International Dialogue Initiative
2020 Annual Meeting, Session 1
(Conducted by Zoom on January 9, 2021)
Because of the pandemic, the IDI was forced to cancel its Annual Meeting scheduled for the fall of 2020. Instead, we held two online meetings, the first on Jan. 9, 2021, with all 20 members in attendance.
THE ASSAULT ON THE US CAPITOL
The first discussion took up the attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6 by a mob of Trump supporters, who claimed angrily that the election had been stolen and who sought to disrupt or delay the ceremonial (and normally perfunctory) act of Congressional “certification” of the election results. We considered the psychology of narcissism. In narcissism’s more troubled form, a leader’s need to be seen as great is fed by his followers’ adulation. And his need to avoid challenges to his inflated self-esteem leads to his dividing the group into those who love him and those who must be denounced for their attacks on him. Given a narcissist’s lack of empathy, this division must be maintained at all costs, including the cost to the truth and to the consequences for the other side.
The narcissistic leader is chosen by his followers to protect core aspects of their large group identity (LGI). The border wall that Trump made a centerpiece of his first campaign became a powerful symbol separating “us” from “them,” i.e., a demarcation of identity. The fact that so many people voted for Trump requires a deeper understanding of what he represented for them, an understanding those on the other side cannot assume they already have. Indeed, such an assumption would fuel anger at “elites”. What values do his followers hold that lead them to follow Trump? Given how many women and people of color voted for Biden, how much are Trump supporters reacting to a profound sense of threat to a privileged status (male or white), even if (or perhaps because) that status is not a socioeconomic one? Status loss is also reflected in the US relation to other countries, where a “one among many” perception is replacing American “exceptionalism.”
Discussion turned to the problems of a two-party system and to considerations about a second impeachment. On the one hand, “mobs are only about feelings” – in this case inflamed feelings based, as one member put it, on a “lost dream.” Indeed, the Confederate flag was brought into the Capitol by the mob. It was argued that impeachment would make Trump a martyr and inflame grievances further. As one member put it, the leader is always a transference figure, and the “two-way street” between leader and follower is powered by intense emotions in both directions. There was a Messianic feeling among the rioters. They were to be judge and jury of, for example, Vice President Mike Pence. But there was also something about debasement – excrement on the Capitol walls. With narcissistically troubled individuals, we see a recurrent dynamic: the grandiose self acting to protect the weakened, debased self from exposure and injury. Might we be seeing this now at the group level?
Others argued that, even within the inflamed arena of sports competition, “sticking to the rules” contains things. In a larger sense, the “ritual” of law is containing and cohesive. We ended this part of the conversation recognizing that the US came into being through violence – not only in 1776, but in its brutal taking of indigenous peoples’ lands, and in its use of slave labor. The Capitol assault invites a further reckoning with the complexity of US LGI.
COVID
The second discussion attended to psychological issues surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This discussion, led by IDI member Coline Covington, began with an acknowledgment that COVID-19 arrived at a time in which populations were primed to empower themselves through victimhood. They mistrust state institutions and instead point to others (Jews, Blacks, leftists, foreigners) for blame. When we feel helpless and unable to control things in our world, we try to get rid of anxiety through aggression, as we saw in the earlier discussion of the storming of Capitol Hill. Income inequality, structural inequality and poverty fuel such anxieties. The paranoid projections from victim groups onto perceived oppressors make people feel powerful and heard and give them the promise of becoming even more powerful – of overtaking their enemies. Hitler accused Jews of conspiring against Germans, Trump accused leftwing socialists of subverting the news. Hitler accused Poland of starting the war, Trump accuses Democrats of stealing the election. The list goes on. Everything is inside out.
Arendt, Covington noted, made the point that when people don’t know the difference between truth and lies, they are unable to make judgements or to think/see clearly – they have dust in their eyes. Dr. Margaret Harris from WHO, last June warned us: “The danger of politicizing a virus is you give it an opportunity to exploit us even further….Quarantine the politicization of the virus.” She was pointing to the blame that was already stirring foreign political animosity.
Anxiety surrounding COVID-19 seems to have taken different forms:
1) Those who deny it is serious or think it is fake;
2) Those who appear to be only slightly affected – who manage;
3) Those who are re-traumatized, who have been traumatized in the past – here we are again and we know (or think we know) how to manage this.
The recent, third lockdown (in UK) has been even more traumatic – there is much greater uncertainty and much greater awareness that this is a long-term threat both in terms of health and the economy. Structural inequality is more evident than ever. No one feels safe and nothing feels secure – frequent changes in government policy, one step forward and two steps back, has also made people mistrust leaders and feel that leaders are not in control.
This insecurity has undermined social compliance with COVID government regulations and guidance and eroded respect of law and authority. In this respect, COVID has not only infected our physical body but it has infected/corrupted us socially on an even larger scale. Along with this, denial and far-right fake news may well increase as it is fomented by lack of trust. Finally, there is confusion with libertarian arguments. When people mistrust leaders, they resent their freedoms being restricted.
The other difficulty about this pandemic is that it is those nearest to us who can infect us. In order to create an illusion of safety, other groups are demonized, e.g. the Chinese, the EU, immigrants, young people, and so on. Racism is increasing as a result – especially when the “other” abroad is distanced (e.g. by Brexit). Even in China there is considerable evidence that COVID is blamed on African immigrants.
In addition to the human toll of the pandemic, the economic toll is vast and not well understood. The economy of China, where the pandemic began, appears to have rebounded to growth. What does that mean for mitigation efforts, lockdowns, restrictive measures in Western countries with potentially less amenable populations? The greatest threat/problem we face going forward is inequality and social unrest – both of which have historically been alleviated by war or revolution. Indeed, Covington recounted one of her patients, who is a politician in the United Kingdom, saying he feared that with the loss of the EU as a scapegoat, Britain’s anxiety-driven need for an “other” would turn inward, exacerbating racism and fueling moves toward autocracy and away from balanced legislative institutions.