Comments on: Ask Dr. Helen: When Being Professional Means Being PC

By: Big Dan

Big Dan — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:18:04 +0000

I used to belong to ABBA, but I quit soon after.

“Dancing Queen” was all the rage at the time. I still can’t stand to hear it on the radio.

By: tanstaafl

tanstaafl — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 13:35:23 +0000

The (ABA) flyer, titled 10 Myths about Custody and Domestic Violence and How to Counter Them…

While working inside the legal profession, I noted how lawyers drew out & prolonged (and, thereby, exacerbated) custody disputes. For profit. That phenomenon probably wouldn’t be included in their litany of “myths”.

At an APA convention some years back, the main topic of concern (obsession, really) seemed to be how to keep the the “practice” of psychology/psychiatry afloat, profitably. Lots of meetings about shrinkage through telephony, the internet etc.

The ends of any organization (including Greenpeace and The Sierra Club) can become politicized into an agenda. At which point, you’re paying your dues to support that agenda, one not (necessarily) of your choosing.

By: gordo

gordo — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 18:25:10 +0000

I like the article because so often many of us fund these groups/publications without looking behind the curtain. When the curtain is pulled back we often see a small group of do-gooders and finger-pointers with an agenda. It really doesn’t matter to them if their agenda is supported by the membership, because they are right and you probably aren’t. The best thing to do is end your membership. Money talks.

By: Crafty Hunter

Crafty Hunter — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:55:21 +0000

The problem is an imbalance between the interest the ordinary rank and file, who are more interested in having real lives, show in spending time on filling power vacuums, and the interest agitated leftists show in spending enourmous amounts of time and energy on infiltrating offices of power in order to disseminate their propaganda. This has always been a problem for politics in general, not just for politics within professional organisations.

This suggests a fundamental reform for all significant organisations.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:45:15 +0000

I withdrew from the ABA in 1992 when they gave an award to Anita Hill.
That was at the same annual meeting that the ABA came out in favor of abortion.
I was contacted by that year’s ABA President who asked that I rejoin. I replied that,in the future, if I wanted to give money to the Democratic National Committee I would do it directly.
I was gratified to see that thousands of my fellow members also resigned that year, causing layoffs and serious cah flow problems at the ABA.
I have since personally convinced dozens of other attorneys to do the same.

We haven;t missed the ABA a bit.

By: Howard

Howard — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:58:00 +0000

I daresay Dr. Helen understands the general sense of the APA, but this is all I found on their Website about Zionism and racism. It’s from 1977, but appears to be still their policy in effect. If there is something equating Zionism with racism, I failed to find it.

http://www.apa.org/governance/CPM/chapter14.html

Zionism as a Form of Racism

The Council of Representatives of the American Psychological Association shares the widely expressed distress with the United Nations General Assembly Resolution which holds that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination. This political distortion of the meaning of racism is unacceptable to scientific researchers and professional practitioners in psychology. Wishing to continue to support the principles on which the United Nations was founded, and concerned about the divisive effects of the process of politicalization, the American Psychological Association joins with other professional, scholarly, and scientific bodies calling on the United Nations to reassert its ideals, return to its original goals and halt the destructive politicalization of its specialized agencies. In addition, as an indication of its vigilance and concern, the Council urges the Board of Directors through its Committee on International Relations in Psychology to continue monitoring the evolving United Nations scene and to present periodically to the Council a status report with recommendations as appropriate.

By: Larry J

Larry J — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:08:48 +0000

MarkD:

While AARP isn’t a professional organization in the sense of this thread, I agree completely with your assessment. I refuse to ever join or in any way let them claim me as a member precisely because of their stands on most issues and especially on Social Security reform. They’re trying to screw my kids and grandkids. I refuse to stand for it.

By: MarkD

MarkD — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:25:01 +0000

I’m tempted to send the AARP a brick in their postage guaranteed mailers begging for my membership. I don’t support their position on most issues, but the absolute deal-breaker was their opposition to any attempt to reform Social Security. I don’t hate my kids, why would I want to make their lives more difficult?

Not one dime, ever, even if it would save me thousands of dollars on insurance or whatever else they push. I may have a price, but it’s not one they can meet.

By: TheNewGuy

TheNewGuy — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 05:15:49 +0000

I’m an emergency physician, and I refuse to belong to ANY of my professional organizations.

ACEP has position papers on a host of issues, from no-nukes, gun control, corporal punishment, land mines, and any number of other causes celeb. They have multiple issues on which I disagree with their position. AAEM, while more apolitical than ACEP, has unfortunately taken a cue from ACEP, and likewise jumped into divisive political issues.

I have nowhere to go… and so I belong to none of them. They will not get one dime of my money to support political positions that I find abhorrent.

And the American Medical Association? Don’t make me laugh… they’re the worst.

By: punditius

punditius — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:08:52 +0000

I’m a lawyer who works for the government, & gets served the koolaid every now & then. I pour it in the flowerpot when no one is looking, or give it to the cat.

I am not now, nor have I ever been, a member of the ABA. At first it was because I was a poor government lawyer, & couldn’t afford it. Later, despite remaining a government lawyer, I wasn’t so poor, but I found that the ABA had gone left wing, while I was going right wing. They lost me totally when they began supporting abortion.

When I turned 55, I somehow wound up in the AARP. I’m not sure that I actually paid anything to join. When my 5 year membership expired, I didn’t re-up, because I learned in those 5 years that the AARP is just another collectivist gimme gimme organization. I miss the discounts, but not much.

It’s actually pretty easy for me not to belong to things, because I’m not a joiner. INTP, y’know. And as I age into curmudgeonry, I am less & less inclined to be a member of anything. I’ve certainly had it with the party formerly known as the Republicans, who will never get another penny from me.

I do send a fair chunk of change – a little over a grand a year – to the Army Aviation Association of America, because my father was a member, and they gave me a small scholarship when I went off to college. I wouldn’t mind being a member of that outfit, if I had the qualifications, which, regretfully, I never earned.

And yes, I contribute to the Boy Scouts now & then.