Posted on 6 Comments

Leadership and Oppression

 

One of the best videos I saw this past week was a talk by Simon Sinek  – ‘Why Leaders Eat Last’      ( /www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReRcHdeUG9Y  ) He talks a lot during this talk about the chemicals (which are produced in our own brain and) which are associated with certain emotions.

He talks a little about cortisol (which is associated with anxiety and stress).  But mostly he talks about 4 chemicals – Endorphine, Dopamine, Seratonin, and Oxytosin.

The first 2, he says, we can experience on our own; we don’t need anyone else.  And these two are (both) addictive. The purpose of endorphine, he says, is – to mask physical pain (e.g., the ‘runner’s high’)

The purpose of dopamine, he says, is to make sure we get stuff done.  We get a little shot of dopamine when(ever) we achieve a goal (or make visible progress toward a goal).  By the way, we also get a shot of dopamine – when we use alcohol, or nicotine, or gambling, or use our cell phone. Dopamine, he says, is a dangerous drug … and is highly addictive.

The second 2 are ‘trying’ to control the first 2.  We experience these in a social context.

Seratonin, he says, is the “Leadership” chemical.  It’s associated with status and pride.

Oxytosin is associated with love, trust, friendship, human generosity, and sacrifice.

The role of a leader, he says, is – to provide safety.

Another good video I saw recently is –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzQYA9Qjsi0    (What the 1% don’t want you to know  – Bill Moyers, with Paul Krugman, discussing Thomas Piketty’s book – Capital in the Twenty-First Century)

Piketty says that – ‘for those who work for a living, the level of inequality is probably higher than in ANY OTHER SOCIETY at any time in the past ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.”

And in the three decades between 1977 and 2007 60% of U.S. income went to the richest 1% of Americans.

Also – at state & local levels, the poorest 20% of Americans pay taxes at 11%, while the richest 1% pay at 5.6% (about half the tax rate of the poorest 1/5th)

According to a paper by Gilens & Page (Perspectives on Politics, fall, 2014) –  making use of data from 1981 – 2002, they conclude – “America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.  … the preferences of the average American appear to have only miniscule, near zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”

6 thoughts on “Leadership and Oppression

  1. I will immediately snatch your rss feed as I can not find your e-mail subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Please permit me recognise in order that I may subscribe. Thanks.

  2. You have brought up a very fantastic details , thanks for the post.

  3. Thank you for sharing excellent informations. Your web site is very cool. I am impressed by the details that you’ve on this website. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for extra articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found just the info I already searched all over the place and just couldn’t come across. What a perfect web site.

  4. Hi to all, how is everything, I think every one is getting more from this
    website, and your views are nice in favor of new people.

  5. I definitely wanted to write down a simple comment to say thanks to you for all of the remarkable steps you are giving out at this site. My long internet look up has now been honored with incredibly good knowledge to exchange with my best friends. I ‘d repeat that most of us visitors are definitely fortunate to be in a good community with very many special individuals with useful things. I feel very fortunate to have encountered your web pages and look forward to tons of more excellent moments reading here. Thanks a lot again for all the details.

  6. Appreciating the commitment you put into your site
    and detailed information you provide. It’s awesome to come across a blog every once in a
    while that isn’t the same outdated rehashed information. Excellent read!

    I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.

Comments are closed.