Last year, a reread of the late, great Gene Cohen's The Mature Mind helped shake me awake to how our woeful culture around aging is affecting our politics. His description of how the amygdala forever clamors for more! now! faster! in younger folks seems to define the Republican candidates.
When I wrote my Politics & Ageism posting early last June, the candidates we expected to see duking it out were Cruz & Walker & Jeb. They were the names being tossed around - maybe with Rubio thrown in for good measure. No one took Trump seriously; when I wrote the post, 99,9% of pundits & talking heads doubted he'd even file the appropriate paperwork to run.
Last June's thoughts on the disaster wrought by the GOP brushing off its older leaders & burnishing the most inexperienced - because of their inexperience! - are unchanged by a 69-year old steam roller with great suits & strange hair. Donald Trump is all about appearing to speak straight from the amygdala!
Right now is the perfect time to start James Hillman's The Force of Character And the Lasting Life. Haven't even gotten through the preface & am already relating to the GOP sloughing off its wise elders. It's inevitable that we ended up where we are, because the kids who were handed the keys to Mom's Porsche can't read traffic signs, let alone bother to learn the rules of the road.
"Our midlife encounter with old age is premature. One hasn't the perception yet that can fathom its (old age) images, so that the answer one finds in midlife mainly reflects our fears."
Ladies & gentlemen, there you have the current GOP primaries, in one handy dandy sentence. Our middle years are typically hallmarked with fear - fear of losing youth, fear of decay, of living longer but with the constant fear of decreptitude dementia dwindling. And what has been the hallmark of the GOP candidates? Promoting fear fear fear. Amygdala thinking has bulldozed the cortex off the national stage. Reasoned consideration & responses get you sent home. The voters seem driven by the thought, "Experienced politicians have messed things up, so let's go with someone with little experience in governing & still new enough to be hopped up by ideals, untempered by reality. We want the totally irrational." - thinking that's straight out of the amygdala & darn proud of it!
Age is about developing depth, understanding, perspective & perception, nuance - character. It's about nurturing curiosity, a joy in adventure, a renewed sense of wonder.
I believe that James Hillman is spot-on in saying, “As character directs aging, aging reveals character.” A shocking number of people these days seem to confuse being a character for having one.
Ted Cruz & Marco Rubio are like fresh wines that taste raw when first bottled but holds the promise of rich depth as it matures. Imagine anyone willfully drinking the under-developed vintage, on the grounds its closer, truer to its roots!
As for Donald Trump... He always prides himself on being undefinable. He realized long ago that most people don't want a well-aged wine with a lovely finish any more than they want a reasoned politician who speaks to the issues rather than straight to their heart. Nope, they want a nice big pitcher of Kool Aid, which he's having a blast serving!
Each person in the culture struggles blindly to
make sense of the darkness that
the soul requires to
deepen into life.
James Hillman
Credits:
LoveVFear
madmagazine.com
cnn.com
punchwine.com
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