@GiddyYup - I have recently come upon something I noted down, written by a journalist, translated (from German) and left in my notes, when Trump got first elected. In my view - nothing has changed as far as his supporters are concerned, but the world has become an even more dangeorus place - well, here it is:
Is Sigmund Freud still relevant in the modern world and do his theories have an explanation for the Trump phenomenon?
The answer is yes – and it is not just popular theory which has an easy explanation why we like to submit to authority of all kinds, but in Freud’s book ‘Totem and Tabu” we find an easy explanation for authoritarianism – for the rule of absolute power.
The basic play book according to Freud is:
The adult brothers gang up on and kill the all-mighty father and they take their inheritance and reproduce the same rule of terror.
But there is also a democratic message: when the father is killed the center of power remains vacant. He (the Father) could do what he wanted, kill anyone, have sex with anyone, castrate other males. Now, the brothers have to find common ground and if they have made a deal with one another, the result is often that the center of power remains vacant. Who will take that seat?
... Donald Trump.
or Viktor Orbán?
There is a long list, worldwide . . . of neurotic applicants
We have a problem, or rather big problems; especially when observing the doings around Trump! He acts contrary, he wants to confuse, the groups engendered by him are neurotic; we can see the Oedipus complex in action, the love for the Leader/Führer, Submission to him. It does not mean that Trump has a psychosis, but the adoration of his followers is close to psychotic, because they deny reality and attack anyone who insists on facts.
Freud makes a difference between a neurosis in which the sufferer has a diminished understanding of reality or: where he is completely divorced from reality, which latter seems to be the case with many ‘Trump’ supporters.
Returning to the Oedipus situation: the question is: will this vacancy, by default, find a new occupier in Donald Trump, who acts like a young teenager, not like the father-saviour America and the world needs?
A good father has genuine authority, Trump is an immature bundle of drives – and like a teenager tries to subvert and erode authority in a country which is so badly in need of genuine leadership. He may not be a psychopath, but the adoration of his followers is psychotic, because reality is attacked at every point. According to Freud this could classify as a national psychosis, because the break with reality is so all-embracing, global – and he finds imitators across the Globe. Does the World need psychoanalysis?
No, the world needs strong leaders, good and mature father figures." end of quote
Taurisk
