The Global Bipolar Disorder

***THE GLOBAL BIPOLAR DISORDER***
By J. Adams
October 15th, 1994
Revised: February 23rd, 1995

"Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition!"
('King John'; Act II, sc.1)

Mexico's financial collapse could soon trigger an international panic, Saddam may be about to provoke another fight with the West, the war in Bosnia appears ready to explode, a confrontation with North Korea over the recent agreement to block its nuclear weapons program appears imminent, and Yeltsin is on his way out of power. This may be the beginning of a series of international crises that will involve a violent end to U.S. global hegemony, the collapse of Western civilization, and, ultimately, the fulfillment of religious prophecy.

This expectation is derived from a social psychological diagnosis of man as a species. The empirical evidence strongly indicates man is dangerously insane at present. More specifically, our species appears to be suffering from a "global bipolar disorder" that may eventually lead to self-destruction. Because people are misled by greed and fear, there is collective emotional and mental instability that is effectively a social psychosis. This social psychosis manifests as irrational "bipolar" swings in popular mood, thought and behavior. There are creative upswings characterized by mass greed and rising expectations followed by destructive downswings characterized by pervasive fear and deepening pessimism. One can track these swings by following the cyclical patterns evident in market prices, especially stock prices.

The bipolar mental and emotional conflict affecting the collective psyche of man manifests across the globe as conflict and imbalance between our world's Eastern and Western hemispheres. During upswings, decentralized, capitalist democracies, centered in the West, dominate global affairs and greed guides people's behavior. During downswings, centralized, totalitarian autocracies, centered in the East, gain the upper hand and fear guides people's behavior. Whether or not the world is dominated by greed or fear, capitalism or authoritarianism, the situation is unstable and irrational.

The ongoing tug-of-war between the two poles of this world has been particularly evident during this century. From the latter half of the 19th century up until the early 20th century, laissez-faire capitalism was growing rapidly as Western Europe and America dominated global society. Then, following a climactic peak in popular mood and expectations during the "Roaring Twenties", there was a dramatic collapse that involved the "Great Depression", the rise of authoritarian powers in the East (e.g., Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia, etc.), and, eventually, global war.

Following the second world war, man's bipolar disorder became a full- blown global psychosis threatening human survival. With autocracy centered in Russia and democracy centered in America, a global struggle ensued involving military preparations for an East/West conflict that could destroy the world.

During the last decade, another climactic peak has been reached in popular mood and expectations. This final upsurge coincided with the seeming collapse of militaristic, authoritarian powers in the East, particularly the Soviet Union. Western society, led by America, currently appears to dominate the world and there is no longer pervasive fear of a horrific global conflict between East and West. Thus, the stage is once again set for a collapse in popular mood and a total upset of man's high expectations.