An existential threat to our democracy?
In the run-up to the 2016 Presidential election, 37 prestigious psychiatrists published a series of essays concerning Donald Trump.
They concluded that as President, Trump is an existential threat to our democracy. When a person often lies (“We won’t touch Medicare, Medicaid”), cheats, manipulates others to get what they want, doesn’t care who they hurt as long as it gratifies themselves (increase tax benefits for the wealthy), is indifferent to the feelings of others (11 million lose health care), it may be a sign of a disturbance called sociopathy.
People who characterize this indifference lack empathy. Sociopathy leads to an absence of guilt and capacity to inflict harm on others for pleasure or power (arrest, detain, investigate, lawsuits, extort opponents).
Sociopathy often motivates people to seek positions of power, unable to take responsibility for their actions, and overcompensate by inflating their sense of self (“I alone can fix it.”)
Experts agree that sociopathic people have a propensity for violence, cruelty and destroying social institutions. (spending $450 million to create a concentration camp in Florida.)
According to these experts, a psychopath, a type of sociopathy, is a master of deception. They lack conscience, are calculating and exploit others. They have a history of childhood trauma (father was cruel and cold), a disregard for laws, and a need for power and control.
They also lack accountability, often play the blame game. They consistently lie, exaggerate, and are unnecessarily cruel, often with superficial charm.
The analysis of psychiatrists is still applicable today. Take, for example, separating families while deporting a sole wage-earning parent. Deporting a father, without formal charges, to Africa or El Salvador is akin to a death sentence. Any indication of empathy by officials is perceived as a weakness.
For many in the MAGA movement, Trump implicitly promises to provide a cure for their wounds, whatever those wounds are. They may acquire the wealth, popularity and prestige that’s missing.
It's the unconscious belief that Trump is the greatest to whom Americans can aspire. He rekindles wounded dreams in those who are attracted to him. In this way, the MAGA movement becomes a cult.
What are patriotic Americans to do?
The Women's Suffrage, Civil Rights movements, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s demonstrations showed that the power of people, with a flexible, creative and spiritual foundation, can bring about change. A crucial quality for leading a diverse democracy is empathy.
A person who repeatedly lies, manipulates others to enhance their wealth, or doesn’t care who he hurts as long as it gratifies himself does not have empathy. Such a person is acutely sensitive to any minor criticism because that reflects on their perceived omnipotence.
As such, critics are commonly on the sociopath’s enemies list.
David R. James
Eureka, Montana