There’s an article at the Huffington Post that explains why people like and follow Sarah Palin — it’s because she talks about mama grizzlies.  I know, some of you will think I’m making that up.  It does sound like randomness, which is what this blog specializes in, but it’s an actual article and it looks to be serious.   The author of it goes into archetypes and the “collective unconscious” proposed by Carl Jung.   You can read a summary of it with some quotes from it and some analysis here: Why do people like Sarah Palin?

What I got out of it (besides the obvious political slandering) is that if you talk about bears, people will do what you say.   And that during troubled conditions experienced by large numbers of people, “there is no lunacy people under the domination of an archetype will not fall prey to.”   There’s plenty of nationwide troubled conditions already — housing crisis, foreclosures, unemployment, layoffs, lack of job openings, lack of raises, inflation, stupid politicians, along with natural disasters, so the great unwashed masses are ripe for some psychological brainwashing via archetypes.  So I’m going to start talking about bears more, and then you’ll subconsciously be controlled by my influence.  Don’t worry, I’ll make the world a better place.  I only use my powers for good.

Did you know wild bears are important for the balance of nature such as sheep or salmon?  Also, bears and people are very similar in the kinds of food we eat, the habitats we prefer, and even our mutual curiosity.  You should vote for morally and fiscally responsible politicians from now on.  Bears are generally diurnal.   In autumn some bear species forage large amounts of fermented fruits which affects their behavior.  Also, you should make a generous donation to Buffet o’ Blog.  (Hey, we need a greater budget to do more good!)  Supposedly bears’ closest living relatives are seals.   (Uhh… I’m not sure about that, even though it’s on Wikipedia.)

Before you wander off to another branch of the Internet, I have one more bit of randomness related to all this.  (Don’t worry, this one isn’t taking control of your unconscious.)  While reading up some on Jung and archetypes, I saw a link in a search engine to Jung’s Wikipedia page, and on the search results page it said:

Carl Gustav Jung (German pronunciation: [Ë?kaË?É?̯l Ë?É¡Ê?staf Ë?jÊ?Å?];

I think something got lost in translation…