Paul Levy has just come out with his long-awaited book,
The Madness of George W. Bush: A Reflection of Our Collective Psychosis.
"Paul Levy, in The Madness of George W. Bush, does a brilliant job of deconstructing the invisible spiritual and cultural ways that corruption flows into our souls and our minds -- rooting itself in our day to day lives in a manner that can cause an entire culture to go mad together. This book is an invaluable contribution to creating the change of hearts and minds that is the pathway to true evolution." ~ Catherine Austin Fitts, Former Assistant Secretary of Housing (Bush 1)
Deeply steeped in and inspired by the work of C. G. Jung, Paul Levy has published numerous articles published on consciousness, dreaming and spirituality, and has lectured about his work at various universities. A Tibetan Buddhist practitioner for over 20 years, he has intimately studied with some of the greatest spiritual masters of Tibet and Burma. And, now, inspired by the Bush administration, Paul has become a spiritually informed political activist.
"The Jungian analysis by Paul Levy, of Bush and the culture which maintains him, reaches deep into the American psyche. It should be studied and digested by everyone. If the citizenry would recognize that Bush's egomania is acting out a national illness, we would all be saner. If the US could integrate the "shadow" which Bush projects upon the "the axis of evil," perhaps we could achieve world peace and start to solve global problems. A MUST READ." ~ Carol S. Wolman, MD, Board Certified in Psychiatry
Although I do not agree with all that Mr. Levy espouses, I am quite fascinated by some of his psychological commentary. He has written various pieces related to Bush, and does encourage folks to pass them on to further the spread of his message.
So, I am enclosing below some of what I have found to be the most intriguing in his writings. I do below his diagnosis of maligant narcissism is quite correct ... albeit downright frightening in its implications.
GEORGE BUSH IS A MALIGNANT NARCISSIST by Paul Levy
Psychologically speaking, Mr. George W. Bush is what is called a `malignant narcissist.' A narcissist is someone who has become hypnotized and entranced by their own inflated self-image. They have become so self-absorbed that not only are they not in genuine relation with others, but they relate to others (including the environment) as objects to satisfy their own need for self-aggrandizement. A 'malignant' narcissist, however, is a narcissist who reacts sadistically to others who don't support and enable their narcissism. For example, instead of self-reflecting and taking in critical feedback, the Bush administration reacts with ruthless contempt for anyone who disagrees with them. Like a mean and cruel-spirited malignant narcissist, Bush and Co. deny the accusation and try to destroy the messenger. Ultimately, a malignant narcissist wants to annihilate anyone who in any way threatens their illusory self-image and self-serving agenda.
Malignant narcissists can be very charismatic, and are very adept at charming and manipulating others. They are clever at camouflaging their malevolent agenda, even to themselves, and can appear to be very normal, regular, and seemingly loving people. To quote the great doctor of the soul, psychiatrist C. G. Jung "only a very small fraction of so-called psychopaths land in the asylum. The overwhelming majority of them constitute that part of the population which is alleged to be "normal." And, I might add, that many of these so-called seemingly `normal' psychopaths are drawn to positions of power. Malignant narcissists are very skilled at entrancing others, at putting other's under their spell. They are master hypnotists. They are like `black magicians,' in that they are very talented at hooking others through their fear by using `mind-control' techniques such as lying and propaganda to control them.
The narcissism of a leader such as Bush resonates with the narcissism inherent in his supporters, who identify with Bush's seeming certainty and lack of doubt (it never occurs to them that, to quote John Kerry "You can be certain and wrong."). This creates a very dangerous and pathological situation called "group narcissism," in which a large group of people have dis-connected from their critical faculties and entrusted their power to their narcissistic leader. This is a perversely symbiotic, co-dependent relationship in which all members of the group are colluding with and enabling each other's narcissism. For example, George Bush, in his utter narcissism thinks that G-d speaks through him. Instead of being seen as deluded, his supporters reflect back to him that they, too, think that G-d speaks through him. This, of course, just reinforces Bush's narcissistic delusion. Seeing Bush as G-d's instrument concurrently fulfills in the Bush supporters their adolescent fantasy of having someone who is playing the role of the divine leader to protect them. This mutually interdependent and reciprocally reinforcing delusion is what is called a 'collective psychosis.'
By playing with people's fear, Bush is hypnotizing people to give their power away to him. Unfortunately, by doing this he has hypnotized himself as well, which is to say he is deceiving himself in the process of his deceiving of others. Malignant narcissists are pathological liars. They are very adept at both lying and then believing their own lies. The conviction they carry in this act of self-deception can easily `entrance' people. To quote Jung "Nothing has such a convincing effect as a lie one invents and believes oneself, or an evil deed or intention whose righteousness one regards as self-evident." A malignant narcissist plays with people's fears so as to gain their trust and control them, which is based on the abuse of power over others that is the signature of a true dictator.
At their core, a malignant narcissist's desire is to dominate and have power over others. The perverse enjoyment of complete domination over another person(s), which involves transforming a person into an object (a `thing'), in which their freedom is taken away, is the very essence of the sadistic drive. Their sadism is a way of transforming their feelings of powerlessness and impotence into an experience of omnipotence.
A malignant narcissist is the incarnation of the separate, alienated self spinning out of control to a pathological degree. They are unconsciously identified with and will protect at any cost an imaginary `separate self' that is alien from the rest of the universe. Paradoxically, at the same time that they experience themselves as separate from others, the malignant narcissist lives in a state of `unconscious fusion' with others. To a malignant narcissist, other people don't truly exist as autonomous beings. Other people only exist as disposable pawns to feed and support their narcissistic, masturbatory fantasies. A malignant narcissist hasn't developed a sense of their own authentic self, which is why they are unable to be in genuine relationship with others. Psychologically, malignant narcissism is a very primitive and un-evolved state, one which is totally lacking in eros (relatedness).
Because they don't relate to other people as independent and separate from their own inflated, narcissist self, the malignant narcissist doesn't respect other people's boundaries. Their self-serving, narcissistic illogic allows them to justify, even in the name of G-d, transgressing other's boundaries, be them an individual's civil liberties, or another nation's sovereignty. Interestingly enough, etymologically, the word "evil" is related to the word "transgress."
Malignant narcissists are not conscious of the interconnectedness between themselves and others. They are unable to feel empathy for others and have an overwhelming lack of genuine compassion (so much for compassionate conservatism). Concerned about nothing other than themselves, malignant narcissists are indifferent to other people's suffering, all the while, though, professing their compassion. Malignant narcissists are unable to genuinely
mourn, for they are ultimately only concerned with themselves. They will show grief, however, just like they will try and appear compassionate, if it is politically correct to do so and, hence, to their advantage, as they are master manipulators. They are a true `wolf in sheep's clothing.'
Malignant narcissists are unconsciously possessed by the power-drive of the archetypal shadow. Being possessed by an archetype means that the malignant narcissists have lost their freedom, as a more powerful transpersonal, archetypal force has so unconsciously taken them over that it compulsively acts itself out through them. They themselves are being used and manipulated like puppets on a string by the more powerful archetypal force. Becoming possessed by
an archetype like this, to quote Jung, "turns a man into a flat collective figure, a mask behind which he can no longer develop as a human being, but becomes increasingly stunted." Jung continues "Since nobody is capable of recognizing just where and how much he himself is possessed and unconscious, he simply projects his own condition upon his neighbor, and thus it becomes a sacred duty to have the biggest guns and the most poisonous gas."
Malignant narcissists can seem confident and self-assured, but are, in reality, covering deep insecurities and fears through an inflated self-image. Intense feelings of revenge, fury and rage verging on insanity manifests when their fear is exposed, and their narcissism threatened. At the core of their process is self-hatred, as malignant narcissists split-off and dissociate from a part of themselves. As Jung points out, "a habitual dissociation is one of the signs of a psychopathic disposition." Jung talks about this condition by saying it may even result in "a splitting of the personality, a condition in which quite literally one hand no longer knows what the other is doing.....Ignorance of one's her side creates great insecurity. One does not really know who one is; one feels inferior somewhere and yet does not wish to know where the inferiority lies, with the result that a new inferiority is added to the original one." A malignant narcissist falls into an infinite regression of being in denial about being in denial and hiding from their own lies. A malignant narcissist such as Bush is continually in a state of hiding from himself.
Malignant narcissists have contempt for and flagrantly violate the rule of law, which, in their inflation, they believe themselves to be above. "International law?" Bush arrogantly smirked in December 2003, "I better call my lawyer." Malignant narcissists, like a true bully, abuse their power simply because they can. They can endlessly `talk' about taking responsibility, but they never genuinely face up to and become accountable for their actions.
Malignant narcissists are unwilling and unable to experience their sense of shame, guilt or sin, as their narcissism doesn't allow these feelings. This inability to consciously feel their `negative' feelings is at the root of the dynamic in which they dissociate from their own darkness, blaming and `projecting the shadow' out there onto some `other.' This splitting-off and projecting out their own evil results in always having a potential enemy around every corner, which is why malignant narcissists tend towards paranoia. Malignant narcissists continually `need' an enemy and will even create new ones to ensure that they don't have to look at the evil within their own hearts. They react with aversion to the reflection of their own evil, going so far as to want to exterminate evil from the world. Or as George Bush would say "to rid the world of "evil-doers." Ridding the world of evil is an act that can never be attained, however, as by `projecting the shadow,' malignant narcissists themselves become the very evil-doer that they see out there and are trying to destroy. George Bush has become possessed by the very thing he's fighting against.
Caught in the vicious cycle of the repetition compulsion of the traumatized soul, malignant narcissists create more of the very evil that they are fighting against, as is evidenced by the way George Bush is fighting terrorism. He has become a terrorist in the way he has reacted to terrorism. In essence, Bush is at war with and trying to destroy his own shadow, which is not only a battle that can never be won, but is a form of insanity. And he's acting it out on the world stage.
Thai intellectual and social critic Sulak Sivaraksa likens Bush to two other malignant narcissists, Hitler and Stalin, pointing out that Bush's "axis of Evil,"; Hitler's "Final Solution," and Stalin's "pogrom of peasants" were actually analogous attempts "to perfect the world by destroying the [projected] impurities."
WHY DO BUSH SUPPORTERS DENY THE OBVIOUS?
by Paul Levy
To quote Stanley Hilton, Bob Dole's former chief of staff and a long-time Republican, "George Bush makes Benedict Arnold look like a patriot. He makes Benedict Arnold look like George Washington. I mean that's what we have - a criminal and traitor sitting in the White House pretending he is a patriot, wrapping himself in the flag." The evidence of Bush and Company's corruptness and duplicity is beyond overwhelming, and it is literally everywhere, staring us in the face. Why are so many people looking away and not noticing? I find myself no longer interested in trying to convince anyone of what a madman, criminal and traitor Bush is, though it's not for lack of trying. What I find more fruitful is to contemplate why people who are supporting Bush are both unwilling and seemingly unable to see the evil that is playing out through him. People who follow Bush are in denial about something that to the overwhelming majority of the world could not be more obvious.
The denial of people who support Bush is a form of blindness. People who support Bush are refusing to look at what is right in front of their eyes, an evil that they themselves are complicit in and participating in by their denial. People who are following Bush are acting out of their unconscious. It is as if they have fallen asleep and are dreaming, entranced by their own projections. It is as if they are bewitched, having fallen under a spell. They are living in what John Kerry calls "a fantasy world of spin," ignoring and oblivious to any facts that contradict their worldview. It is exactly like they are hypnotized, like they are brainwashed. People who follow Bush are behaving exactly like members of a cult who have blindly and unquestioningly given away their power to their leader. They have left behind their critical thinking, dis-connecting from their capacity to discern truth from fiction.
BREAKING BUSH'S SPELL by Paul Levy
George Bush is a master hypnotist who skillfully puts people under his `spell.' Bush `charms' people, dis-arming and entrancing them, so that they will trust him and give their power away to him. Bush `hooks' people by playing with their fears, which is how he is able to control and manipulate them. By evoking a primitive emotion such as fear, Bush de-potentiates the linear and logical part of the brain, and speaks directly to the reptilian, right part of the brain which is pre-verbal and has to do with our primal, animal instincts for survival.
Bush mesmerizes people by using simple, repetitive phrases. To quote Nazi propaganda chief Goebbels "Propaganda must therefore always be essentially simple and epetitious ... keep repeating them in this simplified form despite the objections of the intellectuals." Bush's talking points, his buzz words, are his `incantations.' These `magic words' act as opiates to the fearful masses. To quote ex-Harvard University President James Bryant Conant "Some of mankind's most terrible misdeeds have been committed under the spell of certain magic words or phrases." This is, again, the power of the word. And how do we make a word? We `spell' it.
Bush's slogans, repeated again and again, to quote George Estabrooks, author of the classic book Hypnotism, are "`burned' into the receptive subconscious minds with the permanence of an image engraved on a photographic negative." People's minds then become `branded' and `imprinted' with Bush's ideology. It is as if he has `hooked' a part of their attention, so to speak, with which he can then control them. It is as if he has `captured' their self-reflective, discriminative awareness, and has restricted the range of their consciousness, which is the signature of a master hypnotist. Once entranced, just like members of a cult, Bush's followers, just like Hitler's, give their power over to him and become passive, subservient, and incapable of
discerning truth from fiction. They become Bush's `minions.'
Another mind-control technique that Bush, like any hypnotist, uses is to give out a double signal that is confusing and incomprehensible to the listener. Bush subtly contradicts himself, or says one thing while he is doing another, placing the listener in a double bind. This is very reminiscent of a parent who gives a conflicting message to a child: either the child is aware of the double message and is able to not get confused by it, or they collapse into an unconscious hypnotic state in which they have dis-connected from their true self. Doing something, while at the same time explaining that he's not doing it, is both `crazy-making' while at the same time being the mark of a `black magician.' Bush's flawless illogic, if followed unthinkingly, will `lull' the listener into a state of somnambulistic trance, as if they have fallen asleep. Once people become `bewitched' by Bush's spell, there is no talking with them rationally, as the logical part of their brain has been dis-armed.
Bush is so completely dissociated from certain parts of himself that he has fallen into the pathological state of lying and believing his own lies. To quote Jung "Nothing has such a convincing effect as a lie one invents and believes oneself." Like a typical fundamentalist, Bush has the certainty of someone who is only identified with one side of a two-sided polarity. This gives him a charisma that is very seductive. Bush is unconsciously identified with and projects out the image of the all-powerful, divinely inspired `positive father,' who saves and protects his children from evil. His supporters want to believe this to feed their own adolescent fantasies of wanting to have a positive father figure to take care of and protect them. Because of this need they invest, so to speak, in Bush's delusion, which just confirms to Bush all the more that he indeed is G-d's instrument. Bush and his supporters, with their mutually simplistic and psychologically under-developed view of `good and evil,' reciprocally feed a d support each other's unconscious fear and narcissism. It is as if, to quote John Kerry, they are living in a "fantasy world of spin."
Bush is embodying an insidious pathology that is contagious and very malignant. Bush's malignant narcissism is such that he is able to `con' and seduce people into believing his own narcissistic delusions, which just feeds and supports his psychosis. Bush's pathology is so extreme that he is actually able to transform and `dream up' reality as evidence that confirms his delusion. People who support Bush are actually complicit with and enabling Bush's madness in a co-dependent, self-reinforcing feedback loop that is `closed,' which is to say it is insular and not open to any feedback from the `real' world.
Bush supporters are not merely disinterested in seeing that they are in denial of reality; on the contrary, they actively don't want to look at this, which is to say they resist self-reflection at all costs. All of Bush's supporters mutually reinforce each other's unconscious resistance to such a degree that a collective, interdependent field of impenetrability gets collectively conjured up by them that literally resists consciousness. Insanely, Bush and his supporters perversely interpret any feedback from the real world which is reflecting back their unconsciousness as itself evidence that proves the rightness of their viewpoint.
People who have fallen under Bush's spell and support him have gotten unwittingly `drafted' into supporting a madman's delusion. Once people become entranced by Bush, they become part of and absorbed into a self-generating `psychic epidemic' whose basis is fear and unconsciousness. This is why Jung says "The supreme danger which threatens individuals as well as whole nations is a psychic danger." Jung felt strongly that "political mass movements of our time are psychic epidemics, in other words, mass psychoses." It is important to recognize that Bush and his supporters are all suffering from a `collective psychosis.' Once we recognize this, we snap out of our spell and go from being part of the problem to part of the solution. In other words, if you don't see Bush is crazy, you're crazy!
People who are following Bush as he leads us off a cliff are actually entranced by their mind's own projections, hallucinating that Bush is a good leader no matter how much overwhelming evidence there is to the contrary. People who support Bush have had their critical, discriminative faculties dis-abled by Bush's spell- Bush supporters are clearly not able to tell the difference between fantasy and reality. They simply split-off from and ignore the cognitive dissonance between what Bush is saying and what he is actually doing.
People who can't discriminate between fantasy and reality? People who can't tell the difference between their hallucinations and what is real? Sounds like we're describing people who are `crazy.' It is quite a shock to realize that if we had supported Bush we had fallen asleep, as if under a spell, and to say it more forcefully - had gone `temporarily insane.' What else would we call supporting a madman and criminal for our leader? Realizing that we had suffered a temporary `break from reality' is a completely shattering experience that is to be avoided at all costs. Because this realization is so painful to the ego, there is a dis-incentive to open our eyes and look.
This is why there is such incredible resistance among Bush supporters to simply self-reflect and look at the real-world evidence: they would then come face to face with the devastating realization that they've been `out of their minds' to support Bush. They would be like a cult-member who snaps out of the collective brainwashing of the cult - it is simultaneously a liberating and traumatizing realization, creating a form of post-traumatic stress disorder. The trauma of this realization, to quote Jung "is disagreeable and therefore not popular." It is therefore resisted at all costs.
To see through our false illusions and imaginary projections and realize that Bush is actually a madman and criminal is an extremely shocking experience. To realize that we have given away our trust and power to a wolf in sheep's clothing is mortifying to the ego. To realize that we have been conned, swindled and our pockets picked if we had supported Bush is an infuriating, humiliating and humbling experience. To realize that we've been hoodwinked into `selling our soul' is horrifying, truly our worst nightmare.
Realizing our complicity in Bush's evil gets us in touch with our guilt, shame and sin. Interestingly, the experience of guilt, shame and sin is the very thing that Bush himself seems so unable to experience. To quote Jung "If only people could realize what an enrichment it is to find one's own guilt, what a sense of honor and spiritual dignity ... it is indeed no small matter to know of one's own guilt and one's own evil......without guilt, unfortunately, there can be no psychic maturation and no widening of the spiritual horizon." Consciously experiencing our guilt, sin and shame cuts our arrogance to the quick, wounds our narcissism to the core and humbles our ego. Seeing our own darkness gives rise to genuine remorse, which interestingly enough, is the very feeling that George Bush himself seems unable to experience.