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Thursday, October 20, 2016

"An emotional complex of the American psyche"?

Thomas Moore writes "Trump" before the third U.S. presidential debate. In this Soul & Spirit post at Patheos he includes:
"At first, I thought he was an expression of racism, misogyny and all around ignorance and immaturity that afflicts many who are not used to thinking deeply and going beyond their own self-interest. I wondered if he were a symptom of our failed educational system that now concerns itself so much with STEM instead of with personal maturity and culture. With the support Trump has found I wondered how so many Americans would be susceptible to this dark infatuation that, for all the differences, does clarify how Hitler came into power.
The depth psychologist in me sees the society suddenly in the throes of an anxiety disorder. “Trump” seems to symptomize an emotional complex of the American psyche. Deep resentments, anger and frustration have been churning for a long time. Consciousness, awareness and achieving important equalities have a cost.  Through them we become more civilized and more civil, but the pain in becoming better people doesn’t go away. As Jung and Freud both intimated, becoming more civilized creates a shadow force that likes being dumb and self-centered."
Moore recommends ways for America to face this shadow and its accompanying voter rage.