By John Sase

“Vision without action is a dream. Action without Vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference.”

–Joel Barker (“the Paradigm-Shift Man”), scholar and futurist

“All archetypes have ‘shadow’ manifestations as well as positive aspects. The shadow has power precisely because it remains in the dark; we tend to deny its presence in us because we consider it unacceptable. Only when we face and acknowledge the shadow’s presence can we neutralize its potential negative impact on us.”  

—Caroline Myss, American author, and medical intuitive http://www.myss.com/library/contracts/archetypes.asp


This month, we continue our series on the growth, decline, and regrowth of Urban Areas by focusing on a Vision for the Future of Southeast Michigan and Southwest Ontario. However, before embarking on our vision quest, we must prepare ourselves with the help of the four archetypes from the Jungian tradition. Working through these archetypes may raise our individual and collective consciousness and put us in a mysterious place that allows solid visions to emerge.


During the time of Cadillac, our settlement along the watery strait that connects Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie ran through the middle of the Cite de Troit (city of the strait). It appears that this monocentric radial settlement reflected the layout of Paris. Similar to Paris, we even have a large island in the middle of the river (strait) that resembles the Isle de Cite upon which the Cathedral of Notre Dame stands.  

Moving forward, we must embrace a collective vision for the future of Detroit, Windsor, and their expanding suburban rings in Southeast Michigan and Southwest Ontario. This bi-national region cannot sustain itself economically if we cannot sustain growth within the urban and suburban circles of Detroit, MI, and Windsor, Ontario. Furthermore, such an economic fate of this conjoined pair of metropolitan regions could lead to the decline of nearby urban areas and many small towns in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and throughout Ontario, Canada. In effect, this bi-national region must function as a single economic unit. United, we stand. Divided, we fall.

A vision for our future can exist as more than a dream. Such a vision implies attainable and sustainable goals. Succinctly, most people desire a sufficient level of affluence. In order to attain and maintain stable means, we need to continue focusing on our long-term Vision toward achieving a bi-national sustainable economy.

Barriers that impede our path to the development of a workable bi-national vision emerge through forms of what some refer to as personal demons, negative influences, or universal archetypes. For our immediate purposes, we will portray such obstacles in the form of four archetypes:  The Child, the Victim, the Saboteur, and the Inner values Sellout. Such archetypes from the dawn of humanity continue to plague our visions as we struggle to achieve our individual and collective goals.

In developing newer visions for this region, we need to recognize that the mayors and members of city councils, along with their staff, constitute administrators. Some of their constituents may feel inclined to view these officials as saviors, prophets, or demigods. However, their job descriptions require that they focus their attention and energies on developing and maintaining infrastructure and providing services while finding ways to pay for them. Hopefully, these officials will continue to participate in creating a larger vision.

Though government officials may talk about job creation (especially around election time), rarely does any government create jobs beyond those needed for operating its own infrastructure. Examples of exceptions include building of the pyramids at Giza, Egypt, by royal decree and the formation of temporary work projects by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Depression of the 1930s. Therefore, the task of job creation typically falls to the private sector.

Individuals create firms to profit by producing and selling goods or services. In most cases, these companies need to hire large teams or bands of workers to handle production, sales, and various staff functions. Ergo, private-sector businesses create jobs and employment. The more value that employees of a company can add to the process, the greater the share of the revenue for which they may bargain.

However, their share remains limited in dollar terms. This process depends upon the incremental amounts of goods or services these employees contribute. The dollar value of the cumulative amount that customers purchase in the marketplace constrains their share of gross profits.

In 2013, Professor Robert J. Shiller of Yale University co-won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (with Lars Peter Hansen and Eugene F. Fama). In presenting this award, the Nobel Committee described Shiller as a founder of Behavioral Finance by incorporating Psychology into Economics.

Detroit-born Shiller (Sterling Professor Emeritus at Yale University) has emerged as a pioneering analyst of speculative bubbles in the stock- and real estate markets. In his book Irrational Exuberance (Princeton University Press, 2000), Shiller explains how psychological/spiritual states affect the stock market as part of the Efficient-Market Hypothesis (EMH). This hypothesis posits that an investor cannot achieve returns consistently that exceed average market returns with the information available at the time of the investment.

As this approach emerged partly from Humanistic Economics, Shiller suggests that his hypothesis constitutes a half-truth:  It is not easy to make a large amount of money rapidly; even an intelligent investor can lose money for years before profiting. However, Shiller notes that the Efficient-Market Hypothesis goes wrong when one assumes there is no point in trying to beat the market or guide economic policy under the assumption that market bubbles do not exist.

In his more recent book written along with George J. Akerlof (Economist Emeritus, University of California, Berkley), Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism(Princeton University Press, 2009), Shiller promotes our need to understand how emotions influence economic decision-making. The authors argue that, as feelings remain challenging to quantify and model, economists tend to downplay the importance of emotional factors. In contrast, Shiller and Akerlof assert that we can answer many profound economic questions once we understand and allow for the effects spiritual and emotional drives have on financial decision-making.

Herein, we use the term “vision” to gain a great perception of the future or, at least, the development of a stated set of aims and objectives for Southeast Michigan/Southwest Ontario. Before we take action to build for the future of The City of the Strait) and the surrounding region, we need to develop a shared vision of what we desire the end to be, not only for ourselves but for succeeding generations.

As suggested by Shiller, we must come to grips with, and understand the emotions and our "Animal Spirits." These personal characteristics can either help or hinder us in our quest. In recent decades, Economists and polymaths from many converging fields have untaken the study of these inner “angels and demons,” which move us forward or hold us back. Notable among them, we find twentieth-century Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung who developed the concept of archetypes as the universal archaic patterns and images that come from our collective subconscious.

Shiller and Akerlof state that we need to understand the role that corresponding emotions play as they influence decision-making in Economics. As we seek to identify and measure correlations between our feelings and economic behavior, we define these emotional variables as Archetypes. Our understanding of these archetypes helps to move us many steps closer to modeling and quantifying/qualifying them as determinant economic variables.

To not leave this discussion unsatisfied, we need to explore the relationship between the four principal Archetypes of Base Survival and our economic decisions concerning vision development for the future.

To begin, we suggest that the task of re-inventing our economy can lead to a sufficient level of affluence for all. In order to accomplish this, we need to conceive of a satisfactory level of prosperity through group consensus that expresses it clearly. However, we cannot expect this organic process of development to be a rapid one. It follows that such an achievement depends upon creating and maintaining a sustainable economy—Sufficient Affluence within a Sustainable Economy.

Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen, “Ac-Cent-Tcu-Ate the Positive” (Capitol Records, 1944)

It rests with each participant to accentuate the positive influences while eliminating the negative consequences of assimilating the four Archetypes of Survival into our society. Therefore, let us provide a basic definition and discussion of survival archetypes: The Child, the Victim, the Saboteur, and the Innervalues Sellout. Each of these four characterizes overlapping issues, fears, and vulnerabilities that we must confront and overcome to attain this goal of mutual survival. Within this human struggle, these four archetypes represent our spiritual and material strengths which serve as allies in our effort to overcome weaknesses.

As neutral guardians, these archetypes can help us to preserve our integrity by blocking any bargaining away (losing or relinquishing something as part of a negotiated agreement or exchange) of our strengths in the name of survival. However, if we allow ourselves to make unconscious choices in response to challenges, we might act defensively and fearfully. As a result, we will not grow or learn in the process. The greater our consciousness remains, the more likely we will make positive choices by understanding these four archetypes.

Our determination to remain young and healthy in mind, body, and spirit relies upon the positive energy of the Child Archetype. However, this “shadow child” may manifest itself through an inability to grow while taking on the responsibilities of an adult. This negative pole can result in an extreme dependency on those individuals or institutions assuming responsibility for another’s physical and emotional security. Providers of security that manifest themselves include spouses, extended family, friends, or various levels of government.

As with many such archetypes, the core issue of the Child Archetype balances upon the scales of dependency and responsibility. This balance considers our need for and perception of safety, nurturing, loyalty, and belonging, along with wounds, abandonment, dependence, and innocence. Furthermore, this learned balance leads us to know when to take responsibility or when to maintain a healthy dependency. It also leads us to know when to take opposition to a group or when to embrace a community and its rules. In summary, tendencies of both light and shadow characterize the inherent balance of light and shadow.

Negative impulses of the Victim manifest through self-pity and a pang of hunger for sympathy, while the positive traits of this archetype emerge as a warning sign of danger that protects us from being victimized. If we become victimized, it may result from our passivity or carelessness. Positive impulses emerge to alert us to our potential to victimize others for personal gain.

The shadow side of the Victim may encourage us to play the role of the Victim for rewards of pity or sympathy. In form, the Victim tells us that others always take advantage of situations that occur through our fault. The Victim archetype may present itself as a trickster who fails to recognize inappropriate emotions in ourselves and others. Instead, we live to learn how to handle challenges and outrun our fears to avoid victimization. Therefore, we need to develop clarity of insight that helps us to grow a larger pragmatic vision by learning both the nature and the intensity of the Victim within ourselves.

The Saboteur Archetype reflects low self-esteem, consisting of fears and related issues that block our self-empowerment and success. For example, we may begin a new relationship and destroy it because we imagine a painful outcome. Having fallen into a recurring destructive pattern, we may start a working relationship with another person only to find ourselves in a power struggle.

However, we can reverse this bundle of emotions into an ally that warns us of being sabotaged by others or sabotaging ourselves. Embracing Saboteur emotions as allies, we may save ourselves the grief emanating from redundant mistakes. In contrast, failing to harness the negative side of this archetype, the shadow Saboteur may manifest itself through self-destructive behavior or as the desire to undermine the visions and optimistic plans of others.

The Innervalues Sellout Archetype revolves around emotions related to integrity. Specifically, this archetype relates to the sale of our integrity and spirit out of fear of maintaining our physical and financial survival. Resultantly, this archetype activates emotions unconsciously associated with seduction and control.

Within this state of being, we may sell our powers to others by buying control over another person. Like the other three Archetypes of Survival, the Archetype of Innervalues Sellout exists universally. For example, musicians, visual artists, and politicians may feel they must sell out their talents, ideas, morals, and ethics for financial gain. The core learning related to this strongly negative archetype revolves around the need for rediscovery and refinement of integrity, self-esteem, and self-respect.

Hopefully, this brief introduction to the world of spirit and emotion embodied in fundamental archetypes helps us to grow in awareness:  Most of the work undertaken on our vision quest exists in our preparation. Analogously, we are musical instruments. As with a harp or other string instrument that lacks proper tuning, we expect it to sound quite dismal.

In order to succeed, we need to apply our understanding of “Animal Spirits” to economic decision-making for redevelopment and growth throughout our bi-national region. We must understand what we need to form a vision before we proceed with our actions. Nevertheless, we know that our emotional drives are modeled here through a series of archetypes to develop a pragmatic vision. We must learn to direct them toward the successful development of our Vision of the future before moving forward to action. This Vision should form a pragmatic one through our preparatory work. By developing a sound economic base for a harmonious whole of public and private sectors, we will achieve a new level of greater prosperity.
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Dr. John F. Sase teaches Economics at Wayne State University and has practiced Forensic and Investigative Economics for twenty years. He earned a combined M.A. in Economics and an MBA at the University of Detroit, followed by a Ph.D. in Economics from Wayne State University. He is a graduate of the University of Detroit Jesuit High School (www.saseassociates.com).