Political Stigmatisatio Ignorance, Malevolence or a Nexus of Both; Tony Adams; Paul Merson
Political Stigmatisation, Ignorance, Malevolence or a Nexus of Both
While ignorance on the Stigma of substance issues in the UK is on par with Canada it is in the area of malevolence where the Maple Leaf nation lead the way.
The Paul J James circumstance would not have taken place in the UK nor the EU. The discrimination and improprieties would have been resolved nine years ago. At a bare minimum the English FA would have intervened with integrity. With smarts and intelligence. Humanity first and foremost delivered to the individual.
No UK politician would have dealt with the matter in the same way Bob Rae and his Liberal cronies have. Irrespective of political stripes.
The Paul J James matter oozed through every pore to have been resolved swiftly even when 2017 was already too late. Three and a half years of savagery later and still fighting for truth and as trivial to some as it may sound, my dog Max, before he dies.
The malevolence in not resolving the matter and instead the escalated evil of York University and the Toronto Star will remain untouchable, unforgettable and unforgivable.
Lost career. Lost family. Lost partner. Lost dog. Lost assets. Lost every morsel of dignity. Lost time. A decade worth of time. Isolation and uncertainty now worse than ever. A complete waste of a life time investment in a soccer career.
It was a choice to fight for social justice. Of course it was. A forced choice with no other dignified realistic option. That's the consequence of stigma. With the malevolent deliberate brand of delivery.
Yet still the Canadian psychopaths do nothing. Nothing except Mary Ormsby volunteering to rewrite the Toronto Star article. How can you rewrite evil? By volunteering to rewrite evil. The lengths Canadians will travel to avoid accountability.
Only surpassed by York University and Liberal cohorts scapegoating of mental health and addiction at a time of such globalized craving for transparency and respectability on the issue.
The quintessential act of cowardice. scapegoating mental health. You don't bastardise a persons mental health is the lawful maxim to follow.
It is why average good Canadians are afraid to speak and confront. The nations elite and hierarchies of incompetence lie, cheat, back stab and avoid accountability at all costs.
For a country who purport to be so progressive the Paul J James story proves the ideology is a promoted illusion.
-------------------------
The following two story-lines highlight the Ignorance aspect of stigma which has not been patented onto any one nation but all nations at varying degrees.
Tony Adams and Paul Merson are legendary former England international footballers. The following highlights ignorance not malevolence.
The story lines prove the enormous damage delivered by York University and their oppressors including the Canadian Judiciary. Stigma on the issue follows you wherever you live in the world. Justice served would have solved the problem. Justice denied perpetuates stigma, eradicates opportunities and ruins lives.
Justice delayed is Justice denied.
You should know. From October 1985 until the end of January 1986 I trained with Arsenal in the old English First Division. In the afternoons I would also train with the reserve's which included Tony Adams and Paul Merson who also attended the Sporting Chance Clinic. Both may not remember PJJ but I remember them.
---------------------------
Tony Adams
Back in February 2020, Paul Peschisolido wrote an email to former Arsenal and England international football player, Tony Adams. Having been at the Sporting Chance Clinic in 2009 - which Tony founded - I wanted to meet with him to garner support for the social injustice I had been fighting for so long.
Never met with Tony even after I sent him a respectful followup communication.
Instead Paul P. was given his secretaries telephone number for me to ring. Called. The secretary wouldn't connect me to Tony. Instead the person wanted to provide rehab. They didn't even ask questions. They just assumed.
Another breathtaking dead end.
More compelling was the stigmatization of the circumstance. Homeless. Hunger Strike. Unemployed. Living on Street equals in the eyes of ignorance, Rehab. One plus one equals three.
For the masses the ignorance of not understanding the "stigmatizing scaring label" applied to rehabs, adds to the problem. Rehabs are for the elite. The rich and wealthy can buffer stigma 180 degree's, not having to worry about being discriminated against or being unemployed.
Justin Bieber goes to Rehab it is celebrated. His stock value goes up not down.
Paul J James goes to Rehab and along with 85 percent of regular citizens who do the same you end up losing everything and a lifetime of being marginalized and unemployed.
In essence Rehab.... then what?
The conversation with Tony Adams' secretary lasted ten minutes. She could not get off the phone quick enough once I stated I didn't need Rehab free or not. I needed social justice support. Media support if Tony Adams cared about all citizens and not just his own social class.
The stereotyping, elitism and patronising was alarming ten years after I had attended what was in hindsight a surprisingly inadequate program funded and sponsored, in part, by the English FA.
A few days later Tony Adams was on television promoting his fight against the stigmatization of mental health and particularly substance issues. It summed up not only how far away from improving the circumstance we are but also the perpetuation of the problem(s) through wrong messages and approach.
Sucked up another body blow.
Thanked Pesch for trying. And went back to sleep at Westminster Cathedral.
---------------------------
Paul Merson
In the 2014 Request for Reconsideration sent to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, in point 249, I outlined the social, employment and public support Paul Merson received from the football industry and UK in general through his mental health transparency. Paul has never had to suffer a lack of work over his lifetime. Whether using or not. The support has always been there.
Below the following link of the Paul Merson interview is the public message I left in the comment section.
"Liked Paul Merson as an English Premier League player. Shared a subway ride with him back in 1985 when he was a youngster with Arsenal.
The positive of the interview is that it potentially opened up dialogue on substance use if people could ask the right questions.
The negative. It regurgitates too much nonsense which harms every one.
Covoid19 among much tragedy at least identifies what illnesses and diseases are and what they are not.
The learned act of ingesting a substance - at any level of potency - is not an illness or disease. Full Stop.
Nor is the learned behaviour of Gambling an illness or disease. Full Stop.
The illness disease model is catastrophically wrong which empowers stigmatization and dehumanisation of those most marginalized.
Substance Issues are behavioral conditions not mutations of cells. What is the remedy for a substance issue which causes distress?
There is no vaccination. Or pill to take. It is merely the act of stopping use. More advanced in understanding. The remedy requires stabilizing a persons use to moderation then building from there. Everyone is so unique with infinite environmental variables.
1993 Paul's first rehab.....a decade later Paul enters rehab.... in 2019 again....so much for rehabs success rate....and each time an irrational explanation why it will be better this time.
What will Paul Merson do/say next time? Call AA run to a church basement, hold hands with colleagues, recite prayers and receive medallions for being the pejorative labels, clean and sober. Carrots and Sticks in place of rational thinking and a humanistic approach.
AA is an antiquated cult of stigma on the issue which has served its time. Societies knew no better. Plus the establishment class could marginalise, racialise and politicise the issue.
A persons substance issue first and foremost needs to be understood WHY it happens and/or continues to happen; stabilise use and solve or mitigate the issue. If use continues and causes no harm and the person is productive then that should be the barometer.
Paul Merson and other "football/statused individuals have significant advantages over regular citizens because they have employment, finances and social support when they need it. The social determinants of health are in place for the elite bracket.
Being a regular citizen does not afford you such luxury which exposes you to overt discrimination prejudice and Human Rights abuse.
Have lived and continue to live that reality. And I did attend the Tony Adams Sporting Chance Clinic. It was remarkably inadequate following the criminalised punitive model of understanding. While the Counselor's James and Julian were excellent the ideology was harmful and wrong. Peter Kay the Chair Person of the organisation and leader was a beautiful man in spirit. His death from complications of use stamped the inadequacies of the approach. A person using Heroin in a stabilized non stigmatized manner can live to a ripe old age of 100 just like a person who consumes alcohol on a daily basis.
Until there is a break through in Progressive Politics on the Issue there can be no improvement.
Unfortunately Paul Merson helps sew the wrong cognitive map on the issue to the masses. It is ignorance based not malevolence.
I sincerely hope he continues to be happy.
