The stars and stripes are ablaze and burning bright. The hiss and crackle of the flame can be heard as charred and half-smoldering bits of cloth float away on an uncaring wind. The odor of the smoldering cloth can be smelled on the air by pedestrians as the remaining scraps spread across the land.

This scene portrays the desecration of the American flag. It is an idea and action that throws millions of people into the bloodlust haze of illogical, frenzied anger. These people discard sanity upon seeing or thinking about flag desecration, because the flag represents the magical artifact of a beloved nation.

Tragically, this latent rage also betrays an underlying condition.

When someone purposely destroys the flag, people rally to condemn and shame the person who did it. Some of them take their anger further. They intimidate or threaten the flag-destroyer. But individuals who want to hurt the flag-burner are not doing it because they are sad about damaged property. They are doing it because they worship the symbolism behind the flag. They are doing it out of blind obedience to nationalism. It has nothing to do with any rational moral ethic.

This nationalism that leads people to coerce or hurt others over a colored tendril of cloth is a contagious, pathological condition also known as “Statism.”

But I also want to be clear, this illustration and information about the psychology behind flag worship is not a defense of flag burning. I have written elsewhere the flag desecration as a type of communication is flawed and nonproductive. Nonetheless, the issues in regards to flag worship and Statism still need to be examined and addressed, which is the purpose of this article.

An Ideological Disorder

“Statism” is the ideological disorder that an abstract entity known as the nation-State should exist and bestow some humans the right to rule others and punish them for transgressions against authority. It also suggests that certain geographical regions, like "America," have special meaning insofar that shaming them is considered disrespectful and disloyal, even though"nations" are merely masses of land.

Every facet of Statism is psychologically problematic. Flag worship, patriotic obedience to authority, politicking, and love of land masses all verge on insanity. People living in this matrix of delusion do not recognize it as such. For them, it is a fixture of their lives. It is a silent cult. This manifestation of ritual-Statism is so deeply embedded in people's minds that they do not suspect anything is wrong. They are "clinically ill" but do not recognize it because they have adopted the shared madness of patriotic fervor.

People who are violent or who do not experience empathy and concern for their fellow humans are usually labeled as psychopaths by psychiatry. In his fascinating book, The Science of Evil, psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen lists the traits that psychopaths possess. They include an inability to experience emotions of others, purposeful manipulation of people, and the desire to hurt or harm others. Interestingly, Statists often fit the criteria for mental illness, but the psychiatrists are too blinded by culture to see the bias in their diagnostic procedures. The Diagnostic Statistic Manual for Mental disorders says this:

"There is a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring since age 15 years, as indicated by three (or more) of the following: having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another."

The characteristics listed above classify the perfect diagnosis for people suffering from Statism (especially politicians), which could be called a personality disorder. The DSM goes on to explain that hostility, callousness, and manipulativeness are primary qualities of personality disorder.

If psychiatrists were honest about the logical application of mental illness, people who worship the State would be the first people they diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, and perhaps schizophrenia. These are the kinds of people who want to harm or hurt those who do not follow their ideology. They believe flags talk to them, who see the nation as a real object, who will trick children into joining their cult, and who will arbitrarily kill for government.

Consensus Delusion and Psychiatric Immunity

The most tragic aspect of this specific psychopathy is that it is a form of consensus delusion. It is shared by most of the tribe, and its members see their behavior as normal and acceptable. It has been ingrained within culture and immune from psychiatric scrutiny. Most people, then, believe the State has the right to rule and that everything related to it is holy and sacred. If anyone transgresses, they should be adequately harassed, scapegoated, punished, and bullied.

State lovers initiate this aggression and immorality, but oddly they are considered mentally healthy. For much of American society and mainstream psychiatry, disobeying authority to the State and trespassing on collective values is a terrible wrong. But obedience to the status quo is an absolute must.

All of the aforesaid tribalism is kept in vogue by politicians in robes who act as the voice of their God the State. They even speak for this God as if they were its priests, and they discipline wrongdoers as if they were subjects. It is a nonsensical and anti-humanitarian sickness.

Terence Mckenna summed up this culture of psychosis:

"We are caged by our cultural programming. Culture is mass hallucination, and when you step out of mass hallucination you can see it for what it is worth."

The Saving Grace

McKenna was right. The people who are under the enchantment of Statism are not damned to an eternity of believing in violent ideology. Like most "mental illnesses," their behavior and thoughts are not symptoms of a permanent disease process. Mental illness does not exist in this sense. It is only a descriptive label of certain behaviors. Contrarian therapists only use it for the purposes of understanding thinking and behavior from a context of human action and choice, not as a physical ailment.

That said, the label of psychopathology in statism has categorical merit. People are troubled in their deranged views. They are "crazy" to think that burning a bit of cloth is evil, that politicians have authority, and that geographical regions contain magical power. Luckily, it is not beyond their ability to snap out of their confusion and behavior.

Instead of choosing Statism, they can choose the power of the individual. They can set their eyes to notions of freedom and peace. They can forget their desire to harm others and realize they have been duped by a culture bound religious movement. They can lift their eyes to the heavens of truth and dispense with old dogmas. They can behold the greater truths of goodwill, love, and anarchism. All it takes is for them to examine all prior assumptions and worldviews. All it takes is for one Zen moment of clarity and insight. That could be their saving grace.