From Narcissism to Fascism
Read Time:2 Minute, 23 Second
by Jeffrey Berger
When 58,000 mental health experts ignore a self-imposed ethics rule to issue a dire warning, it behooves us to pay attention.
Since 1973, a directive known as the Goldwater Rule has constrained psychiatrists and psychologists from issuing professional opinions about public figures. The purpose of the Goldwater Rule is to prevent partisan name-calling by proxy, which compromises the integrity of the profession. The profession has also been abused and misused by totalitarian regimes as tools of oppression. What motivates these mental health professionals to suddenly break ranks and violate protocol?
‘Mr. Trump’s speech and actions makes him incapable of serving safely as president,” claim 33 mental health experts in a public letter (New York Times, Feb 13, 2017).
“Donald Trump manifests a serious mental illness that renders him psychologically incapable of competently discharging the duties of President of the United States,” reads a petition posted on change.org earlier this year.
For Professor Allen Francis of Duke University Medical College, “the antidote to a dystopic Trumpean dark age is political, not psychological” (NYT, February 14, 2017). Point taken.
Clinical impressions do not overturn elections. A diagnosis is neither a crime nor a guilty verdict in a court of law. And pop psychology should never stigmatize persons struggling with mental health issues. Nevertheless …
We are well within our rights to question the ‘new normal.’ Simply stated, the words and deeds of POTUS #45 are ‘unpresidented.’ What is the consensus opinion of these 58,000 mental health professionals? Here are the signature traits of narcissism (according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association):
• A compulsive preoccupation with success and power;
• Self-absorption and exaggerated claims of superiority;
• Pervasive patterns of arrogant and haughty behavior;
• Constant demands for admiration and loyalty;
• A grandiose sense of entitlement;
• Employs dishonest means to achieve selfish ends;
• Ruthlessly exploits people without conscience;
• Intolerant of criticism with a tendency to lash out.
Sound familiar? Years of recorded soundbites and news accounts reveal the character of the man:
A deadbeat who fails to pay bills and wages. A charlatan who operates a phony university. A demagogue whose bigotry fan the flames of division and discord. A bully who demands fealty while praising despots. A compulsive liar whose daily mendacities subvert reality. A hypocrite who fills the swamp of cronyism and nepotism to overflow. And the leader of a democratic republic who disrespects democratic traditions and the rule of law.
Have we learned nothing from the lessons of history? How self-glorifying narcissists hijack democracies … from Il Duce to Pinochet and beyond?
For all these reasons, 58,000 mental health professionals have signed petitions to inform journalists, the American public, and members of Congress. Despite past misuses and abuses, professional expertise can also be instrumental to help forestall oppression. The antidote is political. Let the debate begin.
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Diversionary Tactics Used by Highly Manipulative Narcissists:
https://thoughtcatalog.com/shahida-arabi/2016/06/20-diversion-tactics-highly-manipulative-narcissists-sociopaths-and-psychopaths-use-to-silence-you/
The legions of Trumpaparazzi are the black shirts and brown shirts of our time. The narcissist has found his cult following of fascists who are not going away anytime soon.
Plato foretold 2,300 years ago how democracies come to an end. The freedoms afforded by democracy cause it to decline in decadence and end in totalitarianism.
Well said Mr Berger. I agree with you.
There’s never been a day in my long life when I’ve been so ashamed of America. I am forever wondering and questioning the who, and the why. I can’t come to a clear reconciliation. How did we elect such a buffoon?
I have to agree with Dave. This is an excellent article. This morning MSNBC interviewed a number of Trump supporters in Pennsylvania and they still love him. We are doomed with this narcissist in the White House.
The greater question of course is what really motivated 63 million people to cast aside their good sense and vote for this charlatan. Good article.
Simple answer Dave.
63 million people had had quite enough of the ‘political elite’.
63 million people would have voted for a chimpanzee to bloody the nose of the political elite.
Unfortunately it wasn’t a chimpanzee it was an egomaniac with a hamster residing on his head.
The political elite are actually to blame. They lost touch with ‘ordinary people’ too far and for too long. This created a political void and someone was always going to fill it. It’s happened before.
Much simplified yes but ultimately that’s how Hitler got into power.
The political elite chose Clinton as their candidate and she was perceived as ‘one of them’.
I suspect had they chosen Sanders America would be in a better place today?