Blinded by the Riches

[DISCLAIMER]

Stop me if you’ve heard this one. President Donald Trump once said, “There’s even, uh, under consideration, a new concept where we give 20% of the DOGE savings to American citizens, and 20% goes to paying down debt, because the numbers are incredible.”

Did you receive a dividend check from the president after the Department of Government Efficiency, spearheaded by Elon Musk, reportedly was set to recover $2 trillion while actually freeing up only $170 billion in federal spending? Yeah, me either.

Nevertheless, considering the ABC model of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I’m not self-disturbed by irrational beliefs about this matter. Why? I acknowledge how little (if any) control and influence I have over spending habits of the United States (U.S.) government.

Besides, given my small ‘l’ libertarian leanings, I maintain that it isn’t logical or reasonable (collectively “rational”) for the government to drive up inflation my redistributing wealth. Additionally, I’m not blinded by riches, as some people appear to be.

For instance, on their 2013 album Return to the Golden Era lyricist Awon and producer Phoniks featured a track entitled “Blinded by the Riches”. The chorus states, “Blinded by the riches, fast cars, and fly bitches. Blinded by the riches, snakes slither, they[’re] dry snitches.”

Of this line, I’m reminded of snakes. Though I consider them fallible human beings, politicians are often compared to snakes, referring to negative portrayals of their profession, suggesting they’re deceitful, manipulative, or untrustworthy – similar to how some perceive snakes.

One remains uncertain as to whether or not Awon and Phoniks drew this comparison. Also, the irony of the Gadsden flag, featuring a snake and used as a symbol of libertarianism, isn’t lost on me. (No step on snek!)

In any case, I appreciate that Awon states on the track, “Only way to make it, work hard and take it. If success is the safe, then I’m tryna break in.” This is also my approach to personal wellness. Thus, I’m not reliant on the U.S. government to give money to me from your pocket.

My flexible use of tolerance and acceptance in this regard also applies to the admission of Trump in regard to using money from my pocket to fund his command over our military. (I guess we now know where those DOGE savings went.) For context, Trump has stated:

I’ll be supporting a record-setting $1 trillion in our national defense. We’re going to go $1 trillion—the largest in the world, the largest ever in our country. But no other country’s invested that much. We have a $1 trillion budget for military this year [2025], and we have tremendous plans.

This announcement was made only a couple months after Trump having stated, “One of the first meetings I wanna have is with President Xi of China, President Putin of Russia, and I wanna say let’s cut our military budget in half. And we can do that. And I think we’ll be able to do it.”

If that occurred, you may ask how the U.S. could continue a proxy war by backing Ukraine against Russia, or support a plausible genocide or ethnic cleansing by backing Israel in a proxy war against Hamas – which relates to oppression of noncombatants in Gaza. We couldn’t.

You may then inquire about how Israel could wag the dog of the U.S. by engaging in further conflict with Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and its foreseeable battles with Turkey in the future. I mean, how else could we propel ourselves toward World War III? Well, we couldn’t.

Apparently, the U.S. is taking a Field of Dreams (1989) approach to nonstop military conflict, “If you build it, [they] will come.” If we fund the Department of Defense by a magnitude of “the largest in the world, the largest ever in our country,” then one imagines that battles will come.

Still, I’m un-disturbed. Some politicians are simply blinded by the riches, as the rest of us put money in their pockets through immoral and unethical taxation. Alas, we may as well cue the soothing sounds of snake jazz, because we have little (if any) control or influence in this regard.

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As the world’s foremost hip hop-influenced REBT psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

Photo credit, fair use

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