Worst.
Orgy.
Ever.
Ahem.
Erich Fromm’s essay Incestuous Ties has less to do with actual incest that the Freudian ideas its analyzing. It pulls the idea of psychological incest out further away from sexual/genital libido so that it can be looked at as its own independent concept– the concept of incest as the subconcious driving force “comprising the human being’s desire for protection, the satisfaction of his narcissism; his craving to be freed from the risks of responsibility, of freedom, of awareness; his longing for unconditional love, which is offered without any expectation of his loving response.”
This is the role our mothers fill for us as infants, when we are helpless and dependent, however, Fromm goes on to point out that even as adults we are helpless in the face of natural disasters, social forces, sickness, disease, and death… all the whims of fate we cannot control. The deep desire for safety, certainty, protection, and love are natural responses to the overwhelming uncertainty of life. What we needed as infants, we need as adults, and the longing and need for our mother or mother figure stays with us.
Some of the earliest and most widespread deities worshipped were Goddesses, usually explicitly mother-figures. The mother has the power of life, and by extension the power of death. As our mothers protected us a children, so too could a Goddess protect and bless us as adults.
Fromm also goes on to broaden the definition of “mother” to include one’s blood– family, tribe, race, nation, religion. It is through our identification within these categories that we lose our independence and individuality and become part of a some greater body than ourselves, a body which offers acceptance and protection.
“[T]here is a close affinity between incestuous fixation and narcissism. Insomauch as the individual has not fully emerged from mother’s womb or mother’s breasts, he is not free to relate to others… He and his mother (as one) are the object of his narcissism. This can be seen most clearly where the personal narcissism has been transformed into group narcissism. […] It is this particular blend that explains the power and the irrationality of all national, racial, religious, and political fanaticism.”
The “syndrome of decay” is Fromm’s term for a malignant combination of incestuousness, narcissim, and necrophilia– the craving for death and destruction– and he considered someone with this syndrome “evil, since he betrays life and growth”. His ur-example is Hitler, a man whose narcissistic solipsism and incestuous fixation with the purity of his race resulted in an orgy of death and destruction, though “many who thrive on violence, hate, racism, and narcissistic nationalism […] suffer from this syndrome.”
There have been many opinion pieces and social media memes which explicitly compare Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s ideas and words to that of early 1930s Adolf Hitler. Of course, the internet being…well, the internet, it’s difficult to clearly consider if such a comparison is apt or merely a tired reissue of Godwin’s Law. (In fact, Mike Godwin himself has called this particular comparison out for analysis.) Proving Godwin’s Law is meant to call out the hyperbole of a discussion or argument and draw attention to the over-inflated rhetoric that makes makes light of the horror of the Holocaust. The question is: is that what this is, or does the claim have any substance?
I put forth the claim that when people compare Trump to Hitler, they are not glibly proving Godwin’s, but actually responding to Trump’s personality– a personality which displays many symptoms of the syndrome of decay.
Trump is the king of ego, and he’s spoke often and loudly about keeping Mexicans, Muslims, and other undesireables out of America.
Narcissim? CHECK.
Incestuous fixation on racial/national purity? CHECK.
Modern psychology has mixed feelings on the death drive/Fromm’s “necrophilia”, but in his later writings, Freud postulated that the “inclination toward aggression” is the death drive at play. Taking aggression as a rough metric, the volume of violence that takes place at Trump’s rallies– often with his encouragement— hints strongly at a more than average necrophiliac inclination, as does his repeated boasts about hypothetically committing murder and belief that his followers would find that acceptable.
Trump is not Hitler.
Trump merely shares the basis of his personality with Hitler.
That should help everyone sleep better tonight, right?
Premeditated Misconduct 