Episode 170: The Ratchet Effect

Tonight we're going to concentrate on what's gone down on American college campuses for the past two weeks. The encampments and the riots, purportedly in support of Gaza. These protests have nothing to do with Gaza, really, or about any genuine care for that issue. I'll explain more below.

The events on college campuses this week demonstrate the thesis of this show, that abusive Cluster B dynamics usually seen in the home have been scaled up to societal level. When you watch these campus clashes, you're watching Cluster B abuse. When you watch the administration back down, you're watching the abused spouse and children try to bargain for their safety. But you're also watching some abused people who had a hand in creating the situation that now endangers them. We don't like to talk about that when we talk about domestic abuse, but it's true.