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Atmosphere! Atmosphere! [1]

March 25, 2025

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In the current linguistic landscape, one word seems to float, devoid of substance: atmosphere.

It is used to identify the rise of certain radicalizations: "atmospheric Islamism", "atmospheric anti-Semitism", says one camp; "atmospheric populism" or "atmospheric nationalism" says another camp.

This gaseous, ghostly term seems like a smokescreen, a cover-up that avoids naming deeper realities. It is just as counterproductive as the term "feeling" of insecurity when it is used to escape or avoid properly naming a reality.

Who does this word refer to? Certainly not those who embrace their radicalism. They KNOW what radicals they ARE (they are Islamists, anti-Semites, populists, or nationalists). They are not in an atmosphere.

What if this word mainly concerns those who, without knowing it, fuel the atmosphere?

those who do not KNOW that they are already radicalized or in the process of being radicalized or ready to submit to radicalizers?

To be unaware, without knowing, of the profound meaning of what we are participating in, while naming it badly so as not to awaken us, is what too many humans still doubt : the existence of the individual or collective unconscious.

The West, the cradle of psychoanalysis, struggles to explore the depths of the unconscious, preferring to take refuge behind empty words.

It is easier to talk about atmosphere than to recognize the deep currents that flow through us.

Leaving aside the dissemblers, many of those who sincerely deny being Islamist, anti-Semitic, populist, or nationalist cannot even imagine that they could be unwittingly so, in ways that are beyond their control. It is difficult for them to believe that they could be the object of fantasies that cloud their vision of reality.

Are these the ones who are contributing to this smoky atmosphere?

The word atmosphere, in this sense, helps to avoid the word "unconscious" or "INSU" [2] .

Yet, naming things as they are, without hiding behind vague words, would make the atmosphere a simple "consequence" and not a "cause." This would contribute to properly diagnosing the disease and properly seeking the remedy against radicalism.

In the meantime, with a little irony, let's dare like Arletty: "Atmosphere! Atmosphere! Do I look like an atmosphere?"

MEYER

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References

[1] Arletty's line "Atmosphere! Atmosphere! Do I look like an atmosphere?" in the film Hôtel du Nord by Marcel Carné, released in 1938.

[2] see the " INSU " series , among the introductory series for the Model-2L