Many are living in day to day inner imperial without even noticing how this inner imperialism plays out. Before going any further, we need to establish and agree on the definition of imperialism. To shed a light on and put some context in this article, I use the general understanding and hypothesis about imperialism.
Imperialism, according to Merriam Webster, is the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation, especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas.
It is essential to distinguish imperialism and colonialism, though in daily conversation one might think that they can be used interchangeably. Colonialism differs from imperialism because of its emphasis on its form of authority. Colonialism is more in state and governmental form, while imperialism has a loose form of authority and can be used for ‘informal’ type of authority.
Thus, from there, we can draw a line that in colonialism or imperialism form, there is-a hierarchy and type of rank. Since this post is about imperialism, so now we move further to specifically the concept of inner imperialism.
Recognizing Inner Imperial
Within us, there is a superior and inferior dynamic which plays along throughout our life. Certain hierarchy colors the nuances of our perception, comprehending and decision about life. Almost each of us deal with this dynamic and complex; superiority and inferiority. What happens between these two -ity, is our inner struggle to and in balancing out those opposites.
As a result, there will be times in our life when we feel more or less superior or inferior. Yet many of us are ignorant of these dynamic. Hustle bustle distracts people from their inner struggles and to focus more on outer struggles. The more ignorant we are with this dynamic, the faster its pendulum swings back and wrecks us out of control. Therefore, it’s vital for us to understand the source of this dynamic.
For me, I gained the acknowledgement of my inner superiority and inferiority from learning and understanding my cognitive processes, followed by analyzing my mind, which led me to comprehend parts of my ‘non-existence’ that I haven’t figured in. In Jungian psychology, this unknown part of us called as shadow.
Inferiority and Inner Imperialism
When you accept the fact of your inferiority, it lives with you; you are it too, but not exclusively. You are not only white, one part is black, but both make the whole man. It is not wiping out the white substance when you accept the black—on the contrary; it is only when you can’t that things go wrong, when there is nothing but white and nothing but black. That is simply neurotic. Carl G. Jung, Visions: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1930–1934, Vol. I (3 June 1931).
Man started from an unconscious state and has ever striven for greater consciousness. The development of consciousness is the burden, the suffering, and the blessing of mankind. Carl G. Jung, C. G. Jung Speaking.
The inferiority in (wo)man opens the door to everything that is unconscious and out of his/her awareness. Other (wo) man in him/her, as Jung often called. The repressed part in one’s psyche that was hostile to him/her and yet that part is also what plays out and project on his/her outer world. The more we are unaware of this inner dynamic, the more it plays out under our radar and control. At this point, we are exposed to and in the grip of participation mystique.
For this reason, inferiority in us must be analyzed and ‘balanced’ so that our superiority won’t impose any form of imperialism unnoticeable. Hence, in depth-psychology, this balancing process named as compensation.
Compensation According to Adler and Jung
This one-sidedness would lead to a complete loss of psychic balance if it were not compensated by an unconscious counter position. Investigation of the unconscious has shown, for example, that alongside or behind the introvert’s conscious attitude, there is an unconscious extraverted attitude which automatically compensates his conscious one-sidedness. Carl G. Jung, Psychological Types.
Compensation means balancing, adjusting, supplementing. Adler proposed a conceptual compensation through inferiority of feelings (Adler on Study of Organ Inferiority and Its Psychical Compensation) while Jung’s concept was more general as inherent self-regulation of psychic apparatus (Jung On the Importance of the Unconscious in Psychopathology). For Adler, compensation prevents us from neurotic’s feeling by setting up a psychological system that endeavors to turn an inferiority into superiority by setting up a ‘guiding fiction’ from the rise of ‘auxiliary devices’.
Jung conceptualized his concept of compensation within two polar spheres, consciousness and the unconscious, by determining their nature. He characterized that the activity of consciousness is selective. Thus, it can hold only a limited amount of contents at the same time. This selection demands direction. As a result of this direction, his conscious orientation become one-sided. When this happens, the unconscious will make compensation by transferring contents through dreams in order to balancing conscious orientation. So according to Jung, this compensation is an unconscious process and yet, through analysis, it can comprehend a realization of this unconscious process for its re-establishing.
Both concepts offer us not only the importance of understanding our inner world but also way into it. By having a better understanding about our inner dynamic and imperialism, both by our superiority and our unconscious content, we can contribute to a better understanding of how to create a better world.
Source: Carl G. Jung, Psychological Types and The Quotable Jung
