Paul Ryan's Cruel and Ludicrous Plan

Paul Krugman, the New York Times columnist, in his recent article, "Ryan's Cruel and Ludicrous Plan,"  offers concluding comments about Paul Ryan's plan being cruel and mean-spirited, hitting the psychological bulls-eye with astute precision.  An effective analytic strategy for understanding psychological intent is to examine the social effect.  Extreme "cost-reduction" plans often thinly conceal the desire by many wealthy, powerful investors and legislators, to cause hardship and suffering for those "beneath them" financially.  Alfred Adler, one of the pioneers in psychology, suggested that people who experience painful feelings of inadequacy may overcompensate by seeking extreme levels of wealth and power, usually at the expense of others.  Their insatiable obsession can sometimes be relieved only by the mass deprivation of their victims.  Adler called this form of aggression "the depreciation tendency."   If we frame these financial issues as attempts to cause economic, social, and emotional harm, we might open the public's eyes to the real motives of some of their legislators.  If certain Congressional representatives have no interest in promoting the common good, at least they might be shamed into doing no harm.