The Psychology of Totalitarianism and Focusing

“The real volte-face and revolution that society has to face is to shake off rhetoric and resolutely turn to truth as a guiding principal.” (Desmet, 2022,  p.187)

In his astonishing book the Psychology of Totalitarianism Mathisas Desemt calls  for a civilisational transformation . He argues that as a Society we have been following out of date ‘mechanistic’ rules of science, logic and rationality. We have been running our society like a machine, for optimal efficiency and output, placing machines themselves at the centre of our world. But we are not machines, we are people and the result of existing in a mechanistic system as human beings has led to increased feelings of isolation, anxiety, meaningless and resentment. Totalitarianism rises as a symptom therefore to an insecure and afraid populataion.  It provides a ‘higher’ authority as a dead-end solution to outsource our discomfort and sense making. We are told what is right, who to hate and what is not welcome. This, he argues, is the built-in conclusion to such a system and where we find ourselves at this moment in time, ‘a psychologically exhausted population that craves a master.’ (p86)

“Totalitarianism is the ultimate attempt to rid ourselves of uncertainty by withdrawing into a (pseudo) scientific certainty and merciless logic, by trying to reduce symbols to signs, and by trying to annihilate all variety of cultural expression. “  (Desmet, 2022, p. 114)

It is a remarkable book; a clear and direct call for awareness and action. Desmet claims that we as a people are progressing through a collective adolescence. We are arrested in the a state of narcissistic fear, clinging to our old ideals and structures  even though they themselves are failing, for fear of living with uncertainly. It is this uncertainty, he argues, that is at the centre of life itself. The essence of everything creative, mystical and human can not be made sense of, can not be reasoned with and will not bend to logic, its inherent uncertainty  must be embraced , surrendered to. Through this process of surrender we come to comprehend deeper truths that guide and shape the universe, Desmet says. and it is by uncovering and realigning ourselves with these core forces, those hidden beneath the surface, that we counter rising totalitarianism and usher in ‘an era once again pregnant with meaning.’

To the uninitiated the collective process outlined here by Desmet might appear a little, how to say, far out. Like a sub plot for a new Star Wars incarnation. For any focusing practitioner, however,  we may notice that this progression of awareness mirrors our own focusing process. From structure, thinking, reason, ‘figuring it out’. Into surrender to the uncertain, the  ‘not yet known’ and finally to an emergence and understanding of a deeper truth. This process of realignment that Desmet is calling for to rescue society from the grips of Totalitarianism is one we as focusers have been practicing and sharing for many years. Retraining our consciousnesses to go deeper than what we think to discover inner wisdom.

“The Enlightenment tradition, the ideology of Reason, was a persistent attempt to squeeze life into logic and theories. It placed all symbolism, mysticism, fiction and poetry secondary.” (Desmet, 2022, p.83)

  When we take our awareness inside to welcome a felt sense we are listening for exactly this language that Desmet alludes to. The felt sense bends to no reason or rationality , not even time frame . It communicates to us through symbol, sensation and feeling asking us to let go of what we think and come to comprehend it through our presence and patience. To be present and coherent with felt sense requires a deepening of  our very  humanity.

“The essence of things is not rationally knowable….When realizing this, we can finally start to look for the essence of life where it can truly be found.” (Desmet, 2022, p.178)

Desmet’s exploration positions the people ushering in Totalitarianism as ‘normal people who stick to a morbid, dehumanizing way of thinking or ‘logic’’. It is this ‘morbid ideological drive’ and their own belief in it that they use to excuse their propensity to  ‘limitlessly lie, manipulate and deceive’. This creates a propagandized and ‘radically intolerant’ population who , like their leaders, remain ‘convinced of their superior ethical and moral intentions and of the reprehensibility of everything and everyone who resists them’. What is created is a totalitarian system in which  ‘the individual must at all times show that he submits to the collective.’ This process is outlined beautifully with clarity and precision in Desmet’s book. I summarise it now not only to highlight how high the stakes are but to give an overview of how a this  system  creates a population ‘with a pressing need’ for an authority ‘to take the burden of freedom and the associated insecurity off their shoulders.” (p84). A Totalitarian system is one that outsources individual sovereignty to the collective, and with it individual  purpose , direction and responsibility is lost .

 In focusing our practice is the opposite. We cultivate expansive explorations of our own sovereignty and from there uncover pathways inside that uncover our own purposes, direction and responsibility. We enter our inner world and listen to others without judgment or agenda and make space for what is living  and true in us and them to come into consciousness, to come into being. As focusers you might have noticed that this process can be difficult to describe to the uninitiated. ( It is best comprehended through experience, that is the nature of the felt sense itself, experiencing.) This difficulty also becomes more apparent when we begin to understand the forces in society working against such practices and personal access to wisdom . To relinquish  our sovereignty and the inherent sovereignty of another to the state is the very opposite of a focusing process. We are adventures of the soul building our own resilience to continually deepen and widen our sese of wonder for the self,  the world within and the world we inhabit. Focusing is the antithesis of a totalitarian mindset and power structure. Desmet himself alludes to a recentering of a focusing like process for the continuation of a healthy self and society.

“the ability to sense ones own experience and to put into words and to express it in relation to another is what constitutes the core of our existence as human beings” (Desemt, 2022, p.185)

I offer this to the focusing community as a reminder that what we practice is, at its core, beyond any ideology or rhetoric. It is in fact the very counter to any reason that seeks to conquer, divide and control the individual or the population. It holds the potential to bring balance, solution and healing to a destablising world. We are, as practitioners,  working on the the edge of something very important for the existence of the human soul. Focusing itself is the unknown form that is asking to be welcomed and presenced, through mass uncertainty and  into the collective body and consciousness of humanity. The stakes could not be higher and It is given to us to do it. Jedi times.

“the most fundamental change that we can make as a society is not a change in practical terms but a change in consciousness. “ (Desmet 2022, p.148)

Julian Crotti.     December 2023