Roberto Assagioli discusses the concept of nations as living organisms, with a personality and a soul and the need for global solidarity and cooperation
By Roberto Assagioli, (Doc. #24233 – Assagioli Archives-Florence). Original Title: Politica e Psicologia – Le Vie della Ricostruzione – 1944. Translated and Edited With Notes by Jan Kuniholm[i]
Abstract: In this essay, written before the end of World War II, Roberto Assagioli discusses the concept of nations as living organisms and the need for global solidarity and cooperation. He argues that the essential causes of war and conflict stem from the belief that one nation can prosper at the expense of others. Assagioli emphasizes the practical need for cooperation in the material, economic, and industrial fields, as well as the importance of replacing competition with collaboration. He suggests that nations should strive for self-awareness and recognize their true function as organs of humanity. Assagioli also explores the psychological aspects of nations, comparing their development to that of individuals. He highlights the importance of discipline, harmony, and the integration of different elements within a nation. Assagioli proposes that national psychosynthesis, or the harmonious development of a nation’s faculties, is necessary for constructive and stable progress. He suggests that understanding, appreciation, and collaboration among nations are crucial for achieving global solidarity and building a new society based on brotherhood and unity.
It has often been said — by Manu (the great lawgiver of ancient India), by Plato, by Menenius Agrippa,[ii] and others from St. Paul onward — that a people, a state, a community are analogous to a living organism, of which individuals are the cells, and groups of people and social classes are the limbs and organs. Never before has this analogy proved true and responsive by applying it to all humanity.
A tragic demonstration in the negative sense has been given by the present world war. For its essential causes can be traced to the illusions that one people can truly prosper at the expense of others; that one people can allow themselves to keep other peoples permanently enslaved by force; that an unjust peace can be stable. Ignorance or disregard of the simple and great law that all violence and all injustice — which disturb harmony and balance — cause equally violent counter reactions, has been paid at a very heavy price by all mankind.
There is a solidarity among all people that is no less close, intimate and necessary than that which connects the cells of the same living organism; the positive evidence of this is obvious to every person who is not blinded by passions and preconceptions. As early as the first half of the last century Emerson, the American thinker, could write,
If The Rothschilds at Paris do not accept bills, the people at Manchester, at Paisley, at Birmingham are forced into the highway, and landlords are shot down in Ireland. The police records attest it. The vibrations are presently felt in New York, New Orleans, and Chicago. [iii]
And Mazzini could say in 1860:
No nation lives exclusively on its own produce at the present day. You live by exchanges, by importation and exportation . . . A foreign commerce ruined in consequence of evil administration, produces mischief and crises in your own. Failures in England and America and elsewhere, entail failures in Italy. [iv]
But now, after the enormous progress of land, sea and air communications (progress which, far from being finished, will [in future] take on an increasingly rapid pace); now that every people needs the raw materials from the different parts of the world or the products manufactured with them for its ever higher standard of living; now that radio has definitely eliminated every material barrier to human contacts — now truly no stable and constructive order can be conceived any longer except on a world scale, and based on the solidarity of all people that is recognized and implemented. Therefore, this solidarity is not based only on an ideal of brotherhood, it is not inspired only by humanitarian ideas, or by generous sentiments to which one is free to subscribe or not, which may be considered and derided as dreams and utopias. This solidarity is first and foremost a PRACTICAL NEED in the material, economic, and industrial field. It is precisely practical people who are coming to recognize that the monetary problem, the problem of raw materials, the problem of industries and trade, can only be solved in a satisfactory and advantageous way for all, internationally, on a world scale. In other words, it is appropriate for everyone, indeed necessary for the good of all, to replace competition with cooperation, discordwith understanding, self-sufficiency with exchange, isolation and “doing it yourself”with mutual integration and mutual aid.
Recognizing this fully, drawing all the consequences from it and implementing them faithfully, without reservations and mental restrictions, without trying to cheat or obtain some temporary advantage by cunning and deception that would then be paid for dearly — this is the necessary basis for any sound reconstruction. And the first task is to impress this clear simple truth on the souls of everyone, the leaders and the masses, eliminating prejudices, resistance, selfish fears, and attachments to contrary habits, methods and ideologies.
But this is not enough; we must then build on this basis. In what ways can and should global solidarity and cooperation in various fields be practically implemented? To do so it is certainly not necessary to deny homelands or abolish nations, as exaggerated and superficial internationalism tended to do toward the end of the last century and at the beginning of this one.
Just as the cells of a living body are not connected in a direct and equal way with the vital center that animates them, but are grouped into well-defined organs (stomach, liver, brain, etc.) and the organs in turn [are associated] into groups of organs to perform a given function (digestive system, respiratory system, etc.) in close and harmonious cooperation — this is how it should be, this is how it must be for humanity.
The nations, far from disappearing, will have to “form” and develop in an ever more definite way, acquire greater consciousness of themselves as “organs” of humanity, discovering their true function in it and for it. If the word had not been overused and misused and not lent itself to misunderstanding, it could be said that there is a need for a well-meaning “nationalism,” which knows how to bring out all the material, psychological, and spiritual resources and potentialities of each nation.
The fatal error and vain presumption of [all] past and present “nationalisms” has been that each people attempted to have supremacy over others, each has believed themselves to be the chosen people, to have a unique mission from God. Instead, each people can aspire, if they make themselves worthy, to have a partial prominence — one corresponding to their own particular talents — and can thus in a sense consider themselves “chosen” for that given prominence; each people, even a small one, can have a mission in the world that is modest but necessary for the common good of all humanity.
Each people therefore has a wide field on which to extend all its energies in noble, peaceful, generous excellence — no longer to overpower and dominate other peoples, but for the good of all peoples. It is therefore necessary for every people to begin by acquiring a true self-awareness, by realizing what they are, what they can become, what they can do . . . and also what they cannot do.
For this purpose the analogy between a nation and a person is of great help. Thus we come to recognize that a nation is not only comparable to an organism, but is actually a living Entity, similar to a human being in all its aspects.[v] This has often been intuited, more or less clearly, so much so that it is customary to speak of the “soul” of a people, its “psychology,” its “mentality,” its qualities and faults, its development and education. Well, these expressions correspond to a definite psycho-spiritual reality.
The study of a nation as a living entity is very enlightening and fertile with important practical deductions and norms for action. The first observation — which should not be shocking, but rather explains and justifies many things and is a source of reasonable and well-founded optimism — is that the personalities of nations are still at a primitive, initial stage, corresponding generally to what has been called the “ungrateful age,” of the 11-13 year-old boy. It is a stage in which he begins to acquire an initial degree of individual consciousness, which is expressed in an incomplete way as separative and aggressive self-assertion.
It might be objected that various peoples, such as the Italians, have had a glorious past, have displayed high cultural manifestations. To this it may be answered that here we mean to speak not so much of peoples in general as of real, well-defined nations, and these are a relatively recent formation. Moreover, a people can display brilliant achievements through the work of a few individuals or groups, without having yet acquired a national “personality,” just as men can produce valuable artistic creations at a very young age (e.g., Mozart) yet remain lifelong “eternal children” without true personality, like not a few artists.
The evolution of peoples, then, does not take place in a linear way but “in cycles,” as Vico pointed out[vi] — although this does happen in a more varied, complex and irregular way than he expounded in his theory of historical recurrences. But it can be said that even in individuals the psychological and spiritual ages do not rigidly follow that of the body; even in individuals there are alternating periods of activity and stagnation, of dejection and recovery, of maturity and rejuvenation. A typical example of this was Wolfgang Goethe[vii] whose life had a distinctly cyclical course and who at the age of 74 fell in love with a young girl, experiencing adolescent feelings and expressing them in one of his most inspired poems.
Finally, at this time the particular cycles of each nation are overwhelmed by the influence of a larger cycle, one of a worldwide character: the end of an Era and the beginning of a new one.[viii] And this beginning cannot fail to exhibit elemental, primitive, in a certain sense barbaric characteristics. [ix]
A second observation, connected with the first, is that the life of a nation still corresponds to a great extent to the subconscious life of the individual. Recent studies of subconscious psychic life have shown that it is predominantly instinctive, emotional, imaginative, and irrational; easily influenced by suggestions; dominated by the collective unconscious and ancestral “images” or “archetypes.”[x] Well then, anyone who observes dispassionately and with a mind free from illusions easily recognizes that these are precisely the characteristics that predominate in the collective psychic life of every people. The conscious part of the personality of the individual is represented in the peoples by the minority of thinkers (philosophers, historians, critics and some politicians) who seek to develop national self-consciousness, to interpret its past, to evaluate its present conditions, to indicate the ways for its future. But such a minority [continuing the analogy] is in general still more in the period of study and research than at the period of firm conclusions; those who compose it often disagree, and their influence on national life is meager and unsteady. The Soul, the true spiritual Center, in individuals as in nations, is superconscious. That is, it exists, but in an inner sphere or level which personal consciousness does not ordinarily reach. The real existence of the Soul is revealed by its manifestations, [which are] almost always on exceptional occasions, but in such a luminous and powerful way as to leave no doubt [about its presence].
In the individual this happens above all in geniuses, saints, mystics, and heroes, but the greatest among these are sometimes not only enlightened and inspired by their own souls but also by the Soul of their nation, which makes them its instruments, or rather organs of expression, manifesting in themselves all that they are capable of grasping and transmitting. We Italians have had several high examples of this. First of all Dante Alighieri,[xi] who, with passionate love and a surprising vision for his time, gave Italians not only a language but a noble ideal of a homeland. And St. Catherine of Siena[xii] demonstrated how a humble and uncultured commoner — when her personality is transmuted by love for God and by His action — can be so inspired by the national Soul as to become capable of exercising energetic, wise and far-reaching political action. In more recent times Giuseppe Mazzini[xiii] with clear awareness and truly prophetic insight was a noble representative of our National Soul; revealing to the Italians their duties, their tasks, their mission and working with tenacity and spirit of sacrifice for the liberation of the homeland and the achievement of its unity.
But it is very difficult for any one person, however great, to be able to represent all aspects of the National Soul and to inspire and direct the people in the various tasks they have to perform, given his own inevitable personal limitations and one-sidedness. Therefore sometimes the National Soul makes use of small groups of individuals or even infuses itself into a large part of the people themselves by arousing them to extraordinary acts. An example of the first case occurred in the Italian Risorgimento.[xiv] The almost miraculous achievement of national unity, in spite of very powerful enemies, was accomplished above all through the contributions of four men, who were very different from each other and who in playing their parts were sometimes in bitter conflict: Victor Emmanuel II,[xv] Cavour, [xvi] Mazzini and Garibaldi.[xvii] Those who study that period of history with an impartial and synthetic vision must recognize that all four were necessary, for there were different tasks to be performed. In spite of their differences — or rather thanks to them, each daring to do what the others could not do, and curbing the excesses of the others — they complemented each other, like the pieces of an inlay, so as to give [to the observer] the clear impression that they were the instruments of a superior intelligence and will.
An example of collective inspiration from the National Soul occurred with us Italians after Caporetto, when the people “found themselves again,” and their young sons saved their homeland at the Piave.[xviii] In the history of every people one can find similar manifestations of the National Soul. I will only recall Joan of Arc for France, Lincoln, Emerson and Walt Whitman for the United States of America.
If we accept this conception of nations as psychological and spiritual entities, we can draw from it a number of consequences of the utmost practical importance. It offers a new way of approaching all the problems of national life (social, political, cultural problems) that is scientific and at the same time faithful to human reality. Unforeseen deductions can then be drawn that enable us to arrive at truly constructive solutions. For all this we can find sure guidance by developing the analogy between nation and individual in all its aspects.
Whoever wishes to educate a young person, on the basis of the most recent advances in psychology and in a truly integral way, must first of all study him thoroughly, in order to know well the “material” that a person must work with and on. Such a study must begin with a thorough physical examination, and then continue with the psychological examination. This must not be limited to noting the young person’s obvious expressions of behavior, words, etc., but one must search for their origins, their often deep roots in the personal and collective subconscious, so that they can be rightly understood and evaluated. That is, one must make a psychoanalytic investigation of the subject under examination. [xix]
The same study can and should also be done for a nation — for every nation. First of all, an examination of the “body” of the nation is needed, in order to make a realistic inventory of its material resources, its weaknesses and deficiencies; in short, of its true possibilities — and — no less — its impossibilities. This examination is the easiest, since the necessary geographical, resource, economic, and scientific data already exist. But what unfortunately is not always done is to draw the necessary consequences; to recognize the existing limitations; to evaluate without illusions which deficiencies can be remedied and which must be accepted as inevitable, in order then to draw from them the appropriate guidelines for action. Not infrequently, passions, desires and ambitions obscure the view of facts that are themselves precise and unquestionable, and induce leaders to try to (according to the popular but appropriate expression) “bite off more than they can chew”[xx] — that is, to launch a people into foolish adventures, into enterprises and conquests for which they lack the means and material strength, and not infrequently also the aptitude and will.
The psychological examination of a nation is far more difficult and complex than the material one, and this may explain the curious fact that, despite the vital importance of the subject, studies on the psychology of peoples are still relatively scarce and not very satisfactory, and almost none have been done in a truly scientific and objective way. In fact, psychology is still a young science that has not yet established itself as much as it deserves, or as much as would be necessary for the valuable contributions it could make. Moreover, if passions, attachments, and egos are so strong as to distort perception and skew the evaluation of precisely calculable material data, then all the more can they mislead investigations and cause serious errors in the appreciation of less objective and less surely graspable data, such as psychological data.
But these difficulties are not such as to make one abandon a field of study that presents such lively human interest and such great and current practical value. They should only prompt one to cultivate it with the appropriate caution and due preparation — which should consist first of all in a serious and sincere individual psychoanalysis of the researcher himself, so as to eliminate as much as possible the “complexes,” emotional reactions, preconceptions and illusions that may undermine the objectivity of his investigations.
After all, it is not a exactly question of beginning ab imis fundamentis:[xxi] there are already a certain number of studies, even if they are incomplete and debatable; and a first task is to examine them, to evaluate them with a fair critical sense and to establish the foundations of an exact psychological knowledge of the various peoples with the data that has been acquired so far.
In view of the difficulty of being impartial and dispassionate, it would be appropriate for such an investigation to be carried out by groups of researchers, and for the group dealing with each nation to include some members of other nationalities. Sometimes those who are on the outside, those who have a certain “psychological distance,” may see better and more fairly than those who are involved. Any researcher or group of researchers should give due consideration to the observations and “reactions” of intelligent and sympathetic outsiders. Often a sharp, even harsh critic, and even an enemy, can be more helpful than a blind admirer. The Indians have gone so far as to say, “An enemy is just as useful as a Buddha!”
In this examination it will be appropriate to take into account the advances in knowledge of the human soul brought about by psychoanalytic investigations. For example, it will be useful to research whether and how the material inadequacies of a nation (deficiency of raw materials, colonies, ports), the events of its history, or certain real or alleged injustices it has suffered, have created emotionally charged “psychological complexes,” or aroused envies, jealousies, bitterness, or resentments. It is useful to know whether the sense of some inferiority of one’s own (whether acknowledged, or repressed and denied) has produced reactions and over-compensations that manifest as self-exaltation, hostility or denigration toward other nations. And inversely, it is appropriate to ascertain whether the power and material prominence of certain nations has produced “superiority complexes” in their peoples, manifested as pride, conceit, and claims to special rights or missions.
The psychological balance sheet of a nation, like that of an individual, brings to light a series of educational tasks that need to be implemented in order to achieve full and harmonious development, to make up for deficiencies as far as possible, to make appropriate use of exuberant energies, and to awaken latent and higher energies: in short, to promote what may be called “national psychosynthesis.” The various methods for achieving these goals for the education and psychosynthesis of the individual are partly known and partly being experimented with and developed.[xxii] It is now a matter of applying the same methods on a national scale and in collective ways, with appropriate adaptations and modifications.
Here, too, there is no need to start ab ovo.[xxiii] Some of these methods are used more or less consciously by the leaders of the peoples, but they mostly do so empirically, without thorough psychological knowledge, without an organic program — and not infrequently with the motive of dominating the people and moving them for their own [personal] purposes, rather than educating them for self-awareness and self-control.
The first of these tasks, for a people as well as for an individual, is to discipline the instincts and passions which, left to themselves, tend to be expressed in excessive ways, which become a continual threat of provoking conflicts with other peoples. But such discipline must not consist in a repression of the vital forces; for this — as psychoanalysis has clearly shown — would produce dangerous pressures which could give rise to violent and destructive reactions, or to unhealthy deviations, or to depression and loss of vitality or ability, depending upon the case.
Those forces must instead be channeled, directed, and used in such a way that they have appropriate and useful (or at least harmless) expressions, as much for the nation itself as for others. In particular, the fighting instinct, the tendency toward self-assertion and domination and pride, must be directed and used for constructive purposes. Therefore, it is necessary to propose to the people wholesome and lofty ideals that are accessible to their understanding, suited to their aptitudes — and commensurate with their possibilities — and to assign them particular tasks that are directed toward the gradual achievement of those ideals. These can be tasks of agricultural and industrial production, maritime activities, sporting, scientific, artistic achievements, etc. But they must be presented in such a way as to stimulate and encourage the people to employ their best energies, and at the same time to satisfy their own tendencies to compete, to assert themselves and prove their worth.
A second task is to harmonize the elements and groups within the nation itself. There are conflicts of interests between one social class and another; between groups of producers (e.g. industrialists and farmers); there are regional conflicts; and there are struggles between different ideologies. The solution is essentially to intervene and affirm a higher interest that is more just and common to all rival groups.
This happens forcibly under the pressure of a serious crisis, of a danger threatening the nation, or an exceptional condition such as a state of war. In that case we see “coalition governments” being formed in which the various parties and interests of a nation are represented. But since that unifying element is imposed by external conditions and is temporary in nature, when that “pressure” lets up the union also tends to dissolve.
To arrive at a harmony, a lasting psychosynthesis of the tendencies and people belonging to one nation, two things are needed:
1. That the leaders first understand and fully recognize that solidarity is necessary, both externally and internally, and then by their work gradually all the people come to realize it too. In the end, cooperation ultimately benefits all interests (both material and moral) — even at the cost of sacrifices and concessions — much more than an exhausting struggle, or a necessarily unhealthy and always unstable victory [of one interest over another]. Note well that this does not imply the disappearance of parties, the suppression of opposing forces, or a uniformity imposed from above. Lively discussions, the presentation of opposing points of view with their supporting facts in favor of various positions, and the criticism exercised by minorities and individuals have, within certain limits, very useful functions. They serve as a brake on the leaders; they bring out all aspects of the various problems; they educate the public to think, choose, and take a position; and finally, they are a useful and harmless outlet for emotional and combative energies. [xxiv]
Of course it is difficult to establish, and above all to maintain, the right limits for such struggles of ideas and opinions; it is difficult, but not impossible, if one does not demand a perfect solution, but admits that in practice those limits may change as well . . . within certain other, broader limits. For different peoples, the [appropriate] proportions and balance between authority and freedom may be quite different, depending on their history, their preparation and maturity, their psychological “type,” etc. Moreover, for the same people, periods of greater freedom may alternate with periods of stricter discipline for various reasons.
As a general rule it can be said that the fundamental freedoms must be respected: freedom of speech, faith, press and association that form the basis of any true democracy, and in addition those rightly proclaimed by the Atlantic Charter:[xxv] freedom from want and freedom from fear. But therefore, the government itself — which the people have chosen for themselves by free elections and which represents, at least pro tempore,[xxvi] the will of the majority — has not only the right but the duty to prevent all physical violence and all moral intimidation. Minorities undoubtedly have the right to actively work to change laws that they feel are not good or just, but only by using legal and nonviolent means.
For that matter, coalition governments (which, apart from any outside pressure, would be the almost inevitable solution if elections were conducted with a proportional system), though they seem to offer the greatest guarantees of freedom, are not the only satisfactory solution in the democratic sense. There may be others; for example, alternating parties in power, as is the case in the United States of America. It all depends on the type of state constitution, and even with regard to this, it cannot be said that there is one type that is optimal for all peoples: their psychological differences may require different orders. The fundamental problem of democratic systems, which is not easy to solve, is to make possible a government that is strong and stable enough to be efficient, but with such guarantees that its authority cannot degenerate into oppression and dictatorship. [xxvii]
But the real solution here, too, is essentially psychological and moral. It is to educate parties, groups and individuals to convince themselves and always remember that the good of the nation is the good of all and must be put above all other interests — ideological, emotional and material. In this, true love of country and enlightened self-interest coincide.
2. Secondly, it is necessary to understand and to make people understand the fundamental difference between an end, a goal to be achieved, and the means of doing so; between an ideal principle, which in itself is fixed and immutable, and its concrete, particular, historical expressions and manifestations, which can be — indeed, cannot fail to be — contingent, relative, and changeable.
As this understanding deepens, one discovers more and more that those we consider our “opponents” in fact often strive toward the same goal we strive for. Only they call it by another name, propose different methods than ours, or emphasize different aspects of the same truth. This recognition prevents fervor, idealism, and dedication to an idea from degenerating into fanaticism, intransigence, or intolerance.
Moreover, the means already indicated for the disciplining, channeling, and constructive use of the instincts and tendencies to fight other peoples are equally suitable and effective in dealing with the tendencies and passions that foment internal national strife. Thus the collaboration of different parties and classes, which is imposed by external dangers and war, can also be promoted and maintained by tasks, action plans, and “campaigns,” provided they are of such a nature, and are presented so as to arouse vital interest, to strike the imagination, to stimulate action.
All this is essentially a psychological problem, and modern psychology — with the facts and laws it has discovered concerning the dynamics of tendencies and emotions, the power of the imagination, the effectiveness of “the power of ideas” and forms of suggestion (slogans), and with its successful applications of them in education and psychotherapy — can provide safe principles and valuable methods for those who seek to carry out public action in the political and social fields. Here are a few examples:
In the practice of psychotherapy, it has been found that through the use of suggestion, “brilliant” results are often obtained — the rapid elimination of ailments of various kinds and painful symptoms, such as functional paralysis, digestive and circulatory disorders, neuralgia, psychic agitation, etc. But then it had to be recognized that those results were often unstable. There were relapses when the treatment was stopped, or when some new difficulty and conflict arose. Moreover, when suggestion by the “imperative” method was used in hypnosis or in the waking state, some subjects became too passive and dependent on the doctor. In other people an opposition arose, a conscious or subconscious rebellion that prevented the [desired] effect. As a result of these experiences, “suggestive” psychotherapy has been modified in various ways. From “imperative” suggestion we have moved on to “gentle,” calm, penetrating suggestion, acting on the subconscious through repetition, rhythm, and evocation of beneficial images. Then — especially because of the work of Couè and Baudouin [xxviii]— there was a shift from suggestion to autosuggestion; that is, to teach the patient to use the method as much as possible by himself, to influence his subconscious by the action of his own conscious personality.
Finally it is now recognized that, even with these refinements, the suggestive method, however useful, is insufficient by itself to produce a complete and stable cure, except in mild and initial cases. It must be combined, on the one hand with psychoanalytic investigation and [energetic] discharge or “catharsis;” and on the other hand with constructive work. This work includes persuasion and illumination of the conscious personality, development of deficient abilities and functions, awakening of higher energies, harmonious psychosynthesis, and creative activity of the whole being.
It is not difficult to discern the similarities between these findings and those brought out by an objective examination of the results of the various methods of political action. Propaganda — both that made by means of the viva voce[xxix](in person and through radio) and that carried out through the press where free discussion is forbidden — is in reality nothing more than the use of suggestion on a large scale and in a collective manner. Well, the facts, which are too well known and too familiar to repeat, have shown that the first effect of this method of propaganda is quite “brilliant.” The great majority of people — and especially the youthful part — are fascinated, won over, drawn into believing, feeling and acting in the manner desired by the suggester. He becomes an idol that arouses fanaticism, dedication and even acts of self-denial and sacrifice.
After some time, however, things begin to change: the suggestive “hype” of propaganda does not last, or it needs to be recharged in an increasingly intense and sensational way. In addition, reactions in the opposite direction arise — due to the fundamental law of psychic polarity. These are fostered by external causes such as personal disappointments, unfulfilled claims, injustices suffered or observed. Critical sense and even . . . common sense are awakened; people start thinking again. They become aware of the exaggerations, the falsehoods that are being peddled to them, the mistakes that are being made, the inconsistencies between speeches and conduct . . . In this way the number of influenced or indoctrinated people decreases and ranks of the the disillusioned and rebellious grow; an internal conflict arises which weakens the national structure and prepares the conditions for either a victorious revolution or for a collapse, when this is favored by external circumstances.
If a real and solid reconstruction of the nation is to be achieved, with the development and the fruitful expression of all its energies, the path of individual psychosynthesis must be followed and corresponding methods used. A moderate use of suggestive influence to animate the masses and arouse the youth cannot to be ruled out (but note carefully: “suggestion” in the scientific sense of appealing to feeling and imagination; not in the vulgar sense of “putting something over on people!”). But to this must be added an ever-increasing work aimed at enlightening minds and convincing individuals, groups, parties, and social classes. The usefulness, justice, and goodness of the proposed ends and the means to achieve them must be demonstrated based upon facts and reasons.
In this way, much firmer and more lasting allegiances are formed. Above all, intelligent, willing and faithful collaborators are trained who are indispensable for carrying out truly constructive and lasting work. Harmonious relations are woven between governors and those who are governed, and conditions are created for the latter to participate more and more in public life — in a word, national psychosynthesis is developed.
If one wanted to give this a political name (which is always dangerous, given the positive and negative connotations of over-used terms, and given the emotional reactions aroused by them!) one could call it “organic democracy” or “solidarity” — because it is based on the concept that the nation is a living organism. All individual and collective elements of such an organism (corresponding, as we have seen, to cells, organs, and systems) are in an intimate relationship of interdependence, of functional cooperation — they are in solidarity. This is because their fates are fundamentally inseparable: the good of individuals and leaders is for the benefit of all, and the prosperity and advancement of the nation flows back to the benefit of all its individual members. This is in no way intended to propose the founding of a new party (there are already too many), but only to indicate an attitude and method that could usefully be adopted by any truly democratic party.
In individual psychosynthesis the aim is to harmoniously develop all the faculties of a person: strengthening those that are deficient, moderating and disciplining those that are over-exuberant, and organizing their harmonious use in such a way that they do not conflict with each other but cooperate in a full and fruitful life. All this is done with a precise program of action formulated according to individual needs and possibilities. Similarly in national psychosynthesis, it is a matter of promoting a balanced development of all productive activities and of implementing an equitable distribution of tasks and compensations. It involves an ever closer solidarity of interests, an increasing rapprochement and mixing of the social classes (especially favoring those with the greatest need and therefore the most right) according to an organic and well-defined plan — but one that is flexible and adapted as appropriate to changing national and international conditions.
This parallel between individual and national psychosynthesis must be developed even further. In individual life [continuing the analogy used earlier], the transition from boy to young man occurs through a crisis and a profound transformation: adolescence. The boy is naturally individualistic, unconsciously selfish, combative, and all outward-looking. His self-consciousness (if we allow this paradox) is instinctive — he seeks to realize himself, asserting and imposing on and against things and other people a “self” that he does not actually know, much less possess.
But at a certain moment, gradually or abruptly, a change occurs in him: the awakening of new human elements takes place that break the previous balance. This is the small and narrow psychosynthesis of a boy. These new elements are mainly [in the area of] feelings and ideals. One could discuss to what extent and in what way the eruption in the young man’s soul in a crowd of previously dormant feelings is connected with the manifestation of sexuality. Much depends on the more or less definite and general sense one gives to the latter word. But for present purposes that discussion is of no interest.
The fact remains that feelings are awakened in the adolescent that bring him out of his self-centeredness and bring him into vital relationship with his fellow human beings. The boy joins with others in “gangs” and “groups” mainly for the purpose of play, adventure, and fighting, and then [he is] held together [with others] by a weak and external bond. But also the adolescent forms real friendships with a few peers, sometimes passionate ones, and falls in love with a woman: not infrequently the two occur together. At the same time, or shortly thereafter, a sense of the ideal is awakened in him, which sometimes expresses itself as a religious feeling.
The adolescent discovers both within and outside the self a world of higher values and realities, and feels attracted to it and fascinated by it. The expressions of this awakening may be varied: often he or she has a vision of human and spiritual perfection, perhaps expressed in some historical figure, to which he or she feels impelled to adapt. At other times the adolescent is fascinated by abstract ideals such as Beauty, Justice, Truth; sometimes it is the grandeur of the Universe, or God the creator of those wonders; sometimes it is the awareness of a vocation, of a mission to carry out. Often these experiences alternate, connect, or intertwine; sometimes they conflict. But through them the best young people have, more or less clearly, the experience of a higher part of themselves, of their own souls, and also of a spiritual world of values where it dwells.
There are various consequences and outcomes of this crisis, of this tumultuous surfacing of new psychological and spiritual elements. It is not possible to examine them here, but, greatly simplifying and generalizing, it can be said that there are two kinds of opposing outcomes. In the more common types, after some time the opening, the “window to heaven,” tends to close. Practical activities and interests, studies and careers, the renewed and increased attractions of the world and the senses, or a special affection that absorbs and leads to the formation of one’s own family, all distract from ideal aspirations and cause them to be forgotten. However, they often remain alive in the subconscious and give a sense of discomfort, dissatisfaction, restlessness, and regret, and not infrequently provoke a crisis later in life. [xxx]
In the best young people, on the other hand, the spiritual outlook on life, the sense of values, the aspiration for an ideal, elevated love, and a broad and sympathetic social sense remain alive; indeed they assert themselves and become the elements of the personality of the young person and the adult. This actual and personal spiritual psychosynthesis, inspired by the consciousness and power of the soul, simultaneously becomes an active element of a series of inter-individual psychosyntheses, harmoniously fitting in and doing constructive work in various social and cultural groups, in the nation, in humanity.
All these inner vicissitudes, this varied and complex play of psychological and spiritual forces, find broad correspondences in the life of peoples and nations, as long as one sticks to the broad lines, which are the significant ones, without wanting to extend the analogy to the particulars that are necessarily different, and as long as one takes into account the principle of “historical recurrences.”
It was said earlier that the “personalities” of nations are mostly at the psychological age of the boy; but perhaps it is more correct to say that they are entering adolescence. In fact, one can consider World War I as a “historical recurrence” in a regressive sense. It rejuvenated and rearranged the more or less “old” European peoples, and gave or restored independent life to various small nations — Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Finland, the three Baltic nations, etc. At the end of that war there was a surge of idealistic fervor in the national entities which, when impartially examined from a psychological point of view, had the qualities and defects that arise in adolescence. It was sincere, spontaneous, generous at first, but mixed with illusions, and both simplistic and unstable.
Nations attempted to form a “society,” to replace war with law, through a general disarmament plan and a system of international agreements and regulations.[xxxi] That attempt failed due to various causes: the abstention of those who could have had greater weight and influence; the bad faith and ill-will of some; the resurgence of competition by selfish interests; the refusal to correct the injustices of the Peace Treaty and to make the necessary concessions and sacrifices by all. The combative tendencies, the desire to acquire and keep material goods, and the “pseudo-ideals” of expansion, domination and supremacy overwhelmed the ideals of peace, solidarity, cooperation, and world synthesis. The “personalities” of nations did not listen to their Souls, and isolated themselves and allied into hostile groups. [xxxii]
Thus those great opportunities to establish a new and higher way of coexistence among peoples — the only way worthy of being called truly “civilized” — were not taken. And so through the well-known events of the twenty-year period 1919-1939 came the second and most tremendous world war. Now, at the end of this one, the great dilemma arises again. The opportunity to establish a true world order arises again, along with the danger of making the same mistakes again, of setting in motion the causes of new and even more terrible conflicts.
To avoid this danger, to open the way for a New Era of world solidarity, it is necessary — before nations set to work to implement it, and during its unfolding, that each nation “find” itself — the truest and best part of itself, its own Soul — and “recognize” itself in that Soul and be inspired and guided by it. How and by whom can this national psychosynthesis be done?
As was mentioned earlier, it is first of all necessary to research the history of peoples. The great ones, geniuses, heroes, and saints of each people have in some way intuited, embodied and expressed the Soul of their nations. We also search for the collective crises through which the national Soul has manifested itself. It is necessary to interpret the messages and examples of those great ones in such a way as to distinguish the essential and ever-living part in them from the contingent and transient part.
Having found its own Soul in the light of history, or in the troubles of the present, it is then necessary that each nation should embody it now and express it in ways that are suitable and possible, given the present conditions and contingencies, both internal and external. National spiritual psychosynthesis, like an individual one, is hindered by internal, personal deficiencies, resistance, unpreparedness, and external unfavorable contingencies, and is in both cases a gradual and strenuous — but glorious — achievement.
It is therefore necessary that the best people of each nation, those who feel impelled to devote themselves to that work, should fervently set about it, recognize and unite in harmonious cooperation, subordinating personal differences, ambitions, and contrasts of any kind for the good of the country. When this group has been formed, at least initially, it will be able to enlighten and arouse public opinion, influence the leaders and thus gradually educate and form the new national personality. All this can be done only in a system in which the fundamental freedoms of speech, press and association are respected, in which a climate of moral intensity, of faith, and of initiative is nurtured.
What is needed is the collaboration of the various classes, and also that of the different generations. In fact, a fruitful integration is needed between the cultural preparation, the maturity of judgment, and the experience (often painful, but salutary and valuable) of adults who “lived through” the other war and the turbulent twenty years that followed; and the fresh energies, fervor, initiative, flexibility, and drive toward the future of the young. Only by implementing this spiritual psychosynthesis can each people have the clear vision, the good will, the generosity necessary to cooperate in world psychosynthesis.
We have said from the beginning that nations must come to be regarded as the organs of the great organism of humanity and therefore must necessarily be in solidarity. Even if we continue to use the analogy adopted later of nations as individual entities, the same need is equally imperative and indisputable. Who could nowadays conceive of a man who lived completely isolated and in constant struggle against others? Those who are asocial or irremediably anti-social are regarded as abnormal, degenerate, or delinquent and put in prison or a mental hospital!
Social coexistence among normal individuals is a dense network of material, affective, intellectual, spiritual relations and exchanges that are woven together, and regulated by laws. The same must happen among “national entities” and among all other social and cultural groups of all kinds composed of human “cells.” The fatal failure of the League of Nations must not make us forget that in fact nations already constitute a natural “society.” It is now a matter of making this natural, primitive, unstable, disorderly society become an organic society with defined and accepted laws, and with standards that are willingly followed by all its members.
At the practical level, collaboration and solidarity among nations is essentially an organizational and technical problem. An appropriate organization of competent people should provide for the regulation on a world scale of the collection and distribution of raw materials, agricultural and industrial production and their distribution to the various peoples, according to their various assessed needs in a just, objective, and impartial manner — facilitating exchanges by means of a currency or other equivalent unit of measurement of a stable type for the whole world. This is a great and difficult undertaking, but it is not beyond human intellectual and technical capacity. And even a gradual and imperfect implementation of it would be incomparably more satisfactory and practical than the present chaos and general struggle between opposing “autarchies”[xxxiii] and among special interest groups.
That organization would eliminate a great deal of friction and waste; it would bring to bear a great deal of hitherto unused or poorly utilized material resources and human energies; in short, it would benefit everyone. In reality, the greatest obstacles to the implementation of a “world economy” are not material or technical, but psychological: they consist mainly in the enmities, rivalries, suspicions, and preconceptions existing among nations. Therefore — apart from any other consideration — world reconstruction and organization in the practical field must be accompanied and supported by a psychological and spiritual understanding. This understanding can be said to have four stages:
- KNOWLEDGE
- UNDERSTANDING
- APPRECIATION
- COLLABORATION
Mutual knowledge among peoples has been greatly increased by the current war, which has brought together and mixed men from every continent, many races and nations on a large scale. It has, however, been broader than in depth. And such outward and superficial knowledge is certainly not sufficient; on the contrary, it can sometimes prove more harmful than useful, arousing misunderstanding and dislike instead of fellowship.
To really get to know a people one must first of all know the language practically. I said “practically;” that is, in such a way that it enables one to understand and be understood in conversation and to read fairly fluently. This is not achieved — or is achieved only after a long time and with great effort — with the learning methods commonly used in schools, which are based on mostly theoretical and grammatical study. Instead one gets there much more easily . . . and pleasantly (as I have indicated on another occasion[xxxiv] ) with new methods that use above all the admirable faculties of our subconscious, based on the findings of modern psychology.
But what is most important is the mindset, the inner disposition with which we approach other nations. People with a critical, malevolent or even just a “closed” attitude may dwell for years in the midst of a people and not know them at all, or know only their most external and pernicious aspects. [xxxv] Therefore, knowledge must be supplemented by understanding; indeed, it can be said that true and deep knowledge is acquired only by understanding.
Such understanding is of two kinds, or rather has two aspects: one mental, the other intuitive. To truly understand a fact, it is necessary to know how to interpret and evaluate it rightly, and to do this one must search for its causes, observe its connections with other facts, and follow its effects: in short, frame it in a broad and synthetic view. And if we are dealing with human and social facts — essentially psychological facts — we need an adequate knowledge of psychic life and its laws, of the various psychological types [of people], and of the various levels of development of the different individuals and human groups. This leads to intellectual, scientific understanding.
The other kind of understanding, the intuitive kind, is the spontaneous fruit of an inner communion, an identification, by which one participates in the life of others, relives their joys and sorrows, anxieties and hopes, travails and achievements. It requires a disposition toward “sympathy” in the etymological sense of the word: “a feeling together.” It is a motion of the soul that can be called an act of love. This loving understanding is deeper than the other, for it penetrates to the core, to the essence of another’s soul. But, I repeat, the two can, indeed should, be integrated. Their proper relationship is as follows: mental or scientific understanding should follow intuitive understanding; it should take in the data, formulate it clearly, interpret it, “objectify” it, so to speak, and then expound it in a lucid and orderly way.
An understanding of the various peoples reveals to us all their aspects, shadows and lights, miseries and greatness, faults and glories. Above all it shows us that each people, like each individual, is in continuous work of formation and ascent. In each there is a continuous struggle between the lower and higher elements; between selfish passions and ideal aspirations. There is a struggle between the ignorance, preconceptions, and obtuseness of some people and the clear vision, breadth of outlook, and awakened intuition of others.
Such understanding shows us the meanness and wrongness of any attitude of unmixed criticism, of haughty judgment, of global condemnation. Instead, it shows us how the only dutiful, wise, and constructive attitude is that of fair and dispassionate assessment, and above all of [building] understanding with the best representatives of other peoples, in order to establish fellowship, exchange and cooperation for the uplifting of each people.
Thus, and only thus, will each people be able to master and gradually transform its lower elements, which are an obstacle and a danger, not only to it, but to all others. Thus, and only thus, can each people bring to bear their best resources, their highest qualities, their most useful “talents” and integrate them with those of others in a creative synthesis that [then] becomes the heritage of all humanity. Thus, and only thus, will peoples be able to build together the edifice of the new society, to promote the advent of a New Era of solidarity, of brotherhood, of union.
All this is possible, indeed all this must take place, if humanity is to be saved from the abyss, from the destruction to which the increasingly powerful offensive weapons created by technology would fatally lead it, should discord and wars continue. Whether this will happen slowly or quickly, through greater or lesser conflicts and dissensions, depends on the wisdom and good will of each nation, indeed, albeit to a small extent, on the wisdom and good will of each of us.
May the vision of this bright future, the urgency of this task, the recognition of this responsibility, animate each of us to play our part in this great work with enlightened mind, with fervent love, with resolute will.
[i] Editor’s interpolations are indicated with use of [brackets]. Ellisions . . . are shown as found in the original text. —Ed.
[ii] Agrippa Menenius Lanatus (d.493 BC) was a consul of the Roman republic.—Ed.
[iii] from the original essay by Emerson, “Wealth,” p. 551 in Complete Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, New York, W.H. Wise & Co, 1929. —Ed.
[iv] from An Essay on The Duties of Man (written 1844-1858) by Guiseppe Mazzini, English translation by Chapman & Hall, London, 1862, p. 81.[including an editorial change that has been corrected to the original by this editor] —Tr.
[v] This conception has been illustrated by, among others, the brilliant Polish thinker W. Lutoslawski, who presented a paper entitled “The Nations as Metaphysical Entities” at the International Congress of Philosophy in Bologna in 1911; by Rudolf Steiner; and recently by A.A. Bailey in The Destiny of the Nations (New York, Lucis Publishing Co). —Author’s Note. Lutaslawski’s thesis was also presented in his book The Knowledge of Reality (1930) which is available in current editions. —Ed.
[vi] Giambattista Vico (1668-1744) was an Italian philosopher and historian, whose book Scienza Nuova, or New Science (1725) attempted a systematic organization of the humanities as a single science that recorded and explained the historical cycles by which societies rise and fall. —Ed.
[vii] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German polymath and writer, author of Faust and other works, botonist, diplomat, poet, engineer, etc. —Ed.
[viii] Clearly Dr. Assagioli subscribed to a theory of the progression of Eras which involved an infusion of energies that was of worldwide significance and which has an effect on all of humanity — for him this may be considered an observation, not only a theory. The change was in progress while this essay was being prepared. —Ed.
[ix] This has been highlighted by various scholars of contemporary life, and in a particularly comprehensive and acute way by Keyserling (see La Revolution mondiale et la responsibilite de l’esprit, [The Global Revolution and the Responsibility of the Spirit], (1934), Milan, Hoepli). —Author’s Note.
[x] See C.G. Jung, The problem of the unconscious in modern psychology; (Turin, Einaudi, 1942).—Author’s Note. This was an Italian Translation of Seelenprobleme der Gegenwart, (1931, translated into English in 1933 as Modern Man in Search of a Soul). —Ed.
[xi] Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Italian poet, writer and philosopher, author of The Divine Comedy, widely considered the greatest literary work in the Italian language. —Ed.
[xii] Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Italian writer, theologian, activist, patron Saint of Italy and Europe. —Ed.
[xiii] Guiseppe Mazzini (1805-1872), an Italian politician, journalist, and writer, was a spearhead of the Italian unification movement who helped define European popular democracy. —Ed.
[xiv] The risorgimento refers to the political Unification of Italy, which had been fragmented into multiple states and regions that were either independent or ruled by foreign powers; it was essentially completed in 1871.—Ed.
[xv] Victor Emmanuel II (1820-1878) was King of Sardinia until 1861, when he became the first King of an Independent, united Italy. —Ed.
[xvi] Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour (1810-1861) was a leading figure in Italian unification, becoming Prime Minister at unification. —Ed.
[xvii] Guiseppe Maria Garibaldi (1807-1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican who led military campaigns which eventually led to Italian unification. —Ed.
[xviii] The Battle of Caporetto (October-November, 1917 in an area of what is now Slovenia) was called by some “the greatest defeat in Italian military history.” In this battle, Austro-Hungarian troops reinforced by German stormtroopers using infiltration tactics and poison gas routed the Italian Army, which suffered enormous losses and had to retreat 93 miles to the Piave River in northern Italy. In the subsequent Battle of the Piave River (June 1918) the Italian army under General Diaz, regrouped and reinforced by French and British divisions, won a major victory, which was a decisive blow to the Central Powers and helped turn the tide of World War I. Dr. Assagioli served as a medical officer in the Italian army during the war. —Ed.
[xix] To avoid misunderstandings I would like to point out very clearly that when I speak of “psychoanalysis” I mean to refer to the methods of investigation of the subconscious that are now used in psychological and psychotherapeutic techniques, which are independent of the particular and questionable theories that Freud and other scholars have constructed on the data obtained through the use of those techniques. Furthermore, I believe that psychological investigation should also be extended (with appropriate modifications of methods and interpretation) to the superior subconscious, or superconscious. See [my essay]: “Dynamic psychology and psychosynthesis: ‘Humanity on the move.’” —Author’s Note. This article later became Chapter 1 in Assagioli’s book Psychosynthesis (1965). —Ed.
[xx] The Italian expression is literally to try to “take a step longer than your legs.” —Tr.
[xxi] Latin: “from the deepest foundations.” —Tr.
[xxii] Psychosynthesis is a comprehensive approach to psychology developed by Dr. Assagioli that seeks to address not only psychological issues but also existential and spiritual dimensions of human experience, aiming to facilitate personal growth, inner harmony, and a sense of purpose and meaning in life. He first enunciated it in 1928 and continued to develop it until his death in 1974. This essay is one of the ways in which the author broadened the scope of psychosynthesis. Some pertinent elements are discussed later in this essay, but more is to be found in his published books. —Ed.
[xxiii] Latin: “from the egg.” —Tr.
[xxiv] Therefore, among other things, the practice, that is very widespread in certain countries, of “Letters to the Editor” [that are published] and possibly commented on, by newspapers, widely circulated weeklies and other periodicals, is useful and should be encouraged and accepted. —Author’s Note.
[xxv] The Atlantic Charter was a statement issued August 14, 1941 which set out the postwar aim of the US and UK, and was a forerunner of the agreements which eventually created the United Nations. —Ed.
[xxvi] Latin: for the time being. —Tr.
[xxvii] The American system of mutual division and balancing of powers between the President, the two elected chambers and the High Court of Justice is a solution that, if well applied, can satisfy the aforementioned needs. However, in every state the existence of a permanent High Court of Justice, similar to the American one, would be very appropriate, which would safeguard the people against illegalities, arbitrary actions, or excesses of power on the part of anyone. —Author’s Note.
[xxviii] Èmile Couè (1857-1926) was a French psychologist who introduced a popular method of psychotherapy and self-improvement based upon suggestion and autosuggestion. He published his book Self-Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion in 1922. Charles Baudouin (1893-1963) was a French psychoanalyst and therapist. He promoted psychoanalysis through his books and conferences and did pioneering work in several fields including art, education, suggestion and hypnosis. —Ed.
[xxix] Latin: Orally, by “living voice.” —Tr.
[xxx] This fact was highlighted very well by Jung in his essays on Il problema dell’inconscio nella psicologia moderna [The problems of the unconscious in modern psychology]. (Italian edition Turin, Einaudi, 1944) —Author’s Note.
[xxxi] i.e. the League of Nations.—Ed.
[xxxii] Note that a basic tenet of psychosynthesis is a practical distinction between personality (self) and Soul (Higher Self), the former being a projection of the latter. “Spiritual psychosynthesis,” mentioned below, is an identification of the former with the latter. —Ed.
[xxxiii] Assagioli uses this term to refer to stubbornly independent sovereign powers. —Ed.
[xxxiv] Come si imparano le lingue col subcosciente– [“How to Learn Languages Through the Subconscious”] (l’“economia umana”) —Author’s Note. This essay was published in English in The Beacon, Jan.-Feb.1948. This was reprinted in a pamphlet titled A Psychological Method for Learning Languages by the Psychosynthesis Research Foundation, As PRF Issue #3, probably about 1960. —Ed.
[xxxv] This has happened to quite a few newspaper correspondents or special correspondents abroad, and is due to the “professional prejudice” by which journalists tend to emphasize the picturesque, the curiosities, the bizarre and — even worse — the crimes, conflicts, the ugliness, and the crises of peoples, believing that these are of more interest to readers than the deeper and more elevated manifestations.—Author’s Note.
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