written 13 October, 2024
published 20 October, 2024
In 1956, philosopher/psychologist Erich Fromm wrote "The Sane Society", exploring how a sane person can living within an insane society, which demands some definition of the term "sane". A brief web search finds definitions such as: "proceeding from a rational mind", "able to anticipate effect of one's actions", "healthy", "balanced between mind and emotions", and "consensual validation". However, Fromm argued that just because a person is in accord with their culture, that doesn't mean the culture itself is sane. A simple example, with local roots, was Peoples Temple, which resulted in the 1978 mass suicide in Guyana, using poisoned Kool-Aid, when relatively normal folks believed their charismatic paranoid leader. Clearly, true sanity can't be just consensual agreement.
In my opinion, sanity is awareness and experience in harmony with the larger reality, including not only the outer, cultural reality, but equally important, clear experience of our own inner reality. It is well known that our entire experience is shaped by our internal perception. We see what we believe, and then mistakenly assume what we see is absolutely true, rather than only relatively true, at best. Consequently, examining, and understanding, our internal story is essential to experiencing a more harmonious life.
A slogan which inspires me reads: "When one's spiritual needs are met by an untroubled inner life, happiness comes when work and words are of benefit to yourself and others".
Without an internal enquiry, we are at the mercy of subconscious patterns that shape and disrupt our life, many of which were laid down long before we were even conscious of ourselves as individual beings. These include everything from the culture and economy we were raised in, our native language, and the wisdom and compassion (or lack thereof) of our parents.
Integrity comes from having a good sense of our inner experience, combined with the courage to live our truth in the face of conflicting opinions. This can be dangerous, generating strong pressure in response, even to the point of physical violence and death. A common tool of all authoritarian systems is to demand allegiance, enforced by violence.
Our society is under stress, as people with different beliefs accept different "facts", eroding our cultural agreement. These social fissures are long standing, but Trump has amplifying them for his personal gain. He is the product of his upbringing, with an authoritarian father, an emotionally unavailable mother, and enough family money to dominate everyone he ever encountered. Many psychological professionals, including his niece, have described him as a malignant narcissist, unable to experience anything other than his own world view, taking credit for everything, and responsibility for nothing.
He is documented to lie about anything, if he thinks it will be to his advantage in the moment. But Trump is very charismatic, believing everything he says, at the time he says it, even if he said something completely different just a moment before, so people believe him, even if it is to their own disadvantage.
My particular focus is the climate crisis, which Trump claims is a hoax. But despite his claims, climate change is real. Recently, hurricanes Helene and Milton have created such devastation in traditionally red areas of the country, that people are beginning to see that what is happening in their own life conflicts with the lies Trump and his enablers continue to spout. Trump lied that FEMA wasn't helping, even after the governors of Georgia, and both Carolinas publicly applauded FEMA assistance. In Florida, people know that officially banning the term "climate change" didn't save their communities.
When reality conflicts with preconceived ideas, a person can go one of two ways. The diehard believers double down, taking refuge in conspiracy theories like "they can control the weather", and usually blame "someone else", often from a dogmatic religious framework. Either God is punishing the wicked (those that don't agree with the believer), or Evil is driving the situation, demanding the righteous take action. This can engender intense passion, and complete certainty. However, from an inclusive unity perspective, these are followers of a little god, despite their passionate conviction.
The alternative path is to change our mind, realizing we have been led astray by people with ulterior motives, not aligned with our interests. At some point, everyone will experience we are all in this together. The only real questions are: how long will it take? and will we still be able to respond effectively?
