“Bass bands, flags, banners, parades, and monster demonstrations are no different in principle from ecclesiastical processions, cannonades, and fireworks to scare off demons. Only, the suggestive parade of State power engenders a collective feeling of security which, unlike religious demonstrations, give the individual no protection against his inner demonism. Hence he will cling all the more to the power of the State, i.e., to the mass, thus delivering himself up to it psychically as well as morally and putting the finishing touch to his social depotentiation. The State, like the Church, demands enthusiasm, self-sacrifice, and love, and if religion requires or presupposes the “fear of God,” then the dictator State takes good care to provide the necessary terror” – Carl Gustav Jung
Since its beginning, the State has used propaganda and dark psychology to undermine independent thought and self-realization.
Flags, statues, monuments, and other symbols of nationalism and civic pride are used to overwhelm critical thinking. They also discourage questioning those in the highest authority.
An individual citizen exercising critical thinking can feel consumed by the mass. Many men and women seem to never question the establishment’s conduct and character.
This cycle of mass obedience and conformity sterilizes the vitality and prosperity of a nation. It cripples the individual’s incentive to breathe and think freely.
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