Bush Madness Explained

Comment by Larry Ross, May 23, 2006

 

Paul Levy's thesis is that George Bush suffers from a peculiar form of madness "in which a pathological part of his psyche has co-opted all of the healthy parts into its service"

In this comment, I will attempt to summarize what I feel are Paul Levy's most important and easier to understand insights.

"Bush has been taken over... by a saviour complex..."the person playing the archetypal role of saviour will reflect this unconsciousness and become inflated, blown up out of all proportion by the power of the archetype. He will then, of necessity, be compelled to act out his hubris in a way that is destructive for all who are under his dominion."

"...Bush is suffering from delusions of grandeur, and has become megalomaniacal. He is unconsciously identified with the archetype of the Messiah" as expressed in the following delusions: "Bush told an Amish group in 2004 that "God speaks through me" " Bush imagines that God actually speaks to him as well; in 2003 he told Palestinian ministers that God told him to invade Iraq."

Bush's megalomaniacal delusions, as Carl Jung's writings say about this condition "...transforms him into a hero or godlike being, a superhuman entity" and he feels himself "six thousand feet beyond good and evil."

"Bush literally feels himself above human morality, as he is under the self-generating delusion that he is the supreme moral arbiter." In fact  "because of his pathological condition...he has fallen into his unconscious, whose dark side he is acting out."

"Because of his complete unconsciousness, Bush has unwittingly allowed himself to become an instrument for evil, the dark side of the Self"...Bush has stepped "outside of ordinary human boundaries, a state in which genuine humility is impossible"

"Lacking self-reflection, Bush is blissfully unaware of the perverse nature of his situation, which itself is an expression of the depravity he has fallen into."

Carl Jung said of this condition:  "...they avoid self-criticism to an amazing degree, preach to others, and know nothing of themselves. They are happy to possess no self-knowledge, because then nothing disturbs the rosy glow of illusions."

Levy wrote: " By being inflated, Bush is unconsciously accessing and unleashing the power inherent in the archetype - this is why he has such an enchanting power over his followers." "By identifying with the archetype, the archetype acts as an amplifier, enhancing beyond measure Bush's hypnotic power over his followers.  Because Bush is so taken over by the unconscious, he has a compelling and entrancing effect on other's unconscious." To quote Jung, " It is a psychological fact that an archetype can seize hold of the ego and even compel it to act as it - the archetype - wills. A man can then take on archetypal dimensions and exercise corresponding effects."  ( Larry's comment: "Many of Bush followers and appointees are now in high positions of power and able to "exercise corresponding effects" of the collective megalomanaical delusions as well as influencing others)

{Larry's comment: Tony Blair and John Howard may be good examples of  persons (egos) "identifying with the Bush archetype and his "hypnotic power over his followers". Britain's and Australia's so-called "traditional and special relationships with the United States" may explain why so many in the UK and Australia find acceptable the United State's leaders lies and support for Bush's war-making delusions, and then follow him into an illegal barbarous war on Iraq and why they will probably support him in a much more dangerous (even nuclear) war on Iran.)

Paul Levy has written a book "The Madness of George Bush: A Reflection of Our Collective Psychosis" available on his web site: www.awakeninthedream.com . This book discusses the powerful effect of Bush's madness both on the people who surround him, and on America as a whole, resulting in disastrous U.S. foreign and defence policy and wars. His illness generates a psychic epidemic in the U.S. and in allied countries, which Levy calls "malignant egophrenia".  

(Larry's comment: Other nations with grave doubts about Bush's policies, exercise a de-facto acceptance and compliance with them due to their fears of openly opposing the war policies of the most powerful nation in history.  Whereas New Zealand has shown reservation and restraint in it's traditional role of usually supporting any war policy of the U.S., it does not dare to openly question or expose Bush's lies or his false justification of phoney "war on terror" policies. Because it has been thoroughly conditioned by the mass media who echo and support Bush lies and delusions, New Zealand is only an election away from electing the National Party. They will likely claim that some Bush-generated crisis, is justification for overthrowing NZ's nuclear free laws, then welcoming U.S. nuclear warships in our ports. Then they will probably join the U.S. "Coalition of the Willing"  (or Coalition of the Witless")  to support any U.S. wars. Only nations which Bush has declared  as part of his "axis of evil" or as enemies, such as Iran, Venezuela, Cuba etc have tried to expose his delusions and lies. However these rebuttals and exposures are not usually printed by the mass  media in the U.S., UK, Australia and New Zealand. If they are printed, they are not usually believed by those influenced by Bush's lies and delusions. Or they may be read and then discounted by those suffering from "malignant egophrenia" the term used by Paul Levy to explain this dangerous phenomenon.)

Bush is, as Jung said in describing Hitler "...like a man living in his own biography." Levy wrote: "Bush has become arrogant and full of himself, a legend in his own mind, someone who feels he is not bound by law, and believes himself entitled to get away with murder."

Jung wrote: "here we see the characteristic effect of the archetype: It seizes hold of the psyche with a kind of primeval force and compels it to transgress the bounds of humanity"  Levy wrote: "When we are gripped by an archetype and forced to unconsciously act out its effects destructively, we are acting out the dark side of this greater power."

Jung wrote: "The inner state of being possessed by the archetype expresses itself by arranging external events so as to give shape and form to itself."

(Larry's comment: The Bush Administration has done this extensively and redefined reality in terms of its grandiose delusional plans for world domination. Events have been clandestinely arranged to justify the Iraq war and the planned war on Iran.

 I paraphrase what one of Bush's neoconservative appointees said : "We create a new reality - you debate and examine it - then we create another new reality". One "new reality" was the Iraq war justifications. Another "new reality" is now the Iran war justifications. The mass media go along and accept each new reality as true. 

This seems to be the policy of the Christchurch Press who have consistently echoed and repeated as true, Bush lies and justifications for the illegal war on Iraq. As each of the many lies was exposed, the Press never acknowledged this changed "reality" or apologised for repeating the lies, or misinforming the public. It was business as usual and they still support U.S. policy in Iraq. Now they seem to be following the same policy line toward the planned U.S. war on Iran. In an editorial they condemned what they called "Iran's treachery" over the nuclear enrichment crisis, thereby justifying any U.S. response to come. There was nothing in the editorial that enrichment was Iran's right under the NPT; that there were 8-9 other actual nuclear weapon states that Bush accepts; as well as many other states enriching uranium for their nuclear power plants; and that Israel, a middle east neighbour of Iran, has a large undeclared nuclear weapon arsenal, and receives 3 billion dollars a year in US "aid". The Press editorial did not mention that Israel, backed by its nuclear weapons, threatened to make war on Iran to prevent it from enriching uranium for nuclear reactor fuel. Yet the Press do not even allow letters critical of their pro-U.S. war editorials, and carefully selected pro-U.S. war articles from overseas. Shaping the way people think by feeding them incorrect data and not even allowing reader correction by way of letters to the editor, and almost a complete lack of any corrective or balancing articles, seems to have become the Press editorial policy for some time. 

That is an example of the thought control being experienced by the Canterbury population and in many other areas of New Zealand. I hope readers will inform me of any more balanced and informative papers, or if they think I am wrong. Like the population in Orwell's 1984, people are being conditioned to accept any "Big Bother" U.S.wars, for whatever reason, and any

U. S. lies, no matter what the consequences might be. Inevitably there will be many who agree and are ready to have New Zealand politicians devote New Zealand's sons and daughters to supporting U.S.- led wars. Unwittingly and because of mass media conditioning, New Zealander's may elect a government that will support any U.S. war and justify any U.S. policy. NZ's sons and daughters, as Bush's "toy soldiers" will soon follow. Like Australia and UK, NZ can then again become a loyal U.S. ally in war-making, and sink deeper and deeper into the "new reality" quagmire of Bush's delusions and collective "malignant egophrenia". 

That the Christchurch Press was voted New Zealand's best newspaper in 2006 reflects the sorry state of New Zealand's mass media, and why the NZ media may be able to take credit for misinforming the New Zealand population to the extent that they will elect and follow a government that leads them into disastrous wars for the U.S.)

 

Levy said: "Bush has become a "magnet" which torques the field around him so as to insatiably feed his  own pathology, while simultaneously wreaking havoc on the field. Taken over by the archetype's magnetic power, Bush achieves a certain magnetism, which polarizes the field around it...attracting people to support him in his delusion who are suggestible to the overwhelming unconscious power inherent in the archetype....Bush followers feed his identification with the archetype, which simultaneously nourishes their own bewitchment, in a perverse, self-perpetuating feedback loop which develops an autonomous life of its own."

Levy recommends that rather than condemn Bush as evil, thus "perpetuating the very diabolical energy they are reacting against", we should criticise Bush as "simply a deluded human being who is dangerous because of his position of power, which allows him to act out his pathological process on the world stage"

Though describing Hitler, Jung just as easily, could have been describing Bush when he said he had a "...conceit that bordered

on madness, a very mediocre intelligence combined with the hysteric's cunning and the power fantasies of an adolescent".

Levy said: " being inflated, Bush is acting out the adolescent fantasies of a war on good versus evil with our living sons and daughters as his toy soldiers. Bush doesn't relate to other human beings as being autonomous or independent, but as pawns to serve his own narcissistic blindness..."

Jung pointed out that "Inflation magnifies the blind spot of the eye...a clear symptom of this is our growing disinclination to take note of the reactions of the environment and pay heed to them" (such as Bush and his followers unwillingness to accept the realities of global warming)

Levy said: "When we are inflated, we don't accept any reflection or feedback from the outer universe that contradicts our puffed- up image of ourselves. Instead of being open, receptive, and learning from the outer world, we continually interpret everything to support our delusional-image. When we become inflated, we become closed to any information or in-forming influence from the outside world...."

Instead of being in genuine   relationship to the world, a person who is inflated relates to the world through their own narcissistically self-serving, grandiose self-image. Jung said that it "...consists essentially in the fact that the unconscious in large measure ousts and supplants the function of the conscious mind. The unconscious usurps the reality function and substitutes its own reality."  Jung continued that this resulted in: "...senseless, unshakable judgements upheld in the face of reality (for example, Bush saying, 'the war in Iraq is going well' despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary)" Levy said:  "Being caught up in inflation is like being sucked up by a cyclone, as there is literally no getting through to the person who is inflated, who has been taken over and lifted off the ground by a more powerful energy." (such as Bush's saviour complex)

 Larry's comment: Or for example, the delusional and megalomaniacal claim by the Bush Administration that (1) they have the right to commit one of history's greatest crimes by attacking any nuclear or non-nuclear nation with a pre-emptive nuclear war strike. (2) Also that they have the right to commit such a horrendous crime because they suspect that such a nation may be a present threat, or become a future threat to the United States. This includes just about any nation.  In short they are saying they do not need any legal process or international law, or any evidence that people and nations may validate and question, to commit a crime which may spark a global nuclear war and destroy humanity. Although this is a dangerous grandiose delusion, as referred to in Jung and Levy's writings, the American and allied publics are so well indoctrinated by their mass media in the validity and truth of Bush delusions and the acceptability of his grandiose judgements, that there is little or no reaction to Bush's plans for pre-emptive nuclear war itself or the false justifications that go with it. That such a war may be based on suspicion, with no reference to international law, or any critical judgement and may result in terrible consequences, does not raise any comment by the conditioned public, or their conditioners, the mass media.

(Larry's comment: As stated before, this "new reality" process has been created by Bush's neocons " in hopes that people will believe and accept it. The Bush Neo-Conservative administration hopes that the American public will react the way the Administration has planned and conditioned them to act. So far, the strategy has been spectacularly successful with the Iraq war lies and justifications leading to an evermore barbarous war. So they are repeating this tactic with their planned Iran war, including the potential use of nuclear weapons.

 A created false terrorist incident in the U.S., may be blamed on Iran as indicated by an ex-C.I.A. agent in the "US WAR ON IRAN" section of our web site:  http://www.nuclearfree.org.nz/archives   The new nuclear doctrines have been established, publicised, then  validated by the U.S. Senate, so are considered legal under U.S. law. So it is possible that a phoney crime, as described above, may be used to justify using nuclear weapons on Iran. With the usual and expected mass media help to deceive the American public, the Bush Administration may even get away with a created incident to justify a horrendous nuclear crime and perhaps spark a global nuclear war that could destroy the world. It's somewhat like the Vietnam war slogan of the 60's, where the Americans destroyed a village, killing all the people, in order to save it from the Communists. Eventually the U.S. public rejected this. Today it is enough for Bush-directed Americans to use nuclear weapons on Iran, based on a false accusation, or contrived suspicion, for them to proceed with actions that may destroy - not a village - but possibly the world. The general public acceptance of these mad new neoconservative doctrines and the delusional Bush claiming instructions from God, indicates how far Western Society has come toward accepting as 'normal and reasonable' Bush's delusions, lies, justifications and strategies for military actions that could easily precipitate a nuclear conflagration.  

Levy said: "Bush and his supporters feed into and off of and support each others' unconscious madness so as to conjure up an impenetrable field around them that resists consciousness at all costs. It is only when their world - which in this case is our world, too - self-destructs that the universe forces them out of their psychosis." ( Larry's comment: unfortunately everyone is included and there is no second chances, no point in recriminations and too late for ' I wish I had known earlier' lamentations etc. The great experiment will be over. Paraphrasing Noam Chomsky, he warned: "If U.S. policy continues on this path there will be a nuclear war."

Talking about inflation, Jung said that it "...can be damped down only by the most terrible catastrophe to civilization, another deluge let loose by the gods upon inhospitable humanity." (Larry's comment: That was before humans threatened each other with enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world many times over. It was said before our time when Hitler's maniacal regime threatens to engulf the world. Today it is pre-emptive nuclear war based on phoney justifications and suspicion)

Levy said: The fact that our government, led by an inflated madman, is insanely and endlessly investing in and feeding the industry of creating weapons of mass destruction is an extremely dangerous situation for all of us. To quote Jung: "Let man but accumulate sufficient engines of destruction and the devil within him will soon be unable to resist putting them to their fated use."

Speaking of Bush, Levy said: Being possessed by the unconscious is a very dangerous situation, particularly when the person so taken over is in a position of power where he can act out as well as activate a virulent madness on the world stage. Bush's madness affects all those under his sphere of influence, which in this case is the entire planet.

He quotes Jung: "It is abundantly clear that (lowering of the mental level - often referred to as politicians and  media 'dumbing down' the population); the overpowering of the ego by unconscious contents...possesses a prodigious psychic virulence, or power of contagion, and is capable of the most disastrous results." Levy said: " When such a 'lowering of the mental level' happens collectively, a psychic epidemic becomes activated in the field."

Levy recommends: "The only way to change the collective nightmare we are sharing is through inner transformation in the individual, which collectively gets mobilized on the world stage so that we can effect genuine change...."

Do you think this is possible? What is your recommendation?