- Know the “emotional blind spots” too!
The Blind Spot
This weekend I have been teaching a young person to drive. Like all new drivers she was focused on what she was doing and not how others perceive what she was doing or might do. Why? Well, for her, driving is a new experience and her priority is her own personal safety. After a bit of practice, we pulled over to get a drink (“non alcoholic” of course). After commending her on her progress, I introduced another aspect of safe driving. First, I reinforced that her navigation and control of the car was getting better and better and safer and safer. But, I also introduced the idea that she would be a much safer driver if she communicated better with other drivers. For example, she needed to work on “signalling so that others would know what she intended to do. She needed to communicate her intentions so that she and others would be interact better and be safer on the road. By increasing safety for all, she would increase the safety of herself. We then discussed one of the most hazardous aspects of driving – specifically “The Blind Spot”. The “Blind Spot” is a place where a driver can be seen by other cars, but cannot see those cars. A driver in relation to his “Blind Spot” is in a situation where:
- He can see what he is doing.
- Others can see what he is doing.
- He cannot see what others are doing.
An “emotional blind spot” exists when one cannot see the effects of his behaviour on others.
I believe that that the REACTION to activity on the Isaac Brock blog, over the last few days can be explained by an inability to see the “emotional blind spots” of other posters. In fact, to some the reactions are incredible and inexplicable. To wit:
@ renouncecitizenship: I agree completely. I’ve never posted because I never had anything to say. I’m posting now because I am finding this latest exchange of posts unbelievable. Petros managed to create the most helpful, informative and essential website at a time when the combo of scare tactics by the IRS and the multitude of OVDI accountants turned all our lives into a living hell.
And now what? Some skirmish over exaggerated notions of political correctness is going to sabotage this amazing endeavour? Surely we’ve all noticed that this is possibly the most civilized, well behaved, intelligent website of it’s kind.
It would truly be a huge self defeating shame if intolerance of self expression and occasional satire were to be curbed by poring over every word and finding offense where very obviously NONE was intended.
This is the rational, logical, reasoned perspective. Of course it doesn’t account for emotions in general and “emotional blind spots” in particular.
What is the Isaac Brock Society and where are we emotionally?
From my perspective, the Isaac Brock Society plays two key roles.
First, it is an educational portal. Almost all people (including many cross-border professionals) are confused about FBAR, FATCA, OVDI, PFICS, and other realities of U.S. Citizenship abroad. The research offered is as good (and in many cases better) than any other online source. I didn’t say perfect. But, I have yet to see anything that is consistently better. For those who doubt this, take a look at the resource links on the right side of the blog. But, what kind of people would take the time to research and organize this wealth of information? Answer, only those U.S. Citizens abroad and immigrants who have been deeply affected – to use emotively neutral language – by the conduct of the Obama administration. For many the U.S. Citizens abroad, the events of the last year have permanently changed their lives, changed their perception of the United States as a country premised on freedom and justice, and caused them to question the viability of remaining a U.S. Citizen. Quite obviously, as an educational portal, the Isaac Brock Society has the effect of educating a large number of people (including legislators).
Second, (and this follows from the first) it is a place where a lot of frightened and confused people seek and find emotional comfort. “Form Nation” is a leader in job creation in the form industry. It has created lucrative opportunities in the area of international tax and compliance law. It has now also created the need for a new kind of therapist – “The FBAR Therapist”. But, not just any therapist will do. Those who have not been personally threatened by the events of the last year cannot even begin to understand the “emotional fallout” associated with it. (Because they have not experienced it, they have an “emotional blind spot” for what others are feeling.) What I will call “The Year of the FBAR”, has affected my relationships with those around me. I am sure that it has affected many of yours. But, my point is this:
When one is in a situation where emotions run as high as they are, people are less likely to see things from another point of view.
Our personal “blind spots”
Many of us have “blind spots” when it comes to the emotions of others. This point is quite evident from various comments on the Isaac Brock blog. Examples are easy to find. But, an example as good as any would be the sequence of comments starting here:
The issue is one of trying to understand the point of view expressed. Again, I am saying “the point of view”. The “point of view” is a combination of experience, logic, emotion and our “emotional blind spots”. I have been told that, anybody who has been through marriage counseling will recognize this. What are the real issues that are behind responses and behavior?
What is the context for determining the point of view?
I believe that I am on safe ground when I say that the context is:
“The United States of America, through the use of citizenship-based taxation in general, and very specific aspects of citizenship-based taxation in particular, has launched an attack on U.S. Citizens abroad and immigrants inside the United States. The purpose of the attack is to identify them as being in violation of U.S. Laws (which were never publicized) and then not allowing them to come into compliance without incurring “life altering professional fees” and indeterminate, but massive penalties. Or to put it simply: the United States is destroying the lives of its citizens abroad who wish to be law abiding and tax compliant. Interestingly only those who saved for retirement and wish to be compliant with the law are affected.
Furthermore, the U.S. Is taking steps to enlist other governments to seek out and join the U.S. Attack on U.S. Citizens. FATCA anyone?”
If anybody takes issue with this characterization fine, but I think this describes (and frankly minimizes the situation in emotively neutral language).
Recent posts/conduct at Brock have been dividing us rather than uniting us. Our understanding of the positions of others is a function of our “emotional blind spots”. Former Defence Secretary McNamara, in the movie “The Fog of War” explained how the mistake made by the United States was a failure to see the world from the perspective of the Vietnamese. Whether we are dealing with friend or whether we are dealing with foe, it is vital that we understand the perspective of others. Our ability to “problem solve” with others is a function of our ability to understand their perspective.
So, what’s this got to do with Isaac Brock?
Although this has been brewing for some time, the fact pattern that seems to have been MOST responsible for igniting the controversy was the Hitler spoof video. The depiction of Adolph Hitler in a video was extremely offensive to some people and it had little effect on others. The particular “blowout” has its antecedents in earlier posts, including the the infamous “Bobby Fischer” post.
That post included a video of Fischer saying very disparaging things about Jews. I am the author of that post. I am not Jewish. From my point of view, the purpose of including the video in the post was to demonstrate how the conduct of the U.S. Government can generate hatred and irrationality. Now Fischer may or may not (to use the words of one commentator) have been a “nutbar”. But, he is clearly an example of the U.S. Government treating its citizens as property – and that was the purpose of the post. When I wrote the post, it never occured to me that the video could have been interpreted in any other way. But, I was wrong. I was wrong because I had a “blind spot” for the effect that the inclusion of the video, could have on someone who was Jewish. Furthermore, I can also understand how for some, the content of Fischer’s remarks could have been so emotionally upsetting that it would make it impossible for them to see the central message. Therefore I understand, how my “blind spot” (which was an inability to see another person’s “blind spot”) made it impossible for some to see the central message of the post. That said, I am NOT retreating from the content and the purpose of the post. The purpose was to demonstrate an example of how the U.S. Government treats its citizens as property. Even disagreeable U.S. Citizens like Mr. Fischer have the right to fair treatment.
So, what is the purpose of this post?
Let’s consider the recent post featuring Adolph Hitler in the context of his wanting to “round up” U.S. Persons in Toronto. Very powerful stuff! But from a purely objective perspective, how is it different from the videos about the banks hunting U.S. citizens abroad? The answer depends on who you are. The way we interpret things is a function of who we are. Who we are, is a function of our experiences. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What are the dominant experiences of those who might have seen the video?
Group 1 – U.S. Citizens abroad or immigrants who have unquestionably been subjected to a vicious assault by the U.S. Government. They (with justification) experience the U.S. Government as being a government of unfairness, oppression, unreasonableness and irrationality. I suspect that many of them feel a strong sense of betrayal from a government they believed they could trust. That is their logical and emotional paradigm. They understand that Hitler was an oppressor and they see the personification of the U.S. Government in Adolph Hitler.
That said, some U.S. Citizens abroad have been damaged by oppressive governments (for example Hitler) and others have not.
Those who have NOT been damaged by oppressive governments are less likely to understand the effect of a Hitler video on those who have been damaged. They can focus only on their own pain.
Some U.S. Citizens abroad may be part of families who have been damaged by oppressive governments. The Serbian community is an example of group that most certainly bears the scars of Hitler’s oppression. How might a U.S. Citizen abroad with Serbian roots interpret the Hitler video? I could imagine a variety of responses. These responses could range from one extreme (no reference to Hitler should be tolerated) to the other extreme ( a conviction that there is a parallel between Hitler’s conduct and that of the U.S. Government). This explains why some U.S. Citizens abroad are offended by the Hitler video and others are not.
Group 2 – People who are not U.S. Citizens abroad or immigrants. These people will understand logically why U.S. Citizens abroad feel oppressed and persecuted. But, they will never experience it on an emotional level. There is no way that they can. Furthermore those who are NOT U.S. Citizens abroad or immigrants fall into two groups.
One group may be composed of members of ethnic or religious groups who were so damaged by Hitler that any reference to Hitler incapacitates them from seeing anything else. In other words, members of this group have an “emotional blind spot” when it comes to understanding the position of the first group.
A second group would be those who are not emotionally invested in the oppression of Hitler, but at the same time, can never be emotionally invested in the plight of U.S. Citizens abroad.
What does the comment stream reveal?
Most comment streams are an attempt at some form of dialogue in the sense that people are talking about the same thing. What is striking is that although people are talking about the same set of facts (the Hitler video) they are not talking about the same thing at all. Although everybody agrees that the video depicts the Hitler’s oppression of a number of groups, all commentators are hostage to their “emotional blind spots”. A U.S. Resident with a strong emotional reaction to the Hitler atrocities has a “blind spot” that makes it difficult for him to understand how a U.S. Citizen abroad would perceive the video. A U.S. Citizen abroad who is on the receiving end of “U.S. Exceptionalism” has a “blind spot” that makes it difficult for him to understand how the U.S. Resident might react to the video.
Who we are is very much a function of our “emotional blind spots”.
How to deal with our “blind spots” as members of a community
Drivers must contend with the “blind spot” in their driving. Individuals in a community must contend with their own “blind spots” in relation to other peoples “blind spots”. The need to be aware of the “emotional blind spots” has nothing to do with free speech or censorship. Anybody on this blog (as far as I know) is perfectly free to say what they want. But, our job is to encourage dialogue and participation for the purpose of nurturing a common front which will make make a difference. If people won’t participate in the discussion then we cannot achieve that objective.
To be clear, I am not taking any position on any content. That is for each of us to decide. But, in deciding on that content, it might, from time to time, be worth asking the question:
What “emotional blind spots might come into play in interpreting what I am about to write?
A necessary step on the road to helpful discussion is to become aware of our own “blind spots” and the “blind spots” of others. As former U.S. Defence Secretary Robert McNamara said:
That’s what I call empathy. We must try to put ourselves inside their skin and look at us through their eyes, just to understand the thoughts that lie behind their decisions and their actions.
That’s the only way we can understand what somebody is really talking about!
The road is long!
Some of you have mentioned that our struggle with the U.S. government will likely be a long one! As I suggested in an earlier post:
@ Renounce……
Thank you for taking the time to compose this timely reminder. You have redirected us to that which unites us….our cause and our humanity. To me, your words reflect both a wise heart and a compassionate heart, not to mention a bright mind. A great gift….to have both intelligence and wisdom and the ability to express it in a manner that communicates such a clear message that most can comprehend. Today I am greatly heartened. And, I am inspired to reflect on my own blindness so that it does not negatively impact others.
@all…
Here is something a little different, but there is a corollary if you listen closely. It isn’t just the blind spots we have, it is also the inability we have to see the various shades of color. Not getting another’s perspective relates more to those nuances than just a complete blind spot. It is literally being color blind. I see and perceive something as blue, and you might not see it at all. Why?
I just heard this podcast as I was driving north today, and it got me thinking about the conversation here. I am stretching at a point here, but even if you don’t find any connection, I think it is a fun listen in and of itself.
Colors
Enjoy.
@Just Me, that’s a great podcast, and thanks very much for sharing it.
It relates to our problem perhaps as follows:
Expats have a large number of experiences that the US homelander does not, and thus it is the homelanders who are colour blind in many respects:
(1) Culture shock: The initial adjustment to a new culture in the host country requires a major adjustment. Even those homelanders who have lived overseas have done so in American enclaves like military bases and diplomatic communities–walled compounds that are isolated from any serious exposure to the host country. Overcoming culture shock takes a couple of years, and hopefully, the person comes to love and appreciate their host country: this requires surmounting latent Xenophobia that most people have.
(2) Language learning: This could be a foreign language or regional differences. Americans coming to Canada have a great head start with English, but there are nevertheless subtle differences that must be learned, and an entirely new political vocabulary if one wishes to understand politics. Learning a new language has been likened to acquiring a new soul.
(3) Shattering the myth of American Exceptionalism. This mean losing many of the cultural myths of American Exceptionalism. Saying for example that the US is the only country in the world that nobody is trying to leave, is just a sign of cultural colour blindness. Few expats could ever utter such a statement. The US is a great country in many respects, but having the biggest guns does not make the US the most moral or even the most free country in the world.
(4) Shedding of superiority complex: As an expat, a minority in the host country, one must learn not to have a superiority complex. The first thing that many Americans have to put up with in Canada is having the United States put down in friendly conversation. I still remember one of my first conversations with a youth pastor in Canada, who explained the Canadian perception of the United States–and it was not favorable (stuff like, Canadians are proud “peace-keepers”, Americans proud “warmongers”; Americans arrogance causes them problems when they travel abroad; Canadians however are welcome everywhere). You learn to be less vocal about your own cultural biases in such an environment, and eventually you may come to have a more nuanced understanding of the pros and cons of being an American.
(5) No longer a boiling frog. Some of the outrage at this blog is that we see nuances of colour that only a few people inside the United States see (such as Ron Paul). Like how terrible detaining the children of a Swiss banker is. Whoisit’sSteve for example expressed little concern over detaining children for heavy six hour interogation by Homeland Security. Expats are more likely to shudder in anger and fear, because they are not boiled frogs, at least not by the boiling water in America. The same can be said of dollar devaluation. The Swiss franc and Canadian dollar for many years have increased in value in what has become a secular (not cyclical) trend. Suddenly, thresholds that were meant only to rob the rich affect the middle class, such as FBAR ($10,000); FATCA ($50,000); FEIE ($95,000); Capital gains exemption on primary residence ($250,000), 8938, etc. If you tell a typical American that “the greenback’s intrinsic value is nothing and I’m buying gold”, he’ll laugh at you. The majority of Americans listen to their guru Warren Buffet who says gold is not an investment–institutional investment in gold is at laughable levels. Meanwhile, China is stock piling it. At the end of the day, the golden rule will apply. “The one with the gold rules.”
These are among the reasons that the American expat, now an endangered species, could have become a huge asset to the United States–but the cultural colour blindness of the United States has led instead to persecuting expats and chasing them down. Now, instead of becoming an asset to the US, we have become a liability, as one of the more outspoken, articulate detractors of US foreign policy. Hell hath no fury …
@Petros…
The “boiling frog” analogy made me recall a conversation I had with a little Indian gentleman, I met up on Mount Saint Helens a few weeks ago.
I met him hiking, and “as you do” asked where he was from. He said, ‘Tennessee’! I chuckled, and said, and “before that?” He replied with his whole history from his birth in a small Indian village to all the places he had lived around the world before coming to rest in Tennessee. He was an engineer, by trade.
He was now up in Seattle for a wedding, and just doing a little “ticky touring” around the NW. I commented what an advantage his living and working around the world gave him in terms of global perspectives as compared to the American who had gone no where and were living in Tennessee. “How did he find Americans views of the world”, I asked. His quick response.
“Oh, they are just frogs in well!” Which we both got a good laugh from!
btw, I think you misspoke. That link I provided was a podcast, not a video. I enjoyed it.
Just me, (fixed my comment calling it a video). “Oh, they are just frogs in well!” Who is “they” in this quote? And what was it that this gentleman meant by this statement?
@Just Me, an illustration of how many Americans who visit or live overseas never actually leave US enclaves: When in Germany doing a two-month Goethe Institut course, we visited “Mike”, my step brother-in-law, and his family at a US base in Germany. We were struck at how much the base was like a little village of America planted right in the middle of Germany. The commissaries had American products with German pilsners in crates. So a little Germany was sprinkled into a part of America. “How do you like Germany?” “It’s fine. It ain’t that much different than living in America, really.”
Some military folks got off base, learnt German, took German spouses and went native. But it seemed to us that the majority never experience the real Germany.
He was talking about the Americans he knows, and their perspective of the world. If you are a frog in a well, and that is where you live your life, all you see is the walls around you, and a very narrow perspective of the Sky. That is your world, and so it must be everyone else’s too. I thought it was a clever way of expressing the very subject of this post. How each of us sees the broader world is limited by our perspective and experience.
I was in Frankfurt for 3 years working for the Army Corps of Engineers until the Berlin wall came down, that’s when we left for Switzerland.
Those bases are like little American bubbles, and I used to have a special military ID to shop at AAFEES (American Armed Forces Exchange…), Pizza Hut, Burger King, the bowling alley, the movie theatre, listen to AFN (Armed Forces News), got go to happy hour at the officers club on Fridays (I was a GS11 and GS12, GS11 is equivalent to a lieutenant so I could get in). I would buy tax-free cartons of cigarettes for our German Neighbors. My 2 year old son would “let’s go Army base get Oreo cookies” because that was where you could get Oreos. It was a great life.
One interesting aspect was the housing allowance and the COLA adjustments. These were both income tax exempt. Many Americans working for the DOD took these overseas positions in order to save money, especially when the dollar was strong like it was in the 1980’s when Volker took interest rates so high.
The wife of a good friend of mine worked at the bank at the PX. Because of the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) between the US and Germany she was tax exempt in Germany, but her income was from offshore so she got to take the FEIE. That meant that her income was tax free, as was his housing allowance and his COLA. To my knowledge this gaping loophole is still in place.
At that point in time I considered myself to be an unofficial ambassador for the US and I always made a good impression with the locals in Germany and Switzerland. I was proud to be an American and often flew my American flag. That has all changed in the last several years and I haven’t flown an American flag since Obama was elected. When some native Swiss talks to me, I have NOTHING good to say about the US.
@confederationH
I like your bubble analogy. There’s nothing I suppose more morale destroying in the army than empathy.
@ confederateH, I likewise have nothing good to say. I don’t wish the United States ill as may have been suggested by a former litigator for the IRS on his blog. Unless of course, you mean I hope that China kicks the asses of the United States in the Olympics. I have shorted the US dollar, but it is not ill-will but just recognizing a financial trend (I am a dollar bear, not a terrorist).
Oh, and I am somehow strangely comforted now that there are four Chinese people (just counting those in China) for every American. Not because I prefer the China government over the US, heavens no! But China is the US’s rival in the world, and the US has become my #1 enemy (for reason that they think that I should be their tax slave for the rest of my life).
*I’m not sure whether to put this under the Golombek thread or here but there is always one group of foreigners that has cozied up to the US. Bankers like Golombek and other business executives and their big fat cat shareholders. There was a relatively good article by Michael Lewis a while back describing just how so many small German banks got involved in US subprime mortgages. In fact what you might call the attraction or better yet fatal attraction of European Business executives to do the United States really started during the dot-com boom. I don’t know if it is because American CEO’s make so much money and European CEOs want to get a piece of that or if it becasue European CEO’s think American women are better in bed or what.
I suspect pre 1991 people in Europe who were wealthy had a certain fondness for the understandbly during the Cold War for keeping the Soviets out. However what has gone on since 1991 is much different.
@ Just Me
Thanks for the introduction to Radiolab. I enjoyed “Colors” and I will be going back for more. I got the connection without the drastic measure taken by that other great Isaac. 😉
@ Petros
That was a very well written analysis of how America suffers from a colour blindness of sorts. I think too many Americans lack curiosity which is the spark which can ignite empathy which is needed to actually see the countless victims that have fallen beneath the relentless pounding feet of American hegemony, whether those feet are clad in Army boots or IRS loafers. It is my contention that psychopathy which goes hand in hand with exceptionalism and indifference increases entropy but empathy decreases entropy. I see the world as being in a high state of entropy (a chaotic condition) and in dire need of empathy which goes hand in hand with humility and compassion.
@Tim..
Do you have a link to the Michael Lewis article, or was that in his recent book Boomerang ?
*http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/09/europe-201109
Several critics have said it is not one his better works however, it is one of the only articles written about how the hell so many European banks went over their heads in American subprime and dot-com activities in such a short period of time.
*Another book you might want to read is the following:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Match-King-Financial-Scandals/dp/1586487434
It gives a pretty good history of the historical linkages between US and European Finance.
@Tim…
Thanks for those. I have not heard of that other book, so will have to check it out…
@Em
I am glad you liked it. You never know what will appeal or resonant with someone else, as there is no accounting for taste! 🙂
If this is your first introduction to Radio Lab, then you are in for a treat. They have some excellent podcasts that are endless fascinating, and I like their style of story telling.
I have my favorites, and I think I have downloaded them all and listened to some multiple times. They are good for the hours you send in the garden! (Hint Hint, @Victoria!!) I also like the fact that Robert Krulwich, and Jad Abumrad come from very different philosophical, religious and cultural back grounds and yet unite in these stories because of both their love of science, music, philosophy and the human experience.
Here is their about page. I am an atheist, basically, and yet one of the best religious sermons I have heard on the Abraham story was done by Robert Krulwich. I can’t remember which podcast it was, but I could look it up if any of that interests anyone here. Also they did a great series of podcasts on death that were beautifully done as unpleasant as that subject sounds. Bottom line, their stories always surprise and delight, and I have few that I have not enjoyed. Which reminds me, I should send them a contribution this year for the enjoyment I have gotten from them.
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