The major political action I feel we need, is to bring the advances of psychology into the mainstream. In particular Carl Jung gave us a notion of integrating the various parts; he called it the Shadow.
The Shadow is the combination of emotions that are uncomfortable for us, and as such we generally relegate them into the unconscious. They they reproduce and intensify until one of two things happen.
Either there are explosions of what is deemed as badness, as in breaking down of one' usual standards; we can see thin in all the sexual scandals of well known leaders, or sudden outbursts of criminal activity.
The other side is our tendency to project our darker sides to other people or nations, and as such we find hate and war, etc. At its worst we find mass destruction. Sometimes we hate for peace, but we still are hating.
Jung tells us that the shadow will be our ruin if we don't integrate the variety within us. He felt that nuclear proliferation would be fatal unless...unless. The "unless" continues to be unpopular. He said if Naziism could happen in Germany it could happen anywhere. We are not only all potential criminals but our responsibility would be to digest the guilt of those who came before us.
This isn't a justification for victimization or purging, but a real getting to know all the darker sides so we can increase our consciousness and grieve the past so it doesn't have to be repeated. Here again what is implicit is that whatever we don't learn from we are in danger of repeating.
I have become convinced that the most radical thing we can do politically, is to avoid the "fits of idealism" (Jung's term) as a real solution to the tendency of many groups to demonize.
My own work as a therapist involves helping people own their own perceived weaknesses; it isn't only about being aggressive but about vulnerability as well. It is amazing how much freer to grow and change people become when the playing field of life gets equalized.
For McCain, his shadow included weakness and fear; for Obama who knows but that it would have included intense anger.
I am so very grateful we have a new President. However I hope we don't become seduced into self-congratulatory behavior of people feeling we are above the shadow world. If we ignore it, we will not be able to stand up to the really violent out of control nations and humans. And if we avoid it we will never connect to our larger environment. Our deficits and weaknesses are part of the environment, so who could we possibly become wholistic if we don't face the whole of ourselves?
I we avoid the world of the shadow, we would only stay fragmented.
Psychology is used to manipulate voters and sell products. Perhaps we could collaborate so it informs and inspires. And a first step would be to recognize the weaknesses of each of us....
Ironically as I speak/write, I am watching in the background a 2 hour documentary on James Jones---remember koolaid anyone? So many intelligent hopeful people killed themswelves for a seductive sociopth.
I am aware this was never popular except as it applies to lyrical poetic dips into creativity. It has always been an elective.
No more, would be my very agnostic beginning prayer...