[jamesn.]

Stephen mentioned the “Shadow’s” part within society’s: “Collective Unconscious”. Today is the anniversary of 9/11 here in the US; so I thought I would share some thoughts I offered in a seperate Facebook post:

“This is a great topic to reflect on this country’s: “Collective Shadow”. By that I mean the Anniversary of this event always refers to “what” they did to us instead of asking “Why?” When 9/11 conjures up hatred of: “Us against Them” – are we asking: “Why did they hate us so much that they would even consider doing such a thing? The answer is we have become an “it” that to them represents all that is evil and must be attacked in an act of retribution but against: “What?” we might ask! So consider this: “are we asking the right questions from a point of view that offers only the perspective from one side?”

In other words; no one asks the Native Americans how they felt when a bunch of Europeans came over and took their land away from them; who dispossessed them of their homeland and put them on reservations and have yet to acknowledge their guilt in this travesty they “still” must continue to endure! When white landowners built their fortunes on the backs of the African Slave Trade are we truly understanding why African Americans feel so bitter about: “Black Lives Matter”? And when Asian Americans think about inductions into Internment Camps during the Second World War do we ask how they feel about their national identity as citizens of the US?

It would be far too easy to just blame: “all white people”; and say these events happened back then and that our society has now evolved and moved on when just last night one could watch a professional sporting event with both teams locking arms in protest of the current racism that is gripping this country and causing riots where people are getting killed.

(Yes): we definitely have a: “collective shadow dark side” that has come roaring into the daylight from this nation’s “collective unconscious” demanding to be heard! And this virus pandemic is exacerbating the intensity of it’s vehemence!”

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(Btw; there is also the separate areas related to this topic such as: Conspiracy Theories; Fake News; and other types of “Shadow Projection” that might fit here; but for now the self-awareness of any society’s identity and how that is projected onto others is probably enough to suffice for the moment.)