Today’s political world reflects how our shadow selves can present themselves in ways that are destructive to our democratic way of life.
What do I mean when I refer to our shadow selves? Our shadow selves are the part of us that exist in the shadows of our awareness. They’re the dark spot in each of us that acts out and reacts to people and life issues without regard for the consequences. There are two levels to this shadow aspect of our lives. There is a personal level for each individual and there is a collective level that exists as a societal force.
Most of us are afraid of facing the shadow aspect of who we are, so we keep that part of us hidden. The only problem with that is if our shadow side remains unconscious, it’ll act itself out in our daily lives, to the end that we act out our darkness through our daily interactions with life and people.
Donald Trump is the personification of a person who is dominated by his shadow self, and he encourages his followers to live out their dark natures as he does. He gives permission to those who are attracted to his dark side to be as he is in dealing with life.
Our democratic way of life depends on our sensibilisation of what is required for our way of life to exist, develop and meet the needs of “We the People.” Our way of life has been designed to serve people and provide for them an environment that promotes life, liberty and the pursuit of wholeness. Our way of life treats all as being equal under the law, which means that no one is above the law.
There are some basic needs that exist when it comes to living in our brand of a democratic community. First, we must have the opportunity to become educated so we can participate fully in our political process. Inherent in our way of life is the need for all to have access to a public education. We need citizens who can read and write and critically think about issues of the day. We need educated people who can understand the issues that need to be addressed by our government and relate to issues that require our vote during elections.
A part of living in the shadows of our awareness is a blindness about what we hold to be true. Many believe that a white, male-dominated political power base is a given in regard to how we view the American way of political life. Many others believe that God created America for evangelical Christians who believe in a particular view of Jesus Christ.
The white-dominated political order
Over the centuries, white people have dominated the political order. They defeated the native inhabitants of the Americas and reduced them from being proud Indigenous nations to living on reservations where the culture and language of the Indigenous people were lost.
The white-dominated political order was also guilty of enslaving African men, women and children to provide labour and a slave-based foundation for the way of life of the dominant white community. Families were torn apart by their ‘masters’ anytime something needed to be done to improve the slave owner’s way of life.
Women were treated as ‘less than men’ and married women were viewed as a man’s property. Women couldn’t vote in the United States until 1920. In 1973, Roe v. Wade was passed into law, giving women the right to determine how to take care of their bodies in regard to reproductive issues. For 50 years, this was the law of the land.
Unfortunately, in June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned a woman’s right to have an abortion, and this was based on the placement of anti-abortion, conservative justices on the court by Donald Trump. Now, women and their physicians are forced to see their pregnancies through to delivery, regardless of any health issues that might present themselves.
Today, it makes no difference whether a woman’s health issues are threatening to her life or whether she was the victim of rape. Today, women have no say in the matter of their reproductive rights. And any health care professional who might attempt to assist a woman with her reproductive issues can lose their license to practice or be thrown in jail. Donald Trump has played a huge role in imprisoning women within a life of anxiety, with no options open regarding their reproductive health and well-being.
America in transition
Today, we as a country are in a powerful transition. The ways of the old white-dominated power structure are being replaced by the rise of non-white citizens. And there is a huge backlash against this change. The old, white-male-dominated order is being replaced by a new, more inclusive citizenry that reflects who we are as a national community.
And of what is this “backlash” made? Anything that represents the new order is a threat to those who are stuck in the old white power base. These folks feel victimized by immigrants; they feel that their God-given place in the order of things is being cast out, and they feel a sense of helplessness about their loss of power.
And their sins of the past—such as dominating Indigenous people, owning African slaves and women, and their mistreatment of various minority groups as these groups attempted to integrate into various established communities—are all aspects of their culturally based shadow reactions. These folks treat anything that is different from what they hold to be true as a threat.
The problems with Trump
In 2016, Donald Trump was viewed by a panel of 27 psychiatrists as being unfit for the presidency. They wrote a letter outlining their concerns about him being considered for the Oval Office. These mental health professionals were criticized for making such a statement without having had sessions with Trump, and many thought that what they stated was unprofessional.
Over the course of the past eight years, what was presented in their letter has been proven to be true. Trump is a sociopath who only cares about what he wants. He doesn’t care about other people. His ego has no boundaries when it comes to what he says or how he behaves. He, for example, stated that COVID was a hoax and discouraged Americans from taking vaccines. He would then, later, reverse his position on taking vaccines. He’d often dispute Dr. Anthony Fauci and the CDC’s concerns regarding the COVID pandemic.
Trump touted Hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug, as something to take for COVID when it was something that could cause serious illness and death for a COVID patient. It has been reported that his downplaying of the COVID pandemic accounted for more than one million deaths in the United States during his presidency.
Trump says things that are completely inappropriate, like “Who would vote for a face like that?” about another presidential candidate. He’s also a pathological liar. Trump began the ‘birther’ lie about Obama’s not being born in America, and he put forth the lie that Senator Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the Kennedy assassination. He’ll say one thing and then say the opposite, and he is oblivious to what he’s saying or doing. His thought process is incoherent. He supports the use of violence and the destruction of our democratic institutions. He views dictators as role models to be emulated.
What he does offer to those who are feeling disenfranchised is support for their feelings of victimization due to the societal changes that are taking place. He’s their advocate, their defender and their support system for the ways things used to be. His support is the glue that holds his believers together.
Our way of life is predicated on being aware and responsive to what we encounter in life. Anytime we find ourselves reacting to something or someone, we need to pause and identify what our reaction is tied to in our shadow self. Any reaction we might have is related to some painful emotional experience we’ve had in life.
A turning point in history
America is at a turning point in its history. Our choice is to either continue with a Constitution-based and principled government and way of life or become a country that is predicated on lies, delusional thinking and violence. It’s that simple and it’s we who make that choice.
Our responsibility as American citizens is to bring our awareness into the present moment, to respond consciously to what is required of us and to bring caring and kindness to our community. Our responsibility is to vote in elections and to bring awareness to our understanding of the various political issues that impact our lives.
«LECTURE CONNEXE» GETTING IN TOUCH WITH MY INNER TRUMP: Communications with my “Jungian Shadow”»
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