The United Psychological States of America
The body politic is at vehement war with itself, and a peaceful resolution can only come through mutual understanding.
I spent the majority of the election refraining from political commentary. Because our country is so bitterly divided, I ran the risk of alienating some of my followers. But because we’re living in a time of practically unprecedented polarization—a highly dangerous situation—and because I’m interested in the healing of schisms, I can’t help but communicate some of my thoughts post-election.
Thus begins our Declaration of InTERdependence: “I hold these truths to be self-evident, that all voters are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain psychological traits that predispose them to certain political propensities, and that the various psycho-political types fundamentally depend upon one another…”
As I get older, I discover hues of purple inside me that I didn’t know existed (I grew up in a very liberal household). I believe that deep down, perhaps unconsciously, we are all more purple than we care to admit, neither exclusively “blueberry” nor exclusively “strawberry” but a delicious jam composed of both berries.
I’m proposing that we’re birds containing a left wing and a right wing, though most of us, in our self-righteousness and moral superiority, think we could only ever use one or the other. The truth is that a bird requires BOTH wings to fly. In other words, contrary to what we are taught, different scenarios may call for different psychologies, which roughly map onto different political persuasions.
For instance, as Nassim Taleb wrote (this is not an endorsement of any political views, but a helpful example of drawing on different psychologies in different environments), “‘I am, at the Fed level, Libertarian; at the state level, Republican; at the local level, Democrat; and at the family and friends level, a socialist.’ If that saying doesn’t convince you of the fatuousness of left vs. right labels, nothing will.”
There’s a time for stressing individual responsibility (associated more with conservatism) and a time for stressing collective responsibility (associated more with liberalism). There’s a time for more ordered thinking and conscientiousness (traits typically higher in conservatives) and a time for more openness and creativity (traits typically higher in liberals). There’s a time for conforming to tradition (conservative) and a time for disrupting tradition (liberal). As Jordan Peterson points out, “You need the liberals and you need the conservatives. Because they’re both right some of the time, you have to have dialogue between the two sources so that the polity can orient itself.”
If you’re balking at what I’ve written so far, I would encourage you to examine your social media algorithm and make sure you’ve subscribed to the smartest thinkers on both ends of the political spectrum. Until you can “steel man” the arguments of the opposing team, which means you can place yourself in their shoes and create a version of their arguments that’s even stronger than their own, then you cannot really empathize with them and thus, political healing will never be possible. As Charles Eisenstein said recently, “You think you understand the other person, but have you really stepped into their world?”
Part of the reason I’m so interested in this topic is that I’ve been forced to come to terms with the different parts of my own personality, many of which came alive in a destructive way during my spiritual awakening/psychological breakdown. As part of my rollercoaster “reality rupture,” I inhabited many of the shadow sides of the different psychological states that make up the political spectrum in its entirety.
As a conspiracy theorist, I identified with the right. As a victim of “the system,” I identified with the left. As an empath with razor thin boundaries, I identified with whatever political ideology was being spouted at me.
In order to heal, I had to claim these different shadow elements and to liberate their psychic power, ultimately integrating them into my personality. That work continues. Interestingly, we are being asked to do the same thing collectively. Just as a mind divided against itself cannot function, a nation divided against itself cannot remain intact or “a house divided against itself cannot stand,” as Abraham Lincoln famously said.
We’re being asked to shine light on our darker aspects and, in the process, to become the United Psychological States of America. If this election proved anything, it’s that we’ve got our work cut out for us.
Image adapted from a stock photo by Dumitru
