The Spirit of Political Movements
Political Stereotypes are Fallen Archetypes
I want to make the point that people are not just talking anymore. There are real acts of will unfolding, where different US states aren’t just divided ideologically - there are boots on the ground. We are talking about three major divisions among others: the border and immigration; the transgender policies; the next president.
They’re actually doing something about it - it’s getting physical. It doesn’t get much more action oriented than armed troops, which some states are dispatching to the south; and in defiance of the federal government. So far, things are relatively peaceful. But, individual states taking physical control of their borders?
What is possibly less peaceful is taking a child from their home state. Under several new state gender-care laws, a minor who travels to a sanctuary state may there be removed from the custody of their parents and given the procedures over the objections of the legal guardians. What is more, requests from the home state for the child’s return will be defied. In many other states now, providing those procedures is a felony for which one gets carried off to prison.
It is becoming more and more clear that a decision has to be made as to whether the current president can continue at his post or not. Like his policies or not, the special investigator appointed by his own administration determined he should not be charged with his alleged missteps because the state of his memory made him less than competent to stand trial. Real questions about a change in leadership? And the election in November? All the stops are being pulled out. Accusations, prosecution of political opponents, even attempts to disqualify candidates from the ballot.
If there’s any time to keep your eyes open, it’s now. This is a level of real division, on the ground, which is not just talk. The US is already edging into a Constitutional crisis on just these three areas.
Is there a higher perspective? Can we look at the deeper origin of political parties? In other countries there are three, four, five parties, and their philosophies are somewhat individual, but there is still a strange pressure to put them all on the “political spectrum”, meaning just a scale of left to right. Liberal and Conservative - that’s what there is - and even Independents are just people who get to choose to be left or right on a given topic.
You may ask, why so black and white? Isn’t there more? If your politics are a rule book for how to live, what are we doing to ourselves if we have only two choices? If you’re one you are for immigration, transgenderism and the president; if you’re the other you are against those? It wasn’t so long ago, you could say what you thought without people thinking you were a jerk…
If you follow the conservative and liberal philosophies (as practiced) further and further to the right and left, they eventually meet again. It was once taught in school! Too far left becomes Communism, too far right Fascism, which are both totalitarian, oppressive forms and are hard to tell apart. Here’s another thought: Everybody agrees killing people is wrong. However, if you’re far enough to the right, you might believe in capital punishment. If you’re far enough to the left, you might be for assisted suicide and abortion. To put it a little crassly, one guy says, oh no, I don’t believe in killing people, I only do it with their consent; the other guy says, oh no, I don’t believe in killing people, I only do it to those who really deserve it.
If we go far enough from the center, we start finding reasons why it’s ok to kill people.
This is not what the essence of the true philosophy of either Conservatism or Liberalism is. I’ve been forced to delve into it quite deeply the past few years. What we usually see on the surface is the stereotype, the caricature, not the true archetype. What is it that is above, beyond the stereotypical appearance of a cultural-political movement?
The archetype is something that’s always good, always has a higher purpose. The stereotypes are like shadows, fallen archetypes.
The Conservative spirit wants to protect. If that becomes stagnant, it is a keeping things the same, and that’s where the (stereotypical) moralism comes from.
The Liberal spirit wants to innovate. If that becomes inflamed, it wants to get rid of all structure, and that’s where the (stereotypical) lack of morals comes from.
The higher Conservative impulse of protecting has at its core the gesture that the human being should be given the responsibility to make their own decisions. A person is to be seen as responsible, self-reliant, able to care for themselves, and able to make good choices and act in a proper way. That’s how they are to be treated until proven otherwise, and it is our duty to give them the space to unfold freely who they are, and how they want to to exist. The Archetype wants to protect the spirit and will of the human being, wants to free us for a higher evolution.
The opposite of this gesture, the belief that people are inherently unable to do what is right and need a controlling force to keep them behaving and happy, is not the Liberal spirit; that is the shadow of it. This is important.
Socialistic ideas, which distort the human being’s natural impulse to share and look after others by making it mandatory, are the shadow of the Liberal archetype. That higher spirit has the gesture of compassion, of sharing to help others and of giving away what you have, of making sure everyone is ok. The archetype wants to enliven the soul and life of the human being, wants to raise us up for the same higher purpose - making us more human.
The apparent opposite of the Liberal gesture, wanting to keep everything for oneself, and putting private interests above common resources like the environment is not the Conservative spirit; it is its shadow. This is important.
The Conservative spirit has the sacred duty to guard the freedom of humans. The Liberal spirit inspires the human impulse to love. It is from freedom that springs love, and in between is understanding. When we look at a person, we must see the destiny of a choice to incarnate within one great archetype or another; these are divine impulses, spiritual beings which guide humanity much like folk souls. We work out of one or the other for lofty reasons, because that is what we need to grow in this life, but also because it is the particular world of wisdom through which we are meant to contribute to the world.
What we complain about are the caricatures, but it’s missing the point to do so. Those Republicans… those Democrats… looking to these shadows like that’s what people are about, well that is itself living out of a fallen archetype. Why would these negative impulses exist, just by chance? Not really. This distorting is the direct work of the adversary. Political stereotypes are Ahrimanic beings who inspire pettiness and extreme views. They are like the anti folk souls of their realm. And they are powerful.
The stuff we don’t like is not what’s truly trying to come through. But by lifting our eyes to the divine archetypes, we redeem and transform what is fallen.
We often say we need balance, but I don’t like that. When you say balance it still refers to the two-sided dichotomy. As I hope we are realizing, these are great archetypes, but the fact that there are only two of them means that the whole picture has fallen from something even higher and even more true.
Let’s leave the earth for a moment, and look at how creation unfolds.
The biggest thing you could ever contemplate is creation itself. The impulse, the direction, the seed for creation comes from the center, from the ultimate center. This is seen in many traditions as the father, the father ground of the world. As the impulse for creation, the plan for evolution, emanates from the foundation of the world, it is given to the highest angels of all who in turn pass it on the the creative forces of the universe. These are to be seen as the forces of wisdom, of movement and of form.
What is of interest to us is that the divine will is implemented, manifested on earth in a three-fold way, not a two-fold. What comes from the highest world of pure will and love is translated into impulses, archetypes which can actually work upon us, form and guide humanity and human evolution.
The realm of the Kyriotetes imbues the divine plan with wisdom; it organizes it and gives it meaning. The world of the Dynamies enlivens the meaningful impulse with movement, with activity. And the Exousiai give form to the living wisdom - thus finally an archetype is created.
The real world of archetypes functions in a three-ness; and this is the key to avoiding polarities. Polarities can lead to polarization, which is what we are seeing around us as division, the division which is now being seen in actual acts of the will on the earth.
An idea passing through the layers of creation, being touched by the source of wisdom, the source of enlivening and the source of form - this is how creation really works. This is why our system is broken. When it is working well, in Liberal and Conservative temperaments we have innovators and implementers, in a nutshell. But as we see, it is easy for each to believe things would be better if we stuck with just their side.
Better would be if there was something like this:
Inspirators, innovating through deciphering the wisdom of the world - Meaning
Enliveners, giving sense and energy to ideas - Flow
Formers, implementing and maintaining practically - Action
Rather than two parties making choices 51 to 49, every committee would be comprised of members from each temperament bringing specifically their gifts to the process of developing policy, rather than being at odds with one another.
We face the very real possibility of falling so deeply into black and white, into a polarization that it could result in physical divisions up to the level of an end to political cooperation. We must raise ourselves above the fallen archetypes, we must use the weapon of understanding to end a war which is being pushed on us against our will.
As we go through the coming months, and so much will unfold in this time, the next time the thought appears - those Republicans, they don’t have compassion for the downtrodden, they’re unsophisticated, they don’t like to share - remember that is not their job. The true mission they have in working through the higher archetype is: to protect the human spirit and guard the human will.
Remember, all money was once work. It is the fruit of a person’s will, and higher taxes mean that more of that person’s will is being applied and directed by something outside them.
Next time you hear - those Democrats, they don’t believe in individual rights, they don’t care about protecting what has been built, they’re not grounded - remember: it’s not their job. The mission of their true archetype is to inspire the human soul and human relationships to love and to creatively enliven.
In the higher worlds, the two also meet: in the spirit of Understanding. And that is the ultimate gift of the greatest archetype of all, the Spirit of Humankind.
Reader comment:
“Next time you hear - those Democrats, they don’t believe in individual rights, they don’t care about protecting what has been built, they’re not grounded - remember: it’s not their job.”
There is so much wrong with this.
Response:
I get it. That paragraph refers to the stereotype projected onto liberal people by others. The concept “it’s not their job” is a little tongue in cheek, but it points to the fact that we shouldn’t be looking at the stereotype at all - the higher Liberal Archetype, a spiritual being, has a much greater mission.
Of course people who lean left care about individual rights etc, the point is that the true mission of the archetype they are trying to work through has to do with inspiring love and compassion.
Thanks for the input!
Beautifully written John! Your background in Rudolf Steiner teachings provide us with a wider angle lens that enable the reader to fully grasp the political stereotypes as fallen archetypes; brilliant.