can think of.”
“Well, now, Mr. Smith, this is an improvement. I believe we can let you go home now.”

Mack White can be reached at:
mackwhite@grandecom.net

IN THE NEWS

Federal Experts Endorse
Anti-Depression Brain Implant

Seattle Times June 16, 2004 -- A surgical implant that stimulates the brain should get government approval to treat chronic depression, a panel of federal experts said yesterday, marking the first time an implanted device has been recommended for the treatment of a psychiatric disorder.

Using a technique known as vagus nerve stimulation, the device uses electrodes implanted in the neck to activate brain regions that are believed to regulate mood. The treatment is targeted at patients with chronic depression that do not respond to existing treatments.
The FDA is not required to follow the guidance of its advisory committee, but usually does.

Father May Be Prosecuted for
Taking his Son off Ritalin

ABC News June 9, 2004 -- Chad Taylor took his 12-year-old son off Ritalin after he began noticing serious side-effects.

“He was losing weight, wasn’t sleeping, wasn’t eating,” he said. “[He] just wasn’t Daniel.”

After being taken off the Ritalin, Daniel’s sleeping and eating habits returned to normal, but the normal symptoms of ADHD returned. When his teachers discovered he was no longer on Ritalin, they contacted New Mexico’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families. A detective and a social worker then made a home visit.

“The detective told me if I did not medicate my son, I would be arrested for child abuse and neglect,” Taylor said.

Taylor says he’s made the decision he thinks most parents would make: “Yeah, I’ll go to jail for it. I’ll go as long as I have to go.”

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