A Brief Essay About Politicians and Sociopaths v1.0

A Brief Essay AboutPoliticians v1.0


Bottom Line: Theyare all sociopaths. No exceptions, says I. If your mommy is apolitician, your mommy is a sociopath. Got it? If you choose not tobelieve me, do so at your own risk. Keep reading and learn somethings about politicians and lawyers and talk show hosts and...


I started writing thisessay ‘way back in 1993, because I found myself getting veryirritated listening to politicians being interviewed on radio andtelevision shows. Speak about crazy people. Well, to be moreaccurate, they are personality disordered, not necessarily crazy. What really upsets me is that no one, except for me, seems to realizethat politicians are at best sociopaths, and at worst, flat outcrazy. Since the news people and talk show hosts who interviewpoliticians are presumably college graduates, I assume that they allmanaged to cut the same lecture given in their introductorypsychology 101 class, the one that described the different types ofpersonality disorders.
Onetype of sociopath is the “con man”. The "con" in conman stands for "confidence". A con man gets yourconfidence. He is charismatic, slick as glass, lies with a straightface at the drop of a hat, and isn't concerned about tomorrow. Tomorrow he'll worry about tomorrow. Today he'll say whatever isnecessary to make the sale, make the deal, defraud the mark.
Successfulpoliticians get your confidence, they are charismatic, slick asglass, lie with a straight face, and aren't concerned about thefuture, with the exception of worrying about getting reelected. Theysay what people want to hear. They are con men, knowing they arelying when they lie. The politician will say whatever is necessaryto get your vote. Really.
Let'sthink of it this way. Assume that you are a normal person. (In myway of thinking, that means you’re crazy, because I think everyoneis crazy. But some people are crazier than others.) If you are a“normal” person, would you like to run for public office? Wouldyou like your competition to spread rumors, lies, and a few truthsabout you? Do you want to make “deals” with unsavory charactersto get campaign donations and form alliances and other strategies? Do you think you could walk down the street and not be embarrassedabout what people say and think about you after hearing what thecompetition says to smear you? You know, about your "sick"sex interests, or your "drinking problem", or that you area homosexual, or that you’re not a homosexual, or that you beatyour kids, or that you once sold illegal drugs, or that your spousesleeps around, or that you don't care that kids get hooked oncigarettes because you take tobacco industry money, even if youdon’t, or that you or your spouse had an abortion, or that you'reinvolved with organized crime, or...
Wouldyou place your kids in the position of taking heat at school becauseof what is said about you, even if none of these things are true? Anormal person wouldn't allow himself or his family to be placed inthat position. He wouldn't allow himself to be held up to publicridicule. He wouldn't allow himself to be the butt of jokes on thelate night talk shows. He just couldn't deal with the psychologicalpressure. An abnormal person can place himself in that position,because some parts of his brain, such as the conscience, just don'toperate correctly. It's like that part of the brain which makes aperson fully human, capable of empathy, capable of embarrassment,capable of having guilt feelings, is missing.
Ifyou need someone to explain to you what a conscience is, and whatguilt feelings feel like, you’re a sociopath. Oh, empathy is theability to put yourself in someone else’s situation, to relate tothem and literally feel the emotions that go along with theirsituation. It’s the ability to identify with someone else’ssituation.
Themost important thing to remember about a sociopath is that he or shedoesn’t have a conscience, which is a sense of right and wrong. The conscience has been described as an internal policeman. One thatgoes with you wherever you go, and lets you know if you’re doingwrong, or about to. And without a conscience, there are no guiltfeelings at all. A person lacking a conscience doesn’t know whatguilt feelings feel like. And so, without a conscience and withoutempathy, the sociopath can lie/cheat/steal/etc., and not care aboutthe effect his action will have on others. And not feel embarrassedor uncomfortable if he is caught lying or cheating or stealing. Allhe cares about is whether or not he gets what he wants.
Alongsidesociopaths are the psychopaths, who are like sociopaths but whocommit violent crimes. Think “mafia” and gang members. Psychopaths differ from sociopaths only in that they are violent. Besides that, they are the same type of personality.
Boththe sociopath and the psychopath are grouped together bypsychologists and psychiatrists. Theyhave no sense of right vs. wrong, or fair vs. unfair. As mentionedearlier, they have no conscience, no internal policeman letting themknow when they are out of line. Without a conscience, a person isn’t fully human, and a person who isn’t fully humanis a subhuman.
Onlypersonality disordered people will end up in political life, becauseonly those people can ignore the "shame" that others wouldfind paralyzing when the opposition smears them. Because they haveno conscience, and so no guilt feelings, and no feelings ofembarrassment, they don’t really care what others say about them,although they may pretend to. And they can’t relate to otherpeople’s emotions, because they lack empathy.
Now,back to the question of why interviewers seem to ignore the fact thatthe politicians they are interviewing are, well, psychologicalcripples. Not fully human. Subhuman. I'm sure there is a reason. Maybe it's professional courtesy. Maybe it's one personalitydisordered individual giving some slack to another. Just a thought.
Yousee, when little children play, it’s not uncommon to hear oneshout, “Not fair, you stepped on the line,” or something similar. Or, one child might say that it isn’t fair that another childwasn’t invited to a birthday party. This concept of fair and unfairseems to be built into children’s brains. Therefore, fairness is abuilt-in human emotion. But politicians do not seem to have thatemotion. Fair and unfair are meaningless to them. Only what willscore them political points is what matters to them.
Peoplewho study the brain believe they have found that part of the brainwhere the concept of fairness, associated with the conscience, is located. It’s called the Lateral Frontal Pole.
Itis important to keep in mind that while all politicians aresociopaths, not all sociopaths become politicians. Probably moresociopaths are attracted to the legal profession than to politics. This might explain why so many politicians are also lawyers, or atleast have graduated from a law school. Lawyers aren’t known fortheir sense of fairness or for their honesty, and they are known forbeing liars, which the stand-up comedians joke, “How do you knowwhen a lawyer is lying? When his lips are moving!” attests to. Just change lawyer to politician…
Insummary, politicians lack a conscience,which makes them subhuman. They don’t care about other people,only about themselves, ‘cause they lack the emotion of empathy.
Sociopathshave varying levels of charisma, that is, they are charming, and theyare instantly liked by others for no particular reason. It isbelieved by psychologists and psychiatrists that the sociopath emitsa pheromone which causes other people to like and trust them. Apheromone is an aroma which isn’t consciously noticed, but whichdoes effect the person who does notice it without consciouslyrealizing it. Why sociopaths emit those pheromones is unknown, but Istrongly suggest that when you meet someone who you instantly likeand trust, who gives you the feeling, “I really like this guy”,you make a note that you are almost certainly chatting with asociopath and you should run like hell.
Whysome people are sociopaths is also unknown. Some shrinks believethat the sociopath was abused as a child, and becomes a sociopath asa defense mechanism to protect himself from further abuse. But mostshrinks believe that there is a genetic factor involved. A sociopathis born that way, many shrinks and researchers believe. One moviemade in the 1959 called “The Bad Seed” brought the genetic causefor sociopathy to the average person’s attention.
Finally,keep in mind that since a normal, relatively sane person wouldn’trun for political office, we are doomed to being governed bysociopaths. Period.

My academic background can be found at: http://shemdling.com/vita.html

 

Whether one agrees with your position that all politicians are sociopaths or not (or whether they even had the patience to read your essay, given the number of grammatical and spacing errors it contained), there is no denying that we have a problem in American politics.

In order to achieve high office (and to ostensibly do some sort of good as a public servant), one must campaign.

In order to campaign, one must be morally-ambiguous, fairly charming, and (most importantly perhaps) one must raise money.

In order to raise money, one must woo the money men.

In order to woo the money men, one must make promises, commitments, and compromises.

..and in the process of making promises, commitments, and compromises, the candidate has now become bought- and-paid-for.
They have become a puppet and/or a tool.
They are no longer a morally-upright man or woman, looking to serve the constituents and the greater State or nation, they are now simply a dishonest politician.

We don't need dishonest, bought-and-paid-for politicians in Washington DC.
We need leaders.

And to be honest, I'm just not seeing any.