It seems this thinking and recognition of sociopaths is spreading. Those who torture, who enable torture, who give orders of 360 degree field of fire, who rape and murder to frame others are not us. Undergroundpanther:
And the reason we can’t get along in life with “them” is because they have no empathy, no morals. All the sociopaths /authoritarians and narcissists, around us are dangerous to our mental health and in places of power they can ruin nations and the world. THEY are who cause the wars, begin the corruption, cover up the truth and impede investigations into their wrongdoing. They are the biggest problem facing non-toxic people in this world today. . . .
The enemy is not in US. It is in the sociopath/narcissist/authoritarian personality types. These abusers will use our ethics against us, mimic us, charm us, play our emotions, use rhetoric or lies to gain our pity or trust just to get away with whatever they want to do or get. . . .
The truth is not warm or fuzzy sometimes. It goes against some people’s “inherent beliefs” like… Not all people are “inherently good”, Nor do people “get what they deserve” and it’s a lie that “everyone can change”. Get rid of those silly solopsistic sentiments because it is doing alot to enable the systematic of killing of life on this world by sociopaths/psychopaths/authoritarian and narcissistic otherwise toxic personality types. . . .
Be careful for whom your heart bleeds for, for some out there are vampires and will feed upon your bleeding soft heart until they kill you, and everything you loved.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389×8640697 [Emphases added and edited for simple grammar corrections.]
From the comments:
Odin2005: Corporate capitalism is sociopathy institutionalized as civil dogma
Absolutely, give corporations the freedom to be sociopathic with unlimited size and thus power, not only will actual sociopaths rise to the corporate top but a sociopathic world will be forced upon the rest of us.
hfojvt: I tend to agree with Solzhenitsyn “If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
Obviously I disagree. All insane governmental system or war machines pull sociopaths to the fore — sane or insane, sociopaths will adapt effortlessly but they prefer insane which allow sociopathic satisfactions. Solzhenitsyn was simply blind to this and there is no reason to listen to him here, in my opinion.
WWII and the Holocaust should have educated the world to the presence and importance of sociopaths in the cause of evil and corruption (at least as “wind in the sails”). Hannah Arendt had it totally wrong, totalitarianism was not about the banality of evil, but about the banality of sociopaths (e.g. Eichmann, who could stack bodies as casually as cords of wood). I have no respect for her phrase. I consider it to be exactly the kind of high-falutin’ empty-of-meaning stock phrase and cliche that she accused Eichmann of employing (which he did do as a sociopath in a vain attempt to give meaning to his life and actions).
Finally, I just have to say that any student of sociopathy that doesn’t recognize Eichmann as a sociopath understands nothing about sociopathy — to the point where I wouldn’t even know how to communicate with such a student, since I don’t understand the thinking behind that error.
I have a hard time with the concept that someone who is a genetic psychopath is inherently evil. However, given they were born the way they are, they are seemingly impossible to reform and their inherited mindset is conducive to evil, what else can you call them? Don’t get me wrong, even being a psychopath myself, I hate psychopaths. Because I tend to overlook their faults, I probably get taken by psychopaths more often than the average mark. Still, the idea that an infant is inherently evil is hard to digest. No doubt, if humans were ranch managed like cattle, the psychopaths would be culled at an early age. I was trying to think of the advantages of psychopathy, personally and to society at large, and cannot think of one thing. Is there anything associated with psychopathy that can be considered a positive? What would work as a permanent solution to the psychopath problem? Should psychopaths, SAP’s and prisoners alike, all be isolated on their own little island? Herbert J Coddington of California death row believes they should be. When you consider all the damage done, the price of legal prosecution and imprisonment, I would bet it would be cheaper to set them all free on their own island and feed them for life. It’s a deal psychopaths may even find attractive.
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In my experience not all psychopaths are evil at all, quite a few are capable of making the ethical choice through a utilitarian calculus and self interest. They should be encouraged to do so.
If gene splicing could “cure” their psychopathy, any ideas what percentage would be interested?
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I’ve just stumbled upon your blog and have not had a chance to read more than a handful of posts yet. (Fascinating blog, by the way.) My question to you is this….do you feel that it’s true that sociopaths tend to be drawn towards work/careers in the military and law enforcement?
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Yes, I’m sure their proportion in those two pursuits is considerably higher than their absolute proportion in the population. Sociopaths are natural bullies and are attracted to where-ever they can indulge that and where lack of empathy is rewarded.
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