The “inner beast” has taken control of Ohio, America

The comic strip character Pogo from 50 years ago had it right. “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Our own ego and self-interest are defeating us.

Ego is crippling. We think we know more than experts and can disregard their guidance. Former law school professor James McElhaney cautioned attorneys about letting ego—Mongo, as he called it—taking over, but his admonition applies to everyone.

Mongo is the inner beast that takes control and misinterprets whatever he hears, the force that would rather fight than resort to reason. “Mongo can cause a lot of trouble,” McElhaney warned.

Ego cripples our ability to handle difficult situations. Even worse, according to academics Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter, ego craves attention, making us susceptible to manipulation. Ego seeks to protect itself. It limits our vision and seeks to confirm what it already knows.

We lose touch with the big picture and with others. Our world becomes small.

Ego leads to what Franciscan priest Richard Rohr calls “mouthy certitude,” conduct marked by “overstatement, quick, dogmatic conclusions, and a rush to judgment.” There is much anxiety about being right and concerted effort to convince others how right we are. Examples abound.

State legislators pass bills that make access to guns easier when the people who deal with gun violence oppose those bills. How is it these legislators know more than law enforcement and the mayors who see gun violence up close?

Countless Americans have refused to receive the COVID vaccine when it has been proven by leading medical professionals to be safe and effective. What makes the naysayers so smart? How many times have we heard the cry of regret from a death bed over wrongheaded thinking?

So many Christians are certain the LGBTQ community is wayward and not deserving of the same rights as others. Conservatives—supposedly supporters of small government—support legislation that interferes with how parents deal with children who struggle with gender identity.

Why don’t legislators listen to the people in the business of healthcare, like the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics? Both have opposed these legislative efforts because they are detrimental to the health of transgender and gender-diverse children and adults. Do legislators know more than medical professionals?

Just as Mongo can create a lot of trouble, so can self-interest.

Ohioans passed constitutional amendments in 2015 and 2018 that changed the way state and congressional voting districts were to be drawn. Fairness was the mandate.

Great idea, but Republicans in the redistricting commission thought little of it and drew maps—despite criticism from the Ohio Supreme Court and the public—that favored their party. Advancing their own political interests—and their jobs—was more important than carrying out the voters’ mandate.

Each year, thousands of Americans die by gun violence. Polls tells us the majority of Americans want stricter gun laws, but that matters little. Legislators give greater priority to being reelected—which means heeling to the NRA and other extremists—than to protecting the nation.

There’s plenty that can be done without running afoul of the Second Amendment, but confronting gun extremists about reasonable limitations is hard work. And besides, why take the risk of not getting re-elected?

The world is facing a climate change crisis that warrants abandoning fossil fuels in favor of clean energy. Besides doing little to pivot to cleaner energy, oil companies hid for years what they knew.

As early as 1977, Exxon refused to publicly acknowledge climate change and even promoted climate misinformation. Exxon borrowed from the tobacco industry’s play book. Tobacco companies lied for years about the health risks of smoking.

Who could have guessed that Pogo would be so prescient and as insightful as writers like McElhaney and Rohr?

[This post was originally published as an op-ed in the Columbus Dispatch on July 14, 2022.]

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Jack D’Aurora writes for Considerthisbyjd.com

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Bruce July 18, 2022

Hey Jack! I appreciate your introduction to Mongo which I prefer to refer to Pride. There are plenty of Biblical references to the destructive power of worldly Pride. And I can also agree, at least in part, with a number of your positions taken. However, there is an obvious lack of references in your article to areas of Pride on the left. Do we suppose from this absence that Progressives have no self-interests or are you showing a little Mongo yourself?
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Phil July 18, 2022

Jack, well thought out article.

However, I do need to say you have selectively decided why experts to “trust”. There are two sides to each coin and as such you are following the playbook of the same academy you cite as credible and forgo any alternate opinion. Just last year, the Academy of Pediatrics banned more than 100 researchers and clinicians from the AAP annual convention for the grave sin of doubting the “Reigning Orthodoxy” of the day.

Why is the opinion of these experts in question and under attack?

Perhaps it is because these individuals have made the mistake of citing statistics like those from the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine that state “Childhood-onset gender dysphoria has been shown to have a high rate of natural resolution, with 61-98% of children reidentifying with their biological sex during puberty.”

I think you have wrongly made the determination that legislators, as you have done here, are only reading statistics from Trans positive organizations like the AAP and are then deciding to ignore them when in fact it is more likely that they have heard from both sides of the spectrum and made a determination after hearing opinions from each side. A few examples of true “experts” are those teens who are currently going through DE-transitioning and have stated, “I was failed by the system. I literally lost organs.” Why do you not fall at the feet of those who have lived experience in the ramifications of gender reassignment?

As for gun control, I do agree with you that a majority of Americans believe changes must be made and I too believe there is an avenue for gun control legislation. However, I would like to note that over the weekend there was a shooting at a mall in Greenwood, Ind. Unfortunately, three people lost their lives when the gunman opened fire at a food court. These shootings took place in a “gun-free zone”…a zone set up by legislation (Gun-Free Zones Act of 1990). Another grim example that, unfortunately, any gun reform will also need to be mirrored with “hardening” legislation for soft targets. A gunman should not be able to enter a school. We need more than “gun-free zone” signs and I do not think those of your political persuasion will be in favor of balancing hardening with gun control, and instead opt for outright bans of certain weapons as the only option.

I would also counter to state that the NRA is the weakest it has ever been. The organization has been pummeled by litigation and has historically low numbers of revenue and membership. Your belief that the NRA has a stranglehold over the political landscape is a testament to your own misguided ego about the situation. Instead, perhaps there is a lack of trust the Federal government will stop at “common sense” gun control. This has been shown historically as anytime you give the government an inch you will be raked over the coals for an additional mile.

Your article has a very “my way or the highway” feel which seems misguided. I would have preferred you left your own Mongo out of your writing instead these “overstatements, quick, dogmatic conclusions, and your own rush to judgment.”
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Kathy Wilson July 18, 2022

Jack,
This Mongo tendency has infused into all areas of life—“anyone can teach”, I know more than the doctor because “I looked it up on the internet”, ordered treatments by RNs questioned by “bedside observers”, the dentist drilled the wrong tooth(referred pain maybe), and we could give many more examples in all occupations. There appears to be a total lack of trust/respect for the training, education and/or the experiences of our fellow individuals. While I continue to search for the “why”, I must admit that I am not optimistic.
Thank you for addressing the issue and continuing to try to encourage critical thinking.
Kathy
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Bob July 18, 2022

Bruce makes an interesting point about lack of references to “Mongo” displayed by those on the “left”.
The concept of “pride” doesn’t quite capture the concept of “Mongo”. Pride is ambiguous — is it a virtue or is it something bad. Taking the right measure of pride in one’s accomplishments is a good thing. It could give you confidence to do more and better.
Mongo seems to touch on the concept of Dunning-Kruger effect. Ignorant people don’t realize they are ignorant. The more you know the more you are aware of vast extant of your ignorance. Those on the left tend to be better educated but they can still fall in the trap of thinking they know more than they do especially on topics they know little about.
But study after study show that those on the right are more rigid in their beliefs and more likely to retain their beliefs even in the face of strong contrary evidence. Those on the left are more open to revising their beliefs in the face of contrary evidence. The odd thing is that those on the right tend to adhere to their beliefs more rigidly and confidently in the face of contrary evidence.

I wouldn’t call this pride. I would call it ignorance.
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Jim Cowardin July 18, 2022

I do agree with the previous commenter that some points you take are agreeable. The leading statement that the “enemy is us” is completely true. But the only “enemy” you refer to is your “them”, the conservatives.
I guess like the progressive you are, you harp that the experts know more than the Founders of our country. OK, so how have guns changed since then, and how has government changed since then? How has human nature changed since our country was founded? Fundamentally, nothing has changed. If anything, it is the government that has become more and more intrusive into our lives and scares us more each day, if we are paying attention.
I know that many Democrat mayors would like more gun control legislation, but the data show that the places with the most strict legislation are Democratic-led cities where crime and fatalities due to gun use are skyrocketing. The prime example of why the second amendment should be left alone is the incident in Indiana, where a gunman killed and wounded a few people, before a civilian who was legally carrying a pistol shot and killed the killer. Voila.
When are you Democrats going to heed the data? First, quit calling it a vaccine. Vaccines prevent a person from getting a disease. The so-called COVID vaccine does not prevent any one from getting the symptoms, although it may make the patient less sick. This has been admitted by Dr. Fauci recently. And it is clearly the case without the personification of science saying so.
The rights of all of us as written in the Declaration of Independence are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I don’t know of a law that prevents any minority of that. Any minority. The minority does not get to define what happiness for them is and change society and the law accordingly.
If the majority of Americans want stricter gun laws, then how is it that you criticize the legislators that refuse to give in to stricter gun laws? Your argument is inconsistent with itself.
It is also a knack of yours to imply or openly state that the only ‘side’ that makes errors are the conservatives. Wow! I confess to you plainly that the conservative mantra is not perfect. However, the current Progressive leadership and policies are ruining this country forthwith. Period. A fair commentator would talk about some of that, and there is a boatload of examples to pick from.
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Steven Spring July 19, 2022

Great article, Jack!!! America is at the crossroads, and the coming election along with the presidential in November 2024 could very well decide whether she lives or dies a violent death.
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Phil July 28, 2022

Jack, wanted to follow up on my original comment to now state that the “experts” only two years ago stated unequivocally that a recession is shown by two quarters of negative GDP growth. Whether that is true or not, that is what they stated. This was used as a bludgeon repeated against a Republican Presidnet. Today, we officially have two negative quarters of GDP growth and these same people are stating the definition of a recession has changed. Perhaps it’s not that an individual’s “mongo” makes them feels right but instead the “experts” have lost all credibility because they waffle on their principles depending upon who is in charge. This is a common occurrence so it has become quite easy to distrust the elite class “experts” and instead wish to do your own research.
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