Recent reports from the EU tell of European ministers pulling back from ecological policies in the face of demonstrations by farmers. There are two explanations I’ve read, both quite different, but both very powerful and insightful. Both very real.
One comment explained that retailers, driven by the demand for cheap food, drive-down what they are prepared to pay farmers and import at even lower prices from around the world. Thus farmers left in an untenable situation are trying to balance behaving better for the long-term with making a living in the short-term.
A second, by a Jungian psychologist – bear with me on this, explains the dream of a young farmer, in which he saw his uncle murder his father (Stevens, 1993). There was a real struggle between the father and his uncle about how the family farm should be managed; whereas the father favoured relatively uneconomical ‘organic’ farming methods, his brother advocated the use of chemicals and the latest technology.
But the dream can be interepreted through Jungian ‘archetype’ concepts and knowledge of the myth of Osiris and Set. The analysis of the dream transforms the young farmer’s understanding of the conflict that raged both inside and outside himself (in the dream and in reality), and as a results, he was able to see a way out of the impasse and develop an objective view.
In this instance, the dreamer was able to perceive his own psychic drama as a part of the greater drama being played out on a global scale and this perception enhanced his ability to deal with it. In other words, the dream heightened his conscious awareness of the total situation.
Psychic dramas are real then.