Honest Money

our and their shame

The reason why we were not told the truth about the cause of our handicap was the shame of our parents
(my father, Henri Hendrik Cerckel, a medical doctor, having done it on purpose,
my mother being too stupid to understand this result of her arranged marriage).

We are however also ashamed and the “culture” also. (1) (2)

Indeed, at our births, everybody acted badly. This has frightened us within minutes. We have concluded within those same minutes that there was something wrong with us.
[Interesting questions:
Something wrong vis-à-vis what?
Did we know at birth what is “normal”?
Did we conclude that there was no order outside of the womb?]

This reaction has been stored. The conclusions we draw from this storage, i.e., the shame, prevent us from acting comfortably with people.

This shame is “asking” energy. Emotions are energy felt in the body. Positive emotions are useful. Negative emotions interfere with [our capacity to enjoy life].

Our energy is wrapped up in shame. This energy should be freed up.

Our handicap is not the missing limbs. It is the shame.

Shame can make people sick, making them want to disappear, jeopardising their life.

People humiliate/shame us because we are monsters. (3)

Shame is not only with our parents.

It is also in the CULTURE.

This SUCKS – gloog

Therefore,

1.
nobody dares to make explicit to us that the thalidomide warnings of Dr Ralf Voss at the 30 April – 01 May 1960 Düsseldorf congress of neurologists (4) were known eighteen months before 27 Nov 1961 when our drug was taken from the market.
(I was born February 1962)

2.
after half a century, we still have to fight AGAINST (our and) their shame.

The shame explains why we were never (fully? – I didn’t yet receive anything) compensated for the damage we are still suffering.

Ivo Cerckel
honestmoney@maktoob.com
http://twitter.com/ivocerckel/

NOTES

(1)
Culture is the values, beliefs, behaviour, and material objects that together form a people’s way of life. Culture includes what we think, how we act, and what we own. Culture is both a bridge to our past and a guide to the future.
(John J. Macionis, “Sociology”, Prentice Hall, 2003 inr’l ed., p. 61 referring to Wolf Soyinka, “Africa’s Culture Products”, in: “Society”,  Vol. 28, No 2, January-February 1991, pp. 32 – 40).

(2)
Cultural forces constantly mould human biology. For example, culture is a key environmental force determining how human bodies will grow and develop. Cultural traditions promote certain activities and abilities, discourage others and set standards of physical well-being and attractiveness. Physical activities, including sports, which are influenced by culture, help build the body. For example, North American girls are encouraged to pursue, and therefore do well in, competitive track and field, swimming, diving, and many other sports [...] Why are girls encouraged to excel as athletes in some nations but discouraged from physical activities in others [e.g. Latin America]?
(Conrad Phillip Kottak, “Anthropology – The Exploration of Cultural Diversity”, McGraw Hill, 2000, 8th ed. p. 7)

(3)
If I used the noun “monster”, this is for the reason which makes you afraid of it.
Look at the dictionary definition
(a grossly malformed or markedly malformed animal or plant – Webster’s).
We satisfy this definition.
Ayn Rand gave the answer “for the reason which makes you afraid of it” to the question why she had written a book under the title “The Virtue of Selfishness”.
I do the same for “monster”. This puts the guilt on you, my dear reader, if any …
Any guilt or any reader? Good question!

(4)
Chronik des Conterganfalls
Tragödie – Katastrophe – Skandal?
http://www.wdr.de/themen/gesundheit/pharmazie/contergan/chronik.jhtml?rubrikenstyle=contergan
30. April/1. Mai 1960:
Auf einem Neurologen-Kongress in Düsseldorf berichtet der Neurologe Ralf Voss über die Nervenschädigungen, die seinen
Beobachtungen zufolge durch Thalidomid verursacht werden. Die Forschungsabteilung von Grünenthal versucht daraufhin, die Nervenschädigungen an Ratten zu reproduzieren – ohne Erfolg. Grünenthal-Forschungsleiter Mückter schließt daraus, dass es sich um besondere Situationen handelt, für die Contergan nur selten als Ursache infrage kommt.

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