Perceptions of men as abusers, sexual predators, and deadbeat dads have become firmly entrenched in our culture. Schwartz aims to dispel some of these negative images by delving into the psychological dynamics that have caused them. Revealing the hard facts about how we view men and women in our society, this work explores why the gender war and political correctness continue to be part of our culture.

This work explores the psychological dynamics of the gender war and political correctness. Perceptions of men as abusers, sexual predators, and deadbeat dads have become firmly entrenched in our culture, Schwartz argues, based on bogus information and not on solid objective facts. Aiming to dispel some of these negative images by delving into the psychological dynamics that have caused them and revealing the hard facts about how we view men and women in our society, Schwartz questions the current gender war. This book will be of interest to scholars and students in the areas of psychology, women's and men's studies, social policy, child development, and family therapists.

"Political correctness" involves much more than a restriction of speech. It represents a broad cultural transformation, a shift in the way people understand things and organize their lives; a change in the way meaning is made. The problem addressed in this book is that, for reasons the author explores, some ways of making "meaning" support the creation and maintenance of organization, while others do not. Organizations are cultural products and rely upon psychological roots that go very deep. The basic premise of this book is that organizations are made up of the rules, common understandings, and obligations that "the father" represents, and which are given meaning in the oedipal dynamic. In anti-oedipal psychology, however, they are seen as locuses of deprivation and structures of oppression. Anti-oedipal meaning, then, is geared toward the destruction of organization.

The thesis behind this book is that American industry cannot compete in the marketplace because its organizational structure and management style has become pathologically narcissistic. The theory is illustrated with real-life examples such as the DeLorean automobile business failure. The author develops his argument by saying that American corporations have consistently shifted their attention away from the business of coping in the real world towards a self-conscious, narcissistic presentation of their own perfection in what is essentially a fantasy world. The tangible results, he claims, are striking - the Challenger disaster, near meltdowns in the nuclear industry and bankruptcies in private industry. Using a Freudian concept, that of the desire to return to the infant, egotistical state, the author argues that this is an impossible desire, that the pursuit of the "ego ideal" on the part of workers, business people and organization members in America can lead to all sorts of disasters.

Political correctness involves much more than a restriction of speech. It represents a broad cultural transformation, a shift in the way people understand things and organize their lives; a change in the way meaning is made. The problem addressed in this book is that, for reasons the author explores, some ways of making meaning support the creation and maintenance of organization, while others do not. Organizations are cultural products and rely upon psychological roots that go very deep.The basic premise of this book is that organizations are made up of the rules, common understandings, and obligations that the father represents, and which are given meaning in the Oedipal dynamic. In anti-oedipal psychology, however, they are seen as locuses of deprivation and structures of oppression. Anti-oedipal meaning, then, is geared toward the destruction of organization. This is done in the name of a higher morality, which demands compensatory love for those who have been deprived of love in the past by the father and his organizations, who should be hated and destroyed. The author looks at how anti-oedipal dynamics have played out in various organizational failures to which political correctness has led. These include the Jayson Blair scandal at the "New York Times," the destruction of employee morale at the Ford Motor Company and the Cincinnati Police Department, the self-destruction of Antioch College, and the forcing out of Larry Summers at Harvard University. He concludes with some reflections on the shift from Oedipal to anti-oedipal meaning that is represented by Princess Diana supplanting Queen Elizabeth as the national symbol of the United Kingdom.

This book develops a psychoanalytic theory of political correctness and the pristine self, which is defined as a self touched by nothing but love. It explores the damage that political correctness can do to social order. Applications include the breakdown of social capital, the financial crisis, and Occupy Wall Street. Long an issue for conservatives, alarm over political correctness has now spread to the liberal side of the political spectrum. As Schwartz argues, all have reason to be concerned. The psychology that underlies political correctness has the potential to be extremely destructive to social organization on every level. Schwartz discusses the primitive roots of political correctness and, through the use of case studies, shows its capacity for ruination. The book focuses on a transformation in the idea of the self, and specifically the rise of the pristine self. The problem is that, in truth, the world does not love us. This puts the pristine self at war with objective reality.   

This book develops a psychoanalytic theory of political correctness and the pristine self, which is defined as a self touched by nothing but love. It explores the damage that political correctness can do to social order. Applications include the breakdown of social capital, the financial crisis, and Occupy Wall Street. Long an issue for conservatives, alarm over political correctness has now spread to the liberal side of the political spectrum. As Schwartz argues, all have reason to be concerned. The psychology that underlies political correctness has the potential to be extremely destructive to social organization on every level. Schwartz discusses the primitive roots of political correctness and, through the use of case studies, shows its capacity for ruination. The book focuses on a transformation in the idea of the self, and specifically the rise of the pristine self. The problem is that, in truth, the world does not love us. This puts the pristine self at war with objective reality.