I recently listened to Mattias Desmet, clinical psychology professor at the University of Ghent, describing “mass formation”, a psychological model explaining the extreme behaviours of governments and populations in response to the COVID19 virus pandemic. His explanation relates not only to the Covid19 situation but also to the relentless assault of patriarchal systems on Goddess feminism, activism, and spirituality.
The model, developed cumulatively by Gustave Le Bon, William McDougall, and Hannah Arendt, describes characteristics of mass surveillance, limited freedom of movement, and the use of state terrorism. My town of Melbourne in south-east Australia has been subjected to enforced curfews, the longest lockdowns in the world and, recently, specialised riot police firing rubber bullets on unarmed people protesting extended lockdowns and mandatory Covid 19 vaccines. What aren’t more people objecting to these characteristics of totalitarian government? Why otherwise intelligent, thoughtful people not as disturbed and enraged as I am about what is happening?
Because it is for the “common good”. Or so we are told. When have we heard that before?
Professor Desmet describes mass formation as a sort of mental intoxication or mass hypnosis that leads to a narrowing of the field of attention so people only see what is presented by the mainstream narrative. An example in the Covid19 situation is the obsessive focus on Covid case numbers and deaths, and very little attention to the very real harm caused by extended lockdowns. More generally in neo-liberal capitalist contexts, there is an obsessive focus on wealth accumulation with much less attention to the very real harm caused in the production of that wealth.
What causes this “mental intoxication”?
Mass formation theory says there are three main factors:
- Social isolation;
- A lack of meaning and sensemaking in individual lives;
- Abundant presence of free-floating anxiety;
When these factors are prevalent, a single apparent threat (like Covid19) seizes attention and energy, thus providing relief from the longstanding chronic pressures of social isolation, lack of meaning, and free-floating anxiety and discontent. Joining with others to deal with a perceived crisis does away with social isolation (we’re all in this together; it’s for the common good etc.); having an apparently serious, concrete problem to deal with provides meaning and a focus for previous free-floating anxiety.
This narrowing of the field of attention makes people more likely to only see what is presented by the mainstream narrative and less likely to object to government policies and behaviours. There is also an intolerance of dissident or dissenting voices, something that many of us who live outside the mainstream narrative will be familiar with.
How does this relate to Goddess feminism, activism, and spirituality?
Gustave Le Bon said it is very difficult to wake up the masses as to what is truly going on as it will probably take some sort of mass destruction to change the mass narrative. In the face of a patriarchal mainstream narrative, all we can do is to continue to talk, write, draw, paint, dance, sing and otherwise bring present Goddess feminism, activism, and spirituality to make the mass hypnosis less deep. And we can address the underlying issues of isolation, lack of meaning and generalised anxiety that make people susceptible to mass formation.
In the meantime, I’m watching my generational “people’s” political party degenerate into a quasi-totalitarian government where civil liberties and human rights are sacrificed to the “universal common good” as they have been in every totalitarian experiment. I’m watching people succumb to mass hypnosis, putting their faith in a mainstream narrative that sounds more and more like madness to me. Interesting times!
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLDpZ8daIVM&t=1828s for the 1 hour 14 minute interview with Professor Desmet and Dan Astin-Gregory.
Meet Mago Contributor Kaalii Cargill
Kaalii in my opinion the situation in Melbourne in regard the protests was more complex than is apparent in your essay here. Indeed the whole pandemic situation is more complex as you do say: and I see that complexity attended to often even in fairly mainstream media (depends on what your sources are). There has been a range of responses from state to state, country to country – some taking advantage of new requirements and restrictions for power as you say, but sometimes the restrictions and requirements are actually about care. Econocentric (capitalist) thinking has resulted in forcing people into unsafe school/work situations: some have called it “social murder”. As Riane Eisler says a caring economy pays – there could have been fewer and shorter lockdowns actually , in some places, if care had been the primary concern. I am sure vigilance is needed in regard freedoms, but I would like to note that my opinion (as a Goddess feminist activist) to the situation is different: I would like to see a lot fewer Covid cases, less stress for the frontline people who have to deal with it. The pandemic is indeed changing a lot of things, exposing lots of truths; some seems possibly for the better. There may be a variety of opinions amongst us.
with care
Glenys
Thank you for addressing your view, Glenys. I can see both perspectives. Hope Kaalii can see this and respond.
Hi Glenys – yes, there are lots of views and a variety of opinions. The essay expresses mine.
The situation of frontline workers is distressing, and they need support, but I think the support they need is in the form of government investment in improved hospital systems to meet COVID demand and the demand of future pandemics, and increased pay and better working conditions for nurses and other health staff. Public health policy should primarily be backed by government not the general public to the extent it has been in Victoria. The extended lockdowns have caused extreme personal and financial harm – how do we balance that against the potential harm caused by COVID? The vaccination issue is even more vexed – the vaccinations are still experimental in terms of long term studies and, therefore, should be taken by choice rather than compulsion or coercion. But the main thing for me is that the numbers just don’t add up:
The World Health Organisation states on their website that: “Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS- Cov-2 virus. Most people infected with the virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without special treatment.”
https:/www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1
There have been measures of the infection fatality rate of COVID internationally – that is the probability of dying for a person who is infected. An early study published in the WHO bulletin
found an infection fatality rate of 0.27% across 51 locations in the world.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33716331/
More recent studies have found an infection fatality rate of ~0.15%. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33768536/
“All systematic evaluations of seroprevalence data converge that SARS-CoV-2 infection is widely spread globally. Acknowledging residual uncertainties, the available evidence suggests average global IFR of ~0.15% and ~1.5-2.0 billion infections by February 2021 with substantial differences in IFR and in infection spread across continents, countries and locations.”
Therefore the case numbers presented daily in the media do not necessarily reflect the actual threat of the virus. Instead they serve to induce fear in the general population and serve as a reason the population should act for “the common good”. A fearful population is a more complaint population. Hence the general acceptance of the narrow view adopted by health authorities in Australia and some other parts of the world. This narrow view is not in line with international best practice and is resulting in serious violations of human and civil rights consistent with the early stages of totalitarian regimes. For me this is significant in terms of Goddess feminism, activism, and spirituality.
I agree, Kaalii, In the US it’s definitely being used to instill fear and create division and numbers are definitely being exaggerated. I don’t follow mainstream media but I’ve been to hospitals a couple times in the last year, and doctors regularly, I don’t see much going on here. I get the sense that this is definitely being used against us for the purpose of making us more compliant. Governments do know what’s coming & they want to be able to manage us when things get more chaotic due to climate change.
Hello Kaalii, it is a good discussion to be having.
The WHO does go on to say: “Most people infected with the virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. However, some will become seriously ill and require medical attention. Older people and those with underlying medical conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, or cancer are more likely to develop serious illness. Anyone can get sick with COVID-19 and become seriously ill or die at any age.
The best way to prevent and slow down transmission is to be well informed about the disease and how the virus spreads. Protect yourself and others from infection by staying at least 1 metre apart from others, wearing a properly fitted mask, and washing your hands or using an alcohol-based rub frequently. Get vaccinated when it’s your turn and follow local guidance….”
As you say we do not know the long term effects of the vaccination, but that has been true of many vaccines introduced in pandemic situations: and we do not yet know the long term effects of the virus itself, especially perhaps in younger people.
I do think it could have decimated Indigenous communities: many of them chose to lock-down straight away.
I agree with your point about “government investment in improved hospital systems to meet COVID demand and the demand of future pandemics, and increased pay and better working conditions for nurses and other health staff….” Certainly Australian “government” does not have a priority on CARE: but some state premiers are aware of this.
It is complex. We are living in an experiment – I have accepted that.