We stand at a point unparalleled in the lives of most people. It is not just one thing, but a combination of things. The distribution of natural, economic, and social resources, is approaching an all-time level of inequality – nationally and globally. A generation-long (perhaps two generations) propaganda and policy effort to create an environment where people are operating emotionally from a place of fear and reason is denigrated (forget about logic and science) making us easy pickings for manipulation and propaganda. Into this, a billionaire media icon who has “no instinct for democracy”, is judged by some to be a “malignant narcissist”, and who is deeply unsuited to be president of the United States.
Malignant Narcissism
The following is quoted from an article by Dan Neuharth, Ph.D., MFT,
Psychology Today 5/25/2019.
“The concept of malignant narcissism was expanded by psychiatrist Otto Kernberg, who termed it a toxic combination of four highly dysfunctional traits and behaviors :
- Narcissism, with its grandiosity, lack of empathy, need for attention, and sense of entitlement.
- Antisocial behavior, with its lack of remorse, destructive and impulsive behavior, deceitfulness, and disregard for and violation of the rights of others.
- Paranoid thinking, with its sense of persecution, difficulty trusting others, preoccupation with others’ loyalty, tendency to bear grudges, and tendency to view benign actions of others as attempts at deception or exploitation.
- Sadism, with its cruelty, efforts to humiliate or manipulate others, and deriving enjoyment from others’ pain and suffering.”
