I never feel the need to vote until Donald Trump emerged onto the political scene. I still believe politics, like religion, is a personal matter which I spend no time talking about other than casting my vote. But current political affairs are apparently stimulating enough to trigger poem-like words on my mind.
American Shadow
With Joe Biden the American Soul pardoning his son
International, internal, right, now the left
America consummates her fall from the moral high ground
The emperor has no clothes
The empire is strong
Authenticity is nowhere to be found
except the macho man holding the last ounce
The MAGA Donald stinks all around
yet we choose to look away or beyond
for comparison with the depth of the deep state
his badness has visible bound
Lies, conspiracies and hates abound
what used to hide in the shadow,
thrust into forefront
what used to be the quite parts,
gain and amplify their sounds
White, black, yellow and brown
the melting pot stops mixing
everyone holds something that they FEEL they’re victimized on
we’re left with a republic of bananas
brandishing their skin, crosses and guns
The Jungian Shadow
In Carl Jung‘s model of the human soul, the shadow is the unconscious and the repressed part that stands alongside the conscious Id and Ego. It may contain positives, especially in people with low self-esteem, anxieties, and false beliefs, but for the most part it’s “the thing a person has no wish to be”.
The 21st Century Shallow
The 20th Century gave us the last batch of philosophers (Wittgenstein, Heidegger) and pschye analyzers (Freud, Jung), as well as cheer leaders (Barfield, Tillich) urging participation and the courage to be.
What we got from the 21st century so far? Crypto currency (Bitcoin), social media (TikTok) and generative AI (ChatGPT), exerting speculative, addictive and degenerative influences on human souls young and old. John Vervaeke, who seemed to be a great synthesizer of thoughts, caved to monetization in earnest. While Taylor Swift rouses the senses of the masses on the Eras tour, Waxahatchee can only reach the souls of a few at the local amphitheater… Where do the true thinkers and artists go???
The feeling vs thinking man
To cope with the 2024 loss, the Democrats seem to find solace in their winning the votes of the educated. The educated vs uneducated is a false divide. To me the line is between individuals who are driven by feeling vs those by thinking. A “feeling” person who can’t accept $9 per dozen egg most likely won’t dive into deep thinking of the invisible hands and economic cycles, but they can perfectly sense the hypocrisies and empty promises. The uneducated are not stupid. The educated are not wise. That’s what bring us to where we are today.
| Individuals | Educated | Uneducated |
|---|---|---|
| Feeling | ?% | ?% |
| Thinking | ?% | ?% |