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.
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No seriously, in such powerful position, only a person with profound spiritual insight and holistic approach as well as mental capacities
In these times, which candidate do we trust to lead us out of this mess?
For me that person without a doubt is BARACK OBAMA.
some of the more respected journalist
from richard cohen:
••McCain has turned ugly. His dishonesty would be unacceptab
His opportunis
Will it work this time? The economic tsunami may just drown the Republican party, if Democrats keep their eyes on the ball and not on the lipstick.
Chopra’s evocation of the “shadow” in the American psyche is an important insight, and he issues a challenge to Americans, to acknowledg
LightShift
I wonder who it was that sent in protesters to the RNC to interrupt speeches? Who was it that rioted like animals outside the RNC destroying property and clashing with the police? Oh, that’s right it was the all knowing and all loving far left As far as Mr. Chopra is concerned he is entitled to his opinion even if it is one thousand percent wrong. Just another new age kook.
I wonder why a woman who is 12 weeks pregnant and has a miscarriag
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Wise up America, the road to hell is wide and is paved with good intentions and we are on a slippery slope heading toward it fast.
Obviously, Mr. Chopra believes that all women should support abortion because otherwise they would be "against their own good." However, what Mr. Chopra fails to see, or wants to see, is that a lot of women view abortion for what it is. An act that is intrinsicl
Palin believes that all human life is sacred and should be cherished and protected, no matter what stage in life. Obama believes that delivered babies from failed abortions should be left to die because a woman shouldn't be "inconveni
Huh?
Seems really narrow minded and dishonest to say you are pro all human life, and then send your oldest son (who was given the military as an option to jail time) off to proudly kill others.
How pro life is she when she hunts wolves from a helicopter
How pro life is she when she sentences polar bears to die so they won't inconvenie
Def dude even you should be able to LISTEN to the narrow minded hypocrisy in her positions and in your own.
Loud and clear.
As for tolerant watching narrow minded people run this country for the last 8 years used up all my tolerance for any more.
But this article settled it for me. Intoleranc
Small Town Values --> Getting back to where people cared about their neighbors and looked out for one another.
Family Values --> Looking out for our children and providing a safe and nurturing environmen
Rigid stance on guns an abortion --> Owning guns legally is garunteed in the Constituti
Patriotism --> Yes, it is all right to love your country even it if makes mistakes from time to time. Failed war? Last time I checked we overthrew the terroist regime that was building nuclear weapons while destroying terroists.
Reform --> Yes, clean up corruption in government is good. Oh and I suppose you forgot the liberals that tried to pass legislatio
All Obama is just another politican spewing empty rhetoric and liberals gobble it up.
I am in agreement with you. These things that Mr. Chopra points out are base ideologies or points that the individual believes in or feels strongly towards. The items that you point out are more specific in nature that are valid and need to be dealt with by whoever the next president is going to be.
My point was that Mr. Chopra is twisting the meaning of these base ideologies to either spread false notions of Palin or spread fear and loathing. Its funny how he accuses the Republican
Oh no, you mean where you know who your neighbors are, borrow/len
What is she thinking? Everyone knows that societies are better off when nobody has any link to anyone else, when there is no communicat
You know, the brilliant Urban values... how could anyone think small town values might be worthwhile
Or was that not your point? You're going to have a lot of trouble explaining to people who constantly (when they can) move to suburbs and smaller towns to raise kids in a friendlier atmosphere that they've made a mistake...
Especially when they can clearly see the difference
Its funny that Chopra and huff posters accuse 'small town' america of ignorance, ridgity, and a lack of open mindedness when that's exactly what you've shown here.