The Cold War, now seemingly coming to a close, lasted 45 years (1945-1990). Discuss the role of self-fulfilling prophecies in American and Russian foreign policy during that 45 years. Discuss especially the Arms Race.

Children, psychologists say, tend to believe things literally. Discuss the following typical parental utterances and how they might function as self-fulfilling prophecies; discuss also if any of you heard these in childhood and have accepted them as Life Scripts ever since.
A. You never do anything right.
B. You're so lazy you're going to end up on Welfare.
C. You have a terrible temper. You're going to hurt somebody seriously some day.
D. You've never been a healthy child.
E. Don't let me ever catch you doing that again.
F. You're going to get fat as a pig, the way you eat.
G. You're just not as smart as your brother.
H. Don't touch that part of your body again or you might go crazy.

Discuss the following Game Rules as self-fulfilling prophecies.
A. "The poor you will always have with you."
(J. Christ)
B. "Jews make the best doctors."
C. "We will put a man on the moon within a decade."
(J. Kennedy)
D. "We don't have the money to build more housing."
E. "We will build the Star Wars technology and place it in orbit, no matter how much it costs."
F. "The masses are feminine. They want a strong man to lead them." (A. Hitler)
G. "All men are created equal . . . and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights . . . among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." (T. Jefferson)
H. "Someday we can abolish hunger" (various 19th Century Futurists)
I. "We can abolish hunger by 1995." (R. Buckminster Fuller)”