On Demand
Coping
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Even if the current economy isn't affecting your wallet, all the talk about the fiscal crisis may be affecting your mind. Wall Street psychotherapist, Dr. Mary Ragan, director of the Trinity Counseling Center and one of the co-directors of the Psychotherapy and Spirituality Institute, takes your calls about how to calm your mind about the current economic climate.
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Oppty to enjoy what you have?
Really? So ALL the other important aspects and perspectives of the biggest corporate bailout in US history have been covered for the day (by a guy from the Carlyle Group, I might add), and we're into the "healing" section?
You're killing me, Brian.
Thank goodness Trinity Church is reaching out to the poor and suffering of Wall Street. uggh.
Maybe Mr. Lehrer can point to the past program where a psychotherapist was invited to talk about the psychological problems faced by people who see unemployment two or three times a year, or go home to a two room apartment that houses six people.
I'm struck by the level of concern by Mr. Lehrer now that millionaires of the kind who donate to WNYC are affected.
Brian said something like, "We don't think of Wall St. bankers as the types to ask for help.."
But, aren't they? What about tax breaks, corporate subsidies, golden parachutes, lopsided tax regulations, lack of following the same laws as the man in the street...? Corporate welfare? Perhaps they are in fact a little more the type to ask for help than we think?
As long as experts, such as your last speaker, will not answer the question about the reality behind the scary language, we live in a state of free floating anxiety, unable to problem solve the situation.
A city that is built on the worship of money mourns the loss of it?
as a banker specializing in structured finance i am feeling a bit guilty that i have gamed the financial system and now will benefit further from the tax payers who can least afford my firm's golden parachute. just kidding.
So. Constitution shredded. 4,169 U.S soldiers dead in Iraq for no apparent reason. We are also now at war with Pakistan as well as Afghanistan. My children's generation will likely suffer dire consequences from glogal climate change. The loss of respect of the US is worldwide.
And it took losing MONEY to get these people upset.
We're humped.
I've been temporarily employed since being laid off by WorldCom four years ago. I've been searching for permanent employment, but the rocky economy has made that a dicey enterprise. How best to manage the anxiety and uncertainty (not to mention the lack of benefits) inherent in temporary employment?
LOL.
KC, excellent point.
Here's my bid:
If you're part of an average household which has seen its mortgage or job or savings go down the drain as a consequence direct or indirect of this mess, then _YOU_ have my full empathy for the horrid wrongs done to you.
IF however, YOU worked in a large Wall Street bank or financial firm whose practices contributed to the current crises at any level, and YOU lost your job, your 401k, your multi-million dollar bonus, or something else, then I wonder:
are you a political conservative who has repeatedly supported the current govt and financial order?
Then, sir or madam, YOU may have only gotten a tiny fraction of what you deserve---the sort of ruin average people near and far are facing.
You, Bush & Cheney their crony appointees as well as their and your own political beliefs _CREATED THIS MESS_ so please note:
You deserve this "stress". You earned it.
A lot of people are alone on the street and it through little or no fault of their own.
The investment bankers had every opportunity to see and avoid the disaster.
This is kind of disgusting!!! not that these American psycho's are going for help, thats a good thing. I just can't believe it is a segment on wnyc. Sadly Our whole society needs help so that this kind of greed and hubris doesn't continue.
The phony free market economics that wall street propagates have been greatly responsible for health care being made unreachable for all of us never mind psychological counseling
It's hard to feel bad for the wall street guys I see partying on my street every weekend maybe they have to really suffer for a while so they know the meaning of suffering Maybe then they will show some empathy to the rest of the world
Revolting. I cannot believe, in these uncertain times, that you are wasting time and effort on those who fall from stupendously rich to merely rich. Count me out on future WNYC donations.
Well, as a student about to graduate college, I do see a lot of students are very nervous about coming out into the current job market, not just for the potential i-bankers but for all of us who are about to be released into a very tight job market with a lot of very skilled people. There are a lot of scary questions about where we're headed.
We are all emotionally tied up in our money matters. I understand that wealthy people are not used to the intense stress, worry, and depression that accompany the daily lived experience of most working class and working poor people. Every single day growing up, and at points in my adult life, there was general and acute financial instability accompanied by all the crises of everyday living that made it harder to cope with the underlying issue of poverty. My heart goes out to the callers in this segment, but I must say that it's making me very grateful to have the coping skills and humility that I acquired through decades of living my working class life.
Brian,
Don't you feel you should mention for perspective that the bulk of the comments are in dissonance with the thrust of your segment?
Isn't this the much-vaunted audience interactivity? That segment was disappointingly
tone-deaf.
Mary [9],
Thank you for that comment. It speaks for me, as well!!!
Brava!!
For the last 2 yrs, I've been saying this is not sustainable.
I'm a software contractor, that lives within my means. I bought a house at 40 yrs old, that I could afford; 1 bdrm, 1 bth.
Why couldn't other people do the same across all economic levels?
Do people REALLY care what the 'Jones' are doing/thinking? Get real people. Accepting a no doc, no down or balloon mortgage is just as much your fault as the jerk selling it to you.
Did you really think you could get something for nothing?
I'm with Robert here. I've never been radically pro-labor or pro-worker, but I'm a tad sick of hearing WNYC's coverage of these poor i-bank d-bags who now have to face reality. It is interesting to hear a small bit of it, but it would really be nice to hear about others not in the i-bank industries or finance talk about how this affects them.
I think anyone who is in deep crap in this mess has only themselves to blame. And if the companies and banks will be bailed out by taxpayers, then you know what? Screw the i-bankers and financiers who caused this mess.
I will look forward to all of the yard/stoop sales of these dinks moving out of NYC because they can't cut it playing fair. Hopefully this will make NYC normal again.
Yeah, I'm with Nick on this one. Surely, the relative anonymity of the internet might allow for a more, let's say, free-wheeling group of opinions here, but many of the callers seem to be making slightly-more-diplomatic presentations of the same points people are making here.
I get the sense that the fix is in; it is simply presumed (paradoxically, because this bailout is designed by the very same Wall Street-owned people who created the problem) that the bailout – in more or less its current form – is the answer, and all discussion flows from the "reality".
That's not good or inquisitive thinking. Or reporting.
Let's put the blame where it belongs:
Franklin Raines, Fannie C.E.O. from 1999 to 2004, had been budget director in the Clinton White House. He cooked the books at Fannie to increase his compensation (more than $50 million). Jamie Gorelick, vice C.E.O., was number two at the Clinton Justice Department before going to Fannie Mae. She made $26 million. Jim Johnson, a perennial Washington insider, was chairman from 1991 to 1998. He too, according to an official government report, cooked the books to increase his compensation and failed to publicly reveal how much he received.
They are the ones who need therapy. They're advising Obama.
Brian, Don't you see that segments like this insult large portions of the NY population? Mainly the poorer portions. I love your show but there are certain moments that seem pretty insensitive. Remember when Alec Baldwin came on and complained about the litter around his UPW neighborhood? I just can't feel that sorry for some of the people you commiserate with.
Let's put the blame where it belongs.
Franklin Raines, Fannie C.E.O. from 1999 to 2004, had been budget director in the Clinton White House. He cooked the books at Fannie to increase his compensation (more than $50 million). Jamie Gorelick, vice C.E.O., was number two at the Clinton Justice Department before going to Fannie Mae. She made $26 million. Jim Johnson, a perennial Washington Dem. insider, was chairman from 1991 to 1998. He too, according to an official government report, cooked the books to increase his compensation and failed to publicly reveal how much he received.
They are the ones that need therapy; but they're advising Obama!
"9] Mary
September 23, 2008 - 10:54AM
So. Constitution shredded. 4,169 U.S soldiers dead in Iraq for no apparent reason. We are also now at war with Pakistan as well as Afghanistan. My children's generation will likely suffer dire consequences from glogal climate change. The loss of respect of the US is worldwide.
And it took losing MONEY to get these people upset.
We're humped."
you said it.
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