Open Left

some disagreement (4.00 / 1)

Paul, the closer I get to seeing who thrives in DC, the closer I get to the culture, the more the shrink in me sees Narcissistic Personality Disorder rampant and writ large.  It's warp and woof of what makes most people want to become public political figures, be they elected officials, tv talking heads, hot shot consultants and lobbyists. . . the whole ecosystem.

Not everyone in the system is an NPD type, but the milieu, the culture and tone, is set by the dynamics of the personality type.  And the personality type requires a large coterie of weak egos who try to attach themselves or associate themselves with the dominant personalities and thereby feel big and important themselves.  So, they flatter and follow the power to manage their own deeply felt insecurities.  

They collectively turn a blind eye to that which the culture does not want to see, and attack with prejudice and character assassination anyone who holds up a mirror to the whole system , anyone who, by word or example, who unflatteringly tells the truth (Dan Froomkin, for example).  This is a survival imperative, not merely from a financial perspective, but from the perspective of psychological functioning.  Because the alternative to the collective loss of grandiose self delusion is complete psycho-emotional impoverishment, shame, despair, madness, and uncontrollable rage.

I saw an excellent production of King Lear last night with Stacey Keach.  One way of looking at the play is to see Lear's decompensation, and the dramatized, externalized reality of the death and destruction that follow the loss of his grand delusions of his own potency (brought about by his need to have his equally disordered, plotting, hateful daughters flatter him), as the dramatic result of what happens when the narcissistic bubble bursts.  That's when the rage beast gets loose, and in smaller doses, we see that from the Villagers every day.  We see it also in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in death by health care spreadsheet.

The political culture of the country is a really sick place, as is our financial culture.

I blog at www.firedoglake.com.

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by: Pachacutec @ Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 10:48:11 AM CDT

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I Don't Think We're That Far Apart (4.00 / 1)

Oh, I agree that the DC culture is sick, sick, sick, and in much the way that you describe. (I used to think NPD was a minor matter compared to rightwing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation, but I've realized for some time now that it's quite important in its own right.) I also think that Kevin Philips has described this rather well in American Dynasty where he talks about restoration culture and politics, which puts it into a larger cultural context.

However, I think you're talking mostly about the courtiers, and I'm thinking of everyone.  In his earlier book, Wealth and Democracy, Phillips talked about cycles of imperial power, and how a period of elite excess eventually gets replaced by a democratic resurgence.  I think that's already started to happen with us, and that as it grows (god willing) a good many folks--even in DC--will start behaving much, much better, simply because the environment has changed, not because they have.

Of course, it won't hurt a bit to have a lot of new blood as well.  

"Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition"

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 12:53:51 PM CDT

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I should go back. . . (0.00 / 0)

and take a look at those books again.

But my principle fear is that the new posse we put in place will have the same personality characteristics and proclivities as the old posse, human nature and the nature of the political-media industry being what it is.  I'm already seeing examples.  

We need, as you say, systems that reward different kinds of behavior and punish previously tolerated behaviors, and they must be sustainable and attuned to the zeitgeist.  I see beginnings, but the culture is not there yet, not sufficiently attuned or advanced in a to be hoped for cycle of democratic resurgence to sustain systemic changes.

I'm less sanguine than I used to be that the netroots will be a real player in such a change, other than as a kind of chronicler of parts of it along the way.  The kind of cultural change necessary is bigger than the reach and influence of the netroots, and much of the progressive movement has been blunted, so far, by Obamaism on the one hand and competitive infighting over scarce resources.

I blog at www.firedoglake.com.

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by: Pachacutec @ Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 16:43:03 PM CDT

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Well, I'll Be Pondering That In Some Diaries This Weekend (0.00 / 0)

I share your concerns about the Versailles Dems, though their mix of mental disorders does seem somewhat different.

Hope for the netroots lies in being part of something larger, IMHO.  And that's something I'll be discussing over the weekend.

"Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition"

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 16:50:46 PM CDT

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looking forward to reading. . . (0.00 / 0)

your stuff this weekend.

I blog at www.firedoglake.com.

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by: Pachacutec @ Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 16:56:41 PM CDT

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also, re: authoritarianism (4.00 / 1)

Narcissists are also authoritarian and bullying.  They can have very progressive sounding politics and beliefs on the macro scale, played well for public consumption, but their micro-level conduct is authoritarian and bullying.  

They can't share power because they need to believe in their own grandiose perfection.  People with their own talents and abilities working with or under a narcissist will bump into the narcissist's envy and subsequent need for power and control.  They then either adapt to the "mercurial genius of the boss" or get excommunicated.

I blog at www.firedoglake.com.

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by: Pachacutec @ Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 16:55:20 PM CDT

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Oh, Yes (0.00 / 0)

I know this quite well from personal experience.  As does most everyone who's spent much time in left politics in America, regardless of whether they have the vocabulary to adequately understand it.

But what's worth noting is that rightwing authoritarianism is a much broader phenomena than NPD.  We're still in our infancy of understanding, and perhaps this picture may change in the future as we gain a better understanding of folks with NPD tendencies short of the full-blown diagnosis.  But at least at present, in terms of how these terms can help us make sense of things, the authoritarian dynamics of NPDs seem much more concentrated around a significantly smaller number of figures.    

"Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition"

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 18:20:40 PM CDT

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yes (0.00 / 0)

Rightwing authoritarianism is baked into the ideology.  On the left it's behavioral and organizationally spread, in direct proportion, usually, to the "star power" of a given leader's profile or, at the least, self-perception.

I blog at www.firedoglake.com.

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by: Pachacutec @ Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 18:42:33 PM CDT

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