C. The Link Between People and Leaders:
[I use the term ‘narcissism’ in this post to mean the sense of
being, because the subject needs to have picture of his-self to form a sense
being, is the fundamentally based on the subject's duality. That image is his
reflection in the minds of others. The subject has no sense of being without
those reflections, and can never “be” before recognizing those reflections.
Narcissism, thus, is subject to all the possibilities of authenticity and
falseness, stability and volatility, sickness and health, but without it the
human subject is a person without an identity].
The relationship between people and their
leaders is very central and a better angle to look at Social Narcissism and
Social Change. Therefore, I will start with a personal experience to explain my
approach to dealing with the issue of social racial discrimination and its link
with narcissism.
In Grade 11 (in Egypt, 1951) the first part of the
class in history was contemporary history!!The teacher started by suggesting a
discussion about a controversial recently assassinated politician. He divided
the class into two groups: Pro and Anti that leader. After half an hour of
shouting and just throwing “statements of Facts” at each other he stopped the
arguing. He said that this so-called discussion would continue with no hope for
reaching a decision. He then said: you cannot understand history without a
theory you adopt and learn from it the direction you take to reach your
objective, and gave three names of historians (one of them became my professor
of philosophy in university two years later). This thinker\philosopher wrote
extensively about Friedrich Engels
(also thinker\philosopher). Any how, I got very impressed by Engel for
his general philosophical theory regarding change, which is the most complex
part in studying societies. He emphasized that small and gradual quantitative
changes in a society reach a point after which the next step forward would be a
qualitative change (like boiling water). In practicing psychoanalysis
(among other things that preoccupied me) the small changes that happen with the
daily interpretations initiate small insights and minor changes that eventually
lead to a major interpretation and reconstruction. Then, the analyst could notice
retrospectively how the qualitative changes was engendered by the small
interpretations that led to it.
However, the most remarkable idea in Engel’s theory of
history was that the major changes (revolutions in particular) happen in that same
way of gradual small events here and there (happening unconsciously), and
suddenly the old collapses and the new appears. In terms of narcissism: a
gradual rejection of the old narcissistic group images (social image) suddenly
reveals the build up of a new narcissistic social identity that emerges to
replace the old one. I believe that the sudden change that brough out of the
Whites their best qualities was the ugliness in the police man (men), which was
the last straw, and if not also the beauty of Floyd’s peaceful reception of demonstrated
in helplessness.
World Wars and Racial Discrimination:
There is a lot to say about what makes the last two world
wars different than other wars, but I will concentrate on their relation to
race discrimination. In Europe the second war started as the Arian race
making a last attempt at giving the white race an internal hierarchy of
superiority that was meant to precede re-gaining its global superiority which
was gradually waning. The Japanese race that assumed a superior status
in most of China, Indochina and the archipelago between Asia and Australia was
also facing challenges from the other Asians races and a new rival called the
USA. In Africa countries and nations, i.e., the black race, were
shedding off the shackles of the white race by liberating their countries from
the imperial empires of the Europeans. In South America the Natives were
finding their place next to the old Spaniard minorities. Those wars that
extended from beginning of the nineteen century and mainly ended in its sixties.
They were wars about the human race(s). Other countries and races that joined
in that international upheaval, ultimately came up with the notion of globalization.
Globalization was the qualitative change in that course of evolution. The
result was surprising: while the white race fought in Europe, Asia and in
Africa on a small scale it won all its wars, but ended up shifting the grandeur
of winning into a more mature narcissism: anti-racial political morality.
The most significant aspect in reaching the notion of globalization to replacing
race distinctions is an almost silent pan acceptance o f that change,
worldwide.
The citizens of the USA- till few years before WWI and
few more years before WWII – were practically speaking- paying no attention to
the world beyond the two oceans bordering its east and west shores. Americans until that time regularly considered
racial segregation, distinction, or quasi-slavery, as they were practiced in
the USA, the natural and the most common way of treating blacks everywhere else.
Although WWII brought out the USA from its isolation behind the two Oceans-
there were several features in that ‘joining’ that were discouraging. I will
mention two. The first was a sense of superiority to the rest of the
world-justified by the obvious Americans better conditions relative to the
conditions everywhere else in the world; including white race nations. This
discovery created a narcissistic sense distinction related to being American (social
narcissism) more than being white. The second was a sense of entitlement due to
the obvious material advantages American were enjoying. The danger of this kind
narcissism is its volatility because if and when the counterpart managed to
catch up with the narcissistic subject the narcissistic injury creates
undesirable reactions. The most common reactions are denial and aggression
toward the previously inferior counterpart. An excellent time for repression
proper to deal with the unsettled matters in those matters.
Notwithstanding, the white race in the USA underwent a
major change in regard to narcissism when the European whites recovered from
the effect of the wars and a dozen countries (including Canada) surpassed the
USA. The success of the Civil Rights movement came at a time when the whites,
in America and Europe, were facing serious competition in modernity and
affluence from Russia and China. The USA consolidated its superiority again in
the form being the leader of the ‘free civilizes’ world. Having enemies who
could be demeaned lowered the degree of need to demean the blacks. Narcissism
needs an antithesis to gain momentum: something to oppose, compare with, to turn
love- hate relationship into hate- love relationship. Thus, American social
narcissism did not lose all its vigour, but directed it to other “enemy”
whites. The picture is less gloomy because with all those changes. A more
mature American social narcissism has become the rule in the majority of whites.
Even in the area that still “harbours” die hard racists there is no silly signs
of overt segregations. Accepting and admiring the civil rights movement and its
leaders established the notion: of you
not the colour of your skin. The
most revealing signs of that is the gradual return of the value of fairness,
which was the basis of the early formation of the white communities in in the
budding states. Although the slogan of “Make America great again” is alarming
it was only a slogan raised by a specific minority.
The Political Leader and Narcissism:
In times of political crises political leaders emerge expressing
the different ideologies that are creating the crises. Usually people under
those circumstances become vulnerable to political misleading ideas. Leaders
who mange to echo people’s narcissistic unrealistic ambitions get the votes. That
sounds logical, but there is a very uncommon result that is ignored because it
related social narcissism which is a familiar phenomenon. Do people create
their preferred leadership or do those leaders create their own supporters [did
Hitler create Nazism or did Nazism invent Hitler. Germans wanted a leader who wanted
to conquer the world to get them back their pride in being Ariens. Lenin found
in defeated Russia a (first world war) a nation that is in need and ready for
communism and took the chance. We, psychoanalysts are still grappling with
narcissism because we have not settled another theoretical problem: do we study
and practice intrapsychical issues or intersubjective issues? Does the person
create his narcissism or does narcissism create the person?
The human subject is a duality of I the subject
and me the object. Our narcissism is caught between those two
entities. We differ in which of the two
components is the person and who is the image. Just make a comparison between
Trump and any other reasonable leader to understand the difference. However, this distinction represents two the
above-mentioned schools of psychoanalysis anywhere: if I is the
person and the image he reflects to the other is his me then we
are at the its the intrapsychical theory of the person. If it is the opposite
then it will be the object relations theory of the person. Do people identify
with the leader as their I, thus the social narcissistic entity
will be less contaminated by falsies or it is the opposite and people are
identifying with the “me” of the leader as the image of
something.
In the last street demonstrations against racial
discrimination people were primarily identifying with the leadership of the civil
rights movement. They were calling for justice for all. Ordinary white people
found that objective in governments’ abuse of their powers that is allowing the
persecution of black extends to limit their own freedom irrespective of color.
They were calling for justice for all because the present ruling class is as
anti ordinary white people. They identified with the oppressed black because they have become equally oppressed in slightly
different matters. White Americans, for different points of view, are accepting
blacks not just as equal but also as a manifestation of their own mature
narcissism. The last reaction to police cruelty
to blacks, whites in most the demonstrations, were more in numbers than blacks.
There is something of great significance in this phenomenon. Individual
narcissism is usually enforced by social aspects that could provide that
narcissism with a sense of social orientation. Americans’ pride in their
nationality is a source of solid support to any ethical humane or personal
quality they also endear. Nevertheless, there are people particularly
politician who misuse social narcissism and return the noble social narcissism
into its opposite. I will use social narcissism in other countries to explain
my point of view (reason is obvious). Egyptians compliment themselves for being
hospitable and that their social narcissism is derived from that conviction. However,
when a religious leader explains that Egyptian social narcissism is
manifestation of their religious piety, he destroys that social narcissism and
renders it fallacy. The same as when Americans’ pride in their concerns about
others is turned into “our values” turning thus inti a manifestation and not a
genuine moral quality.
Understanding social phenomenon in terms narcissism
and its structuring nature of self awareness is a filed that psychoanalysis can
contribute to a great deal. It is also a
duty to avoid the future leaders who look as if they are faithful to the people’s
aspiration when they are using social narcissism to heir own benefit.
