Soul of the Nation

August 12, 2013 — Hillman, Psyche, soul

James Hillman, well known Jungian scholar, talks about soul and psychology:

His observations are pertinent today as we live with serious division in the nation’s psyche.  The congress is a symbolic and highly visible example of our troubled national soul.  When I was young  I felt patriotic and secure that America was the greatest nation in the world.   The Viet Nam War and civil rights struggles in the states changed my mind about that.  I had the chance to live outside the US for a year when I was 13-14, in Venezuela.  I learned Spanish.  I had listened to Fidel Castro on the radio.  My psyche had already been subverted before Viet Nam.

I have never missed an opportunity to vote in any election since I turned 21.  I pay all my taxes and obey the law.  I am a tiny part of the deeply troubled economy that is driving the young and the old into poverty.  My personal comfort and economic security are good, but neighbors all around me are not as lucky.  I am healthy, but the nation is statistically very ill, mentally and physically.  I am concerned about the bifurcation that tears the country into two unhealthy sides of some eternal controversy.  I am concerned about the soul of America.