|
Will the Shadow Win Again
Sarah Palin is the reverse of
Barack Obama
By Deepak Chopra
Sometimes politics has the
uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even
when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly
illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah
Palin had on the Republican convention in
Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes
former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely
choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in
the complex affairs of governing. Her state of
Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which
reduces the job of governor to the scale of running
one-tenth of New York City . By comparison, Rudy
Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's
pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but
her real appeal goes deeper.
|
 |
She is the reverse of
Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his
idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst
impulses. In psychological terms the shadow is that
part of the psyche that hides out of sight,
countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with
qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear,
revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of
"the other." For millions of Americans, Obama
triggers those feelings, but they don't want to
express them. He is calling for us to reach for our
higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden
reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly
clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact
that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor
widely in use before his arrival on the scene.)
|
I recognize that
psychological analysis of politics is usually not
welcome by the public, but I believe such a
perspective can be helpful here to understand
Palin's message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin
sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate
their resistance to change and a higher vision.
Look at what she stands
for:
|
—Small town
values—a denial of America 's global
role, a return to petty, small-minded
parochialism.
—Ignorance of
world affairs—a repudiation of the need
to repair America 's image abroad.
—Family
values—a code for walling out anybody
who makes a claim for social justice.
Such strangers, being outside the
family, don't need to be heeded.
—Rigid stands
on guns and abortion—a scornful
repudiation that these issues can be
negotiated with those who disagree.
—Patriotism—the usual fallback in a
failed war.
—"Reform"—an
italicized term, since in addition to
cleaning out corruption and excessive
spending, one also throws out anyone who
doesn't fit your ideology. |
Palin reinforces the
overall message of the reactionary right, which has
been in play since 1980, that social justice is
liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants,
being different from "us" pure American types, can
be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort
and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right
marches under the banners of "I'm all right, Jack,"
and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is."
|
The irony, of course, is
that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the
same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her
resume, while blithely reversing forty years of
feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there
are millions of women who stand on the side of
conservatism, however obviously they are voting
against their own good. The Republicans have won
multiple national elections by raising shadow issues
based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and
narrow-mindedness.
Obama's call for higher
ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The
shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just
conservatives possess a shadow—we all do. So what
comes next is a contest between the two forces of
progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or
has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can
predict.
|
 |
The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she
brought this conflict to light, which makes the
upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect
another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking
horse for the reactionary forces that have brought
us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to
see what we are getting, without disguise.
4 September 2008
Emancipate yourselves from
mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our
minds.—Bob Marley
Deepak
Chopra has
written more than 40 books. They range broadly
across spiritual and health topics; including
bestsellers on aging, the "Seven Spiritual Laws of
Success," the existence of God, arguments for the
afterlife and world peace. He has also written
novels and edited collections of spiritual poetry
from India and Persia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepak_Chopra
If you like this article
consider making a donation.
* * * *
*
posted 9 September
2008 |
