3. Narcissism. One of the abnormal profiles recognized by the American Psychiatric Association is the "narcissistic personality disorder," which exhibits such characteristics as "a grandiose sense of self-importance, is interpersonally exploitative and lacks empathy." I think the hubris that pushes decisions to use military force is a corollary of narcissism. The "poster child" of hubris ought to be President Bush in his military attire standing on the aircraft carrier proclaiming "mission accomplished." When narcissism goes over the edge it becomes sociopathic, which exhibits such characteristics as "disregard of social norms, deceitfulness, and lack of remorse." Historian William Manson, author of The Psychodynamics of Culture, claims that President Clinton exemplifies narcissism and that President Bush has sociopathic tendencies (Bush allegedly firecracker bombed frogs as a youngster. [5] Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon ought to be case studies of this character flaw in its entirety.
4. Close-mindedness. One of the
so-called "big five" personality traits is that of "openness." It's the least
well understood of the five but it seems to reflect a person's mental ability
for comprehensive and objective thinking and a keenness for a variety of
experiences. Close-mindedness, narrow-mindedness, and myopia would seem to
reflect the opposites. Consider President Lyndon Johnson, for instance. I think
he was either an ignoramus about or downplayed the past history of
Circumstances
All people deal in one way or another with circumstances, some of their own making. Circumstances usually involve temptations and pressures. I call those circumstances "badvantages" because they give advantages to bad behavior. U.S. presidents, like CEOs, are bombarded by them, most especially by occupying a seductive position, by presiding over the best or worst of times, by a warfare culture, by upside down incentives, by global enticements, and overall by the powerful corpocracy, the collusion between corporate interests and corruptible officials in all three branches of the government.
1. Seductive position. History is replete with
characters seduced by the powerful positions they held. Power is readily
available to be exploited and abused. The
2. Best or worse of times. The best of times, which
stokes greed, tends to bring out the worst in human nature just as the worst of
times, which stokes need, tends to do the same. Fortune 500 companies, for
instance, tend to get into legal trouble more often when times are good. In the
case of
3. Warfare culture. The triumvirate is adept at creating and sustaining a culture in which continuous military interventions are accepted and expected. Besides relying on spreading lies (e.g., WMDs), half truths and propaganda through corporate-controlled mainstream media, on infiltration into the educational system at all levels, and on entertainment (e.g., war movies) the triumvirate has mastered the art of what we psychologists call "operant conditioning," continuously pairing a negative or less favorable item with a more favorable one until the former becomes more like the latter. That explains, for example, why basketball fans will without reservation watch a game played on an aircraft carrier.
4. Upside Down Incentives. CEOs
and
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