Achieving inner calm is a very difficult goal to achieve. First, even without the natural obstacles toward achieving inner calm: extreme noise, extreme stressors, extreme distractions, extreme emotions, extreme expectations, etc. America has become a land of cultural extremes in many ways. A short-sighted and infantile approach to many serious issues confronting individuals in the realms of health, work, liberty, property, business, regulation, education, political economy and many other considerations that affect everyday life, is almost always addressed in a highly emotional manner particularly in the various forms of the media. The clearest examples of hyper-emotional tenor of the culture this is the relatively high crime rates particularly in major metropolitan cities, the huge number of people in prison, the number and types of ongoing litigation and prosecutions in the country, the vagrancy, truancy, and vacancy rates in communities all over the country, the divorce rate and the disproportionately large number dysfunctional families. All of these factors indicate high turmoil. They also impact the intellectual and emotional development of individuals in a strongly negative way. Those psychological scars form the basis of individual character and it may explain why so many people seem to handle matters in a disturbingly childish way. This is not a professional psychological assessment. It is just an observation from an layman’s perspective based on personal experience.
The situation in America is compounded with the very high divorce rate, which logically leads to a high number of dysfunctional families and children with severe mental trauma akin to post traumatic stress disorder, except much worse. When young children live through a divorce, typically no one asks them how they cope with it. They are expected to endure the experience presumably without any serious consequences. Undoubtedly, this would be easier for the parents, but rarely is this the case. Speaking from personal experience, the effects of the break up of a marriage may not manifest themselves in a child’s life until much later, perhaps not until middle age. A degree or license in psychology is not necessary to make this observation. From a purely layperson’s perspective, many people have significant mental challenges. Some States demonstrate this with a higher per capita number of psychiatrists, chronically homeless, or high incidence of behavioral health problems than other states: https://datausa.io/profile/geo/los-angeles-county-ca#health. This is very interesting data that receives no little media attention, although it should receive a significant amount. These conditions are made worse with the prevalence of various drugs in the culture including opioids, fentanyl, and other controlled substances unfortunately too numerous to mention and too readily available. The prevalence of drug use in the culture is another important sign of imbalance and instability that receives relatively little public attention, yet it worsens every year. In a saner, healthier culture these topics would be front and center along with the state of currency, the savings rate, and other important indicators along with unemployment, low interest rates etc. It is natural to wonder why there so much agitation in the American culture. Why are other cultures like Japan more balanced in their official approach to things like crises and more apt to band together to confront them? It is not inherent in either culture. America once had more unity and cohesiveness. Families once stayed together, and individuals once worked their entire careers for one company as a rule not the exception. What changed? Why do so many people need psychiatrists in some areas of the country versus other areas? Why do people litigate so much? Why do people find it difficult to settle disputes more amicably? Or, better still not to have so many disputes in the first place? Why are so many people so extreme in their responses to life’s challenging events?
These important questions have a direct bearing on the Shinsei Method™ If you are an individual that seeks a different path than the one that the culture tends to make popular, it is necessary to face the challenges that cultural instability creates. It is not a mere academic exercise. In some instances, your sanity, safety, and livelihood may be at stake. If your particular views, values, and perspectives do not happen to be in lock-step with the socially prevailing views, it may be difficult for example to hold a job, not because of a lack of competence, but for maintaining an unpopular view. In a culture where people often pride themselves in having constitutional amendments that protect speech and ideas, there is a surprising level of censorship of speech and ideas. And, if stating rational but unpopular views is not feasible for you, life and existence then become a matter of deciding how to survive in the world as it is without abandoning those views, values and perspectives altogether. Without a significant level of self-trust, that important life decision will be insurmountable for all practical purposes. Inner calm is another name for self-trust. It is more crucial today than ever.