written 22 March, 2026
published 29 March, 2026
Rene' Descartes declared centuries ago: "I think, therefore I am," supporting the idea that thinking is the foundation of "self". In "A New Earth", Eckhart Tolle describes this thinking self as our "ego", residing in the left brain, where differences are determined. Ego lives by defining itself relative to "other". It claims credit for everything, good or bad, to increase its own sense of value. A healthy, appropriate ego, is an asset in everyday living. However, being completely identified with ego is pathological, thriving on suffering.
Tolle writes, "the ego cannot distinguish between a situation and its interpretation of and reaction to that situation. A person in the grip of ego doesn't recognize suffering as suffering, but looks on it as the only appropriate response in any given situation. The ego in its blindness is incapable of seeing the suffering it inflicts on itself and on others. Negative states such as anger, hatred, and jealousy, are not recognized as negative but as totally justified and misperceived not as self-created but as caused by someone else or some exterior factor. This strengthens the ego, increases the sense of "otherness", and builds a fortress like position of "rightness". Unhappiness is an ego-created mental emotional disease that has reached epidemic proportions."
Our president is an example of the devastation wrought by total identification with ego. He takes credit for everything and responsibility for nothing. He acts on his own whims, without regard for consequences, repeatedly telling us he is the only one who can save us from the disasters he creates. The most recent being the war he started in Iran, claiming it is "already over, but we need to continue to finish the job", which the Pentagon thinks will cost at least an additional $200 billion.
Last June, the president stated Iran's nuclear capacity was "totally obliterated", yet now claims Iran was a few weeks away from launching nuclear tipped missiles at the US. This assessment was denied by his own Director of National Intelligence as she testified before Congress.
The president says "nobody knew" the Iranians would close the Straits of Hormuz, so had no plan in place when they did. He wants help from other countries, while saying the US needs no help, and insults them in the same speech.
Now four weeks in, oil costs $112/barrel today, gasoline prices in Ukiah are edging above $6/gallon, with diesel moving toward $7/gallon. The stock market has dropped 10 percent, and interest rates are up.
The longer the Straits are blocked, the worse everything will get. The president originally said this will be quick, 2-4 weeks. Now the word is it might only last another month, or into the fall, and thousands more Marines are headed to the war zone.
Damage has already been done to fuel facilities that will take 3-5 years to begin operation again. Middle East production is being reduced because there is no way to ship the product, and restarting may take months. Reduction in fertilizer will impact fall harvests. Insurance rates for ships transiting the Straits have jumped by a factor of 100, and may not drop back before the end of the year. Supply chains have been massively disrupted. As inflation and prices rise, the entire Republican political structure gets weaker.
This is ego run amuck.
What can a person do? In addition to any political or social actions one might take, there is a great deal of inner work possible. While Descartes believed his thoughts defined him, Jean-Paul Sartre pointed out we can be aware of the thoughts in our head, and are therefore more than our thoughts. That awareness comes from experiencing "being alive".
Tolle says that the moment we become aware of our egoic thinking, we begin to loosen our identification with it. This is the process of taming our own ego. At every moment, we have the possibility to notice our thinking. With practice, this shift becomes easier. We become more at peace in the moment, open to more intelligent way to respond to what is happening, rather than acting out of old, and perhaps, inappropriate egoic patterns.
The ego is very clever, living on negativity and differences, but any gains are short lived, and eventually self-defeating. Cleverness divides, intelligence includes. Despite the egoic insanity we see in our president, we can use that to become aware of our own egoic imbalance, using his dysfunction to improve our own reality.
