Basket Case Music Video

[Mood Phaneuf]

Oneof my favorite rock songs of all time ("Hello, I'm John, and I'm a rock 'n' roll addict") is "For What It's Worth," written by Stephen Stills and originally recorded by Buffalo Springfield. It begins, "There's something happening here; what it is ain't exactly clear ...."

That lyric occurred to me as I contemplated the ever-increasing number of stories I am hearing of young children with clothing and food "issues." Specifically, these kids complain that their clothing itches or feels tight or their food tastes or feels "funny." Reports of hysteria and throwing up are common.

These complaints and over-the-top behaviors often result in a diagnosis of Sensory Integration Disorder, concerning which there is zero hard evidence verifying the pseudo-scientific claims being made by diagnosing professionals. When they say things such as "your child's brain has difficulty receiving and processing sensory information," and "your child experiences things like taste and texture differently than does a normal child," they are throwing darts blindfolded. These claims are unprovable, to say the least.

I don't particularly relish the taste of some foods but will eat them without complaint if someone else prepares and serves them to me. Does this mean there's a problem with the wiring in a certain part of my brain? No, it means I am considerate. When it comes to consuming certain foods, the setting, not my tongue, dictates whether I eat them or not. When making those decisions, I take other people's feelings into consideration. (And by the way, a couple of my sweaters have itchy collars. I pull them on and force my mis-wired brain to get over it.)

Young children are by nature self-centered, meaning they rarely if ever take other people's feelings into consideration. To a young child, nearly everything is all about The One and Only Almighty Moi. Furthermore, children are soap-opera factories. It is an act of love for one's neighbors for parents to teach children that their feelings do not rule other people's behavior (beginning with theirs).

But many if not most of today's parents are not impressing that understanding on their children. Instead, they regard their children's feelings as valid, meaningful expressions of inner psychological states that they must strive to understand and affirm. In their view, failing to do so may bring on a psychological apocalypse.

Ironically, because they try to understand and affirm what is essentially irrational -- their children's self-centered and hyperactive emotional expressions -- said well-intentioned parents wind up bringing on one psychological apocalypse after another. (For the record, a child's emotional expressions are not all irrational ... only most.)

Because of mental health propaganda, today's parents take this stuff seriously. And so, instead of saying, at the first complaint of itchy clothes or "funny-tasting" food, "You're going to wear/eat it anyway, end of discussion," today's parents begin jumping around like manic marionettes trying to make life perfect for their little darlings. This is, after all, what good parenting is all about in the new millennium.

The following is axiomatic: When parents assign credence to every emotion a child puts out there, he will quickly develop what I call "Affective Basket-Case Disorder." He learns, after all, that if he acts as if he is having an ABCD episode, his parents will change their behavior and revise their expectations.

Under the circumstances, the child suffers because people who are driven by emotion are not happy people. His parents also suffer because living with a person with ABCD -- no matter the person's age -- is highly stressful. Invariably, the child's parents begin acting like emotional basket-cases, about which they feel significant guilt, thus further overloading their already-overloaded emotional baskets.

Yep, there's something happening here all right, but I happen to think it's perfectly clear. Fifty or so years ago, the mental health community persuaded parents that children had a right to express their (mostly irrational) feelings freely. And it has been an increasingly chaotic downhill ride ever since.

John Rosemond is a family psychologist and the author of several books on rearing children. Write to him at The Leadership Parenting Institute, 1391-A E. Garrison Blvd., Gastonia, N.C. 28054; or see his website at

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Ukrainians line up to get money from a bank machine in the western city of Lviv on Feb. 20. The country's political crisis has also created economic turmoil. The international community is expected to pump billions of dollars into Ukraine's struggling economy. Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Ukraine was known as the breadbasket of the Soviet Union for its fertile fields of wheat. Now it's just a basket case. The outgoing finance minister said the country needed $35 billion to stave off bankruptcy over the next couple years.

Some analysts say that figure may be on the high side. Still, such admissions usually send potential donors dashing for the exits. Yet one thing Ukraine has in abundance these days, in addition to political turmoil, is a long line of financial suitors.

When the European Union proposed a trade deal, tensions rose last fall as Ukrainians debated whether to accept it. Russia stepped in with a counteroffer of $15 billion in loans. The only apparent collateral was a pledge of loyalty to Moscow.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry strolled through the Kiev square where protesters recently ousted Ukraine's president, Viktor Yanukovych. Kerry promised $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees. The International Monetary Fund is also contemplating a loan package.

As one of the largest countries in Europe, Ukraine's size and its geography mean an economic collapse could inflict pain throughout the broader region and beyond. World markets got a taste Monday when they abruptly turned south, though many rallied Tuesday.

"Because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Russia's stock market fell, the exchange rates of all the floating currencies in the region have fallen sharply," Anders Aslund, of the Peterson Institute of International Economics, told All Things Considered. "There's a general lack of confidence of investors in this region now."

The ousted Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych, had dozens of luxury cars at his country estate outside the capital, Kiev. Ukraine has been plagued by widespread corruption and an economy that is near bankruptcy. Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Ukraine had no growth in 2012 and 2013, and the current turmoil appears virtually certain to force an economic contraction in the near term. Yet it looks like a lot of money will likely be pumped into Ukraine in an attempt to stabilize it.

Chronic Corruption: One of the first things Ukrainian protesters did following the ouster of Yanukovych was to tour his gilded country retreat outside Kiev, which included more than 70 cars, a zoo and a golf course.

Yanukovich "had one big interest as president: to enrich himself and his family as much as possible," said Aslund. "This was larceny on a big scale and he couldn't care less about the state of finances of the country."

"The Ukrainian elites have for years salted away ill-gotten gains throughout the EU while the authorities, specifically in the UK, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Latvia, failed to apply their anti-corruption and anti-money laundering legislation to stop them."

Oligarchs Dominate Economy: As in Russia, a handful of well-connected businessmen have built astounding fortunes and control a large portion of the country's industrial base, which includes steel, mining and gas.

The oligarchs have proved adept at protecting their fortunes and keeping close contacts with the country's leaders even as politicians come and go. Several were close to Yanukovych and may now have to change allegiances with his ouster.

The richest and most influential is Rinat Akhmetov who was close to Yanukovych and is the biggest player in the country's mining industry in the eastern region of Donbas. The son of a coal miner, he paid 136 million British pounds ($226 million) for a penthouse in London's Knightsbridge neighborhood in 2011, which was the most expensive property ever bought in Britain.

Last fall, Ukraine agreed to let China rent 5 percent of its territory for the next 50 years to grow crops. It's a huge swathe of land, totaling more than 7 million acres, or roughly the size of Massachusetts.

At the time of the 1991 Soviet breakup, Russians and Ukrainians had roughly the same gross domestic product at around $5,000 a person. Today, Russians earn more than twice as much as Ukrainians, according to the IMF.

While Ukraine has fallen behind Russia, it remains heavily dependent on its larger neighbor. As it neared financial collapse recently, Ukraine turned to Russia for the $15 billion bailout. But that money has been suspended and any future funds may depend on how friendly the Ukrainian government is toward Moscow.

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