Psychologie.cz | The Fisher King Without Clothes: Interview with Vlado Solc

This article originally appeared on psychologie.cz. Vlado Solc, member of the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts, is interviewed by Jan Majer, Editor-in-Chief of Psychologie.cz.

In his books, Jungian Analyst Vlado Solc has been describing for many years how high politics is increasingly dominated by base motives – envy, frustration, the need for revenge. The turn of events is unexpected and disturbing. And beneath the surface, something deeper is happening. It’s not about politics, it’s about the soul.

Jan Majer – Years ago, you pointed out that high politics and society were increasingly being driven by low motives — envy, frustration, the need for revenge. In recent weeks, a lot has happened. What new insights have these events brought you? What psychological connection have you realized?

~ Vlado Šolc – Even before Donald Trump entered the political scene, low impulses had begun to awaken in American society. I called it an emergence of the Narcissistic archetypal dynamics. This goes beyond individual vanity — Narcissus is a symbol of psychic fragmentation, of the ego being consumed by an image of oneself to the point that deeper, conscious connection becomes impossible. Psychologically, this represents a splitting of psychic opposites, a loss of living contact with the soul, which typically leads to a loss of compassion, perspective, and understanding of higher motives such as art, ethics, and spirituality.

In this fragmented state, what had previously been considered via lenses of moral anxiety suddenly became a new value, no longer viewed with fear, but with fearless excitement. Trump rose up as a great object of collective projection of this American complex; as a chosen Über-Narcissus, he legitimized these shadowy emotions — rage, entitlement, xenophobia — which had previously been suppressed due to social oversight. He thus gave permission for the collective shadow to manifest openly, without shame.

This opened the door to authoritarian dynamics and all narcissistic manipulation that catalyzes it. When society is psychologically fragmented, when people lose inner and outer cohesion, they often seek a dominant figure to restore a sense of order — someone emotionally expressive, certain, and seemingly strong. Manipulators and narcissists channel the chaos of the collective psyche and provide it with temporary relief by directing the collective shadow outward onto scapegoats: the state, immigrants, or anyone slightly different from oneself.