When we look at political conflict, it is easy to stay focused on policies, parties, and headlines. Yet beneath these surface struggles live much older stories about fear, belonging, and the need to feel safe. Drawing on the work of Erich Fromm and on what we now know about early development and trauma, this essay explores how the roots of today’s political behavior can be traced back to childhood experiences of attachment, shame, and identity. It offers a way of seeing our current moment not only as a political crisis, but as a human one that asks for deeper understanding and more relational forms of healing.

Every night, I stood at the edge of the brown shag carpet, staring at the towering canopy bed, my heart racing as shadows twisted into shapes that seemed to come alive. I would take a deep breath and leap, certain the monsters hiding beneath would grab me if I didn’t.

But the jump wasn’t just about bedtime. My whole life felt like one long leap into the unknown—moving to Amarillo, starting a new school, living with Mama Jean and Daddy Bud. Everything was new, strange, and unsettling. The only constant through it all was the rhythmic clack of the typewriter, its steady sound grounding me when everything else felt uncertain.