Those who willingly seek power are the ones who absolutely should not have it. That's the main issue with hierarchies and why they need to be destroyed.
That is the principle of democracy: to make sure that those in power are not there because of their lust for power - but because they were elected to serve, and they can (and should) be immediately replaced if they display the signs of love for power. But because of capitalism that declares "a winner" whoever has stepped over enough corpses and "defeated the competitors", democracy is not possible. It is not possible to have a society that is based on glorification of power and dominance (defeating the competitors and ensuring hegemony) and NOT have a power-hungry government that is obsessed with domination and control. And even more, such government will not stop at the nation's borders and most likely will want to dominate the whole world. Which is what we are witnessing.
Yes, the principles of capitalism, winning or losing exist in how we do our politics too, not just our economics. Thanks Lena!
(In case Jasmine reads this comment, please be aware that I am ‘blocked’ from liking your comment, for some reason. I am not sure why that is but maybe you can fix this setting?...)
You have ignored the fact that Biden is also narcissistic, sociopathic, tyrannical and utterly lacks empathy. Biden and Trump are mirror images of each other: nonsensical, right wing supporting, serial abusers of women, liars, career thugs, racists, impulsive blurters of politically incorrect speech. Biden is even a career-long hoarder of classified info in his home, way worse than Trump. Both are insane, dangerous Zionists. So crying about how electing Trump is some disaster is deluded thinking.
I don't think Avigail "ignored" it. Joseph Levine said: "The demands of consistency do not entail that every time someone argues in favour (or against) something that they must always take up the issue or cause of every other instance."
I agree with Levine's statement, but in this case, highlighting Trump's Cluster B illness can't help but suggest that the alternative would have been somehow better. Harris manages to be both intellectually vacuous and morally degenerate at the same time. She conceals it better, but the fact that she can't keep staff, and the fact that she had to hire supporters to the tune of millions of dollars (Oprah got a million to support her) is quite telling. That and the fact that no matter what Israel does it is "defending itself."
She is a narcissist too. But she was not elected, so I discuss him not her. The de-facto two-party system in the US is dominated by narcissists. I suspect it was never any better. Both sides are rabid neoliberalists, just like in Israel both sides are staunchly Zionist/settler-colonialist. The so-called Left in both countries, are offering the same crappy way of life, but with slight concessions. There cannot be ‘slightly nicer’ neoliberalism or settler-colonialism. I used Trump to offer a lesson on narcissism, which I know a lot of people struggle to understand. By no means do I think everyone else is fine. I place the full responsibility squarely in our hands, not the politicians’. We put them where they are, even in countries that are not officially ‘democratic’. We, the people, is what this piece is addressing. It is not an analysis of the election results or the American political system. Sometimes readers draw conclusions from one or two paragraphs without reading the whole thing. I’m not saying you did, but I have just received an email from a reader who stopped reading at the start, because she was put off by my initial focus on DT. If she read all the way to the end, she’d probably discover I have addressed all her concerns. None of this is b/w… It isn’t that because one side is bad, therefore the other is good… that is why people need to read whole essays, rather than form judgment on too little information 🙏
I didn’t ignore it Linda, I just chose not to focus on it in this particular article. Writing about one topic does not mean I exclude others. It is not an either/or… I did say the alternative was not much better. I couldn’t agree more about Biden and his helpers. Thank you for reading and commenting.
She spoke of choosing between two evils, Trump and Harris. Biden is irrelevant to the discussion was not running, so please don't distract from the point being made. Sorry you seem to be having some buyer's remorse about the Orange Rabbi. He, Harris, Biden, and Netanyahu all exhibit narcissistic traits and those have been transferred to our foreign policy where it will eventually run head first at a hundred miles per hour into a wall of rationally behaved nations that will certainly stop us without regard to our safety but only to theirs.
I am not having buyer's remorse about anything, since I would never vote for either vile degenerate. Harris is no better, equally genocidal and sociopathic. I voted third party, against genocide.
"Narcissists are predators, whose ‘food’, or sustenance (‘narcissistic supply’) comes from admiration. The ‘hole’ they have inside can never be filled, which makes them voracious, insatiable feeders. Real narcissists die hungry, and they hunt all the way to their last breath. There is never enough in the narcissist’s universe. The more ‘narcissistic supply’ they get, the more paranoid real narcissists become, that someone might steal it from them. "
Thank you for this insightful article Abigail. It has helped me understand why a long-standing "friend" turned on me and accused me of trying to destroy their business. The advice to focus on what they do rather than what they say I find particularly pertinent. It took me too long to realise that and then I felt like such a chump for falling for the charming words and excuses for so long.
I am so sorry about what you’ve been through, and pleased my article provided some validation of your experience. Anyone can fall prey to a narcissist. They are very good at what they do and are often charming, charismatic and seductive. Is it the antelope’s fault for getting caught by a tiger? I always tell my clients that some of the most dangerous predators in nature are also the most beautiful. It is the same in humanity. If a predator was ugly, smelly, repulsive, people would just cross the road to the other side. To be successful, predators have to be very good at what they do. People always blame themselves, but that’s because they underestimate how skilled good predators are at what they do. It wasn’t your fault.
The most important l lesson people usually learn from these experiences is to always trust their initial instincts. If something feels off, it is probably because it is. Look after yourself.
Thank you Karl! It’s such a pity he died so young at 29. He was so insightful and idealistic. People must have had to achieve a lot in a short time back then, because often they did not live long. Imagine if he got to live longer…🙏🏼
Exactly. I studied romantic poets at uni and felt a connection with them. In fact, I spent a whole year specialising just in the cult of Byronism, so the way Byron and Shelley intersected, especially at Lake Geneva, fascinated me.
I don’t know much, as it is not my area at all. But I understand there was a lot of politics and complicated relationships between people in their orbit. It’s not unlike the kind of thing that happens in any group of young friends in their twenties. Did Byron die young too? I’m so sorry I am so ignorant…
Yes, he got ill after self-imposed exile from England. Then he went to fight for Greek independence, and died while doing that, from fever (at the age of 36).
Wow. These young, talented, intelligent, sensitive people were clearly victims of a society that was oppressive and narrow-minded. There was no way that they could fit in and it cost them. They were acute observers who saw what was around them, and tried to live by their values. They died very young, but left a legacy that is still with us and is still relevant. Every voice matters. It does not matter how long we live, but how we use our lives. Can you imagine what they would write/say if they lived today?
Regarding Elon Musk and his potentially narcissistic parent. I recently saw his father being interviewed about how Elon has ‘finally seen the light’ in aligning with DT after initially rejecting him. I don’t know if his father is a narcissist , but all I can say is that he comes across as a particularly nasty piece of work ! Every time the interviewer asked him to give an example or explain what he was claiming he said something like ‘ well if you can’t see it , it’s not worth trying to explain it to you’ . He even told her that she is an example of all that is wrong that he is speaking of (or words to that effect) She could barely get a word in and he just talked over her . Really yucky vibes 🤮
Sounds awful. I might be right after all that at least one of his parents is a narcissist. The poor guy never stood a chance. But like the rest of us he is making a choice about who he wants to be and how to act in the world… We are not responsible for what is wired into our heads when we are young, but we are responsible for the choices we make later in life and for recovering from whatever is wired into us that is not helpful and does not support who we feel that we are. Thank you for reading and for the interesting comment. 🙏🏼
I don't think this "narcissism" diagnosis has any validity when these attributes are the very fabric of the society. Kids are raised being told that it is natural to exploit others for their own ends, that they are brilliant and "beautiful" no matter what they do, that others hate them out of envy. This is how even Herzl was raised, and this is how Zionism came about, out of the ideological indoctrination that Jews are inherently beautiful and special, that they will be eternally hated out of envy, that it is OK to exploit Gentiles for Jewish well-being and that the Gentile feelings don't matter because the Gentiles are inherently guilty of mistreating Jews and deserved it. Just an example.
American way of living, mentality and social organization is based on these ideas too. Thanks to Ayn Rand and Bernays.
I think psychologization of ideological indoctrination should not be done. There is a big difference between a mental disorder of narcissism (that comes from personal character) and a societal ideological indoctrination, deliberately aimed at raising an army of Zombies to further the goals of conquest and domination.
Trump might be a damaged as a person, but that's not why his rule (and the rule of the most previous American Presidents) is dangerous. It is dangerous because of the unstoppable indoctrination of the nation into an ideology of being exceptional, entitled, surrounded by envious enemies, intended to crush anyone who dares to resist the domination. Racism, fascism, Nazism are not mental illness or a personality disorder. They are ideological systems that indoctrinate people in order to use them as cannon fodder and attacking pit bulls.
Just because something is ‘normal’ as in, it is prevalent, does not make it harmless. American society and Israeli too practically raise children to be narcissistic. It does not make it any less a pathology. Behind everything we do, all our choices, how we run our lives, the values we have, what we choose to pay attention to or ignore, is our psychology. Therefore a psychological perspective is valid to use to make sense of things. It is not the only perspective just another useful lens. You are of course, right, and that is precisely my point. We can’t blame the ‘bad guys’ for what is going wrong, but ourselves and the societies we create that enable questionable people to be in power. An explanation, is not an excuse, of course.
Clear eyed deconstruction of Narcissism and its enablers. Well done Avigail. I like Frank Herbert’s litany “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain”.
And that’s my problem. Despite how smart we are, we never learn… Each generation has to discover the same crap over and over again, and down the spiral it goes. We have to be careful about not regressing. Thank you for your comment and for reading.
Those who willingly seek power are the ones who absolutely should not have it. That's the main issue with hierarchies and why they need to be destroyed.
That is the principle of democracy: to make sure that those in power are not there because of their lust for power - but because they were elected to serve, and they can (and should) be immediately replaced if they display the signs of love for power. But because of capitalism that declares "a winner" whoever has stepped over enough corpses and "defeated the competitors", democracy is not possible. It is not possible to have a society that is based on glorification of power and dominance (defeating the competitors and ensuring hegemony) and NOT have a power-hungry government that is obsessed with domination and control. And even more, such government will not stop at the nation's borders and most likely will want to dominate the whole world. Which is what we are witnessing.
Yes, the principles of capitalism, winning or losing exist in how we do our politics too, not just our economics. Thanks Lena!
(In case Jasmine reads this comment, please be aware that I am ‘blocked’ from liking your comment, for some reason. I am not sure why that is but maybe you can fix this setting?...)
Just fixed it, lol. I had no idea 🤦♀️
Thanks! It’s working now. Can you please tell me what the problem was, just in case anyone experiences the same on my page?? 🙏
Yay🥳 Unsure. But I've had the same problem you did a couple of times 🤷♀ Maybe a glitch in the app🤔 It can give me grief sometimes, lol.
Hierarchies are inherently UNDEMOCRATIC 🤦♀️
You have ignored the fact that Biden is also narcissistic, sociopathic, tyrannical and utterly lacks empathy. Biden and Trump are mirror images of each other: nonsensical, right wing supporting, serial abusers of women, liars, career thugs, racists, impulsive blurters of politically incorrect speech. Biden is even a career-long hoarder of classified info in his home, way worse than Trump. Both are insane, dangerous Zionists. So crying about how electing Trump is some disaster is deluded thinking.
I don't think Avigail "ignored" it. Joseph Levine said: "The demands of consistency do not entail that every time someone argues in favour (or against) something that they must always take up the issue or cause of every other instance."
I agree with Levine's statement, but in this case, highlighting Trump's Cluster B illness can't help but suggest that the alternative would have been somehow better. Harris manages to be both intellectually vacuous and morally degenerate at the same time. She conceals it better, but the fact that she can't keep staff, and the fact that she had to hire supporters to the tune of millions of dollars (Oprah got a million to support her) is quite telling. That and the fact that no matter what Israel does it is "defending itself."
She is a narcissist too. But she was not elected, so I discuss him not her. The de-facto two-party system in the US is dominated by narcissists. I suspect it was never any better. Both sides are rabid neoliberalists, just like in Israel both sides are staunchly Zionist/settler-colonialist. The so-called Left in both countries, are offering the same crappy way of life, but with slight concessions. There cannot be ‘slightly nicer’ neoliberalism or settler-colonialism. I used Trump to offer a lesson on narcissism, which I know a lot of people struggle to understand. By no means do I think everyone else is fine. I place the full responsibility squarely in our hands, not the politicians’. We put them where they are, even in countries that are not officially ‘democratic’. We, the people, is what this piece is addressing. It is not an analysis of the election results or the American political system. Sometimes readers draw conclusions from one or two paragraphs without reading the whole thing. I’m not saying you did, but I have just received an email from a reader who stopped reading at the start, because she was put off by my initial focus on DT. If she read all the way to the end, she’d probably discover I have addressed all her concerns. None of this is b/w… It isn’t that because one side is bad, therefore the other is good… that is why people need to read whole essays, rather than form judgment on too little information 🙏
Agree completely.
I didn’t ignore it Linda, I just chose not to focus on it in this particular article. Writing about one topic does not mean I exclude others. It is not an either/or… I did say the alternative was not much better. I couldn’t agree more about Biden and his helpers. Thank you for reading and commenting.
She spoke of choosing between two evils, Trump and Harris. Biden is irrelevant to the discussion was not running, so please don't distract from the point being made. Sorry you seem to be having some buyer's remorse about the Orange Rabbi. He, Harris, Biden, and Netanyahu all exhibit narcissistic traits and those have been transferred to our foreign policy where it will eventually run head first at a hundred miles per hour into a wall of rationally behaved nations that will certainly stop us without regard to our safety but only to theirs.
I am not having buyer's remorse about anything, since I would never vote for either vile degenerate. Harris is no better, equally genocidal and sociopathic. I voted third party, against genocide.
"Narcissists are predators, whose ‘food’, or sustenance (‘narcissistic supply’) comes from admiration. The ‘hole’ they have inside can never be filled, which makes them voracious, insatiable feeders. Real narcissists die hungry, and they hunt all the way to their last breath. There is never enough in the narcissist’s universe. The more ‘narcissistic supply’ they get, the more paranoid real narcissists become, that someone might steal it from them. "
Thank you for this insightful article Abigail. It has helped me understand why a long-standing "friend" turned on me and accused me of trying to destroy their business. The advice to focus on what they do rather than what they say I find particularly pertinent. It took me too long to realise that and then I felt like such a chump for falling for the charming words and excuses for so long.
I am so sorry about what you’ve been through, and pleased my article provided some validation of your experience. Anyone can fall prey to a narcissist. They are very good at what they do and are often charming, charismatic and seductive. Is it the antelope’s fault for getting caught by a tiger? I always tell my clients that some of the most dangerous predators in nature are also the most beautiful. It is the same in humanity. If a predator was ugly, smelly, repulsive, people would just cross the road to the other side. To be successful, predators have to be very good at what they do. People always blame themselves, but that’s because they underestimate how skilled good predators are at what they do. It wasn’t your fault.
The most important l lesson people usually learn from these experiences is to always trust their initial instincts. If something feels off, it is probably because it is. Look after yourself.
🙏🏽Thank you Avigail and yes, that's the lesson I eventually learned.
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 Well done!
Thank you!!
Great use of Shelley. :-)
Thank you Karl! It’s such a pity he died so young at 29. He was so insightful and idealistic. People must have had to achieve a lot in a short time back then, because often they did not live long. Imagine if he got to live longer…🙏🏼
Exactly. I studied romantic poets at uni and felt a connection with them. In fact, I spent a whole year specialising just in the cult of Byronism, so the way Byron and Shelley intersected, especially at Lake Geneva, fascinated me.
I don’t know much, as it is not my area at all. But I understand there was a lot of politics and complicated relationships between people in their orbit. It’s not unlike the kind of thing that happens in any group of young friends in their twenties. Did Byron die young too? I’m so sorry I am so ignorant…
Yes, he got ill after self-imposed exile from England. Then he went to fight for Greek independence, and died while doing that, from fever (at the age of 36).
Wow. These young, talented, intelligent, sensitive people were clearly victims of a society that was oppressive and narrow-minded. There was no way that they could fit in and it cost them. They were acute observers who saw what was around them, and tried to live by their values. They died very young, but left a legacy that is still with us and is still relevant. Every voice matters. It does not matter how long we live, but how we use our lives. Can you imagine what they would write/say if they lived today?
All very true. :-)
Regarding Elon Musk and his potentially narcissistic parent. I recently saw his father being interviewed about how Elon has ‘finally seen the light’ in aligning with DT after initially rejecting him. I don’t know if his father is a narcissist , but all I can say is that he comes across as a particularly nasty piece of work ! Every time the interviewer asked him to give an example or explain what he was claiming he said something like ‘ well if you can’t see it , it’s not worth trying to explain it to you’ . He even told her that she is an example of all that is wrong that he is speaking of (or words to that effect) She could barely get a word in and he just talked over her . Really yucky vibes 🤮
Sounds awful. I might be right after all that at least one of his parents is a narcissist. The poor guy never stood a chance. But like the rest of us he is making a choice about who he wants to be and how to act in the world… We are not responsible for what is wired into our heads when we are young, but we are responsible for the choices we make later in life and for recovering from whatever is wired into us that is not helpful and does not support who we feel that we are. Thank you for reading and for the interesting comment. 🙏🏼
I don't think this "narcissism" diagnosis has any validity when these attributes are the very fabric of the society. Kids are raised being told that it is natural to exploit others for their own ends, that they are brilliant and "beautiful" no matter what they do, that others hate them out of envy. This is how even Herzl was raised, and this is how Zionism came about, out of the ideological indoctrination that Jews are inherently beautiful and special, that they will be eternally hated out of envy, that it is OK to exploit Gentiles for Jewish well-being and that the Gentile feelings don't matter because the Gentiles are inherently guilty of mistreating Jews and deserved it. Just an example.
American way of living, mentality and social organization is based on these ideas too. Thanks to Ayn Rand and Bernays.
I think psychologization of ideological indoctrination should not be done. There is a big difference between a mental disorder of narcissism (that comes from personal character) and a societal ideological indoctrination, deliberately aimed at raising an army of Zombies to further the goals of conquest and domination.
Trump might be a damaged as a person, but that's not why his rule (and the rule of the most previous American Presidents) is dangerous. It is dangerous because of the unstoppable indoctrination of the nation into an ideology of being exceptional, entitled, surrounded by envious enemies, intended to crush anyone who dares to resist the domination. Racism, fascism, Nazism are not mental illness or a personality disorder. They are ideological systems that indoctrinate people in order to use them as cannon fodder and attacking pit bulls.
Just because something is ‘normal’ as in, it is prevalent, does not make it harmless. American society and Israeli too practically raise children to be narcissistic. It does not make it any less a pathology. Behind everything we do, all our choices, how we run our lives, the values we have, what we choose to pay attention to or ignore, is our psychology. Therefore a psychological perspective is valid to use to make sense of things. It is not the only perspective just another useful lens. You are of course, right, and that is precisely my point. We can’t blame the ‘bad guys’ for what is going wrong, but ourselves and the societies we create that enable questionable people to be in power. An explanation, is not an excuse, of course.
I agree that narcissism is engrained in the American psyche.
Clear eyed deconstruction of Narcissism and its enablers. Well done Avigail. I like Frank Herbert’s litany “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain”.
Thanks Brendan, wise words from Dune. I love this quote. ❤️
Well, I’m not narcissistic, I listen to others AND I learn from my mistakes.
👍😊
You'd think it is kinda obvious at this point but it obviously isn't.
History will teach the exact same lesson once again. It doesn't mind because it has no emotions.
And that’s my problem. Despite how smart we are, we never learn… Each generation has to discover the same crap over and over again, and down the spiral it goes. We have to be careful about not regressing. Thank you for your comment and for reading.