David G. Eigen, Ph.D. ™

It was recently pointed out to me that all of the Wall Street people in the news, the bankers of failing banks, the AIG greed mongers, were not only wrong, but male. This was applied in general to men in government that thought that business would behave as good citizens and balance out business and social needs for the good of all. That some of the whistle blowers were reportedly women was also mentioned. The speaker’s conclusion was that it was testosterone that was behind it all.

Two Cambridge University researchers John Coates and Jim Herbert have written about irrational market trading with too much testosterone. They “have found that market fluctuations affect — and may be affected by — hormones associated with stress, sexual development and aggression. High levels of testosterone in the morning predicted higher profits that day. If people want to get practical, it would be good for both banks and the financial system as a whole if we had more women and older men in the markets. The findings could dramatically rewrite the way economists model human behavior when it comes to financial decisions. If there’s a biological element to financial life, we have to start building different kinds of models and thinking about policy in a different way. It’s proof to me we’re dealing with a biological organism rather than a computer.”

I once worked with a transgendered person, male to female, who said he/she had figured out the problems of the world, and that it was testosterone. His/her way of dealing with it was to excise the demon by having “it cut off.”

OK, so following all the above “logic,” the solution to the world’s problems might be the castrating of all males. Ah-hmmm! Clearing my throat, I have a different idea to offer, one based on my understanding of the male that I clearly outlined in my book, Men-The Gods of Love.

First, allow me to make an analogy, a poor one at that. Guns are inanimate objects and they don’t do anything including kill people in and of themselves. It takes people to kill people using a gun. This is indisputable. The same is true of knifes, bows and arrows, spears, sticks and stones, and bare hands. Used to hunt, defend and protect they have positive uses. Used by people, who are admittedly mostly men, they can also be used for less than desirable purposes.

Now, let’s look at testosterone. It wasn’t forged by man like a gun, it isn’t a tool, it is a hormone created in perfection by God, the universal intelligence, or whatever you prefer to call the force behind the creation of all things. That makes it sacred.

Alright then you may think, if testosterone is so perfect and sacred, what the hell are all these men doing and why? Excellent questions!

It all starts for men with the prohibition “big boys don’t cry,” and continues throughout life where men are taught the patriarchal dictates that prohibit feelings (accept for anger). Don’t cry, show your scared, or feeling alone, hurt, or powerless; suck it up, be a man (of the unfeeling macho type). This is men’s training worldwide. This disconnects men from their feelings, creating a dissociative state in them. Men are told it is wrong, weak, and shameful to have human feelings. It messes men up severely, handicapping them. They are trying to be “men” for their women and this training teaches them to repress the very feelings that are the underpinning of love and relationship. These denied feelings are also what create in men their inspirational creative abilities. Feelings are also a part of conscience. Repressed, men’s feelings explode out as rage and the repression limits their ability to empathize, be compassionate and considerate. So, it is the testosterone driven force in men, or a gun for that matter, when used without feelings and conscience, that is the cause of such unwanted behaviors. And it clearly leads to disastrous consequences. The above researchers draw a conclusion that we are working with a “biological organism, not a computer.” No, we are dealing with human souls twisted by mentalist dictates.

Feelings have been excised in men and this is what fails to direct and guide the driving force in men. It is not men in the previously mentioned cases, but how they have been brought up, trained to be, that is at cause. It is time to allow men to express feeling in a masculine way. This is not as easy as you might think. Men have for eons been taught feelings are shameful, so how should they express them, like women do? On the whole I would say no, men need to learn how to do this in a masculine way, which does not feminize them. Communications, admitting these feeling to themselves, peers and women are crucial elements.

Step by step men can be guided, or ridiculed as wrong, bad, beasts. Blaming it on testosterone is male-bashing and castrating. If you don’t understand men, then look within them and read my book before you do anything else. Women are not innocent, but they think they are. Passive acceptance of inappropriate behaviors, while receiving their benefits makes women just as culpable. Just ask Mrs. Madoff. She’s not suffering and the thief is protecting her. Here is where change must start. All must recognize their participation in this dynamic and communicate it, create a dialog. Then we must allow change to happen, not by passively wishing it so, but by being an active participant of it.

Emotions are a crucial part of humanness; the gluttonous behaviors mentioned at the beginning of this article are clearly linked to a lack of conscience, empathy, and compassion. It is a completely mental and egocentric strategy at work. It is easy to blame specific things like hormones, or guns. But it’s men’s conditioning that is the root cause. Just like this training diminishes women preventing them from being their true heritage, which is the title of my forthcoming second book, Women-The Gods of Wisdom.

Our present meltdown will be a creative restructuring force and from its ashes the Phoenix will rise. What do you choose that Phoenix to look like? What are you willing to change within yourself to create this? Men must rise up out of their mental stupors, their constructed realities that say “he who dies with the most toys wins,” or it’s “all about the bottom line.” They must not accept the belief that consequential damages are just a consequence of life and therefore OK. They must become the dynamic and feeling beings they are. Women must rise up out of their stupor, their fairytale of emotions and other illusions, their constructs, and become the embodiment of wisdom needed to guide this world. Teach us all how to bring the wisdom of spirit, into matter.

Stand up and be counted. The stakes are nothing less than the world.

The Politics of Street Gangs, Corporations, and Others

Loyalty is defined as: the quality or state of being loyal; a feeling of devotion, duty, or attachment to somebody or something. Allegiance, trustworthiness, fidelity, devotion, and dependability are some of the synonyms for it. Isn’t it interesting how “free market” street gangs, political gangs (parties), Wall Street gangs (corps) are so similar? They defend their causes at all cost without considering the consequences their actions have on others. To disagree is considered disloyal and may cost you your livelihood, or life. Loyalty to country (nationalism) has similar behaviors patterns, as do religions. If you speak out against your government, you will have consequences that vary country to country, being accused of disloyalty, or in some countries treason. The Catholic Church had its inquisition and Iron Maiden for those that disagreed. The Muslim word beheads you for the same, all in the name of God.

Ethics are moral principles that govern appropriate conduct. It is interesting that these terms, ethics and loyalty can be applied from two such differing viewpoints. One produces behaviors that reflect the ego-centric view; the other reflects a world view. Ego-centric examples are the street gangs wearing the gang uniforms (colors/tattoos), selling its products (drugs) without conscience, demanding gang loyalty, silencing those that oppose or are disloyal, and other gang-related activities. These are exactly the same as the corporate gangs on Wall Street (WS), wearing gang colors (suits), selling its products (worthless subprime mortgage backed securities), silencing those that oppose or are disloyal, and other WS gang related activities. From their point of view ethics are principals of free market anarchy, anything goes if we win! Winning of course is measure by the wealth created, bottom-line thinking. Neither gang gives the slightest thought to the consequences others reap from their actions. Religions can act similarly, as can a country’s government. In the last two presidential terms the Republican Party displayed this ego-centric, me, me, me thinking. Those in the upper echelons were enriched, the rest of us were en-robbed. The gang leaders got the bulk, though severance packages for the street gang leaders (lead) are nowhere near as good as WS and other corporate gangs (gold).

OK, so let’s look at the natural/world-view of ethics and loyalty. By world-view I simply mean where ones decisions include the world. An easy example is a big industry that has been pouring toxic waste into a river (ego-centric), waking up (for whatever reason) and changing its operations so as not to pollute; being a good corporate citizen. Simple, right? They learn how to create a “greener operation,” perhaps even make money off of the new technology. And they see the long term costs of the old way on people’s health, the environment, and the world. My local drycleaner just switched its cleaning chemicals from toxic to green ones. This is a great development for that industry. Not long ago demand for this was nil, now there is awareness and demand. The industry rose up to meet the need. Fuel efficient cars, solar energy, wind driven energy are all being created by the demand. These industries did not try to hard in the past to educate and offer these products. But that was not profitable in the near term, and the ego-centric view does not allow for this. This would have been a world view if they had. And we would have been at the forefront, instead of playing catch-up.

Now, let’s apply the natural/world view model to the ego-centric model. Without question unadulterated greed would have to be seen for what it is. It is clearly ego-centric. This is the Midas syndrome everything they touch, including what they love, turns to gold. Nothing wrong with gold, but trading everything for it? This is so short sighted. Just look at our economy at the moment teetering on depression. This is the results of the ego-centric view. The parasitic “free market” played out, sapping even the parasites. That’s how nature (an aspect of spirit) does it. If the species cannot control itself, it winds up decimating itself. What I am writing about is balance, the natural law of all things seeking equilibrium. This is not possible with the ego-centric model. Some species self-balance naturally, some not. Then, the natural law steps in and this activates boundaries, creating limiting actions usually more painful then self-imposed limits. Otherwise, what will occur is gluttonous anarchy. Viruses are great examples of this. They grow and consume all till there is nothing left to consume, then die-off.

So what I am actually speaking of is a new world view of proper gang behavior. Yes, you can care about your fellow members and the gang’s objectives. No, you can’t do this to the exclusion of all else, especially your own inner integrity that contained within your spirit. This is the big change in our awareness. Your inner knowing must be recognized and considered. This is the feminine energy within men that they are denied by our present mind-set. My book, Men-The Gods of Love addresses this very issue. And yes, all this requires that we create new thinking pathways, how to balance ego and spirit, corporate bottom line needs with corporate citizenship needs. Luckily, all it takes is the intention and appropriate action to shift our thinking.

I am speaking of responsibility, ethics of the soul, ego, team (gang) in a paradoxical paradigm, where all are true at once. Equal, but different, with long term global considerations that include the group good as the norm.