CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Freud, Trump and the national id

Idaho State Journal - 12/31/2016

Sigmund Freud, arguably the most famous psychologist in history, has had a major impact on how you and I see the world. While he is often mocked and maligned, Freud’s ideas on the unconscious, the influence of childhood events on our adult problems, talk therapy and child development have been widely adopted within psychology and within our own society.

According to Freud, the first and most primary part of human personality is the id. The id is the part of us that is selfish, impulsive and demanding. Our id demands immediate fulfillment of all our desires and wishes. It is the part of us that pushes us to seek our own self-centered ends without consideration of the needs or expectations of others. Freud says that we see this in children when they throw fits or tantrums when they don’t get what they want — right now!

Many people interpret Freud’s discussion of the id as a license to act this way — selfish and impulsive. In fact, much of his theory is about how we learn to control and defend ourselves against our own id. He also believed that we develop other parts of our personality — namely the ego and superego — to deal with these impulses in ways that reflect the needs of society and other people. In other words, Freud says that we are all deeply motivated by id desires but that a healthy human being is able to resist and control these impulses.

The persona of Donald Trump is its own id-based caricature. I say persona because I have no personal insight into the real character of our president-elect, I only know his public-performance personality. This persona is very id-like: he says (and tweets) anything that comes to mind, speaks in ways that are impulsive and self-defeating, and is arrogant in a very unsophisticated way.

One example of this is when he recently talked about the use of the “drain the swamp” phrase in his rallies. He admitted that he didn’t like the phrase, but used it at the insistence of advisers. But when he used the phrase, the crowds went wild, so he continued to use it. He said that he then began to say it “like I believed it.” This of course makes it look like he used it cynically to get people to cheer for and vote for him. His appointment of billionaires and insiders does make it look like he indeed had no intention of draining any swamps.

Most politicians wouldn’t admit that they used a campaign phrase “as if they believed it” because that kind of honesty can be self-defeating. But this is what draws voters to a persona like Trump — he says the things we might say if we weren’t so concerned about offending others, looking insincere or coming off looking sexist or racist. In other words, Trump’s id persona is refreshing because it gives us a chance to hear and see someone act in ways that we have always (for good reasons) kept hidden.

Add to this that many people think that our country should act more like Trump. Trump is rich, cares nothing of whether what he says offends others and constantly brags about how smart and wonderful he is. Many Americans believe that America should use its wealth and power in the world in the same way. Who cares whether the Chinese or the European Union like our policies? If we have the power to threaten violence, why do we use gentle diplomacy?

President Barack Obama has been supremely timid in using American power in the world. He has tried to use careful words and diplomacy in dealing with conflicts with other nations. Obama led a diplomatic strategy to make peace with the nation that chanted “Death to America.” When Syria used chemical weapons against its own people, Obama failed to act militarily even though he had called this a “red line” that could not be crossed without consequences.

Enter the America run by its own id-in-Chief. If other countries threaten, start a war. If other countries get better trade concessions, enact tariffs to protect our jobs and punish the other country’s workers. Nuclear weapons — threaten to build an even bigger arsenal. Build walls, say anything you want, who cares what anyone else thinks. I mean, we are the most wealthy and powerful country in the world, right? So why not start acting like it?

Well, there are a lot of reasons to not act impulsively and to care deeply about how our policies affect human beings all over the world. Freud believed that a healthy person learns to control and defend themselves against their own selfish and impulsive wishes. In other words, in order to live together with others in peace, we have to learn self-control and be willing to sometimes go against our own impulses.

On a national level, this would mean that we have to watch out and protect ourselves against our own militant, aggressive nationalism. We have to carefully control our own impulses that might offend or harm others. To live peacefully with others, we have to manage our own destructive instincts. We may, unfortunately, soon learn what it is like when we act according to our national political id. The world had better prepare for tantrums.

Matthew Whoolery has a Ph.D. in psychology and is an instructor at Brigham Young University-Idaho. He can be reached by email at drwhoolery@gmail.com.

Matthew Whoolery

Matthew Whoolery