The author argues that society suffers from deep wounds because key human forces and drives remain suppressed and unconscious, while their influence permeates the very foundation of cultural and social structures.

Invisible Wounds: The Unconscious Dynamics of Society

The author argues that society suffers from deep wounds because key human forces and drives remain suppressed and unconscious, while their influence permeates the very foundation of cultural and social structures. According to Freud, moral and religious taboos serve as means by which the rational mind attempts to conceal and suppress irrational, primal drives, thereby depriving the individual of conscious control over their inner world. Freud essentially demonstrated that man is “not the master in his own house,” as his behavior is determined by hidden, not always rational, forces in the subconscious (source: link txt).

On the other hand, Jung’s perspective enriches this picture by asserting that the human psyche comprises not only the personal unconscious but also the collective unconscious—a reservoir of archetypes and profound cultural symbols. Jung criticized Freud for reducing all aspects of human life to sexuality, insisting that higher forms of the psyche—such as culture and religion—do not merely arise as superstructures built upon irrational drives, but rather represent an entirely different, transformed state of the soul. Thus, according to Jung, the deep wounds of society are irreversible because they stem from the universal and ancient layers of collective experience that form the basis of perception and cultural consciousness (source: link txt).

Supporting citation(s):
"Moral is derived by Freud from 'taboo'—the prohibitions imposed by the conscious on the subconscious. ... Finally, Freud proved that 'man is not the master in his own house,' as his behavior is secretly controlled by the forces of the subconscious." (source: link txt)

"I present two main objections of Jung. Firstly, according to Jung, Freud expands the notion of sexuality to such an extent that almost every manifestation of life falls under its umbrella. Furthermore, Jung argues that sexuality is only one of the basic manifestations of the life drive—a concept that... And secondly, the higher forms of the psyche—namely, the realms of culture and religion—although they emerge from the life drive, cannot fundamentally be reduced to mere superstructures over it." (source: link txt)

Thus, thanks to Freud we understand that the source of society’s wound lies in the irreconcilable struggle between conscious prohibitions and suppressed forceful impulses, while Jung’s views reveal that these wounds extend deep into the structure of the collective unconscious, rendering them irreversible for society.