Deepak Chopra's Thoughts on Palin
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 turning negativity into a cause for pride. 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 nostaligic return to simpler times disguises 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 needed.
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.
She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and turning negativity into a cause for pride. 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 nostaligic return to simpler times disguises 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 needed.
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.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Momof3specialneedskids on -
Let me preface this with saying that I sometimes like to play devil's advocate...
"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" - Has Obama ever been a Governor, or Mayor, for that matter? And what does Giuliani have to do with this? This should have been followed with a statement about Obama's expertise and why he is the better choice...since it wasn't, I can only assume that Chopra was just trying to draw attention away from Obama's lack of "expertise"...am I right?
"In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision." - I assume that she chose the words "change and a higher vision" because they are words that Obama has used and she means to imply that these a bad things. Well, I have to ask.....what exactly does Obama mean by "change and a higher vision"? To me that's almost as bad as what Chopra pointed out about Palin... "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."
"Patriotism — the usual fallback in a failed war." - uhm....would you rather have an un-patriotic person in any major office?
I don't mean to stir anything up with this. I always try to look at things from every angle. I don't trust anything that any politician says....they've been trained to say what the American people want to hear. I am registered as Republican, but I don't always vote that way. I weigh the pros and cons of each candidate and vote for the one I think will be best for the United States.........some election years are harder that others...
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Permalink Reply by genie on -
Hi Mom of 3 cool kids,
Deepak Chopra is a man.
I would agree that the opening is weak and lacks the requisite follow-through, however, in order to critique a piece of writing as you have done, one must see the original article in full -- and we don't know that we've done so. Perhaps Kris could provide a link to the source.
I think that the general direction of this article is to discuss the deep psychological aspects of the presidential race -- how the nation has produced a "shadow" response to Barack Obama whose call for change prickles in the minds of those who consciously or unconsciously fear the black man, and how well Sarah Palin fits the bill as Obama's foil.
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Permalink Reply by Sheila Wisdahl on -
What Obama means by "change and higher vision" is this - he has a clearly detailed plan for change and it's a great one! By "higher vision" I assume that he is referring to actually caring about the people and wanting to better their lives as opposed to just pandering to the people and lying to the people like mccain and palin clearly do and have been caught doing time and time again. He is talking about accountability, not taking money from lobbyists, being accountable to the people and doing what is best for them and not what is best for big corporations, he is talking about preserving our environment, equal pay for women, and ending a ridiculous war that costs us billions of dollars and thousands of lives. He has plans to back up his words, including a solid plan to fix the economy. I still haven't heard what Mccain plans to do to fix the economy. we have seen clearly over the past week what less government regulation can do to our economy.
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Permalink Reply by Angela on -
My friends,
It is my hope that we are all here on this site to seek healing and not division, to seek hope and not despair, to seek friendship not competition. We live in a country which I hope still allows each person their own opinions without reaching out to hurt others. I pray this site remains a place of healing and not anger and division, no matter what side you are voting for, Ladies, please. Anger feeds internal stress which feeds C. I hope we can stop the anger and reach out for healing and not division. Seriously, deep breaths recommended.
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Permalink Reply by Bren from Rivendell on -
Linda and Angela,
My sistahs...play, record, repeat...I've been saying this for two weeks, yet the beat goes on..and on..and on...I will be so glad when this election is behind us! Peace out, Bren
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Permalink Reply by genie on
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In my worldview, personal and planetary health are merely a continuum of the same thing, and I'm certainly as concerned about global warming, for example, as I am about my cancer.
Right now I think the best thing I can do about the cancer plaguing Mother Earth is to work toward getting our country back on track, and therefore I will continue to do what I think I can to help effect that goal.
As for anger, I believe that repressed anger is at least as dangerous as that which is expressed.
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Permalink Reply by Bren from Rivendell on
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Well said and point taken. Repressed emotion is never a good thing. Folks can go punch a pillow and count to ten first, but don't harm another's psyche based on where you feel they should be, emotionally or on a subject on the table for discussion. Constructive expression in a moderate tone is a good, healthy outlet. I think its the "labels" i.e. "democrats, republican, liberal, conservative, man, woman, black, white, christian, jew" that we humans put on each other is what raises the bar and can divide.
Here's a planetary concept for our community to consider...
Only humans will follow an unstable pack leader...(this is a non-partisan statement, just a fact of human psychology)--animals will not --not in the jungle, not in the ocean, not in the mountains or in the woods...only human-kind will follow ego-based energy. Love to the realm, Bren
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Permalink Reply by Sandra on -
Here is Chopra's article part 2. I find this perspective interesting and I have no opinion formed. On a personal level, I resisted doing shadow work when I first learned of this but now I revel in my own explorations of shadow. We all have them and it is our shadow that often runs our lives yet we are not aware of it. I have found great gifts in the dark corners of my soul, I have also learned about compassion for my self and others.
with peace
Sandra
http://www.chopra.com/wordsfromdeepak
PS I am blessed, as a Canadian, to only be an observer in your election and not have the responsibility of deciding how to vote.
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Permalink Reply by Bren from Rivendell on
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That's another concern I have, the world is watching us....
Like watching SNL's favorite over-sized little spoiled boy Stewart on both sides, "Look what I can do!"
I am not sure I buy the promises of either side, history proves out that election promises are just that...empty promises...
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Permalink Reply by Kris on -
Here's the link, it comes straight from his website.
http://www.chopra.com/node/1064
I posted this because people on this site have expressed a deep respect for Chopra and I believed it was a very thoughtful analysis of what is going on, without being angry or confrontational.
For a woman's perspective, here is another interesting piece written by Eve Ensler, the author of the "Vagina Monologues":
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eve-ensler/drill-drill-drill_b_124829...
Yes, this site is for healing and unity but the fact is that we are facing what is widely believed to be the most important election in over 100 years. I do not think I am exaggerating when I say we are at the tipping point in this nation and if we have 4-8 more years like the last 8 years our nation might not ever fully recover. Some mistakes simply cannot be undone.
When you're diagnosed with cancer, you become acutely aware of the health of your body and with that seems to come a greater awareness of the health of the people and planet aroound you. My goal here is not to compete with anyone or spread around despair or anger but geez, aren't we sort of by default a group that cares even more about some of the issues in this campaign such as health care and the environment? I will keep participating in discussiions on this topic until election day, even though it causes me stress sometimes, because I feel it is that important.
It is a fact that the Bush administration has stacked almost every group in this country that is meant to protect us (e.g., FDA, USDA) with executives and lobbyists from the very industries we are being protected from. Just the other day, after yet another report came out - this one even more damning than the last - about the dangers of plastic bottles, I saw an FDA spokesperson telling us that #7 plastic is perfectly safe to use. Look around you and tell me if you seriously think we are a healthy country. Yet big business has been put first time after time. I'm sick and tired of it. I took very good care of myself my entire adult life and I still got breast cancer at the ripe old age of 42. There has to be a reason that the breast cancer rate has climbed from 1 in 30 women to 1 in 8 in the past 30-40 years and I would bet that a large part of it is our environment..
And while both political parties have been guilty in the past, I think we all know that the Republican party is more in the pocket of big business. There is a reason that Wall Street is very republican as are the leaders of most major corporations. Both of these groups fret when a Democrat is elected.
McCain will be no different - despite what he has said in the past 48 hours, he is in favor of deregulation of just about every industry. What needs to happen for us to realize that the free market will most often choose greed over doing what is right? By the way ,for any of you concerned about health care, take a good look into McCain's policy. His goal in taxing employer provided health care benefites, even if he gives you a tax credit, is ultimately to end employer provided care. What will likely happen is that it will force young, healthy people who can buy cheaper insurance on their own or just forego it, out of the plans leaving older, sicker workers who will be expensive to insure. Thus, employers will stop providing it which will force millions of unsophisticated buyers out into the "free market" system of unregulated companies. I didn't come up with all this myself, it is from a NY Times article.
Someday when I can stomach it, I am going to ask a Palin supporter to explain to me how they can be for a woman who is against reproductive rights, even in the case of rape and incest, who cares absolutely nothing about the environment and who ran the only city in the state of Alaska (#1 in the US for rapes) that would charge women for the rape kit when they were given one in the emergency room. And her latest excuse on Troopergate is that she fired the guy because he was trying to get federal money to catch and prosecute rapists and sexual predators. She doesn't set women back 40 years, she sets them back 100 years.
Again, I belive that this forum is very much the appropriate place to discuss such issues and am not trying to cause despair or stress.
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