Dear Friends,
It seems to me, on a deep unconscious level, we don’t want peace and prosperity… we crave chaos. Jung warned that those who ignore their dark side are subject to its control. I call this our, “Misery Quotient.” In that all of us have an innate need for a certain amount of misery in our lives. Which, if we don’t get enough, compels us to create turmoil to meet that quotient. Which is one reason there can never be a true Eden on Earth. We would never allow it. These innate drives come from our “dark side,” as Jung called it. Freud called it the id. So, to actually get some level of peace and prosperity, we have to deal with our collective dark side or id. Jung suggested we incorporate it. So we can control our id instead of our id controlling us.
We all have a dark side. Even and especially those who claim not to. PTSD may be the recognition that our dark side is repulsive to us. So much so that we can’t deal with it. Jung said that if we don’t incorporate our dark side, then it will control us and we’ll call it fate. Which means that no matter how much we want a thing, if we don’t get our dark side onboard, it’ll sabotage us. This applies not only to our own lives, but to societies, cultures and nations. All of which have a dark side or id that works under the surface, either helping or sabotaging. Those who pretend they have no dark motivations are helpless to fight their id. Keeping their backs firmly to it, it then manipulates us like a puppeteer. Even leading to total destruction.
In the movie Forbidden Planet, the Krell were destroyed by their dark side or id. Because they had suppressed it for so long, and hadn’t incorporated it into their psyche. So when freed it destroyed them. Because their technology had given their dark sides god like power… to do all the dark things that had festered under the surface for ages. Which is an analogue of humanity. We may want peace and prosperity but our ids prevent it. We’re all at the merciless mercy of the elite’s ids. The more power the elite have, the more power their dark side is given. You and I are no different. Except for the few who have successfully incorporated their dark sides, most of us would be taken over by our ids the moment we were given power. Which is how our dark sides destroy.
Whole nations express their dark side when they choose war instead of peace. History is replete with examples. From Alexander’s conquests to Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, nations fall prey to the ids of their leaders. That’s how whole nations go insane. They fall victim to their own dark sides. Which, as in the case of the fictional Krell, leads to their destruction. How did Nazi Germany fair in the war? How was Alexander’s retirement? What about Saddam? Insanity leads to destruction and insanity comes from our unincorporated ids. War isn’t the only manifestation of this fact of human nature. Bigotry, stubbornness and envy also emanate from our ids. All the evils we face as people and as a species is of our own making. Therefore, they can also be solved by us.
If we truly want peace and prosperity, then we must recognize our dark longing for chaos, and incorporate it into our psyche. So we control it instead of it controlling us. We can only work on ourselves however. Others are their own people. Whether or not they decide to incorporate their id in to their ego and super ego. Which means we can only control ourselves and influence our immediate sphere. If enough of us do however, meld our dark side with our consciousness, then peace and prosperity must be manifested. The first step is to meld our own dark sides with our persona. Seeking power to force good however only empowers our id to do evil. So recognize your misery quotient, incorporate your id, and lead by example. Your example has more power then you think.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
