From here: https://www.thebowencenter.org/societal-emotional-process
Each concept in Bowen theory applies to such nonfamily groups as work and social organizations. The concept of societal emotional process describes how the emotional system governs behavior in whole societies. Cultural forces are important in how a society functions but are insufficient to explain the ebb and flow in how well societies adapt to the challenges they face. Bowen’s first clue about parallels between familial and societal emotional functioning came from observing families with juvenile delinquents. The parents in such families give children the message, “We love you no matter what you do.” Despite impassioned lectures about responsibility and sometimes harsh punishments, parents give in to the child more than they hold the line. The child rebels against the parents and adeptly senses their uncertainty in their positions. The child feels controlled and lies to get around the parents. He is indifferent to their punishments. The parents are largely ineffectual in controlling the child.
Bowen saw that during the 1960s courts became more like the parents of delinquents. Many in the juvenile court system considered the delinquent a victim of bad parents. They tried to understand him and often reduced the consequences of his actions, hoping to effect change in his behavior. If the delinquent became a frequent offender, the legal system, much like the parents, expressed its disappointment and imposed harsh penalties. Recognition of a change in this societal institution led Bowen to notice similar changes in others, such as schools and governments. The downward spiral in families dealing with delinquency is an anxiety-driven regression in functioning. In a regression, people act to relieve the anxiety of the moment rather than acting on principle and taking a long-term view. A regressive pattern began unfolding in society after World War II. It worsened during the 1950s and rapidly intensified in the 1960s. The “symptoms” of societal regression include a growth of crime and violence, an increasing divorce rate, a more litigious attitude, a greater polarization between racial groups, less principled decision-making by leaders, increased drug abuse and bankruptcies, and a focus on rights over responsibilities.
Human societies undergo periods of regression and progression over their histories. The current regression seems to be fueled by anxiety related to such factors as exploding population, a sense of diminishing frontiers, and the depletion of natural resources. Bowen predicted humans would deal symptomatically with crises growing out of the regression until forced to address the anxiety feeding it. He predicted that a final major crisis would come as soon as the middle of the twenty-first century and that the type of human who survived would be one who could live in better harmony with nature.
After a brief, almost progression, we are running headlong back into thumb sucking and social decay. None of this will end well. It never does.
What will remain after the crack-up remains to be seen.
As I keep saying, the problem to me is not people like Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. The problem is people who cannot see what blatant liars and cynical-to-the-point-of-nihilism opportunists they are. It’s not IQ stupidity. It is emotional infantilism, which is a set of words I use often because I watched it throughout my childhood at close hand.
I have decided that I am strongly individuated, but at high cost. It hurt, and continues to hurt.
I will fix me. I continue to make progress. But I can’t fix anyone else, particularly when so many people are actively antagonistic to what people like me have to say.