In 1640, the British colonies of North America published its first book, commonly referred to as “The Bay Psalm Book,” and quietly the groundwork was laid for what would become a national identity. Just twenty years after the Pilgrims’ landing at Plymouth Rock, the occupants of the Massachusetts Bay Colony saw themselves as separate from the Old World which they had left, a separation which likely seemed more like a mandate than a choice. Their conservative religious views were too extreme for England. They had been kicked out of England and moved to Leiden, just South of Amsterdam. But the Dutch also found them too odd to blend into Dutch society. They lived in a tight theocracy awaiting the day when they could establish their own theocratic world. Indeed, they believed themselves called to remove themselves from the sinful Old World and establish the Millennial Age, when Christ would come to reign for a thousand years. Where better than the primeval forests of the newly discovered America?
The establishment of what the pilgrims believed to be a New Jerusalem in New England was not taken lightly. They believed that God had brought them through the “Red Sea” of the Atlantic to a new Canaan. Old precedents were no longer relevant, hence the need for a psalm book that was uniquely their own. The “Whole Booke of Psalmes” was not for reading, but for singing of the psalms. In extremely clunky poetry (none of which is any longer in use) they sang Old World tunes and New World words. And in one of the unique aspects of the power of music, they planted the seeds that survive to this day: freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion – understood as the freedom to enforce their own religion, American exceptionalism, and what would eventually be known as manifest destiny. It’s a tall order for the printing of merely 1700 books of poetry for singing in church; but in hindsight, it’s easy to trace where we are today to that single gesture.
The American Jeremiad is known as a philosophy purported by the pilgrims and continuing to be used by politicians to this day. Named for the prophet Jeremiah (the book of Jeremiah, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet), a Jeremiad is a text which bitterly laments the condition of society for its wickedness and low moral state. Prophecies of doom are coupled with links to salvation for the American righteous ones. From the famous preacher, Jonathan Edwards’, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” (1741) preached during a period known as the First Great Awakening, to the writings of John Adams, to the speeches of Ronald Reagan (America is the “shining light on the hill”) to the speeches of Donald Trump (“our cities are hell-holes of wicked depravity”), American politicians have used the Jeremiah concept to enhance the myth that salvation is inextricably linked to the righteousness of America.
Just before the California gold rush of 1849, editor John O’Sullivan coined the phrase “manifest destiny” to justify the total annexation of all lands currently within the continental United States. The word “destiny” assumes a God-given inevitability, again linked with American righteousness. The fact that we succeeded in nearly total genocide of the millions of inhabitants of our land who had been living here for millennia before us, seemed to validate our claim of being God’s chosen. We adapted the phrase: “Might makes right.” Of course, all collective peoples of the earth believe themselves to be loved and chosen by God, however they define that God; but it is the winners of fratricide, genocide, and ecological destruction that have historically claimed the idea of God-given exceptionalism as the reason for their success.
Exceptionalism (our belief in the singularity of our path to save the world, and thus our moral superiority, which effectively makes us exempt from rules) leads directly to hegemony (our political, cultural, economic, and ideological dominance over the rest of the world). British hegemony (1815 – 1918) was followed, in 1945, by American hegemony. Likely nearly every American born in the Baby Boomer generation, the Gen X generation, the Gen Y generation (Millennials), and the Gen Z generation, we mostly grew up without questioning the moral ramifications of American hegemony, American exceptionalism, American manifest destiny, and American superiority.
Until now…
I don’t think there is doubt in anyone’s mind that America is now in serious trouble, rushing headlong toward the edge of the proverbial cliff of global irrelevance and possible societal collapse. This is an opportune moment for national self-examination. Finger-pointing of blame (the victim’s way of going through life) has proven not to fix our problems, and instead, is magnifying them by heaping misery, hatred, and fear on top of economic hardship and general anxiety. This is the inevitable outcome of national exceptionalism (and personal entitlement), a belief that manifesting our destiny must include the annihilation of other peoples, a thirst for power that tolerates manipulation of other governments to our own advantage, and a quest for dominance that encourages the unquestioned use and abuse of other races to boost our wealth.
Exactly 110 years ago, Carl Jung developed the idea of a psychological shadow. This “shadow” is defined as the hidden, or unconscious, aspects of the self encompassing both negative and positive parts of ourself that we feel uncomfortable embracing; the ego sees these as a threat to its identity. On a personal level, negative aspects might have to do with anger, fear, jealousy, charlatanism, etc., and positive shadow characteristics might include the ways we hide our creativity, vulnerability, tenderness, etc. The purpose of becoming aware of one’s shadow is to grow to embrace it (a major challenge to the ego and self-definition) so that we can live a fulfilling life, act from integrity, and be a help to our fellow humans (compassion).
On a national level, it’s useful to look at our nationalistic identity and be honest with ourselves as to who we are – first acknowledging and then embracing our national shadow. Until, and unless, we do that, the possibility of climbing out of the hole we currently find ourselves in will evade us. The only other option is the never-ending escalation of finger-pointing, xenophobia, and hatred of all those who don’t think as each of us do.
We’ve never had a better mirror of our shadow side than we do now with the current occupant of the Oval Office. Everything we rebuke about him has long been an aspect of our national shadow that we’ve not wanted to look at. Vulgar on the world stage: check. Ruthless about the destruction of our environment: check. Misogynistic: check. Homophobic and xenophobic: check. Genocidal: check. Opportunistic: check. Grandiosity: check. Oblivious of the needs of the poor: check. Using people to further our own gain: check. Demonstrating a gross disregard for the role beauty and the arts play in sustaining quality of life: check. Vindictive: check. Bullying: check. Violent: check. Demonstrating a gross disregard for human life: check. A fascination with war and all manifestations of might makes right: check.
Everything we accuse the president of (the list above and much more) can be opportunity to recognize aspects of ourselves as a nation. Yes, we have demonstrated tremendous amounts of goodwill through our international philanthropy. Yes, there is a tremendous amount of selfless love and generosity which we continually demonstrate both within our nation and toward the rest of the world. But to use examples of our benevolence as an excuse to overlook our shadow is to fall into the trap of the wounded collective ego that prevents the possibility of achieving national self-awareness, the ability to display genuine compassion (which requires honesty and integrity). A person who acts without self-awareness is often manipulative and a danger to themselves and others. A nation that acts without self-awareness becomes a menace to the world.
The great discovery of Jung was not the concept of the shadow, per se; it was that an acknowledging of one’s shadow has the capability of liberating the self, living a far more meaningful, happy, and effective life for oneself and for others. America has this opportunity right now. Once we stop yearning to fix our problems with yet another election (as if Congress, even if it were effectual, could ever fix the national psyche), we can ask ourselves if it’s time to change our unacknowledged credo of being God’s chosen nation, entitled, exceptional, and always right. To change course always involves recognition of who and what we are, remorse for the pain we have inflicted on ourselves and the entire world, a desire to change, and embracing a hope that our higher power, our better angels, and our open heart can lead us into a future that is more sane and more sustainable.
In developing a posture of national humility, we must avoid the trap of conflating our individual shadow with our collective shadow. In other words and as just one example, although I, personally, don’t believe being a bully is part of my shadow; since I consider myself an American, I fully recognize that I am part of a country that most definitely is a bully on the world stage (especially now). Collective-examination is an objective task, and not difficult.
We can do this. Let’s overcome the destructive patterns set in place by our forebears – entitlement, exceptionalism, manifest destiny, hegemony – and find a future of peaceful co-existence.
©2025, Jonathan Dimmock