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One of the most common, corrosive threads in our multi-generational human cultures and societies, is Approval Addiction, aka People Pleasing, based upon the fear of not being "liked". We avoid assertive confrontation with others who are judgmental and aggressive, contributing to the huge amount of hypocrisy so prevalent in our individual and collective lives. While many believe that an honest expression of their feelings would lead to violence, the opposite is most often more true. By suppressing our emotions when confronted by those among our families, friends, and acquaintances adopting the idea of Authority, judging and controlling us, we build up a "pressure cooker" of anger, which eventually leads to explosive mental hijackings, when we will say and do violent things, hurting ourselves and others. Even when the damages are reparable, and some are not, the costs are expensive, leading to most of the guilt, shame, and remorse which drives us into other self-destructive addictions, including alcohol and drugs. If we do not free ourselves from Approval Addiction, most of our energy and intelligence is wasted in life until we die, bitter with disappointment for not being able to make all people "like" or "love" us.

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