Op-Ed: Notes on political maturity
By Valeria Dibrova
There is no doubt that the thing we call politics is closely connected with private life and private emotional stances where individual maturity and political maturity are linked. If you have a society where people are personally mature, by definition, they would also be politically mature.
But what does maturity mean in this context?
It might mean a capacity to resist projecting one’s bad feelings, anxious behaviors, and confusions onto other people. For example, scapegoating might be considered a classic sign of immaturity in an individual.
It looks like turning to our partner and saying, “I’ve got a headache, it’s your fault!” or “I am feeling a little unhappy because of these people!” or “Those people are doing something bad there.”
It’s quite hard to take it on board, especially with the social and political dynamics we have nowadays. But in politics, there are versions of this kind of unconscious projections, including paranoia, an inability to self-analyze, and a lack of emotional intelligence.
The last 80 years of capitalism have been brutal, full of changes, erosion, and destruction of family structures. It has left behind a lot of what is broadly called “mental illness” or “narration sickness.”
Certain things have broken down in the higher emotional capacities, and I think it plays itself out in politics. So, the phenomena of some current political actions we are reading and hearing about in the news is a psychological pathology before it is political pathology. And unfortunately, that kind of anger and unconscious projection represents signs of mass psychological immaturity.
Now, how can we get more emotional maturity in a society?
I think it starts in the home. It starts with a loving environment where people can adjust to reality in a way that is safe and gradual.
Firstly, we need to learn and grasp the necessity of explanation. We need to find ways how to properly explain our behavior, how to communicate clearly to make others feel secure with our intentions.
Secondly, it is vital to look at any situation through the calming and relaxing prism. With the stress level we face every day, it might be challenging but the mature person knows that a robust self-assertion is always an option down the line.
Lastly, the ability to be vulnerable and unashamed to be. There is nothing wrong with our temptations that eventually can and will be understood and taken into account by another person. Those are the virtues we were gifted during a warm and nourishing childhood or else we will need to learn them as an adult. We need to free ourselves from the past pattern that was hurtful, undesirable, or simply disappointing.
Despite all these years spent in school, we probably need to come back and learn, with great patience and faith, the beautiful complexities of emotional, and thereafter political, maturity.
Valeria Dibrova is a graduate student in the School of Communication, Media & Journalism.