Friday, November 21, 2008

Carl Jung, George Bush, and 'White Heat' ---the Psychopathic 'Will to Power' and World War

by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy

No one has yet made a psychopathic killer criminal movie quite like 'White Heat', a 1949 classic starring James Cagney. The unlikely parallel was George W. Bush whom many feared would reprise Cagney's searing, most memorable performance. For as long as Bush occupied the Oval Office, anyone could imagine George Bush as Cody Jarrett, figuratively climbing on board a nuke, declaring himself to be on top of the world before blowing it all up!

Monsters from the ID

As Bush occupied the Oval Office, monsters from his id made themselves at home. Typically thin-skinned, Bush became unhinged amid the chance that he might plunge the world into a world war the external projection of his internal struggle against demons of his own creation, the spawn of his twisted id.
In the movies, this dynamic was embodied in Cagney's portrayal of Cody Jarrett, whom reviewers called an 'incendiary, disturbed gang leader '. Jarrett, like Bush, became an archetype, a Wotan, literally, the 'monster from the id', Bush's id, the collective worst impulses of mankind made flesh.

As in the movie, 'White Heat', primitive forces threatened to drive Bush in a Hegelian dialectic to an inexorable and iconic apocalypse. In 'White Heat' the process resulted in one of moviedom's most memorable and most disturbing scenes. It has been described as apocalyptic, a word that describes Bush's 'adventure', his war of naked aggression against Iraq, a war in which some 1.6 million people have died by his hand.
White Heat is, of course, the movie that gave us "Top of the world, Ma!", as iconic a Hollywood misquote as "Play it again, Sam" and "We don't need no steenking badges." That cry caps the climactic gunfight showdown between Cody and an army of T-men atop a natural-gas refinery, and the famous fireball explosion that follows may be Cody himself finally spontaneously combusting, not just the timely immolation of all those volatile fluids beneath him. By that point in the story, Cody is pure uncorked id. Whether doing away with witnesses at his gang's train robbery in the opening scenes, or taking cool pride in the casual comeuppance he gives his ambitious lieutenant Big Ed (Steve Cochran) — who has been helping himself to something on the side with Cody's sexy, vulgar wife and mob moll, Verna (Virginia Mayo) — Cody is a force of nature, as efficient and cold-blooded as a forest fire. Not even the government men, who track Cody with sophisticated postwar technology, can stop him. Instead, it's the human element that brings about Cody's Greek tragedy downfall. He risks a trusting friendship with Vic Pardo, a worshipful crook he meets in prison. Pardo, though, is actually Hank Fallon (Edmond O'Brien), a "copper" who infiltrates gangs by posing as a criminal. When Cody catches on to "Pardo's" betrayal, he almost weeps, a staggering moment of pathos that inflates Cagney's character to three dimensions, guaranteeing that we'll remember him long after the movie has ended.
But it's Ma herself who really makes Cody Jarrett more than just another homicidal thug. Played with chilling mother-love by Margaret Wycherly, Cody's devoted mom is as amoral as any killer on the screen. When middle-aged Cody sits on Ma's lap for love and comfort before one of his crippling headaches, we witness a dynamic that's just steps away from Hitchcock's Psycho eleven years later. In a prison chow hall, Cody snaps when he hears that Ma has died, and Cagney draws out Cody's berserk grief into an animal wail that doesn't stop as he barrels crazed through prison guards who drop before him like straw men. When the big moment comes, Cody's exclamation to the heavens before his apocalyptic finale is as inevitable as Oedipus's own fate, but with a kablooey that 1949 audiences may have felt was not just dramatic, but outright atomic. The gangster genre would never be the same old same old again.
...
When the big moment comes, Cody's exclamation to the heavens before his apocalyptic finale is as inevitable as Oedipus's own fate, but with a kablooey that 1949 audiences may have felt was not just dramatic, but outright atomic. The gangster genre would never be the same old same old again.
--Mark Bourne, White Heat
Wotan Awakened

In 1936, Jung tried to describe what was happening in Germany —as many now try to understand what is happening in America. In his essay, "Wotan", Jung described developments in terms of the mythology of the god Odin, a.k.a. the Germanic god Wotan. Jung wrote: "We have seen him come to life in the German Youth Movement."
We were even beginning to regard war between civilized nations as a fable, thinking that such an absurdity would become less and less possible in our rational, internationally organized world. And what came after the war was a veritable witches’ Sabbath. Everywhere fantastic revolutions, violent alterations of the map, reversions in politics to medieval or even antique prototypes, totalitarian states that engulf their neighbours and outdo all previous theocracies in their absolutist claims, persecutions of Christians and Jews, wholesale political murder, and finally we have witnessed a light-hearted piratical raid on a peaceful, half-civilized people.
--Carl Gustav Jung, Wotan
It is not 'Gods' who came to life in America but, rather, demons loosed upon an unsuspecting world. Gods or demons, they are but manifestations of the human personality.
Bush shares his 'demons' with a demographic represented in Germany by the Nazi party, in America by the Ku Klux Klan, the radical right, the GOP.
The banks are not to blame. There is a generalized contraction of credit in the non-bank financial system where structured finance has blown up and taken half of Wall Street with it. It's the end of an era. Here's how economist Henry C. K. Liu sums it up in his "Open Letter to World Leaders attending the November 15 White House Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy":
"Neoliberal economists in the last three decades have denied the possibility of a replay of the worldwide destructiveness of the Great Depression that followed the collapse of the speculative bubble created by unfettered US financial markets of the 'Roaring Twenties'. They fooled themselves into thinking that false prosperity built on debt could be sustainable with monetary indulgence. Now history is repeating itself, this time with a new, more lethal virus that has infested deregulated global financial markets with 'innovative' debt securitization, structured finance and maverick banking operations flooded with excess liquidity released by accommodative central banks. A massive structure of phantom wealth was built on the quicksand of debt manipulation. This debt bubble finally imploded in July 2007 and is now threatening to bring down the entire global financial system to cause an economic meltdown unless enlightened political leadership adopts coordinated corrective measures on a global scale."
Rome is burning. It's time to stop tinkering with a failed system and move on to "Plan B" before it's too late. 
--Mike Whitney, This Is Not A Normal Recession: Moving on to Plan B
The GOP threatens to uncork the evil genie, to summon up the Norse 'god' Wotan, to lift the restraints upon every person's very worst motives, impulses and desires. There are good reasons for the restraints imposed by the 'superego'. Without them, people like Cody Jarrett, George W. Bush, Adolph Hitler, Pol Pot, and Augusto Pinochet would kill us all in a global conflagration. It is easy enough to imagine Bush, still seeking his father's approval, perhaps competing with him for Bar's attention, climbing upon the pinnacle of his industry's icon --the oil refinery. It is easy enough to imagine Bush screaming from atop a refinery tower: "Top of the world, Ma! Top of the world".

Dr. Gustav Gilbert, the American psychologist at the war crimes trial of Nazis at Nuremberg concluded that 'evil' was the 'utter lack of empathy'. I might add: empathy with another is possible only if one has come to terms with one's own "shadow", one's own "source of creativity", one's own humanity. One who cannot see humanity in either self or others is a Nazi in spirit, a person lacking 'empathy', a person lacking the ability to see him/herself in another place, time, or body. Those who may be described as Gilbert described 'Nazis' are what Jung would call 'inauthentic'; they live lives hidden behind masks.
Whoever battles with monsters had better see that it does not turn him into a monster. And if you gaze into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back at you.
--Friedrich Nietzsche
Bush Rejected by Peers

A rejection by peers is mythical. Many so-called primitive tribes make a ritual of ostracizing a member who has breached the most sacred shibboleths.  Jung and Joseph Campbell would have had much to say about the fact that some world leaders simply refused to shake Bush's hand. Some even looked away. Bush himself ducked and overtly dodged Angela Merkel.

Bush was shunned by peers. In some Eastern cultures, the loss of their respect might have required a ritual suicide. More recently, Japanese and British commanders were expected to shoot themselves.


17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting this is one cowboy who can ride a story and rope it's essence I do believe Ill be riding fence on some very imporant issues in the future with this author

Anonymous said...

Great post, Len, humane and political at the same time! There are so many useful lessons to be drawn here. Everything from the subjugation of the Id through socialization, Milgram's experiment on obedience to authority as the current dominating motif of US politics -- only the white science coats replaced by Fox media whores and the Oprah-ization of public values -- through to the damage wrought on political institutions by assaults on public education, the greatest safeguard against individual and national exploitation.

The "bomb Iran" brigade has a great deal to work with here but what they will NEVER mention is that most Iranians are under 25 and are ideologically keen to join the West rather than fight it. (It's hard to convince Americans to bomb Iranian girls interested in Britney Spears, much better to show scowling patriarchs in religious garb).

Once society starts discarding that fundamental thread of humanity and shared common hopes and vulnerabilities, the harder it is to maintain the essence of civilization and democracy, the more ready are the masses to be lead to demonisation of the enemy de jour, the Jews then, the Iranians now. It's all so obscene and criminal.

Of course, as you so ably pointed out in your recent post, the hard Right makes no distinction between Iranian girls and Detroit auto workers or the coal miners in Kentucky; they are all the unspeakable "enemy" for whom no rights sacred, all grist for the mill of Texas corporate prisons or military air strikes.

These are inherently evil prejudices that strike at the heart of democracy and humanity, a back door re installment of Mussolini's "the state is everything" (for corporations and insiders) and Thatcher's "the state does not exist" (for ordinary citizen's and the oppressed). It's the evil rantings of the monied elite who care for nothing but themselves, who think nothing of despoiling the environment (Exon) or killing brown people far away (Bhopal). We continue to move far from what is human and good for us all.

On a lighter note my local tv station has been running a Stanley Kubrick festival all week. What a pleasure. 2000 A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon, A Clockwork Orange, and tonight, Full Metal Jacket. Spoiled rotten.

Unknown said...

tangodaddy said...

Interesting this is one cowboy who can ride a story and rope it's essence I do believe Ill be riding fence on some very imporant issues in the future with this author

My father taught me ridin' and ropin' and in both, he was expert. He was also an accomplished mathmatician, a skill he used to great effect in building and contracting. Admittedly, most of my 'roping' of late consists of lassoing and tying down political lies while trying not to step in the bullshit. Anyone who has been near a corral will appreciate that analogy.

damien said...

The "bomb Iran" brigade has a great deal to work with here but what they will NEVER mention is that most Iranians are under 25 and are ideologically keen to join the West rather than fight it.

You're quite right! But these people [GOP primarily] will believe '...whatever makes them feel good about themselves'. That explains Ronald Reagan and, earlier, Adolph Hitler. In terms familiar to Gestalt psychologists, these folk will find 'figures' in the 'ground' that differ from those found by you and I. Until Bush arrived, I though Reagan the very best example. The GOP perceived him to be both a 'savior' and a 'protective paternal figure'. I thought him a liar and a demogogue and still do.

In Bush, they thought saw a what they had wanted to be themselves --a strong man, a conqueror, a confident 'Christian Soldier'. He was, of course, none of that!

I am interested in why folk like GOPPERS need leaders who so obviously fulfill deep seated and, might I say, 'screwed up' needs and neuroses.

Thanks for the link to Milgram's experiment. It would be interesting to compare the results of groups in which members are statistically representative of the population with groups that are weighted GOP, or other groups of interest. It would be interesting to see how certain identifiable groups vary from the 'norm'. I would wager that the same experiment performed upon a pre-selected GOP group would result in the much higher levels of inflicted pain.

These are inherently evil prejudices that strike at the heart of democracy and humanity, a back door re installment of Mussolini's "the state is everything" (for corporations and insiders) and Thatcher's "the state does not exist" (for ordinary citizen's and the oppressed).

Tragically, damien, I have given up on a peaceful resolution. Nothing will change in America short of a real revolution. Both Thomas Jefferson and Che Guevara understood this and, in fact, I think the situation in America is far, far beyond anything envisioned by either man.

In America, it almost seems as if human evolution has proceeded apace in opposite directions. The GOP, for example, thinks 'differently' in ways that are fundamentally alien to me. The GOP will, for example, will arrive at a conclusion based upon a 'reptillian' urge or impulse and seek plausible sounding justifications for it AFTER THE FACT! I used to chalk that up to ignorance or prejudice and believed it could be corrected. I am no longer so optimistic.

We are a single specie only because I could --if I could bring myself to do it --impregnate a GOPPER who might deliver a bona fide homo sapien at the end of a 9 month pregnancy. My skin crawls at the possibility that I could facilitate the birth of another 'pod person'. Sheeeesh. I have just creeped myself out!

Thanks for the mention of Kubrick --a creative genius of the first rank! KUBRICK LIVES!

kelley b. said...

In that last video a lot of apologists, even progressive ones, are pointing out that Bushie had already shaken hands with every one the previous day.

That itself was pretty weird- Bu$hie's at the center of the camera in isolation, and all the world leaders are called up individually to shake his hand, smile, and pose for the camera.

What we see in that clip is Bu$hie's interaction with people in the more normal social setting the next day. They're greeting each other not specifically for a photo-op, but the way any group of social peers do at any organizational meeting.

The original take, and yours, is the correct one. Nobody wants to shake Bu$hie's hand. He has no desire to shake anyone else's, either.

Unknown said...

kelley b. said...

In that last video a lot of apologists, even progressive ones, are pointing out that Bushie had already shaken hands with every one the previous day.

Yeah...I saw that too! And you are correct! It's bullshit.

I have NEVER, EVER been to any function in which poohbahs and politicos would NOT shake hands for cameras and protocol even if they had shook hands prior.

That was a cover story put out for the press because it looked as bad as it was in fact.

Rule of thumb: don't believe anything you hear on CNN. Those folk are idiots.

At last, the cover story does not explain Bush's 'duck and cover' as he approaches Angela Merkel.

It's not so much the lack of hand shake. It's the body language. Bush is a pariah!

Linda-Sama said...

oh my god, White Heat is on my top 10 list of movies! I tagged ya over at Ageless Hippie Chick if you want to play -- it's all about music!

Life As I Know It Now said...

Len, another great post as usual. I have been thinking a lot about why another human being would inflict on or not care about the pain another human being suffers. The only answer I could come up with is that such a person is numb and has no sensitive feelings, only harsh ones. The harsher the feeling the better they can feel it. They are so out of touch within themselves as well as others. But your post is more specific and scientific.

I want to tell you that your posts are not updating on my blog as they should. Sometimes your posts don't update over at technorati either. You must make the computer administrators mad or something ;)

Linda-Sama said...

true what Lib says -- your posts are not updating in the Blogger "follower"....as for my music meme, I usually don't do those myself, but this one was fun and I know you like good music! I think you have a music blog??

peace!

Unknown said...

Linda and Liberality...

I must have pissed off google.

Weeks ago, tiago informed me that he was no longer receiving my automated email updates via Feedblitz.

It was at that point, that I likewise stopped getting my own updates on MY google reader. Everyone else --including much larger web site --continue to feed with no problem.

I re-submitted my feed URL to an independent 'feed' verification serve. My feed, it said, was VALID.

Then I tried 'burning' the feed at 'FEEDBURNER' which I understand is now owned by GOOGLE. I was told that the feed was NOT valid. I was not told WHY! Indeed, nothing had changed.

It was at this point that I began to smell a rat.

I had other things to do than spent 24 hrs a day trying to figure out, why and, indeed, IF my feed was f-cked up!

It was at that point that several people began 'following' my blog. I added the gadget and consoled myself that while I may have now lost thousands who were subscribing via the feed and, indeed, several hundred who were subscribed to my email, I might at least provide a service to a growing number of interested folk who have indicated that they would like to 'follow' updates.

Now --I learn that even that is screwed up!

BLOGGER, if you should bother to read this, send me an email. God, knows blogger has ignored my every other request for support.

At some point, I may be forced to TAKE DOWN the cowboy and move it to another server with a frickin' valid feed! I will try to notify as many folk as I can should that be necessary.

Anonymous said...

If you could see into the spirit, then you could see that Geo. Bush is suffering under the sins of his fathers, and we do know they are great indeed. He also suffers under an entity that surrounds his head like a cloud. This is the "god" that speaks to him that Geo. mistakenly thinks is the Living God. It's a demon, and all demons are insane, because all they want to do is destroy humanity.
Another man we met also had an entity around his head, and he thought it was the "holy spirit". There you have religions. It's just the alien mind.

Unknown said...

Jenny Miner said...

If you could see into the spirit, then you could see that Geo. Bush is suffering under the sins of his fathers, and we do know they are great indeed.

With all due respect, Jenny, I grew up in West Texas among folk who beieved that they could see into the 'spirit' and, in fact, none of them could. I believe that people have NO CHOICE but to accept responsibility for their own actions. Neither Bush NOR his evil, wicked lying Nazi forebears have even attempted this. These folk know that their policies are harmful to millions --just as Hitler most certainly would have known and, in fact, deliberately planned to kill millions in overt and deliberate acts of genocide and mass murder.

Bush Jr does not get a pass from me because he's a poor deluded "soul" or had a "bad" father.

He also suffers under an entity that surrounds his head like a cloud.

He doesn't suffer ENOUGH! Certainly, not as much as the children the maimed and often murdered in Iraq.

This is the "god" that speaks to him that Geo. mistakenly thinks is the Living God. It's a demon, and all demons are insane, because all they want to do is destroy humanity.

That's, at least, one thing about which we agree. NO GOD worthy of the description 'deity' would talk to Bush or accept 'responsibility' for having created such an abomination, this waste of human DNA.

Another man we met also had an entity around his head, and he thought it was the "holy spirit". There you have religions. It's just the alien mind

I have in mind an ENTITY of a different sort 'around' Bush's head: A NOOSE --when he is convicted of the capital crimes that he has most certainly committed.

LanceThruster said...

This is but one reason why Len Hart is one of the best danged commentators on the whole danged intertubes.

Most rational beings see Bush as "fucked in the head" but Len breaks it down for you.

Salut! my friend.

Unknown said...

LanceThruster said...

Most rational beings see Bush as "fucked in the head" but Len breaks it down for you.

Thanks, Lance : ) It helps that I grew in West Texas at about the same time the Bushies were getting into the oil 'bidness' out there. As the vaudevillians would say, I learned to 'understand the show'.

I still have friends in the "Permian Basin" where Bush and peers would call the oil business --"real estate with cash flow".

Funny thing about Bush's 'downfall'. There is no joy in it. I would have preferred this horrible episode had never happened.

jae said...

"2000 A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon, A Clockwork Orange, and tonight, Full Metal Jacket."

What - no "Paths of Glory"?

Unknown said...

Those are all great movies. About a year ago, I did a piece about Dr. Strangelove and earlier --A Man for All Seasons and Beckett.

Anonymous said...

CNN is not full of crap. Jeannie Moos debunked the story, and you know it.

Unknown said...

Anonymous said...

CNN is not full of crap. Jeannie Moos debunked the story, and you know it.

CNN IS full of shit! What did they debunk????

They just stated their stupid, uninformed opinion AS IF IT WERE fact and depended upon the American sheeple to swallow it!! I say bullshit! There is absolutely NO PROTOCOL anywhere that says that if you've already shaken hands with someone, you can't do it again.

Besides --from a PR standpoint, alone, it would have enhanced Bush's last vestige of credibility if he had shaken their hands as in a photo-op!

CNN was spinning. And they are little better than Fox.

I worked in media almost all my life. If I were the President's FLACK, I would have instructed him to shake those hands while cameras rolled.

It looked bad! And CNN was obviously trying to pull off damage control. If it HAD NOT BEEN, in fact, a PR disaster for Bush, CNN would not have even bothered.