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Psychoanalyst Jonathan Sklar begins this topical and engaging book by reflecting on the possible parallels of the current political climate with pre-war Germany and the rise of totalitarianism. With the reality of current mass migration into the West, there are tensions that are contributing to conditions for the far right to gain influence and power. The author looks at various components of this situation that creates fear, anxiety and hatred towards other people. He describes how psychoanalysts have largely avoided politics and social commentary, keeping their skills within the consulting room. Sklar calls for psychoanalysts to find a voice in political debate and promote awareness of the unconscious dynamic forces at play, saying, “there is an urgency for psychoanalysts to speak.”
Recalling a conference in Berlin where he spoke about his concerns and shared his fear of rising fascism to an audience that were rendered mute, Sklar interpreted this as due to overwhelming fear. This gives an unsettling example of how fear can keep us silent and how in an age of sound bites, lies, deceit and fake news, it is more important than ever to speak out against injustices when we see them. There are dangerous ideologies at work, particularly the alt- right in the US and with Trump, who fans the flames of discontent by creating schisms and promoting racism, sexism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and anti-immigration rhetoric. Europe also has its problems with the rise of right-wing groups and is no stranger to prejudice towards others, having had a long-held fear of strangers coming to invade from the East to destroy the Western order.
Although Sklar touches on Trump and Brexit he doesn't labour these and instead suggests that it is important to contest ideas of this kind wherever we encounter them and try to understand them in terms of how they originate. Sklar stands by the fact that with the knowledge of pathologies, psychoanalysts are obviously well equipped to help communities