Metastatic Tribalism that forms our Populist Extremes

Metastatic tribalism can be seen as the conduit for social transformation that takes place through the social genetics of the tribe. Social genetics, more succinctly sociogenomics is the exposure generated social interaction that changes the macro epigenome of the tribe. This is clearly illustrated in the dramatic frenzied shift that manifests itself exponentially when humans gather en masse for a passionate cause.

Research demonstrates the significant impact of group identity on brain function. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of the brain reveal that symbols associated with groups, e.g. team logos, political emblems, flags/banners, medals, ribbons, pins, rings, uniforms, etc. all activate reward centers in the brain. Our inherent tribal nature is foundational to social behavior and we autonomically lean into it without cognitive awareness or urging.

In an old fairytale we find a scorpion who cannot swim and who beseeches a frog to let him ride on his back across the river that he wanted to cross. The frog agreed and the scorpion ferried him across the water, but halfway across the scorpion stung the frog.  The frog screamed out why did you do that? Now we both will die. The scorpion responded, “It’s in me nature”. It’s in our nature to gravitate toward tribalism, which is when most populists’ movements are born.

The brain plays a significant role in our cognitive, emotional, and social functions. One fascinating aspect of the brain is its inherent social nature. We are wired to thrive in social contexts and seek connections with others.  Tribalism refers to humans forming social groups and identifying with them, driven by shared identity, values, goals and shear survival. The neuroscience of tribalism investigates the neural mechanisms underlying our social behaviors. The current research has revealed that perceiving others as part of our group (the tribe) as stated before activates the brain’s reward system which fosters loyalty pride and preference. Social genomics changes the brain. Similar to the Stockholm Syndrome, a psychological environment can change the brain through neural plasticity. This is the mechanism by which the brain creates new neural pathways in the brain to adapt to a changing environment. Our brain is wired for adaptation; it’s in our nature.    

Our first humans lived in bands of nonsocial beings but soon moved to tribal identification for survival and support. Not only for a common defense from nomadic band invasions but for the sharing of hunting areas, water sources and agricultural skills. Soon bands formed villages and a State level of leadership grew organically to collectively nurture and self-govern the growing populus. Politics was born; sociogenomics was then born.

Ken Kesey Jr. authored a book in 1984 entitled “ The Hundredth Monkey ” an unusual tome in which he describes an anthropological experiment (based on purported real events) that illustrates in a simple way how a sociogenomic shift can transpire with a shared experience.  Monkeys on a small island were given sweet potatoes to eat by researchers who merely tossed them on the beach.  The monkeys ate them, but found it was challenging to eat as they were covered in beach sand. One chimp dropped his potato in the ocean and discovered that when he retrieved it, he could easily eat it rapidly without grit in his teeth. Comrade chimps near him saw this behavior and through the magic of mirror neurons aped his behavior and they too could rapidly pigged out on potatoes to their fill. As the story goes, when the 100^th monkey in this tribe on this island learned this behavior by witnessing it, soon monkeys elsewhere across the globe living near the water started washing their fruit in the ocean. This is The Hundredth Monkey Principle.

Initially mirror neurons create pathways to social behaviors by aping the constructs of the immediate environment.  With repetition, neurons become permanent structures that become integral to social brain function. When this happens on a large scale at some point it becomes viral in the matrix of planetary connection and all sentient beings will have it available as an etheric bond to shared wisdom on a global scale.

This shared wisdom is not always accessible without a discipline that fosters a connection e.g. meditation, fasting, silence and prayer. Sometimes, however, it can be the result of an illness, accident, trauma, dream, hallucinogenic experience or spiritual epiphany that can open this connection with a switchboard of possibilities. 

Connection is however intrinsic with being human. It is well illustrated that when large groups of likeminded individuals with a fervent passion gather, they will automatically connect to the tribes’ shared beliefs, rituals and practice and understand it on an intuitive level.  It will “feel familiar” it will feel correct. Pride and confidence will become inherent within the group and within other groups with similar mindsets in other locations. In a quantum entanglement kind of way, we all feel the same set of instructions that supports the tribe. No different than the instructions the worker bee gets to construct the hive, no verbal cues or commands, but a knowing and a recognition of the all-inclusive algorithm of the universe to sustain, protect, nurture, perpetuate and defend the species. I call this metastatic tribalism.

The entire modern world and for that matter the ancient world have lived under some form of”state level” social communal existence. The state level will usually manifest itself into the bifurcated forms of government we see today  with the “ In/out “  zeitgeist model that forms  the political arm of most civilized countries in the world. This model holds the lion’s share of a country’s leadership models wherein the out-group wants to be the in-group. It’s in our nature.

When ideologies overlap to a happy medium, we have prosperity, when they collide, we have chaos, when they divide we have anarchy. There is nothing happy about anarchy; no one wins but anger, and death. When prosperity yields to inequity, we ALL fall down.

We as a country find ourselves in state of inequity, the working bifurcated manifestation of state level governing as perceived by our forefathers and written into the constitution is in jeopardy and in chaos. Saying anything else is putting lipstick on pig. The pendulum has swung to its polar limit, and we are now feeling the pull and strain of its natural inexorable return to equilibrium.

We are now seeing a phenomenon of metastatic tribal joy; philia and happy tears fill our nation instead of metastatic tribal anger and dystopian angst.  The drums are beating a rhythm that is passed from village to village with a tune of unity without depravity, its enervating and electrifying.

To metastasize socially is to spread rapidly and undaunted for good or for bad, to spread slowly over time or manifested in a single gathering or incident. This phenomenon can sweep through a population, a foundation, a congregation, a concert, a party, football game or rally, it’s real, it is palpable, it is vibrational, it is contagious, and it is human. Why do you think ancient civilizations at great cost and labor built extravagant cathedrals, coliseums, forums and arenas?  They were built to create and validate the social norm for governing a populous by gathering together as bees in the hive to synchronize; out of many we are one.

Tribalism is inherent to the swing of the social pendulum between who is the in and who is the out. Reaching the extremes of anthropological polarization, we see a return with a passionate embracement of populist movements. Chants of returning power to the people (tribe) who feel overburdened by state level control can be heard and are also passed on from village-to-village breeding dissent, and division. An Orwellian reality as stark as the allegory made in Animal Farm is generated.  “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others” -George Orwell; Animal Farm.

Sometimes generational, genderrational and racial entitlements are threatened by the swing of the pendulum which automatically creates a riff between the in-crowd and the out-crowd. This changing dynamic creates division, anger and angst in the populous at large and the beating drums do not harmonize from village to village.

This will be our eternal dilemma and our cross to bear as a global citizen, countryman and villager. We must ride the tides created by the swing of the pendulum of being humans who need each other to survive. It’s in our nature. We must study our history to prepare for the return of the past; we must honor and listen to the drumbeats of today to once again negotiate our future.   Vote responsibly.

Transgenerational Response to Trauma

By Mitch Carmody

We are all an example of epigenetic collaberation at a molecular level, a quantum level, a physical level, and spiritual level. We heal , we fend, we offend, we defend, we depend, we live and we end. We stave off grief and loss as much as a possible knowing it is impossible.  

I was born in 1955, the last child of 7 children that my mother gave birth to. I did not come alone but was accompanied by my fraternal twin sister Sandy. Ten years prior my parents had their first born, my oldest sister Jeanne, who had blessed their new lives together as their first child. My parents then tried for a boychild,  and John was born, but he died soon after birth  from cord complications during delivery. Moving forward, two years later my sister Sue was born, they now had two girls, one to wash and one to wipe the dishes as my grandma used to say.

A few years later again, trying for a boy my brother David was born but was severely physically/mentally handicapped and was institutionalized for life. Soon my parents gave birth to their 5^th child, Nancy, another girl, healthy as a horse but my father still wanted a boy to carry on the family name.

Within a few years my father’s  wish was granted, and I was born, a boychild, but  with a bonus twin sister !  Finally, a viable healthy boy was born!  I was the replacement child for two lost brothers, my father finally had the son that he wanted. My mom was still  grieving in silence for the loss of her two sons that society had secreted away to whispers of untimely fate.

I was born into grief and celebrity status simultaneously. I was the son so longed for and a twin to boot. I only knew a mother that was a bereaved mom from the get-go. I was nurtured in utero during her grief journey and was epigenetically imbued with DNA markers that transgenerational normalize the grief response on a cellular level. This prepares the next generation for more robust resilience with a multi-generational generated response that is built into the DNA from genetically assimilated grief. This allows access to those tools of survival autonomically to help protect and propagate the species; an algorithm by design from bacteria to bouncing baby we are epigenetically programmed to survive and to thrive generation to generation.

My terminally bereaved mother prepared me for death with her life not her words. Grief was not mentioned in polite society; my father died when I was 15 years old, I was prepared socially and epigenetically to move on, it’s in my genes.

When my twin sister died, I was 29, I was prepared socially and epigenetically to move on, it’s in my genes. 

When my 9-year-old son died I was age 32, I was prepared socially and epigenetically to move on, it’s in my genes.  But I could not.

My world stopped; God pressed the pause button  on my heart; a metronome set in a vacuum each beat of my heart mocked my knowledge, my experience, and my DNA, I could not move on, I could not move. It took me years to discover how and why I survived the death of my son.  What I could not do consciously my genetics did unconsciously, I was literally on autopilot for many years. Eventually I awakened to the fact that I was genetically wired to survive loss and  created a grief processing model called Proactive Grieving ®.

 A decade into the new century I was blessed with two grandchildren from my surviving daughter Meagan. In grief presentations I often glibly stated that I was doing a social experiment with my grandchildren who have been brought up around the philosophy that grief is simply a part of life. Grief is to be coexisted with and not secreted away as an evil curse but woven as a strand of strength in our developing tapestry of fortitude and resilience.

Fast forward to January of 2024 and we find that my social experiment subjects are now teenagers and emerging from the pandemic years as models of proactive grieving influencers. They are both naturally sought out for their compassion and insight among their neighbors, friends and peers when dealing with tragedy and loss. I am in awe. If we cannot find a reason to be in awe once a day, we are not paying attention.

Nature verses Nurture ?

It is both, binary attraction is concrete and foundational.

Surviving is not an option; you are wired for it and without intervention will survive an egregious loss.

Thriving is however an option; Be proactive and nurture your nature, use the gifts generations have given you and you will find it is possible… it’s in your genes.

  “ Nosce te ipsum “

Mitch Carmody 12/30/23

For more information about ” Replacement Children” go to http://replacementchildforum.com/

This is the world’s quintessential resource that brings more awareness to the unique pathology surrounding the grief of children that long into their adulthood may feel the life long ramifications of losing a sibling they have never met and possibly were even named after or were (silently) expected to fill the shoes of. 

Elvis, Dali, Van Gogh, e.g . were all replacement children, all conceived and named to replace their dead sibling.

And is not in our heads…

Prurigo Nodularis

Surviving the Diagnosis

Most people do not have a clue about a skin disorder known as Prurigo Nodularis, which is an exceedingly rare skin condition that can suddenly appear in adulthood (usually between the ages 51 to 68 years old). There is no cure; it is usually triggered by some dermal skin assault or injury (e.g., bug bite), medication, food allergies, emotional trauma and or stress. The pathology of its origin is still unknown. It is for the most part a polymorphic reaction to an unknown stimulus attacking our immune system that catalyzes the body to rid itself of toxins and debris from the immune systems counterattack to a foreign invader. A physiological systemic protection reaction that is built into our body’s immune system from epigenetic markers that have evolved and morphed into how our body reacts to our environment and our body’s reaction to that environment through time.  

There are many things that PN is and many things it is not and is most often diagnosed as AD or atopic dermatitis aka eczema; a chronic skin condition that makes you itch and leaves red blotches. With PN there is many times a bilateral presentation appearing most prominently on the arms and legs. These areas can spread body wide, and the nodules can ulcerate leaving open lesions that can become infected causing more inflammation and can spread subdermally. They present themselves along nerve fiber pathways of the dermis with inflamed nerve endings that receive skin sensation and can appear in clusters of 3 or more.

It starts with an intense itch with or without a visible bump or spot present spot and from scratching the area it turns in prurigo nodularis, which are basically itch bumps that grow and thrive on being scratched. These bumps can be just a few or hundreds of them, mostly on the arms and legs but almost anywhere on the body except the upper middle back. Sometimes the PN is preliminarily diagnosed by the butterfly sign, the unaffected part of the back that our hands cannot  reach to scratch. Most often it is initially seen on the lateral side fore arms, legs or back of the neck but they can literally appear anywhere.

In April of 2020 I had scratched my lower legs from sharp thorns of a buckthorn bush when I was working in the yard. It left small irritating puncture wounds that itched like hell. I was scratching them like crazy but assumed it would eventually heal up. I was wrong. I never did; it got worse; in fact, it spread with  lesions/papules/nodules on the lateral side of both forearms/elbows. What the hell ?  I assumed I probably had scratched my arms as well, but I found it odd, that the itchy nodules were located on the same bilateral location in an identical linear presentation that seemed to mirror nerve flow patterns that are present in our limbs. How does that happen? Obviously, it is a systemic immune system reaction vs an isolated reaction to a local dermal injury.

I was struck with the fact upon close inspection of an open red and puffy lesion on my leg, how much it looked like a miniature active volcano that had a cooling lava crust forming over  the apex of its crater. Just a casual absent-minded scratch to relieve the constant itch can scrape the thin epithelial  layer that is continually forming which is trying to the heal the wound and provide an immunological  barrier to infection from bacteria and fungi.  Scratching it opens it up for infection. Using the same hand with the same fingernails to itch other parts of body spreads the infection and bacteria that is  already under the nails. Continually scratching ascorbates infection in active nodules and spreads the condition elsewhere seeding infection where nails microscopically break  opening the surface of the skin. 

The is much unknown about the mechanisms of the scratch/itch cycle; a classic immunological “chicken or the egg” theory of genesis of the  origin of these papules of pain and itch. They do not know how to cure or prevent PN; with a plethora of antagonists that can illicit the response which is different for everyone can be challenging to physicians to provide a ubiquitous treatment to minimize outbreak and treat active lesions.

I have done much research academically as well as a plethora of treatments with lifestyle and diet changes. I wanted to boil the information  down for the average person to better understand the condition should they find themselves challenged with PN.  Much of the literature is biased with it being speculated as a Psychoneurological disorder distinguish by uncontrolled scratching, scab picking, anxiety, stress, and emotional trauma. The trouble is so many who have this unknown condition and are the continual lifestyle change adaptations to find relief and to minimize eruptions. Old, healed lesions leave permanent cell structure changes and resemble craters of the moon. Stress and or environmental antagonists can awaken this slumbering papule volcanoes, no longer dormant the scratch ich cycle begins again.

Before I was diagnosed with PN, I had noticed other odd symptoms the year prior that may or may not be related but I raised the question to my doctor about them. Old scar tissue around my body spontaneously started to get red, sore and erupt and eventually bleed and create scabs. Ear piercings from 40 years ago, abandoned, and unadorned for years started to bleed and  become enflamed. A leg scar from a childhood injury started to bleed and become enflamed. I had recurring pimples in my eyebrows that would come and go in the same locations on both eyebrows and a persistent non healing lesion next to my ear. The doctor recommended  seeing a dermatologist.

This was my first visit to a Dermatologist, and she said the  spot on my ear was most likely basil cell carcinoma and performed Moe’s surgery on the spot but did not even address the “ matching pimples” in my eyebrows. She froze a few suspicious spots on my arms and set up me up for another appointment in 6 weeks.  I asked her about the non healing bumps on the back of my neck, she said it was not cancer but probably irritated hair follicles from wearing a bandana, which I wore most of the time. Made sense, I quit wearing the scarves. They eventually abated but took an exceptionally long time.

The basil cell spot healed up fine, they had dug out a spot as big as my  thumb and it never came back. I am not even sure it was basil cell as it was never confirmed by biopsy. They recommended more appointments, their recommended lotions, etc. and they wanted to monitor my condition on an ongoing basis. This felt strangely like a visit to an overzealous chiropractor. I opted not to return.

I had read in research that using “ frankincense oil can help irradicate skin lesions and particularly effective with basil cell. I started applying it daily and by God the eyebrow lesions disappeared and never came back. Every action as a reaction of course and using the frankincense on my bleeding ear piercing inflamed it even more and the whole lobe was puffy and sore with scaly skin.

My 2nd visit was to a different dermatologist was some six months later for my ear. I was diagnosed with Atopic eczema which was most likely from a reaction to the frankincense and was advised to quit using. I did and it cleared up slowly. I assumed I over did it, but at least now I was lesion free.

My third visit to the dermo doc was almost a year later  after I had scratched my legs on the buckthorn in April 2020. The buckthorn scratches would not heal and started to get more itchy  spots on my other leg and on my forearms of both arms. I had assumed from smaller scratches I had not noticed before. It was getting worse every week and finally made another appointment.

This time the dermo doc brought in a few other specialists to look at my legs. Through research I was convinced I had contracted “ rose handler’s disease” from the thorn punctures that carries the fungus into the blood stream through the open wound. The body reacts to the fungal invasion with eruptions. It becomes systemic and unyielding unless it is treated with antifungal agents, topical and or internal. They however discounted my web MD diagnosis and did a punch biopsy of several active lesions and told to return in 3 weeks. I was prescribed Triamcinolone steroid cream to apply 3x daily to the active lesion areas, but overuse can cause thinning of the dermis and may be more susceptible to microscopic wound infections from scratching. The cream reduced the lesions dramatically but not altogether and came back when I ran out.

My fourth visit to dermo doc to get biopsy results. They said it was NOT rose handler’s disease and although that may have initiated it, it did not show up in biopsy. What they did diagnose however was Lichen Simplex Chronicus with Prurigo Nodularis, a rare basically incurable autoimmune disease, treatable with difficulty but not curable. WTF ?  It was then that they started speaking to me in soft whimsical tones, smiling at me like I  was a child, or some kind of nut and say it was a psychoneurological disease brought on by anxiety and stress and to just try not to scratch so much.  They gave me a stronger steroid this time called Clobetasol Propionate  for stubborn lesions. Quit scratching so much what a novel idea, thank you so much for that, it never crossed my mind.

The skin hack when on to say take daily antihistamines to reduce the itching, soak in a tub daily with a bleach bath and prescribed some hydrating cream that was off the charts expensive and not covered by insurance. In addition, I was to come back to the clinic 3x week for UVB light therapy sessions for at least two months. More and more like a chiropractic office; First, I cannot tolerate antihistamines that enlarge my prostate, secondly, I am not paying $ 400 for jar of Noxzema with colloidal silver in it. Thirdly I am not going to bathe in bleach every day, it is excessively drying to the skin as well as killing ALL the bacteria , the good and the bad. Dry skin is our critical nemesis. Fourth, I am not driving 40 minutes each way three times a week for 10 minutes of light therapy. I left frustrated and befuddled. Are you kidding me?

My whole life was changed and turned upside down from a flipping scratch on my leg.   

I had to dig deep into to this malady and to find out more about it. I was shocked to find out the wealth of knowledge that does not exist about this disease. Most General Practitioners are clueless. Most dermatologists only have expensive time consuming options to minimize symptoms without a cure.

I did find information from conducting medical research worldwide and found many commonalities with the disease yet just as many variables. I then discovered both the Nodular Prurigo International Facebook and the Prurigo Nodularis International group each with over 4,000 sufferers/members of this abhorrent disease who find common ground and support.

My journey now began to try and beat this disease in earnest; this blog is an attempt to share my findings that I extracted from research and testimonial data from other PN sufferers.

Symptoms

Symptoms can be all over the map  but mostly involving pruritis (itching) and the formation of nodules and tender papules of pain and scarring almost anywhere on the body but commonly on the extremities often in bilateral symmetrical outbreaks on both sides of the body. The nodules new and old itch, ulcerate, scab up and itch some more, increased scratching and scab picking only worsens and exacerbates the condition. Many lesions will have a center core which is like a root like filament of white collagen that is sensitive and when touched induced pain and intense itch.

Diagnosis

PN can be misdiagnosed as many other skin conditions as possible and is often overlooked and undiagnosed until and biopsy is performed. The list of what it might be but is a very lengthy list of skin conditions written in a series of Latin names that cause itch and inflammation and is more confusing than helpful.

Try to stop picking!

PN sufferers are SO SICK OF HEARING THIS!!! Simply just stop scratching YIKES really?  We have more neurons in our body than our brain; it’s our body brain reacting to “something” causing a sharp localized itch sensation and it erupts bilaterally on both limbs simultaneously causing more itch….. IT IS NOT in one’s head to feel like your arm is the one that they used in the mosquito repellant test chamber experiment that failed.

It is not in our frigging head, the inflammation comes first from somewhere, something, the need to scratch comes second and it is almost autonomic to scratch.  Too much scratching can infect it making it worse and builds up a callous like material like on your heel, when you itch in and around it, it stimulates more skin receptors nearby to inflame and erupt nerve endings to burst through the skin with collagen fibers that itch like hell….and in almost quantum physics like manner they appear on the opposing limb at the same spot.

Mindfulness helps immensely to control reaction to itch, covering the areas with a liquid bandage deters autonomic itching getting to the lesion edges and most of all is finding that personal environmental unique trigger that initiates an immune response. Antihistamines is not the answer for most PN sufferers, they only aid in controlling histamine itch and the pain/sharp itch known as “cowhage itch” is present as well and it does not react to antihistamines to reduce itch. 

It is a continue battle …to find what  triggers the itch in the first place, the classic chicken or the egg, it starts with something that cause an immune response on the largest organ of our body, but it is not in our head.  They must teach in medical school that PN is in our head, you can tell when a physician starts to  talk to you like a 3 year old  but without giving you a lollypop, and you know what they are going to say.

Scratching/Picking

The space under your fingernails is completely impervious to the best, most simple means we have of preventing the spread of diseases. The research clearly shows that the space between the skin and nail creates a perfect environment for the growth and proliferation of minute life forms, thanks to both the physical protection provided by the nail and all that moisture. Old fake nails and the minute cracks in aging fingernail polish harbors even more bacteria. Findings show that persistent scrubbing doesn’t completely sterilize the hand, as the findings from their study show that there are significant numbers of bacteria left under the nails.

Think about it: the space under your fingernails is completely impervious to the best, and simplest, means we have of preventing the spread of diseases.

The chronicity of any disease has a profound impact on the psychosocial well-being of the sufferer. Prurigo nodularis is one such condition that remains as an enigma in the modern dermatology. The effects of this disease, on the body as well as the psyche of the patient has disastrous outcomes. The current management of this disease in the modern medicine is purely symptomatic and comes with all its demerits. Drugs used for relief are mere rescue drugs.

New information is coming out, basically every day, but one concept that is getting more and more attention is the natural physiological reaction called a cytokine storm.  As with any storm, the cytokine variety can range in intensity from mildly discomforting to deadly.  Put simply, a cytokine is a signaling molecule that is secreted by immune cells to stimulate some sort of action in the body.  Any time our immune system is called into action, whether to fight infections or repair injuries, these cytokines help begin the process.  There are many types of cytokines, capable of stimulating or stopping inflammation, as the body calls for.  This makes cytokines vital to fighting and recovering from just about anything the world can throw at us.

The problem with these particular signaling molecules is that in some cases the inherent “shut off valve” in the body doesn’t work.  This means that what can start as a gentle shower of response can very rapidly increase 1000x into a sudden, severe storm. This storm triggers a continuous reaction that overwhelms the body leading to severe itch of our body’s largest organ, our skin.

There are several compounds found in foods that have been proven to reduce the cytokine chain reaction.  Specifically: 

Quercitin: found in apples and onions

Resveratrol: found in purple grapes and blueberries

Curcumin: found in turmeric

Allicin: found in garlic

Sulforaphane: found in cruciferous vegetables

Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators: found in foods high in essential fatty acids like fish and roe, fats such as olive oil and avocado

Fruits: cherries, pomegranates

Vegetables: Soy, fennel

Herbs and Spices:  Basil, rosemary, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, capsaicin, cayenne, anise

Seeds:  Flax or sesame

Other items such as: chocolate (!), honey, or nutritional yeast

Tea: rooibos or green

Topical Treatments

Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. Dry skin is our nemesis to healing and prognosticator of itch. We cannot lube our skin enough.  Steroids can help to heal lesions but they also thin the skin which then breaks open easier when scratched and then is more susceptible to further infection.

Our skin does not readily absorb water or moisture it sheds it. A small about may be absorbed in the epithelial layer when bathing and why important to apply oil, cream etc to seal in moisture directly after bathing/showering (within 30 minutes)t. Moisturizers do not moisturize as much as they seal in the skins own moisture. Simple oils such as castor oil, cocoa nut oil, cocoa butter, vitamin E and other nutritional oils are preferred over any commercial expensive emollients with tons of chemical ingredients.

 Prurigo nodularis is an orphan disease with no standardized diagnostic or treatment regimen and has been understudied compared to other inflammatory skin diseases. Given the highly pruritic and chronic nature of this disease, there are very high rates of associated anxiety and depression among PN patients. These quality of life issues are compounded by the poor management of patients and lack of effective therapies. PN is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that often has an immense psychosocial impact on patients’ quality of life.

I wear baggy light material sweat pants, and baggy long sleeve shirts. Tight clothes make me itch, and wool sweaters long gone for many years. I used to love to wear just shorts and a tank top and still do so for my daily sun therapy. I wear the long clothing as it stops me from autonomically scratching as we do in our sleep, and why I now wear long loose pajamas as well.  We scratch at night with absolute no control over it and wake up with agitated lesions/fresh scabs and intense itch.  If we can break the scratch/itch cycle enough during the day, the brain creates new neural pathways over time that scratches less…..this overrides the itch urge at night.  It takes at least 60 days of repeated behavior change to establish new neural pathways, the science is sound, but resisting the itch incredibly challenging but it can be done over time.

 We are stuck with this for life, the best resilience model we have is enough sleep when our body restores its immune system. Now wearing my Fitbit 24/7/ 365   I have seen a pattern in break outs that correlates to my lack of sleep.  Break outs minimal when I have at least 7 hours of sleep. Anything less than 5 hours a night, especially consecutive sleep deprived nights or too much party time the morning itch/ break outs are markedly worse. Our body become anxious without restoration. Anxiety creates stress and stress always makes PN worse.

The most current methodology in treating this condition I have found by happenstance is called Earthing which has me almost cured. In less than a month of Earthing my skin had improved dramatically by simply grounding to the earth as much as possible. There is a whole science behind it that advocates being grounded with grounding mats, sheets etc. and walking barefoot as much as we can to reduce the bodies static charge and to allow free electrons to flow into our body to reduce inflammation.

We are multi faceted creatures and we usually our own worst enemy. We need to ferret out those components in our life that is our own antagonist and find that common ground that provides healing which just may be as easy as a barefoot walk on the beach, and within our reach whenever we are grounded.  

Note: Hugging a living tree for 30 minutes is a great way to ground and very effective as well. Most doctors think we are nuts anyway so what the hell.         “Physician Heal thyself” Luke 4:23

As a democratic nation we are a little over 200 years old. Our political system is based on the core principles of freedom of religious and political expression for all its’ citizens; especially if you are white and Christian, as these principles did however not seem to apply to the indigenous population, or immigrants from darker skinned nations that populated our country.

These early Christian principles are embedded in the tenets and foundation of our culture. which has only served to foster the hypocrisy of justice for all that we still find today in our society.

These principles helped to create a strong, prosperous fledgling nation that was composed of the intrepid explorers who discovered our nation, those persecuted for political and religious beliefs in Europe, as well as deported lawbreakers, convicts, and a plethora of the old world’s “unwanted.” Together the created the United States of America in 1776. Five years later E. pluribus unum, which is Latin for “Out of many, one” became our nation’s first motto.

The U.S. population achieved its biggest growth in history during the 1950s, going from 150 million in 1950 to 180 million in 1960 – as post WWII newly married young couples were actively starting the baby boom generation. Churches and schools were being greatly expanded to accommodate the growing population, and organized religion was in its heyday. On a typical Sunday morning almost half of all Americans were attending church – the highest percentage in U.S. history where nationwide church membership grew at a faster rate than the population.

The baby boomers born and raised in that era are now for the most part retired and watching our social security payments come in as we watch our nation falling apart.  What happened to the great experiment? Why is it failing? 

We seemed to have lost sight of our forefathers’ vision that is gilded within the preamble to our Constitution.

When did our democracy start to fail?

I believe it began in earnest when our country began importing its labor force with stolen citizens of other countries while at the same time trying to convert or exterminate the indigenous peoples of our first nation. That was the beginning of our country’s downfall and when the fight to save democracy truly began. Our forefathers intended to ensure freedom and rights for every American citizen whatever their country of origin they had emigrated from. The affluent and successful antebellum society of our southern states capitalized on the cheap labor force, political control, and their exclusive religious doctrines, all of which included the subjection of its nonwhite and heathen domestic citizens.

Organized religion flourished in the 1950s. Before the advent of WWII organized religion was much more restricted and exclusive in its memberships. The 2^nd world war exposed many Americans to new religious thought from the soldiers who travel overseas to the influx of the dispossessed and refugees from war torn Europe. These fledgling new citizens brought with them their culture, their language, their rituals and religion and the browning of America began.

This boom in religious expression slowly created deep social chasms between white Christian believers and adherents of any alternative non-Christian deity.  A “high” vs. “low” mentality became mainstream in America. Catholic vs. Protestant, liberal vs. conservative, Republican vs. Democrat, capitalism vs. communism, hawk vs. dove, bull vs bear, free vs. slave; white vs. brown. Diametrically opposed positions in a country of united states that maintains, fosters, and perpetuates a political system based on the collective of conservative white male Christians that have the upper hand; seemingly a conundrum in our constitution that states all men are created equal.

  “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

                                                                                   ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

In our country’s early years, we witnessed the scourging and almost complete genocide of our first nation peoples; the rest were forced to become Christians.

We witnessed and encouraged the subjugation and slavery of all darked skinned people for profit, privilege, and power. Black males were given the right to vote in 1870, much earlier than even white Christian women who did not get the vote until 1920.  The freedom to vote was unfortunately only lip service on paper for black Americans, as intimidation in most cases prevented them from doing so. It was not until a 100 years later did the civil rights act of 1964 and the 14^th amendment provide a formidable expansion of the American black vote that could influence political policy and elections. This is changing America; the expression of the dream that our forefathers had, and one that Martin Luther King reinforced and died for.

The vote is integral to our democracy, we must trust it, or we are lost as a nation. The overriding vote of the populous is the will of the people. Every 4 years it is our elections that continue to hone the skills and successes of young democracy becoming.

The first democracy in the world is 2,500 years old. Our democracy is just 221 years old; we are a mere toddler in governing a country. We only continue to hone our success as a working democracy from the voice of its citizens in the spirit of their resilience to be able to adapt to a changing world.  We turn to our bill of rights, our constitution, and its amendments to this purpose; we have promises to keep. That defines America.

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.”

                                                   -Robert Frost

Unfortunately, with the greed, elitism, selfish pursuits, ignorance and strong held religious beliefs held by the lion’s share of Americans it furthers the divide between our American citizens. A divide over race, religion, human rights, and political ideologies as well the attainment of keeping of wealth, which happens on both sides of the political aisle.

We are seeing an increase in the voracity and exclusivism rising for the some 20% of Christians who identify as evangelical. They seemed to have joined forces with the legions of disgruntled gun wielding, non- mask wearing, confederate flag waving, conspiracy creating miscreants, rebellion bent so called patriots of our society who want a white, protestant America back at any cost. 

Together they both seem to agree with the tenet that no women or people of color, Jew, or Muslim should hold any office or garner their respect. Women must also follow the orders of her husband as scripture dictates and obey his commands. Make America great again; bring back 1955 when white was right, women stayed home, communists were blacklisted, gays were ridiculed & beaten, and minorities knew their place or else.

Unfortunately, the experiment with the MAGA rebellion has almost destroyed our republic and crippled our world reputation as a working democracy. Where did we go wrong? Why is this happening now? Why this specific time in our country?

Why?

Because of Donald Trump.  

Donald Trump became our President on a whim.

He was told by his early sycophants for many years that he should run for president. It eventually sunk in and the thought inflated his insatiable ego. With the huge success and popularity of his television show and financial resources, he said what the heck. He campaigned and to the shock of the nation and won the election… and became our 45^th POTUS. Nothing has ever been the same since. His ego went into irreversible hyper drive with a needy populous hungry for a hero.

He carefully picked his Vice President, a former Catholic turned evangelical, and peppered his cabinet with many right-wing Christians. He newly professed Jesus as his personal savior and created a Presidential Evangelical Advisory board. He started his playbook in Christian doctrine for ensuring his 2^nd term as president. He used the Christian radical right who was hungry for the return of a white Christian nation. They also believe that he is an instrument or vessel of God for a divine purpose for our country. Some believe his presidency predicates the 2^nd coming of Jesus Christ. In scholarly works it is known as Parousia, the end time prophecy and return of Messiah as foretold in Revelations Daniel 9, the 70th week.

There are many signs and the opening Seals as outlined in Revelations that predicate the return of Jesus. Many of these can be perceived to have happened that only bolsters confidence and radicalize devotees to anticipate what Christians have been waiting 2000 years for; rapture where good Christians are taken up to heaven and good Christian souls who have died will be reunited with their bodies for eternity.

There are many other signs in revelations, too many to list here but Trump is creating an illusion of fulfilling prophecy to gain favor with that large base of Christian voters. They want to believe that Jesus is coming back by 2021 and that Trump is a necessary evil for that to happen. They will stand firm and may even give their lives if necessary, to allow prophecy to be fulfilled at any cost. Coupled with many very real celestial and planet disturbances this past year which only serves to enforce their belief that prophecy is being fulfilled.

When an angry Christian mob stormed the capital on January 6th because of President Trump’s words and encouragement he became responsible. Some believe that he is “the abomination that causes desolation” that predicates the return of the messiah as foretold in revelations. The dawning of Parousia, the end time.

With Covid deaths surging around the world, it seems to be becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy as written in Daniel 9 that 1/3 of the world’s population will die, signaling Parousia. This can even make the hardcore cynic pause. This playbook was written long ago and not the first attempt to fulfill or interpret prophecy for personal gain, nor will it be the last. You must give the great manipulator credit; he knows what he is doing.

We must not be complacent, evil does not go away, it secrets itself in the hearts of discontent, avarice and illusion that still roils unabated across this nation. The disgruntled devotees of this insidious Pied Piper are enervated by fear and loathing. The defeat of their leader will only serve to bolster the indignation they now feel in losing the election. Like wolves they will retreat to their den to lick the wounds of defeat and foster more dreams of rebellion and sedition with renewed focus. Its difficult, sometimes impossible to hinge that which has become unhinged; when patterned neurons of dark selfish desires takes control, it creates an intemperate, unyielding partisan of hate and anger that can turn to an unfettered and unabated rage.

Despite the list of immoral, inept, insular, insipid, insecure, irascible, idiotic, indecent, insulting, insurrectionary, illusionary, insecure, insane, indignant, irritating, illegitimate and inexhaustible list of expressions to describe the golden calf that they have created from the own fear and insecurity they will not yield to the truth that they are being duped. Their bigger than life demigod has them hook, line and stinker; they will stand firm.   

The wolves had entered the city and were driven back. They cloister now in the backwoods, bowling alleys, biker bars, gun clubs, church basements and rabbit holes. They are supported by rogue Messianic churches who delve into the dark web of conspiracy, Armageddon, prophecy, and numerology. Their drums of discontent will be continued to be heard across the underbelly of our nation for a long time to come. Disgruntled, disenfranchised, uneducated, unhappy, the angry and the ignorant will be crying with bile fed revengeance for a rematch or more rebellion. They will double down on their ignorance and their embroiled bigotry. They will continue to drink the Kool-Aid and share their pablum of discontent as anarchists for antiestablishmentarianism. The orcs and trolls of our society will gather and prepare to implement plan “B”; they have not given up, they are recruiting. We still need to be diligent, there is no vaccine for this virus.

However, there is a silver lining. The serendipity within the uncivil war of our political system during this last election is the awakening of the real silent majority “the complacent”. The silent centrist, the fence sitter, the apolitical, the non-wave maker, the complier, the nonvoter, the trusting naïve, and the convivial proletariat that had the quiet and comfort of their non-conviction shaken to its core. The collateral blessing of Trump’s tenure is that he has awakened the true silent majority to the fact that their prosperity, happiness, freedom, and vision for their children’s future depends on every one of our votes, it cannot be taken for granted.

Complacency is not an option for a working democracy, it is its nemesis and a political cancer. We can NEVER get this close to insurrection again. Engage with our elect. They are our representatives and our voice. Vote.

Is it possible that I may be too fortunate in life?  I am not rich by any stretch, but I have worked hard and saved a little.  I just do not understand what is so bad about this country from the MAGA perspective?  What is so bad? What is so intolerable in their lives that they are so ANGRY? Angry enough for murder, insurrection, loss of relationships with family and friends, as well as a very real threat of federal prison? 

If the economy is so bad, jobs are so scarce, and conditions so awful how can protesters afford to fly across the country, buy expensive guns and stocks of ammo?  How can they buy expensive motorcycles, ATV’s, boats, jet skis, RV’s, and monster trucks?  They enjoy their pit bulls & gun ranges, long beards & beer bongs, pipe bombs & potato guns, splat ball & cockfights, ass kicking & strip clubs, cross burning, & lynching, name calling, mayhem, madness, and murder. They can have long hair with red necks, sport mullets in leisure suits, they come in skinheads, jarheads, and talking heads, they smoke pot and drink moonshine, gray haired men dressed in gray suits, and peace officers who wear a hood. Demographically they are primarily white Christian, poorly educated lower middle-class male bullies who fueled by their own Freudian anatomical deficiencies attempt to stimulate the expression of testosterone with bravado and aggression. 

A particularly unstable, volatile, and unsavory group of individuals who are all hungry for a scapegoat, a whipping boy and convenient pariah to be dealt with. To be able to express their bravado, defeat their self-hatred/self-doubt they must muster up their testosterone to steroidal levels so high that it activates the limbic system, and their lizard brain responds and activates accordingly with eat or be eaten.  So many little boys in a big man’s body is frightening.

Then we have the evangelical religious right.  Literal interpretation of the bible is their strength, following its dictates as written is their shield and portion be; they are on fire for Jesus; on fire to save others and on fire to prepare for the rapture. They will do almost anything to prepare the way and be ready for the 2nd coming.

Then we have the political right that is losing their identity, their political panache and respect. They are losing many long-standing historical positions held in the annals of our government since its inception. The vestiges of antebellum reconstructionism morphed underground with seeds of discontent and continue to foment to this day ideologies of a white America with its age-old traditional values and Christian ideals. This has created a plethora of hate groups that are united by the internet; gaining more support as the browning of America continues.

Trump supporters and loyalists can come from any of these groups and the election has brought them all together to drink from the same well. They are not a cult with blind allegiance to all the rules as outlined by their leader. There are no rules, he is no leader, only their image of a hero. That is his secret. He adopts their grievances, their religious beliefs, their vision for America and makes it his own.  Blind with hope and hatred they do not see his cunning and he becomes their God’s chosen one and leader of their dreams; nothing can convince them otherwise.

The great experiment known as America is evolving with time to become an amalgamation of the world, a microcosm of the macrocosm of the inhabitants of this planet. The United States is more ethnically diverse than anywhere else in the world and growing more so every day.  Many underprivileged/poorly educated white protestant males, as well as some Harvard and West Point graduates still want the America that their Daddy’s held so dear. A country of white privilege. They are still holding on to the notion that white male superiority is the only salvo for this country; it is a man’s world, run by men, good Christian white men. To think otherwise is unpatriotic. 

With the election of a black president in the white house the embers of discontent began to rekindle with earnest in the backwoods of our nation. Jim Crow again was enervated by scores of knuckle draggers who were gobsmacked with unbelief, fear, and anger that we had a black president.  He threw down his barrel of cheeseballs, inserted a large pinch of Copenhagen into his angered mouth, turned on his computer and sent a mass email to all his black hearted constituents with a cc to old Scratch; It has begun. 

Obama finally leaves office. God forbid we get another minority in his place, a Jew, a gay liberal or worse yet a woman for president. The plan to install the great white hope ensued and the progeny of the good old boys of our political system found a willing ego-filled pathological narcissist who took the bait. Tell me what you want, and I will become that leader. Beyond all rational odds and a naive/complacent voting populace in America he won the election as 45^th POTUS and the spiral to insurrection began.

This was the beginnings of a renewed helter skelter that was ignited and fomented by prejudice and the embedded racial superiority in our country. Their poison is robustly infiltrating our populace that a deep state exists with a dark and decadent and Godless agenda that is threatening to destroy our country. This belief is touted by many cadres of white discontented “patriots” in this country as well as extreme evangelical messianic cults.  Together the form a bizarre amalgamation of alternate realities and unalterable thinking These two groups together synergize their hate and envy that combines into a force to be reckoned with. They have heavily infiltrated the Republican party into the unrecognizable grand old party that we see today.

In four years with the Trump administration, a portion of our society has degraded into a society of freelance hooligans fanned and agitated to aggression by their great white hope who promises to make America white again. With the threat of having a cookie cutter Catholic career politician as president, coupled with the potential for a woman as VP (who is black no less), their peter principle of tolerance reached the end of its rope for many far-right supporters.

Their only other choice for president was a radical right Marxist leaning aging Jewish man who had great ideas, but was just a little too old, a lot too left, and little too Jewish; an intelligent and well-respected man but a throw away vote the centrist and the NeverTrumper. The perfect storm was brewing for a rebellion in our country, an unheard supposition in our modern America. They had to find a rube with an insatiable ego to take back the country and foment rebellion. They found the perfect and willing candidate in Donald J. Trump and he succeeded.

But I am sorry to to Jim Crow but America will never be a White America again; the horse is out of the barn with our expanding diversity. The pipe dreams of a resurrected dying confederacy coupled with evangelical visions of a rapture in our time ended when our 46^th President Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20^th. There was no military coup d’état, no complete civil siege of the capital with the lynching of the vice president and speaker of the house with trials for treason that they had planned. No rapture for the faithful, no angry mobs clad in combat helmets and confederate flag capes of insurrection, no antithetical anarchists defending their right to be enslaved by ignorance attended the inauguration. It was a peaceful transition of power. Democracy prevailed where hyper hypocrisy failed. America continues triumphant.

The budding return of the grand old party of better days has been destroyed. These angry white men and their dutiful wives will still be angry and extremely disappointed that their dreams will never reach fruition. They will have to accept the truth that dixie is dead and Jim Crow is dying.  For the most part they are selfish Americans who do not want to share it with anyone who is not white. This is a bitter pill to swallow; to have their hopes destroyed that the South will not rise again, and Parousia has not begun.

Swallow the bitter pill they must, for our country will move forward into the future, more diverse and prosperous than ever before.  Although these antebellum vestiges of a failed counterculture of white superiority will be subdued and deflated, like lamprey and barnacles they will still cling to the underbelly of the nation far into the future.  Our country will continue to grow in diversity and their angry numbers will hopefully wane through attrition, education and through dilution of good character. 

Making no bones about it will take time. The troubles we see in this country right now with the insurrection of our capital is at its core a racial pogram of disenchanted melanin challenged extremists. They do not want to share their country with black and brown skinned people. Simple as that. It is not about politics, financial insecurity, religion, war, abortion, climate change, gun rights, the pandemic hoax or not wearing mask… or really even who is president. They will not be happy until white is right and black is put back. When we have daily Christian prayer back in school, the wall is completed, abortion clinics are closed, our borders our sealed off and school lunches will only serve pizza, burgers, fries and Diet Coke.

These insurrectionist slimeballs or even their politicos in a nice suit are putting a forever stain on the word Patriot for every proud citizen of our country. They have denigrated the once proud name of the Republican party that may take decades to recover from, and we need that party; we are both sides of the aisle.

Honesty and justice will prevail. Democracy allows for protest with our 1^st amendment, and our right to bear arms with our 2^nd amendment. However, it does not seem consistent with our constitution to exercise them simultaneously in a public gathering, federal office or used as a tool for intimidation and sedition.

They had their moment in the sun, their 5 minutes of fame and footprint of shame; this too shall pass.

I have faith that the American dream is not a dream, but that it is a reality. That reality was just confirmed at Noon EST on January 20^th. What we have just experienced for 4 years was just an awfully bad dream. Oftentime nightmares can indicate an internal disruption in our chi to initiate a different path to attain balance. This may be the cass here. The pendulum always swings with perpetual inertia both directions; it cannot be stopped or reversed. I am confident we are on a return to center.

I feel as though I have doffed a heavy rain-soaked woolen trench coat and I am standing next to Bon Jovi singing “here comes the sun” at the top of my lungs.  At long last the deluge has stopped, the clouds have lifted, and the nightmare is over; step out of dark, into the light and into the sun; E Pluribus Unum, out of many, we are one; thank God for 2021.

MC/1/22/21

2020 is Hindsight…Many people all over the world regardless of race, religion, culture, or country of origin celebrate in some fashion with a traditional ritual to bolster ourselves for another trip around the Sun. Last year on this day people all over the glove celebrated the ringing in of 2020 with hopes of a better tomorrow.  The previous year of 2019 with the mass shooting in El Paso Texas held the record for highest number of deaths from mass shootings ever. The country was still reeling from the massive carnage in the Parkland Florida school in 2018, the church shooting in Sutherland Springs Texas in 2017, and The Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando in 2016.

We became to expect mass shootings and terrorist activity as the norm in our society and although 2020 was consumed with mounting deaths from Covid 19, there were no “large scale” mass shooting incidents. Despite a drop in mass shootings our country still reported a record number of deaths from domestic gun violence in 2020 with many of those deaths being racially motivated. With thousands of deaths still not recorded from the pandemic for the year 2020, it still takes the lead for all time American deaths in any one year, now soaring to over 3 over million Americans lives lost in one year; the highest annual recorded mortality rate in American history.  

In 2010 the US population was 309 million persons with a death toll of 2.5 million people, < .8 % of the population.

In 2019 the US population was 329 million persons with a death toll of 2.8 million people, about .8 % of the population.

In 2020 the US population was 331 million with a death toll of 3.2 million people, or about 1% of the population. This is an overall increase in U.S. annual mortality rates by .2 % which is over 500,000 death more a year; more total US deaths in one year then has ever been recorded.

We are now entering 2021 with a boat load of death, grief, anxiety, hope and trepidation. What were your hopes and dreams, bucket lists and resolutions for 2020 that never happened?  Over the past year our country has been torn apart by politics and a relentless pandemic.  A nation divided by extreme partisan polarity in politics and racial unrest. Many families torn apart and are damaged in numbers that we have not seen since the civil war. We are polarized as a nation at a time when we have never needed more unity.

Not only are deaths mounting from Covid 19 whether from the virus itself or from the deleterious effects of social isolation.  We as individuals, as a family, as a nation, as a world tenant are experiencing an unbalanced planet that is wreaking havoc in our lives worldwide. The planet is one massive organism, our atmosphere is one massive organism, humanity is one massive organism. We are now at critical mass of inadequately supporting our planet and life on earth, even the earth is rebelling. We are in peril.

You may remember in the classic movie “The Never-Ending Story” when no one believed in unity, imagination or compassion and the world could not maintain its critical mass and started to dissolve. People are dying across this country from fear, apathy, and ignorance in record numbers. It is not only the virus, but as the old aphorism states: people are giving up the ghost. Losing the will to live at a time when the planet has never been so angry and vociferous with its growing pains. Like many of its people even Mother Earth has had enough.

Let us put 2020 behind us like a bad mushroom trip and embrace 2021 with a proclamation of resilience, faith, love, and comradery. Let us reclaim our lives, our modified society, our beleaguered country, and our exhausted world.  When Pandora’s box was opened it unleashed death and pestilence which covered the globe. In the legend there was one only word left in the box after the balance of evil was unleashed on the world. The word was hope.

2020 is hindsight. Full steam ahead with hope for 2021.