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Psychology and Politics

A CONVERSATION WITH THE PSYCHOTHERAPIST AND CO-AUTHOR OF “THE SIMPOL SOLUTION” NICK DUFFELL

Nick claims that politics and economy are nothing but emotions and identity issues.
Wait a minute, really? Haven’t we all the idea of politicians needing to ponder on issues and fin a solution for them which is based on rational thinking, on facts and careful consideration of what is best for the people and the country?
Yes, we know, politicians are also human beings, fallible as we are, but we expect them to be better, wiser and what not. They are not and neither are our leading figures in our economy.

So, if we take into account that our leaders in whatever field are humans as you and me, that political parties, corporations and any other group are composed of a series of human beings , then it is immediately clear that psychology is an important part of politics. It doesn’t seem to be in the awareness of many people how much our psychology impacts our decisions and how much the psychology of those who feel entitled to make decisions in our behalf impact their decisions the consequences of which we all have to undergo.

Thus the question is not anymore which party to vote for, but who do I believe capable of making good decisions in the interest of the wellbeing of everyone,

Nick Duffell: Psychology and Politics

Identity politics is a direct result of fear. People fear losing ground which is caused caused by the globalization. They fear to lose their belonging, their identity as nationality, their customs, their history. Everything seems to be unforeseeable, uncontrollable, dangerous. And so they try to stick to a narrow identity of themselves and look for someone being the scapegoat: the migrants at the moment. Now they have something they can fight against. To fight against globalisation is not possible, so they take what they get and load all their emotions on that.

It is not only the migrants, also men – as we see in the #metoo movement, it is “patriarchy, the church, the economy, the corporations etc. There is some truth in all of that, but nobody seems to care to differentiate and see what is really going on. Instead we buy into ideologies, and the present dominating ideas come from post-modernism, a higher state of development in an integral framework, but at the same time highly dangerous due to its incorporated deep contradictions which they are not aware of at all – and become the perpetrators while claiming to be the victims.

TIME STAMPS - WHERE to find WHAT in the Video

What you find around that minute:

1 Nick introduces the topic: what is Psychotherapy? Seperate from the outside world?

2:50 Politics is nothing but emotions and identity issues!

3 Heidi ask: politics = emotions?

4 News stations and politicians manipulate our emotion: belonging is a huge topic. You need to study history and emotions!. Chaos and violence, after that the welfare state which collapsed again in 2008, fear of the rapid globalisation. Leads to regression. Scapegoating phenomena.

8 Heidi: Blame others for the own satisfaction and not to see one’s own contribution. Start with personal psychology and take responsibility to understand how groups act. Nick: having someone to blame makes us FEEL better in moments of great stress. And on self development movement, different levels of consciousness. Feeling safe is needed to NOT act in a diffensive ways. Old identity is lost, genuine concerns about their identity. Brexit and Trump. Globalisation favors the rich and mobile people.

13 The new enemy: labour is global, immigrants seem to threaten their lives. The losers are the ones with the protest votes.

15 Heidi: The missing ethical fundament of globalisation. Seems to be egocentric mode only. Religion is missing in the sense of giving an ethical framework, we just don’t care!

17 Nick: Nuclear industry: externality., dissociation. The elite in Britain is educated in boarding school which teaches you DISSOCIATION from your feelings. Get rid of softness and vulnerability! We have WOUNDED LEADERS who cannot understand vulnerability of themselves, let alone of others. We need to recognize in politics, where dissociation is working and scapegoating.

20 The SIMPOL SOLUTION: politicians are much less powerful than we think by the international competition. “We are good, the politicians and Corporations are bad and have to fix it” – We are all in the same boat! We have to vote for policies, not for parties! Use our vote better

23 We have to give up superiority and blaming, but find a solution and take responsibility, like in SIMPOL, a pragmatic experiment.

24 Nick on the Dutch election in 2017. An initiative of going out and listen and talk to the people who would have voted for the far right party.

26 Heidi: the pendulum phenomena. Push creates push back. Holland and Denmark. The ideas of “green” people don’t see that other people might have other values, and if you want to have them in your surrounding you would need, at least, to tell them and teach them your values. Heidi’s experience. Explanation of our arrogance.

29 Here again we need some psychology. Levels of consciousness and values, increased by national mindsets. Nick about Sweden: everybody has to have the same mindset. Levels of complexity is not seen. Same happens in our own societies, not only with migrants/ other cultures clashing. Elitism -.Post-modernism, gender has become a political issue, which shouldn’t be, but personal issue. Ideas are put above everything

35: Nick about the idea of being free to chose any gender you want, on #Metoo, identity issue and victimisation: “Your body doesn’t matter, only your choice” = consumeristic: “too much”

37 Heidi*s rant: finds that regressive, same thing as the church did in repressing the body.What is life? Believe comes before the facts, which she doesn’t see as progressive at all. Short-thought ideas

40 Nick 2 foundations: church divided boy and mind (platonic foundation) only the sould is important. Disconnection. European Enlightenment foundation : Earth is a dead body, rational mind is everything. > exploiting earth is no problem. > MY CHOICE is more important than the body. Good choice would be ALIGNING with the body

43 Puberty when deep thoughts appear about sexuality, not before. Parents project their own consciousness. Bypassing the whole developmental psychology. No guidance on what it means to be in the body they have good. Has become a social political discourse which should belong to psychology.

Heinzy Freinacht: what are the concerns, values, lissten to the people, so they don’t act out

1946 Heidi: the need to grow into second tier. Trap of being right all the time = problem. Education into adaptation (conventional stage) is needed (from an integral perspective). Framework and widening the boundaries, instead of closing the boundaries = abuse of children.

50 Nick: Graves, Spiral Dynamics. The jumpf from green to second tier is problematic because of the feeling to have “arrived”, nothing better exists. No boundaries = no safety..

52: Nick: example of his practice: spiritual people are much less open to change than “normal” people. Need to get out of the identity trips! Re-educate green to be truly more inclusive and not be afraid of hierarchies. Otherwise the rational worldview of exploiting will go on. The psche is very resistant to shifts we need pschological informed politics

56 Heidi: Postmodern tragedy because the performative contradictions. Developmental turming points where things can go wrong: Postmodern doesn’t include conventional stage. What follows out of that. Jordan Peterson is healing the gap of the missing traditional layer of human development in these times. Role – identity confusion in parents.

59 Nick: Wilber: transcend and include adult development: include and transcend

00 Heidi Appreciation needed.

OUR CONVERSATION

We had a long and interesting conversation where to me, Heidi, the highlight was the following idea:

Identity politics is a direct result of fear. People fear losing ground which is caused caused by the globalization. They fear to lose their belonging, their identity as nationality, their customs, their history. Everything seems to be unforeseeable, uncontrollable, dangerous. And so they try to stick to a narrow identity of themselves and look for someone being the scapegoat: the migrants at the moment. Now they have something they can fight against. To fight against globalisation is not possible, so they take what they get and load all their emotions on that.

It is not only the migrants, also men – as we see in the #metoo movement, it is “patriarchy, the church, the economy, the corporations etc. There is some truth in all of that, but nobody seems to care to differentiate and see what is really going on. Instead we buy into ideologies, and the present dominating ideas come from post-modernism, a higher state of development in an integral framework, but at the same time highly dangerous due to its incorporated deep contradictions which they are not aware of at all – and become the perpetrators while claiming to be the victims.

You can find more in detail which turn the conversation took in the TIMESTAMPS below