An Enemy Of The People

 

 

It has been written and I quote that Carl Jung has one of the most far-reaching and penetrating minds and one of the greatest thinkers in modern psychology. For example, Jung has researched ancient myths and modern fairytales in both primitive life and in modern civilization; in the religions of Eastern and Western world’s; in alchemy, astrology, mental telepathy and clairvoyance; in the dreams and visions of normal people; in anthropology, history, literature, and the arts and in clinical and experimental research. This essay will incorporate some of Jung’s personality concepts to Trump.

To begin, Jung postulates that all humans have a Collective Unconscious which is an idealized image. This concept suggests that we inherit, in addition to our biological instincts, an inheritance of ancestral experiences. These experiences are similar to the experiences of our ancestors and are inherited in the form of archetypes. The archetype is a racial memory that has become part of man’s heredity by being frequently universally repeated over many generations. In other words, it’s  a storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from man’s ancestral past,  includes not only the racial history of man as a separate species but his pre-human or animal ancestry as well.

According to Jung, the Collective Unconscious “the all controlling deposit of ancestral experiences from untold millions of years, the echo of prehistoric world events to which each century ads an intestinally small amount of variation and differentiation.” This racial past provides “a living system of reactions and aptitudes determining the individual life in indivisible ways.” Within the collective unconscious, in essence, these historical events transcend the experience of the individual. The do not appear frequently in normal thinking, even thinking of dreams since they are in a way antithetical to the development of ego consciousness. Notably, we acquire knowledge, and wish fulfillments which are built into man’s brain, in part, by the experiences of race.

The archetype is not necessary isolated within the collective unconscious. Thus, the archetype for hero is the archetype of a wise old man that may blend together to produce a conception of the philosopher king which is a person who is to be revered  because he is both a hero leader and wise seer. However there can be a fusion of the demon and hero archetypes. When this fusion happens, we wind up with a satanic or demon leader.  Archetypes in the collective unconscious that have been identified include power. This archetype contains a large amount of emotion; predispositions, perceptions; being fascinated by power and the desire to create and control power.  I’m going to add the complexes of possession and prestige along with power. This results in the development of a personality that is motivated with the tendency to dominate or control, to humiliate and to deprive others without concern for the welfare of others. This essentially means the desire of loosening contact with others while fortifying one’s own position.

The striving for obtaining power, prestige and possession is to channel repressed hostility which can then be discharged. It also serves as protection against the danger of feeling or being regarded as insignificant. Thus, there is a development of a rigid and an irrational ideal of strength which makes the person believe he should be able to master any situation no matter how difficult or complex. It’s simply the desire to have control over others as well as over self. This complex or lust is essentially based on an image or predisposition to act based on racial memories, personal and historical experiences. This complex becomes an aspiration, an ideal as a motivating force for thoughts, feelings, sensing and behavior.

With that being said, let’s take a look, in our history, at some of the racial memories of despots that had complexes of power, possession and prestige and potentially a part of Trump’s racial history.  The ruler’s word was law and they conquered and exploited others. 1. We had the Pharaoh, the most important and most powerful person in the Kingdom. He was the head of the government and the high priest of every temple. The Israelite slaves built the pyramids 2. Alexander the Great invaded and conquered so much of the known world and took with him slaves in the process. Alexander is ranked as among the most influential people in history. 3. There was Attila the Hun the leader of tribal empires consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths and Alans among others in Central and Eastern Europe. 4. We had the Caesars. Julius was a Roman general and statesmen and is credited with the rise of the Roman Empire. He stated “if you must break the law, do it to seize power; in all other cases observe it.” 5.  The House of Medici, the Italian banking family and political dynasty. These family members even became religious leaders per Pope Leo X and Pope Clement V11. 6.  Ivan the Terrible was the first Tasar of Russia. 7. Don’t forget Henry the V111. He was known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage annulled.8. Napoleon Bonaparte conquered much of Europe in the 19th century and rose rapidly through the ranks of the military during the French Revolution. 9. Hitler, Mussolini and Franco were authoritarians in the 20^th century. Would Trump call the Nazi soldiers suckers and Hitler a loser or is it just our American soldiers? Currently, at the conscious level, we have Trump admiring the authoritarian Putin, his power, control, and perhaps the richest man in the world.

Let’s turn to Trump’s racial history and man’s exploitation of man in our country. Our country was founded on racism. Black skinned people were not counted as whole people. They were slaves and property of the wealthy. The entire populace was not entitled to vote for Senators or for the president. The white wealthy were fearful that the commoners would take the power. Slavery was important for the economic development in the Confederate states. With the 13^th amendment, the slaves were free providing they didn’t commit a crime. If they committed a crime, they were slaves again. In fact they were slave patrols that searched for slaves to incarcerate and criminalize. In the north, police were formed to deal with immigrants, workers demanding rights and to control blacks. Blacks were characterized as amoral, violent, uncivilized, asocial, non- intelligent and not worthy human beings but subhuman beings.

Slave patrols and police were in charge to keep the peace and deploy any tactics without consequences for their actions. While this was going on, women were not allowed to vote until the 19^th amendment. Democracy defined as a form of government in which the people have the authority to choose their governing legislation has been under attack by the white ruling party. There has been gerrymandering, voter questionnaires and tests, limiting voting places, decreasing voting hours and numerous rules restricting eligibility to vote. In essence, racism, slavery, police brutality, lack of a democracy is not new in our history but part of Trump’s racial memory.

Let me add that Trump’s father, who denied his German heritage, in 1927, was seen at a KKK rally in New York. He was investigated by the U.S. Senate committee for profiteering in 1954 and again by the state of New York in 1966. Donald became the president of his father’s real estate business in 1971 .They were sued by the US Justice Department’s civil rights division for violating the fair housing act of 1973.Years  later Fred conducted fraud to benefit Donald and then  suffered from Alzheimer’s. His worth exceeded a billion dollars. He then transferred the majority of his buildings to his surviving children who sold them in 2004 for over 16 times the previously declared worth. They effectively dodged hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes.  On a side note, Fred’s father died in 1918 from the flu pandemic.

Fred’s father, Frederick, Sr.  was banished from Bavaria for dodging the draft. Donald also dodged the Vietnam draft with his so-called phantom bone spurs. Donald also told his son Donald Jr. that he’d be disinherited if he entered the military. Does that history suggests that there are no suckers and losers in the Trump family? Moreover, Donald’s disparaging remarks and negative feelings regarding John McCain and other heroes suggest, along with the military history of his family, that he is not at all patriotic.

Trump had a racial history of ruling individuals of great wealth, called Titans of industry. They included Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, John D Rockefeller, Henry Ford and others. Further, we have had political family dynasties such as Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt; John, Jackie, Robert, Ted, Rose and Joseph Kennedy and the George H. and George W. Bush family. They had power, prestige and possessions and are part of consciousness.

Jung wrote about the Persona archetype. The persona is a mask which is worn by the person in response to the demands of social convention and tradition as well as to his own inner archetypal needs. It’s a role assigned to him by society or aspects of it, in part, what society expects him to play in life. The purpose of this mask is to make a definite impression on others which might or might not conceal the real nature of the person. It is been said that Trump has been brutal and sadistic with his children in person. He only appears non-aggressive, or non- sadistic when he interacts, in front of the camera, with authoritarian leaders. What lies underneath Trumps persona?  Which is the real and authentic Trump?

Jung described the Shadow archetype as the animal instinct which man inherited in his evolution from lower forms of life. It’s the animal side or dark side of man’s unconscious.  Shadow is a highly personal creation, in our unconscious of our specific personality trends. It reflects the universals of human experience and is personal for everyone.

It’s the archetype that’s responsible for man’s conception of original sin and when it’s projected outward, it becomes the devil or an enemy. It’s also responsible for socially reprehensible thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Employing the collective unconscious, archetypes of power, possession, prestige, persona and shadow to Trump, we have a ruthless asocial, exploitative driven evil personality.  It’s not a surprise that Trump’s behavior is amoral, racist, lawless and ruthless in his drive to retain the power of the presidency.

Some of his anti-democratic amoral policies have included: 1. Firing of inspector generals, staff members, FBI, intelligence individuals etc. that do not obey him 2. Disregarding subpoenas for self and others 3. A quid pro quo with Ukrainian government 4. Colluding with Russia in the 2016 and in the 2020 presidential vote 5. Secretive meetings with Putin and other authoritarian dictators 6. Withholding tax returns 7. Interfering with the objectivity of CDC, FDA and other government agencies 8. Mishandling and lying about Coved- 19 as if American death rate is acceptable 9. Supporting white supremacist groups over Black Lives Matter 10. Perpetuating racial division 11. Exonerating police regardless of circumstances. 12. Suppressing the vote by dismantling US Post Office operations and spreading false lies that mail-in voting is fraud. 

Employing the concepts of Jung, we get a view into Donald’s personality. With the racial history of the world, the racial history of United States and family history, we have a background of the driving forces of power, possession and prestige for Donald’s ideal and wish fulfilment. His striving for power, possession and prestige archetype is so dominant that it smothers and interferes with developing a more human personality. Therefore, his personality is not integrated, healthy nor able to optimally progress and develop. He lacks individuation. Individuation is necessary to create an ideal goal of perfect wholeness (selfhood) as in the Mandala symbol. Instead, he remains a crippled neurotic. He is like the Devil in that he is evil, hostile and destructive.  He says he’s the greatest Pres.; should be on Mount Rushmore; more intelligent than the general’s; might not leave office; fake news on stations other than Fox; are just some of the things that this despot has expressed based on his ruthless attempt to retain power. This is who he is. He should be taken seriously.