Chinese Yin & Yang – Another Representation of The Two Symbols

America was founded on the grand opposition symbols of freedom and equality. Unlike the founding of any other nation, the forces of masculine and feminine were in the greatest opposition. The opposition was so great that each of these ideas became founding principles for America. Paradoxical symbols in that both were opposite symbols from each other and only one could rule at a particular point in time.

Our political history has been an on-going battle between the masculine symbol of freedom and the feminine symbol of equality. Creating that endless battle between the Republican politics (masculine freedom) and Democratic politics (feminine equality). In essence, it was always part of the masculine psyche to defend a particular place. On the other hand, it has always been part of the feminine psyche to reach out and connect with another place. The opposition symbols is that masculine archetype defends (and attempts to define) place in the world. Masculine archetypes defines place as consisting of a particular geographical place. A fort. The Alamo. Or, the American nation envisioned by many in America. A fort defended from the attacker or  intruders from a global force. Yet, the basic media of the feminine from the earliest times is the medium of water, the first medium a human is exposed to inside a mother.

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The battle between America’s two founding symbols play out on a global scale today with the battle between nationalists (freedom) and globalists (equality). Those who believe in freedom believe in boundaries and those who believe in equality believe in no boundaries.

It is a ceaseless battle because both symbols are inside each person.

The symbols move in cycles throughout our lives.

The equality symbol dominates the first years of life before the child’s ego has separated from the mother.The separation from the mother, forms a second birth – the birth of freedom.

Yet, freedom can often involve a lonely path for individuals and entire nations. The psychologist Eric Fromm’s book Escape From Freedom argues that the totalitarian movements of the 20th century were fueled in a large part by the desire of millions to escape from freedom.

In the same way, equality can involve a blurring of individuality as evidenced in communist and socialist political structures.

The psyche of the individual swings back-and-forth between the two symbols all through life.

So too does the collective psyche of nations.