Why Do We Love Psychopaths and Sociopaths?

“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root. -- Henry David Thoreau

Let's face it. One of our biggest obstacles to success and/or "happiness" is that all consuming inner sense of what is right and wrong, that complex of ethical and moral principles called the conscience. Imagine what you could accomplish without that burdensome guilt-inducing awareness. Well, there are people who are not burdened and/or handicapped by this faculty of mind, and they very often rise to the top, attaining positions of great power. And who puts them there? We do. Why? Because when we hear the word psychopath, we immediately think of the Hollywood definition: the crazed violent, sadistic, human flesh-eating, serial killers like the fictitious Hannibal Lector, and/or the less fictitious Jeffrey Dahmer, Gary Heidnick, amongst many others. However, the truth is that only a very very small percentage of psychopaths are this violent, and if they are, they are not only psychopaths but sociopaths as well. Yes, there is a difference.

One can be a sociopath without being a psychopath and vice versa, as well as being both at the same time. According to Dr. Robert Hare, leading expert on psychopathy, psychopaths--and sociopaths-- are not psychotic. They are not mentally, psychiatrically or legally insane...‘‘mania sans de´lire’’(‘‘madness without delirium’’). They wear the "mask of sanity."  So on that note, they're the same.

Psychopaths, however, are people who, at their very core, lack the capacity to make an emotional connection with others, who lack the capacity to empathize, but who have not broken with reality. They are very aware of the consequences of their actions, they just don't care about the consequences of their actions on others, only about the consequences to themselves. Their emotional life is shallow and superficial. They are usually dominant individuals who use deceit, manipulation and charm to intimidate and control others. They have an enormous sense of entitlement, tend to be impulsive, irresponsible, and have an unusual need for excitement. They have no problem violating the legal, social and moral code, but that certainly doesn't mean that all psychopaths end up in jail, in fact, most sail through life without ever facing prison time. Why? Mostly because psychopaths, smart ones, anyway, rise to the top where they can influence or even make the rules.

Sociopaths, on the other hand, are hard core criminals, who may or may not be psychopaths. The difference lies in their capacity to feel remorse or guilt. It is a fact that most criminals are not psychopaths. One could say a psychopath is born (or hard-wired); a sociopath, the result of circumstances, therefore, redeemable. Or, the term psychopath defines who a person is, whereas sociopath defines what a person does (criminal and socially deviant behavior). In other words, the distinction between sociopath and psychopath is that sociopaths learn to repress or suppress their sympathy/empathy/compassion and psychopaths are genetically incapable of sympathy/empathy/compassion. It must be noted that there is no evidence that proves psychopaths are biologically/genetically pre- dispositioned to become psychopaths, however, there is some evidence to support the biological basis of psychopathy. In other words, "causal conclusions" cannot be made.

“The biological basis of psychopathy has not yet been fully elucidated. Few studies deal with structural neuroimaging in psychopaths. The aim of this article is to review these studies in order to contribute to our understanding of the biological basis of psychopathy. Data in the literature report a reduction in prefrontal gray matter volume, gray matter loss in the right superior temporal gyrus, amygdala volume loss, a decrease in posterior hippocampal volume, an exaggerated structural hippocampal asymmetry, and an increase in callosal white matter volume in psychopathic individuals. These findings suggest that psychopathy is associated with brain abnormalities in a prefrontal–temporo-limbic circuit—i.e. regions that are involved, among others, in emotional and learning processes. Additionally, data indicate that psychopathic individuals cannot be seen as a homogeneous group.

For instance, throughout history, there have been cases where murderers, hit-men, snipers, etc, truly repent and transform themselves. The most famous case of all, the Saul to Paul transformation in the New Testament. Moreover, we are all psychologically conditioned to accept rape, plunder, murder, etc. when the pathocracy claims so-called conditions call for it, and sends our brainwashed-to-kill young men into battle under the guise of fighting for the "greater good," that is, to line the pockets of the already lined pockets of our psychopathic global elite.

Most of us can't get past the exhibition of love and family values that many of these Orwellian corporate, political and religious leaders and celebrities display. Most of us do not like to explore deeply uncomfortable topics so we accept the sound bytes and their superficial public displays of compassion, empathy and sympathy at face value, never taking the time to peek or pull back the curtain. To be fair, most of us do not have the time and/or energy to search out the truth due to just trying to keep our heads above water.

In addition to our lack of time/energy, we're conditioned to accept the official word of  official personalities, and even to "love" them to one degree or another. Consider the mourning that takes place on a national or even global level when one of these personalities die.

But, in our ever increasing disconnected, or pseudo-connected world, we're surrounded by these mainstream personalities in positions of elitist power, ruling every facet of our lives behind the curtains. We see and hear about them more than we see our loved ones.  Unfortunately, most of those we call the powers that be or were, the new world order, the ruling class, etc, fit the profile of a psychopath, yet we continue to admire, emulate, worship and vote them in. Why?

Through TV, movies, 24/7 cable "news", violent video games, constant glitzy and glamorous advertising, and the empty rhetoric of politicians, we've become indoctrinated to accept the predatory class's psychopathic agenda, and have become completely anesthetized to its horrible consequences.  Never forget, the psychopath is a predatory individual who pretends to be someone they are not, gaining our trust in order to exploit us in some way. Anything reflected in the corporate controlled media covertly reflects the psychopathic agenda.

“Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves." George Orwell's 1984

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Conformity: the Ideal System for the Psychopath.

Mike Cross, author of Freedom from Conscience - Melanie's Journey discusses psychopaths and their relation to politics, society and personal relationships.  Referencing the Nordic model of government and society Cross talks about how conformity within a society as an ideal system for the psychopath.  He compares the politician's psychopathy to arrested development.

In ancient days psychopaths arose and would cause wars of conquest. A symbiotic relationship was created between normals and these people. If a society crushed another then at least some of the spoils of war (land, women, etc.) was given to the victors while the psychopath took his or her share of the best of the loot. Nowadays that relationship still exists but the American public is getting the raw end of the deal while the psychopaths in politics and corporations are taking it all. Not such a good deal anymore but when the psychopaths control the media and can create the message...

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Goldman Sachs, Ayn Rand, Going Galt and the American People.

Now that Goldman Sachs posted a profit of $3.19 billion, and plans to divvy up record breaking bonuses between them, despite their enormous part in collapsing our economy last year, which continues to leave the rest of us struggling, with no signs of recovering in sight - the unemployment and foreclosure rates are still escalating - it's only fitting that Goldman-Backed, Ayn Rand-Inspired Fund (Roark Capital Group) will invest a record amount at this time. Of course, the fund’s investors include Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

But why on earth is Ayn Rand, Greenspan's hero, more popular than ever amongst average, everyday people?

After all, Rand, worshipper of sociopathic killers, apparently, shares the same view of the common man as Goldman Sachs...that average people were "ugly, stupid and irrational." This quote, taken from her first book, We the Living, "What are your masses...but mud to be ground underfoot, fuel to be burned for those who deserve it?" pretty much sums up her view of humanity, with the exception of the elite, of course.

“On the same day that you saw stories about these bonuses, you saw a story about how wages are at a 19-year low,” -- David Axelrod a senior adviser to President Barack Obama.

Goldman Sachs embodies the Randian philosophy so closely the entity should be called The Ayn Rand Corporation. But wait. Isn't most of the population ready to string Goldman Sachs up by their...well, their sachs? Yet, Rand's greatest selling book "Atlas Shrugged" had an all-time record year in 2008, and 2009 sales should shatter even last year's numbers.

It's more than ironic that this woman who preached the virtue of selfishness, and self-interest - the very thing that almost brought the world's economy to collapse - as man’s greatest moral responsibility, and altruism as a vice, who strongly believed that markets work best when corporations are free to pursue their own selfish interests, who believed the the wealthy and the powerful are the oppressed, and whose Objectivist philosophy equated unfettered capitalism with absolute morality is the same woman people are looking to as their savior.

Excerpt from Michael Prescott's blog:

"Was Ayn Rand "a narcissistic, manipulative sociopath" - or at least a borderline case?

Well, consider the portrait of Rand drawn by two biographies - Nathaniel Branden's My Years with Ayn Rand and Barbara Branden's The Passion of Ayn Rand - and by Jeff Walker's The Ayn Rand Cult. These are, admittedly, hostile sources, but in the absence of any biography by Rand's admirers, they are the only ones we have.

Anyone judging by these books would have to say that Rand was narcissistic in the extreme. She lacked empathy. She could be intensely charming (charm and charisma are common features of sociopathy) but was also prone to outbursts of rage and frustration.

She exploited young, emotionally vulnerable people and frequently sabotaged their self-image with her vindictive cruelty. She claimed to love her husband but carried on an affair with a younger man right in front of him, a situation that drove her husband to alcoholism.

She was a hypochondriac. She showed signs of paranoia. She had an addictive personality, smoked two packs of cigarettes daily, and gobbled handfuls of diet pills (amphetamines).

She despised "average" people, whom she regarded as ugly and stupid and irrational, while viewing herself in exalted terms as the greatest writer in history and the greatest philosopher since Aristotle.

She was concerned with no one's needs or wants or suffering except her own. She was able to claim in print that no one had ever helped her, when in fact she had benefited for years from the charity and goodwill of relatives and business associates and friends. She alienated nearly all her friends and allies by the end of her life, and died nearly alone.

She literally drove people crazy; ex-Objectivist Edith Efron once remarked that if you spent any time with Rand, you had to ask yourself if you were insane, or if she was (quoted in Walker). She was a megalomaniac. She was probably manic-depressive. She created heroic fictional characters who are deeply repressed, incapable of normal human interaction, and typically angry or disgusted with the world.

This is hardly a person who should be seen as the epitome of rationality and benevolence - yet this is how her followers do see her. In my Objectivist years I once hesitantly suggested to a fellow Objectivist that there might be a few character flaws to be found in Rand, only to be met with a blank stare and the appalled question, "Character flaws - in Ayn Rand?!" In Objectivist dogma it is always other people who were at fault in their dealings with "Miss Rand" (as they like to call her). Somehow it was always those irrational others who abused, deceived, and hurt Ayn Rand, and her rages and bitterness were entirely justified, entirely rational. How could they not be? Rand was the personification of reason, so by definition whatever she thought, felt, or did just had to be rational - Q.E.D.

When I look at the portrait of Ayn Rand drawn by a variety of people who knew her best, I see a person who is certainly larger and more theatrical than the run-of-the-mill sociopaths in Martha Stout's book, different from them in degree - but not very different in kind.

And I wonder how a movement founded by a woman with such serious disorders could ever have been seen as a way to personal happiness or to a better world."

Greed was calculated by comparing average incomes with the total number of inhabitants living beneath the poverty line.

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