By John Hunt, MD
All who read Lovefraud.com know that sociopaths lie, cheat and steal, manipulate, control, defraud. Sociopaths seek out positions of power over others. The low functioning sociopath does this on a small scale—just ruining the life of an unsuspecting spouse, perhaps. The high functioning sociopath does this on a much grander scale, perhaps through the political system—ruining a country.
Sociopaths seek power. What better way to accomplish this than through politics? Think how much politicians have to lie to get elected. It is hard for a good person to get elected, in part because they don’t lie well. Sociopaths lie with practiced ease and no guilt. They concentrate themselves in government, quite naturally.
Ever wonder why government messes up so much? Why Congress is despised? Why presidents so often lie and mislead, strive for control over others, and somehow get away with it? Ever wonder why the government is so internally contradictory, so confusing, so incomprehensible, and yet somehow retains its total power over the people? Ever wonder why the largest debtor in the history of the world—the US government—which is an utterly bankrupt entity, somehow convinces people to loan it large sums of money, and the people accept loan repayment in the form of counterfeit currency printed out of thin air by the Federal Reserve? Do you see how sociopathic the government has become? A walking lie, a talking contradiction?
It is because the government is filled to the brims with sociopaths.
Force against fellow man
Politicians and bureaucrats have reserved for themselves the legal right to initiate force against their fellow man. Think about that for a moment. Anyone else who initiates force commits a crime, but not government! They are special! Moral law doesn’t apply to them! Sound familiar?
It doesn’t matter which party is in charge. Most recently they have compelled us to purchase really crappy and expensive financial products from their large corporate buddies (e.g., health insurance). But consider also the bipartisan support for forcible military conscription in the past, unconstitutional/illegal taxation and fees, the protection racket of the IRS, the spying and monitoring by the NSA, mandates for prescriptions for medications sold over-the-counter everywhere else in the world (the effect of which is to keep prices high for the profit of big pharma).
And fraud too. Consider the largest fraud in human history—the Federal Reserve—which creates money without work and doles it out to its morally bankrupt friends. Consider the ponzi schemes of Social Security and Medicare; and the totally illegal accounting methods of the federal government which artificially lower the government’s debt from $90 trillion to “only” $18 trillion, the justifications for which are so willingly accepted by a population in denial of obvious truths. The government is a giant con artist. A giant sociopathic monster. It’s all about control and manipulation. And they systematically gaslight us like crazy starting from kindergarten, to try to make us accept all this blatant criminality as appropriate!
No one knows what percentage of politicians and bureaucrats are sociopaths, but there is assuredly a high concentration of them in that realm. There are two reasons for this: 1) the sociopath’s skill set is perfect for politics and bureaucracy; 2) a position of legal unrestrained power over other humans is simply too intriguing for a high-functioning sociopath to let pass by.
The opposite: Libertarian
The political opposite, and social opposite, of the sociopath is the libertarian. A libertarian ascribes avidly, completely and thoroughly to the Nonaggression Principle. The Nonaggression Principle states that never, NEVER is it acceptable to initiate force or fraud against another human being. Wow. To a libertarian, no end ever justifies the use of an immoral means.
Now, this doesn’t make a libertarian a wimp. If someone attacks a libertarian without provocation, the libertarian wouldn’t hesitate to pop the dude in the face. But the libertarian wouldn’t attack, unless attacked first. The libertarian won’t lie, cheat, steal or defraud, excepting to take back something stolen. The libertarian will not initiate. But the libertarian will defend.
In a world in which cronyism is so dominant, it is easier to be successful by lying, cheating and stealing, or by rent seeking (convincing a politician to give you someone else’s money or property). Libertarians cannot do these things. They are incapable of doing them. How refreshing is that? Libertarians strive for a political system which allows their honesty to be rewarded instead of punished. We are a long way from that society.
Each of us has suffered from the actions of the sociopaths in our lives. Yet we are also the confused and willing victims of the sociopaths in government. We remain in denial about these controllers, manipulators, liars and cheaters. We give them unearned authority and unearned credibility because we are taught to believe that they have the right to tell us what to do. We stick their names on our bumper stickers. We send them money. We vote for them. What are we thinking?
My recommendation? If you want the opposite of the sociopath to be your partner, seek out a libertarian. If you want the opposite of a sociopath to be your representative in congress, to be your senator, or to be your president, seek out a libertarian.
Libertarians and sociopaths
Libertarians are likely to trust any individual who claims to be a libertarian or is a Ron Paul supporter. This is because libertarians abide by a personal code that makes them, by definition, principled and honorable people. However, libertarians are human. They have no greater education about sociopaths than anyone else. They can be faked out by sociopaths too, although usually not for long. Because sociopaths are such effective liars, you of course need to beware that they can put on the act of being a libertarian, the same way that sociopaths often pretend to be Christian—to take advantage of people’s desires to trust others. Indeed, sociopaths can infiltrate any philosophy. But the libertarian doctrine stands so adamantly in contrast to the sociopath’s hardwired and distorted brain, that the sociopath cannot hold to a fake libertarian act for long. Sociopathy used to be called “moral insanity”, and maybe it should be called that again. True libertarians are the opposite: they are morally rational.
To a libertarian, there is nothing more dangerous than lying to oneself. Sociopaths absolutely rely on the ability of their victims to lie to themselves. Libertarianism therefore is a vaccination against the infection and the cancer of the sociopath.
Just in case you have some false impression of libertarians, they are not on the fringe of society, although they are on the fringe of politics! They can be found in the Democratic or the Republican party (always as reformers), or as members of other political parties, or most commonly not as part of any political party. Libertarians are most aptly described as Americans of the style we usually consider the country’s founding fathers to be, except that they are also exceedingly tolerant.
Characteristics of a Libertarian
As a quick introduction to your study of what a libertarian is, here is my list of characteristics. Libertarians are above all individuals, but most all ascribe to these concepts.
- They don’t initiate force or fraud against their fellow man. They are principled.
- They are tolerant people. Tolerant of anything other than force or fraud.
- They don’t use government power to commit force or fraud to benefit themselves or others.
- They don’t use propaganda or gaslighting to manipulate the people.
- They don’t vote for politicians who want to use government power to commit force or fraud, or to compel people to behave a certain way, or to compel people to buy certain products. They only support politicians who recognize the only job of government is to protect people from the force and fraud of others. To a libertarian, neither democracy nor the voting booth should be considered or used as means of compulsion.
- Libertarians favor a strong defense, but don’t attack unless threatened.
- Libertarians are commonly described as “fiscally conservative and socially liberal”. Libertarians do not oppose gay marriage. The don’t believe that victimless crimes are crimes. They think marijuana should be legal. They do not think that anyone’s money should be stolen from them and given to another through the tax code. They don’t believe that forced giving is either charitable or moral, but rather “forced giving” is just a form of theft. They never support bailing out Wall Street, nor giving power to one group over another. They don’t ever lend government power to special interests (Special interests are the opposite of the “general welfare” of the Constitution). Libertarians think that government is supposed to work for the people, not people work for government. They are opposed to the NSA spying on American citizens. Libertarians like immigrants. They think that America is not a geographically imprisoned nation-state, but rather a philosophy that can be found all over the world. Libertarians want to put a wall around the welfare state, not a wall around the country. Many libertarians are highly charitable. Many libertarians righteously fight against anyone who uses force against them or defrauds them.
- Libertarians are thoughtful people who above all respect the dignity and freedom of the individual to live as each individual chooses.
- Because of the moral principles to which libertarians ascribe—which are consistent and predictable based on the Nonaggression Principle—they can, better than most, recognize the fraud that permeates society.
If you want a world in which the sociopaths are not messing with your life and wreaking their havoc on society right and left, learn about libertarianism. If you want a partner that is the entire opposite of a manipulative sociopath, find yourself a libertarian.
The trend in society toward libertarianism is a wonderful thing for those who recognize that sociopaths are the embodiment of evil in the world. The central defining characteristic of a libertarians is moral sanity. Sociopaths, in absolute contrast, are morally insane.
John Hunt, MD is a pediatric lung physician and author of the novel Assume the Physician, which teaches about the medical system through constant humor, as well as Higher Cause, and a soon to be released guide for childhood asthma management.
on what the constitution actually says and stands for, the place to begin is the Preamble, as it describes the purpose of the rest of the document
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
I agree. Although the preamble is not part of the law, it does help us to understand the purpose of the law.
As a small, but certainly relevant point, the definition of general Welfare is one of those items distorted by the modern statists. It doesn’t mean welfare in the modern welfare state meaning.
The keyword is GENERAL. General welfare applies to EVERYONE, and it is the opposite of Special Interest. The Constitution was considered initially to prohibit taxation for the purposes of supporting any individual or group of individuals (special interest). Taxation was (and is by ignored law) only allowed to 1) pay the then accumulated debt, 2) for common defense, 3) for general welfare. Therefore taxation was not allowed for the purpose of special interest support. Indeed Congress very specifically knew that in the early years of the nation. Now, taxation is mostly spent on special interest: Elderly, poor, Wall Street, Corn growers, corporate subsidies, solar subsidies, marriage credits, etc etc… And this is why there are lobbyists, because there are so many tax dollars that the special interests like to battle for. Yet none of that, none of it, is actually constitutional.
Securing the blessings of liberty is a big one.
You really can not infer anything from the preamble and the Constitution is not meant as a stand alone document.
It’s necessary to read supporting documents such as the Federalist Papers and writings of Thomas Jefferson in order to correctly interpret our constitution.
You also need to be educated on the historical context of the American Revolution and what was going on in England and Europe at the time, as well as in the great empires before, in order to really appreciate the parallels to what is happening today.
Normally I am a lurker on this board, but I felt compelled to log in and say that it is typical of the authoritarian left to have to have the last word and “shout down” other opinions, even on a blog of this kind. Even though I’m not a libertarian, I am enjoying the most of the stimulating discourse that it has aroused. Thanks, Dr. Hunt!
I am happy to see that this conversation has continued over the weekend. I’ve been meditating upon it, and thinking that viewing this topic (force and fraud in government) through the lens of our interpersonal spath experiences is what might bring the most helpful insights.
I’ve been thinking about codependence in particular. I’ve mentioned before, how studying Bowen Theory (differentiation of self) has been extremely helpful to me, in detangling myself from involvement with spaths.
Even though I believed that I was raised in a normal (non abusive) family, and yet though I found myself in a terribly abusive marriage, what I did not realize about myself previously was my poor boundaries. Like many of us here on Lovefraud, I spent the earlier part of my life in happy self sacrifice to others. I was a dutiful daughter, a good mother, a good wife, a good friend, a good volunteer, a good neighbor, a good cook, a helpful listener, sensitive and caring towards others. I also developed some talents of my own and truly believed that I was mentally healthy/sane. I wanted so much to have a good character, live a good life as a good person. And to always be on the lookout for ways to improve myself to be even more kind, more good, more caring, more devoted, more loving, more forgiving, etc. etc. etc. oh, how wonderful I was! (and also to not have a large ego about it but simply be wonderful in that way, as well).
Spath experiences woke me up, big time! My kind and wonderful, tolerant and devoted self is what got me into trouble and made me a target. And made me stay and keep working on the marriage.
What I did not realize (and here is the tie-in to force/fraud or sociopathy in government) is that my entire life focus was on others. Even though I “worked on myself” it was not for the healthiest of reasons. I was still trying to be “a good person” rather than to be the most fully developed “20years” (me) possible. I was developing myself with the focus on other people.
This is hard to grasp — it took me a long time before the light dawned. So if I’m not conveying it well, it is a hard topic to get across! Differentiation of self has to do with where I end and others begin (boundaries), and being a very strong and well developed ME (warts and all, self acceptance), rather than molding myself to others in the world around me. Once I began turning the focus to myself rather than others, I was in a much stronger position to be a good encourager of others to do the same.
Rather than swooping in to meet what I arrogantly assumed to be their “needs.” (I guessed wrong many times, I overstepped many times, I tried to control situations many times, all the while believing I was “doing good” and helping others). And then sometimes feeling unappreciated when they didn’t seem to acknowledge what I’d done. (yet keeping my feelings to myself because I really was concerned with being kind and polite and I didn’t want to offend them by sharing my true feelings which were kind of ugly, actually).
This will only resonate, if you have been there yourself. when I first came across the concept of codependency I assumed it didn’t apply to me because there were no alcoholics in my family. I was in denial and at the same time thought I was too mentally and emotionally together to be in denial.
You can only start to see, once the light clicks on.
Anyhow, back to sociopathy in government… it is the arrogant assumption by people that they know better what a person needs, than that person himself does, and then swooping in to “fix” it without regard for consequences. I liken it to a toddler in a china shop with a baseball bat. Maybe entirely well meaning (or maybe not), but doing a heckuva lot of damage.
Mostly, individuals themselves are not asked to help come up with solutions to their own problems…. the solutions are simply “imposed” from outsiders who meddle while thinking they are doing good. Or, from evil people (sociopaths) who enjoy creating chaos and then scapegoating.
After reading almost all the comments the only conclusion I can arrive at is that there is no real solution to the Orwellian concept of how power corrupts. With our seven billion people or so on earth there is no real blanket philosophical political or practical solution to ethical governance. There is no real uncorrupted practice of democratic elections and governance, just as the concept of true free market philosophy is also utopian. They are the least offensive mechanisms to protect against anarchy. However the same adulteration that occurs in those happen in the practice of Libertarian philosophy too!!
If we did as you propose and tried to elect only people who are proponents of your Libertarian definition and philosophical bent we would end up with a bunch of politicians who would take care of their own best interests, climb the social and economic ladder and then haul up the ladder behind them so others could do the same if they can and if they cannot then oops of course Darwin predicted the survival of the fittest!!!
My hope is that as a species we have evolved into more altruistic societies. That may be the defense against psychopathy.
Because mirroring is such an effective tactic that is used by disordered individuals talking the great talk of the principle of non-aggression would come easy!!!! Following through on implementation of policies that would lead to better more independent functioning societies is a whole different story and we all know how that ends!!!
This is such a difficult seeming problem that it can definitely seem like there is no real solution. Even though that is the way it seems, I believe there is a solution.
But I also believe the solution is in a different place from where most of us are looking.
I believe the sociopaths who are currently in power are making great use of keeping the vast majority of us ignorant as to what they are really up to (deception, wolf in sheep’s clothing, sleight of hand tricks to distract us, bread and circuses, threats, mental mind tricks to set up cognitive dissonance and dissociation, and so on).
So I do believe the solution lies in unmasking them — or, another way of putting it, really seeing things extremely clearly, getting past our fear to stare this straight in the eyes, to spread the word to others, to help as many as possible see through the deception.
As we have all been through the spath experience whereby many of our friends and families do not believe us and continue to believe the spath is the correct one (and we are the crazy one) or else just kind of give up and shrug and say, “well, we just don’t know WHOM to believe — maybe the truth lies somewhere in the middle….” when no, actually the truth is simply the truth.
Clarity is a beautiful thing. It is peace, it is love, it is compassion. When you are confronted with truth, you know it. Confusion is the footprint of the deceiver. Misery, fear, bewilderment are all hallmarks of deception. If you feel confused, if things just don’t seem to add up — then that is a huge Red Flag that things are not as they are being presented.
Discernment is possible. Learning to see through the masks and veils is entirely possible. This is an individual journey. No one can make another person “see” or “hear.” Only when one is ready and wants to, can that happen. But once you see, you cannot “unsee.” I think we have all experienced this process, with regard to the spaths in our lives. And then wonder how everyone else can seem so blind. It’s frustrating.
So speaking up and out, education and awareness, I think is the fundamental part of the process of solving this problem (sociopathic evil in the world) — we can all do our part in this, if we want to and will. Many people are already catching on, but are hesitant to speak up, for fear of ostracism. The more people who can speak up without fear, or despite of the fear, the necessary information will spread. Again, remember there are more of us than there are of them.
Also remember the vast body of research that is being done in the field of “bully proofing” which is quite relevant: empower the target and involve the bystanders. Spread awareness so that individual bystanders will automatically involve themselves and overwhelm the bully — take a stand and don’t allow bullying in your community. If this is done on a micro or local level (within families, classrooms, workplaces, communities, churches), awareness will spread, people will begin to wake up, take back their power, and force out the bullies.
Imara,
I am sorry to read that the “ONLY” conclusion you can arrive at is there is no real solution to the Orwellian concept of how power corrupts.
Is it possible that the problem has been mis-identified? How do we limit sociopaths? Altruism is not a defense against sociopaths. We who have been victims know that our altruism made it possible for a sociopath to strip us of our humanity. Becoming NON-altruistic towards a sociopath is one of our tools to escape them, we cut them off from our compassion and caretaking. In fact, holding individuals accountable is a strong tool towards identifying and excluding the evil ones. Would that type of thinking help us to come to a framework of problem solving?
I do agree that a one size fits all is impossible, which is why centralized government far removed from the citizens, physically and morally, affirms the rationale behind states rights. For example, I know, politically, I want my local school board making the decisions on how best to teach our kids, not Washington DC, and their Common Core debacle.
I know solutions are difficult but surely the solution should not be to strip the dignity of those people who are socially responsible, force them to buy a product they can’t afford, and then punish them for not having the income to buy that product by putting a lien on the home until government foreclosure, and thereby force them into government programs and serfdom servitude, all in the name of liberal socialist governance. Surely providing temporary government services to those who NEED and CHOOSE services is wiser policy instead of creating/forcing the NEED on those who do not want it(sociopathic)?
I am sorry that you read Dr Hunt’s words and concluded he was advocating that we elect those who take care of their own interests and haul the ladder up behind them (‘m pretty sure he didn’t say that)… because I sure do think that describes what we have in Washington DC now. The elected ones gain FAR FAR more wealth and privilege than their constituents.
There is wisdom in accepting the reality of nature and human nature which is sometimes cruel and violent. We are not going to stop the lion from killing the deer. We are not going to rid the world of predators, and certainly not through the force of state.
Individuals however can love our babies and teach our children morals in hopes of reducing the number of sociopaths in the future.
The utopian idea of “evolving into a more altruistic society” is only possible if we protect peace and prosperity which allows individuals the freedom to raise healthy children. What history shows is freedom and the Non Aggression Principle have provided the best quality of life for the most people on earth than ever before in history. That’s because most people are not sociopaths and, when free to think, speak, act and keep the fruits of their labors, capable of great altruism, creativity, innovation and goodness which benefit everyone. NONE of those things can be forced or centrally planned. It’s the beauty of Spontaneous Order.
Nobody expects a perfect world and we will always have to defend ourselves from the sociopaths (thankfully they are a minority!) But with governments’ current ability to use force against its citizens a minority of sociopaths actually has real power over our lives, and power over the economic system, instead of we the people having power, which is what libertarians want.
Furthermore Anarchy literally means Without Rulers. With Rule of Law based on Natural Rights and Social Contracts we don’t need Rulers. Our Republic is based on the new idea that we are free, dignified human beings capable of interacting peacefully with other people for mutual benefit of all parties. This is the normal healthy way for adults to interact.
The solution to sociopaths violating the Rule of Law is not to create offices with special privileges and powers over ordinary citizens. It should be no surprise that sociopaths will con their way into positions of power.
The thing is to never feed the beast…but that is what altruism does.
I’m glad you mentioned this, liferaft2, because I agree with you AND also that altruism is not the only way possible to be helpful to our fellow man.
If we define altruism as having that quality of giving at the expense of one’s own needs, then absolutely that is what the beast feeds upon.
However, giving from a place of strength is helpful to others and also does not allow for one’s own depletion.
IMO this is only possible if one has knowledge of the existence of sociopaths and uses discernment when interacting with people who desire our help.
With some experience, the difference is obvious, when we “offer” and the other “receives,” as opposed to our allowing them to endlessly take, as though they are siphoning off our energy. (and yes, I do also mean that sometimes we give away ourselves too much, so we are participants in this).
Actually the definition of Altruism as a noun is: the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well being of others.
Because there is no dissent whatsoever in the fact that Psychopaths are predatory and harmful to others I assume that what is in the “greater good” is the disarming of power and privilege from those who do not reflect the practice of helping without expectation of reward. That said I do not see how anyone in this beautiful land of ours is forced to accept public assistance. Its actually fairly difficult to qualify for most programs that aid our vulnerable. Is there abuse of the system?? Sure!!! Just as surely we know that Psychopathy exists in all socio economic stratas!! And I’m fully aware that not all who abuse the system are psychopaths. Despite this I’m grateful to live in a country that offers a safety net. Don’t want it?? Don’t put in an application to receive that aid!!!
If in fact NotWhatHeSaidOfMe you are speaking of the health care law that becomes a whole new economic discussion that includes social issues. My personal belief is that it is outrageous that in the world’s largest economy we did not offer health coverage to all citizens. I believe in self determination. I voted twice over to allow Oregon to pass the death with dignity law. But I also want my neighbors going through a rough financial period to be able to afford basic health care. Denying them that would certainly be covert aggression by individuals who can…There is a real reason why the 99% are angry.
I do not condone dependency and mooching …to me they remind me too much of parasitic pity plays. wishing to God in heaven that we have the wisdom to differentiate between altruism and manipulation.
well said Imara
How does a victim of a sociopath learn to be able to distinguish truth from lies during recovery? Part is to not believe a statement without verification. Part is to learn how to identify falsehoods by direct analysis.
One of the characteristics of truth is lack of internal contradiction. That is how the scientific method helps to sort out truths from false hypotheses. Falsities (or non-truths) stumble on themselves internally the same way that fraudsters stumble on their own words).
I don’t think anyone on this site is saying that everyone should let sick people die, or poor people suffer. However, there are people on this site who are convinced that forcing one person to help another–in a manner that the forcer wants it done–is not a moral (or wise) way to accomplish the help needed. Such a system empowers the people in power, it empowers the forcer, and the people in power are more likely (but not necessarily) to be sociopaths. I want to avoid empowering sociopaths, in part so that I am not fascistically forced to help the needy bankers on Wall Street, the needy GM unions, the needy health insurance companies, the needy giant hospital organizations, the needy large donors to the presidential campaigns, the needy big agribusinesses, etc.
Disempowering sociopaths is what the post was about.
It disingenuous to equate “no government forced welfare” with no social support systems. (BTW, the force applied to those compelled to pay INTO the system, not so much the recipients of the welfare). Government isn’t the only system for accomplishing aims. It is one system, and the system that uses force legally, and therefore it is particularly attractive to people who aren’t trustworthy.
Good people want their neighbors who are going through rough financial times to be able to afford health care. But that is a very different thing from saying that good people want the government to force other people to provide health care (or dollars for health care). That’s an example of an internal contradiction. Good people might go to particular effort to PROVIDE the care, or fund the care, but a good person would not force/compel/threaten other people to do provide that care. Good people would try to persuade others, through truths, without fraud, of the value of providing such care for the needy. But a good person wouldn’t hold a metaphorical gun to the head of another person and say “go do as I tell you to do.”
There are many means to accomplish desired, moral, good ends. The ends should be assuredly good (that’s the first step to make sure of) and the means should be principled. For if ill means are used to accomplish the ends, the ends won’t be the good that was hoped for.
A sociopath will find fertile ground in a person whose “beliefs” are internally contradictory. Such people have yet to find tools to ascertain truth. Truth is an enemy to sociopaths.
Charity hospitals and doctors performing their work for free was common before regulators and HMOs made it illegal.
Doctors and charities that want to offer free health care these days are not even allowed to because of government.
Obamacare forces doctors to charge what insurance companies want to charge.
The insurance companies have lobbied for the laws and they have all agreed to artificially fix prices at ridiculously high rates. This is the opposite of a free market where consumers decide what they want to pay for goods and services.
Rising health care costs and the inability of physicians to charge nominal fees or offer free services are because of government regulations and insurance companies controlling the market.
Not because there are no nice doctors who would help sick people who are unable to pay.
In order to have a truly fair government that actually serves people, we first have to imagine that it can exist. If we just assume that all people, no matter how good their intentions, will be corrupted by power, then we will always have a pessimistic view. (This is also saying that we ourselves would become sociopaths if power were handed to us, which I don’t believe is true).
There’s nothing innately wrong with being pessimistic (or some might say realistic) except that this view does not really encourage reform. There have been good-hearted altruistic leaders in history. Ghandi was an example. I am not saying that just by visualizing something, we can bring it into existence. But if we cannot even imagine it, how can we even try?
Please. This is sickening. It didn’t take too long for Donna’s website to be co-opted by those desiring a platform for their own political dogma. This is supposed be about and for people who have been intimately victimized by a sociopath..
not for those desiring to impose their political viewpoints on others. Just stop proseletyzing.. It’s disgusting. The only way to be a fully actualized human being is to really care about the plight of those less fortunate.. And they really do exist. They are actual people who were not born with the modicum of benefits that most of us enjoy: specifically, moderately emotionally healthy families, enough to eat, access to healthcare so that things that can easily be cured don’t kill or maim them them for life, and adults who are willing and able to instill the confidence to help them rise above any circumstances. If you think your God made you better than everyone else, and proved it by providing you with the means to succeed, you are nothing more than an elitist. If you don’t feel moved by seeing humans ( of different skin colors) and animals suffering at the hands of capitalism, then your POV is morally and ethically bankrupt.
Mustard55 – Dr. Hunt sent his story to me and I made the decision to post it. I think it’s important that we all realize that sociopaths invade not only our personal lives, but our civic lives as well. We need to recognize how their thirst for power affects society, and make appropriate decisions based on our knowledge.
The Non Aggression Principle isn’t about politics, it’s about human right to self determination and it’s the only philosophy that does not force a certain view on anyone.
The suffering of the poor and less fortunate is caused by sociopathy. Sociopathy is given a much more powerful platform with a powerful centralized government. Government promotes policies that disproportionately hurt the poor and vulnerable.
If you support endless wars overseas that threaten national security and bankrupt our economy then great, 30-50% of your income is being taken from you to pay for them.
I don’t. Yet the government forces me to support the killing of innocent people for the interests of a powerful few sociopaths in the military industrial complex.
It is absurd to accuse libertarians of “forcing political views” on anyone.
Mustard55,
Amen!
Stronginthecity
thank you mustard55 and stronginthecity!!! i was beginning to feel pretty alone out here in my belief that this kind of political post and political proseletyzing is not appropriate on this site. i stopped replying because i was feeling bulied, attackked and ganged up on, and that my words were being twisted . my original posts were to say that i thought john hunt’s clearly political post was inapproprite on this site. certainly the fact that i so strongly disagree with his polotics made it even more teiggering for me, but honestly even if it were a political view i agreed with but felt it was being proseltyzed here, i would still have objected. i want to apologize for my taking the bait and continuing to respond when clearly my words and meaning were being twisted. i should have just stuck with my original point. i am mad at myself for being pulled in…i just have such difficulty with mis-information and misrepresentation designed to manipulate. i need to do abetter job of learning to walk away. anyway, Anyway, i was getting so upset by this that after 5 yaers and appreciative lurker an occaissional poster, and feeling that Lf is one of the best and most healing sites on sites i have found in this horrible journey of recovery, i was not going to come back to this site or rexcomend it any more because things like this undermine the credibility of the whole site for many people. So i really want to thank the you mustard55 and stronginthecity for getting this back to the important issue here.
I’m sorry you felt ganged up on and attacked.
I believe Dr Hunt’s article is VERY APPROPRIATE to the discussion of sociopathy. Please don’t allow emotions and your political pre-disposition to get in the way of seeing just how relevant his article is to world problems and how they relate to the power we give sociopaths through big, centralized government.
Like he said, one sociopath can hurt a lot of people. And we have a whole bunch of them in positions of power and trust – all over the world!
The US Constitution was designed to avoid this kind of abuse of power, but we have gotten away from its principles. Unfortunately a lot of nice people are manipulated into thinking that government policies are good when in fact they hurt more than they help.
These are spiritual concepts. There are many spiritual traditions and texts which offer clues to how to attain spiritual advancement, as well as many enlightened individuals throughout history who have chosen to share with us what they have learned. It is always up to the individual, how to (and how far to) progress along their path (or not).
One universal spiritual concept (at least so far it appears to me to be universal) relates to the ego (this concept goes by different names, so I’m talking more about the concept than whichever label we put to it). This is the part of us which judges, condemns, takes offense, attacks. A common progression towards spiritual advancement has to do with attaining self-acceptance, along the way towards dissolving the ego. This is an area in which most of us have lessons to learn, in order to advance. Making progress in this lesson brings a person to a place which is more peaceful, compassionate, loving, and less filled with condemnation, concern for whether or not others are doing things “right,” less taking offense or being emotionally wounded, and less attacking and controlling towards others.
These are difficult lessons to learn, for most of us. It is also extremely difficult to explain this process to people who are still identifying strongly with their ego, because any attempt to explain may be perceived as an attack. Although it is not an attack. Does that mean that the attempt (to explain) should not be made? Well, in one tradition, the teacher says something like, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” So these words are only intended for the ears of the person who is ready and able to hear them. That person may be you. That person may not be you.
An analogy: you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink. A teacher can offer a lesson, but if the student is not ready to learn the lesson, he will refuse it or be confused by it or be offended by it or just misunderstand.
And that is OK. There is no judgement. We are all fellow travelers. We all get to learn from one another. This is true for every single one of us.
In my experience, if a person wants to advance and applies himself to the effort (in whichever way resonates), that person will most definitely receive whatever he needs to progress. This is one interpretation of “ask and you will receive. knock and the door will be opened.”
It might seem like I’ve gone off on a tangent. But I think this applies to this discussion of sociopathy or human evil, and also what it means to be altruistic, or selfless/selfish. And, ultimately, how to solve these problems.
Although Ron Paul does not seem like a sociopath he certainly seems very narcissistic in his ideology way of thinking and Ron Paul IS a libertarian.
I think most if not all politicians fall into the narcissist to sociopath spectrum including Libertarian’s. This is why I have ZERO interest in politics now that I have been educated on sociopathic abuse as I can see sociopathic abuse so clearly in politics now especially the brain washing & mind control aspect, smear campaign, gas lighting abuse etc that politicians use to control people & to get them to vote for them during election time then they go off and do what ever the hell they want without any repercussions once elected.
Govt is the biggest con game of all times this is why narcissist & sociopaths gravitate towards this realm. They love to control the masses.
As they say history repeats it’s self unless educated…politics & the abuse of citizens will continue unless all the good citizens understand sociopathic abuse…then and only then will they not continue to vote for sociopaths & narcissist into office whether Republican, democrats OR Libertarian.
Hear hear jan7
I totally agree with you, except the message of liberty is not political at all and does not seek to impose any system or point of view on anyone.
Non Aggression Principle is philosophical – that we are free and beautiful human beings with the right to self determination. And that it is wrong to initiate force against anyone else for any reason.
I don’t really care about personality cults but don’t see any evidence that Dr Ron Paul has a personality disorder. Like the author of this article he has given free medical care to people who couldn’t afford it and stands for noble causes, even unpopular, unprofitable ones.
Barack Obama on the other hand is definitely a narcissist, and possibly a sociopath. Just like the Bushes and the Clintons and most celebrities and public figures. It’s no wonder that Hollywood is so in love with the First Family.