I'm interested to find out more about "our deepest and most insistent hopes and fears." Is there a connection to something that might be called human nature that causes so many people to follow such obviously flawed leaders across time and cultures?
For Freud, yes. It is our capacity to reflect on the human condition and our irrepressible tendency to engage in wishful thinking, which he called the Pleasure Principle.
What other "human tendencies" mind sets or ways of thinking act against this wishful thinking tendency in a quest for balance?
In the case of Trump I hope that the tendency to become distracted by the next shiny object will place him on the back burner. (Or maybe I'm proving the piont on wishful thinking)
I dunno. Placing Trump and MAGA followers into some sort of religious cult, foretelling doom if he eludes prosecution, and doom if he doesn’t, feeds a self-nourishing narrative. It’s at least as possible that Trump’s narcissism won’t take over our souls and he will fade out of view—much to his and his fanboys’ dismay.
He’s a flawed man and many (most?) on the left are obsessed with, and a portion of the right, the same. For the rest of us, placing him on the same level as Hitler or Jesus simply doesn’t resonate.
Paul, I don't place him on the same level as Hitler or Jesus. But the former can illuminate his appeal, and the latter reflects his messianic persona. He certainly may fade, but the MAGA movement may, and I think will, go on without him in that case. Only time will tell.
I'm interested to find out more about "our deepest and most insistent hopes and fears." Is there a connection to something that might be called human nature that causes so many people to follow such obviously flawed leaders across time and cultures?
For Freud, yes. It is our capacity to reflect on the human condition and our irrepressible tendency to engage in wishful thinking, which he called the Pleasure Principle.
What other "human tendencies" mind sets or ways of thinking act against this wishful thinking tendency in a quest for balance?
In the case of Trump I hope that the tendency to become distracted by the next shiny object will place him on the back burner. (Or maybe I'm proving the piont on wishful thinking)
I dunno. Placing Trump and MAGA followers into some sort of religious cult, foretelling doom if he eludes prosecution, and doom if he doesn’t, feeds a self-nourishing narrative. It’s at least as possible that Trump’s narcissism won’t take over our souls and he will fade out of view—much to his and his fanboys’ dismay.
He’s a flawed man and many (most?) on the left are obsessed with, and a portion of the right, the same. For the rest of us, placing him on the same level as Hitler or Jesus simply doesn’t resonate.
Paul, I don't place him on the same level as Hitler or Jesus. But the former can illuminate his appeal, and the latter reflects his messianic persona. He certainly may fade, but the MAGA movement may, and I think will, go on without him in that case. Only time will tell.
One thing seems clear: we're living in an amazing time.
Thank you (!) for your thoughtful writings.