The quote that inspired this writing prompt is from the journal Open Culture looking at Carl Jung and his analysis of Hitler. Carl Jung was a disciple of Freud who was focused on the understanding of the,”collective” unconscious (the myths, archetypes, repressed images and fantasies) encompassing the soul of humanity at large.
Photo by Tobi Oluremi on Unsplash
We are in a weird place in terms of “humanity at large.” The use of the word “unprecedented” is, well, unprecedented. And unprecedented things give us anxiety – the unknown territory and strangeness of the incomprehensible actions of others. How do we work with our feelings of anxiety? We investigate the language that has brought us here.
How do you process Trump’s motorcade parade for supporters in front of Walter Reed Medical Hospital? The footage I heard was of a man screaming “I love you, I’d die for you Mr. President!!!” It was extremely anxiety producing to see a man infected with Covid at a parade as if nothing was at stake but his own ego.
How do you explain Trump, his ability to keep people on edge, and continue to break the norms that we have grown accustomed to in American society? One thing that Carl Jung said about Hitler really stuck with me – “He’s the Unconscious of 78 million Germans. Without the German people he’d be nothing.” (Carl Jung, 1938)
In other words, Trump is the unconscious of 62,984,825 million Americans and without those supporters he would be nothing.
Writing prompt: Out of the top words Trump uses, choose as many as you would like to investigate your relationship with these concepts. Another idea is to work with opposites – When I win/ When I lose, When I am weak/ When I am tough, When I am smart/ When I am stupid etc.
Words to work with: win, stupid, weak, loser, smart, tough, dangerous, bad, amazing, tremendous, terrific, out of control, classy
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