Thread by @docrussjackson

Pathocracy #THREAD

'Democratic backsliding' is a decline in the quality of #democracy, which is accelerating in Britain, & across the world.

Are damaged individuals, lacking in conscience, destroying democracy?

Based on this article by @PaulHRosenberg:

salon.com/2019/12/01/imp…

There are many different ways to view recent sinister developments in Boris Johnson’s UK & Trump’s USA, process, but perhaps the most important is to view it as a part of struggle to preserve democracy from destruction at the hands of damaged individuals lacking in conscience.

The wave of democratic erosion around the world is undisputable. What’s less appreciated is the role that individuals with personality disorders play in this process, which disrupts our expectations of how things work, based on the normal psychology we commonly & tacitly assume.

Disordered individuals aren’t the primary underlying cause of democratic erosion, but they exploit it ruthlessly & are the primary vectors in spreading chaos, turning rising tensions into unmanageable runaway conflicts, which they then claim to be uniquely able to fix.

“Antisocial Personality Disorder and Pathological Narcissism in Prolonged Conflicts & Wars,” cited many examples, from Idi Amin to Slobodan Milosevic who “have emerged first as saviors & then as despots, or as common criminals claiming to be patriots.”

salon.com/2019/07/22/und…

Elizabeth Mika & Ian Hughes, have provided some of the clearest insight into what’s been happening in America, & by extension, what's been happening in Britain, since 2015.

They make persuasive arguments, which Paul Rosenberg has skillfully woven together.

As Hughes explains in “Disordered Minds: How Dangerous Personalities Are Destroying Democracy,” three personality disorders — psychopathy, narcissistic personality disorder & paranoid personality disorder — play a crucial role.

amazon.com/dp/B07H44BMM6/…

Individuals with these disorders experience only a narrow range of emotions, are incapable of empathy & are utterly lacking in conscience. They represent up to 10% of the population, but when conditions are dire, many more ostensibly normal people can come to resemble them.

The disordered minority maintain control by imposing this situational logic on everyone, from the highest levels of government down to level of local thugs & enforcers.

When occupying powerful positions, as many do, this could lead to #pathocracy.

Pathocracy is a process whereby society comes to be dominated by pathological individuals & groups: society becomes segregated into a pathological minority that gradually gains control, & a psychologically healthy majority who find themselves subjugated to this violent minority.

Initially the pathology is most visible at the level of a Leader & the Party that brings him to power, but it eventually diffuses through every part of society.

Could Britain, like America under Trump, be in the throws of an emerging #pathocracy?

Tyrannies involve the tyrant, his supporters & the society as a whole. The tyrant & his supporters join in a 'narcissistic collusion' driven by the need for revenge - a restorative function: to avenge the humiliations of his followers, & punish those who inflicted them.

The tyrant’s narcissism reflects the woundedness of his supporters. The greater their narcissistic injury, the more grandiose the leader: it appears grotesque to ordinary people, but to his followers represents their thwarted greatness which under his rule, will finally flourish.

It is worth noting here that while fewer than 3 in 10 of the British electorate voted for the Tories in 2019, & despite overseeing 130,000 largely avoidable deaths, relentless demonstrable lies, his history of cheating, casual #racism & corruption, his supporters adore him.

there's another kind of supporter, those close to the tyrant who serve as his surrogates.

While the bonds between ordinary followers & the would-be tyrant are strong, they’re usually weaker with his close supporters & local enforcers, who are involved in running the #pathocracy.

Because Johnson is so focused on preserving his own hold on power, such lesser figures may become easier to expose, discredit & drive from power.

By expanding our thinking to challenge the pathocracy wherever vulnerable, we create more opportunities to defeat it.

Concerned UK politicians, activists & journalists have largely failed to think in such terms, even though it’s clear that Boris Johnson has many henchmen & accomplices who either share his personality disorders or have willingly gone along with them.

These people are all symptomatic of a #pathocracy which we should see as prime points to attack.

We need to identify opportunities to expose & confront the larger collection of malignant actors who support him, & who threaten Britain’s existence as a functioning democracy.

Following Johnson’s ‘afternoon of the long knives’, the Tory party is now dominated by those who mirror Johnson’s pathological mindset. This was not the case just two years ago when Johnson became leader, but now all the moderate or critical voices have been brutally expunged.

Many individuals within the Tory Party who share Johnson’s disordered mentality, reflected in their beliefs in conspiracy theories about ‘cultural Marxism’, rejection of facts, attacks on opponents, & sense of entitlement to power, have risen in stature within the party.

Those who privately believe such views & actions to be destructive, immoral & deluded have either been silenced, displaced, or have left the Party.

Mika calls this "a natural development once a disordered leader is elected."

Johnson has surrounded himself with people who are similarly impaired, whose conscience is either non-existent or so ‘flexible’ that it allows them to engage in immoral & criminal activities without an emotional penalty of guilt & shame.

The rise of full-blown #pathocracy shows us how easily so-called normal people can be co-opted for abnormal — psychopathic, immoral & criminal — ends.

We can see that this applies to people from all walks of life, no matter their intelligence, education, or social status.

In the present case, almost the entire Tory Party has become a mirror eagerly reflecting Boris Johnson's psychopathology & "protecting him from reality, no matter the cost to the country & the world.”

Hughes suggests the single biggest trigger for Trump & Johnson & the collapse of these democracies “was the financial crisis of 2008 & its aftermath. This is true not just in the US but in Europe also. It was the single biggest factor behind the Brexit vote.”

Personality disorders were central: “Those at the top of the major financial institutions were seen to have recklessly built an unstable financial system, based on highly unethical practices, profited enormously, & walked away with their fortunes when it all came tumbling down".

“Ordinary people, on the other hand, were left to pay the price in terms of lost homes, reduced salaries & unemployment” – in Britain, under the guise of #austerity, millions of people have suffered while the elite got richer & even more powerful.

Both because of the financial crisis & the complete failure of Governments to hold those who caused it responsible, or learn from mistakes, this sequence of events "had the effect of destroying public confidence in elites in general & in politicians in particular".

Trump, Johnson, Farage & many others are part of a slow-motion car crash that has been happening for decades in terms of the process of 'deregulation', which removed safeguards & that originated in large part on Wall Street & in London's Square Mile.

Mika suggests the preconditions that paved way are “the narcissism that pervades American (& British) culture, as well as the toxic materialism & greed, & the staggering & growing inequality & poverty they produced."

Insatiable greed, along with the narcissism expressed in the myth of American & British exceptionalism, is a defining feature of free market #capitalism.

Narcissism & greed go hand in hand, in individual & collective life, & they are both expressions of a false consciousness.

All leaders with this defective character, are agents of destruction.

Like Boris Johnson, “Trump is a violent man,” who "incites violence & aggression against anyone who opposes him, identifies with & rewards those who are violent, & acts in ways that are gratuitously cruel.”

This violence is enabled by another form of violence prevalent in Britain & America: structural violence, which refers to the conditions that society imposes on people that constrain them from meeting their essential needs & achieving basic levels of dignity & quality of life.

“Reducing the structural violence of inequality & tackling or removing the causes of mental illness, depression, racism, incarceration, & other social problems, must form the basis for a new, more humane & caring ‘normal’” post-COVID.

There are many examples from history of the deliberate dismantling of democracy, including Stalin gaining control of Eastern Europe, post-WWII & there are parallels between Stalin’s systematic destruction of the central pillars of democracy there, & what is happening today.

Stalin used his power & that of his allies to target the rule of law, & to oppress the regime’s opponents - think of Priti Patel's demonization of "activist lawyers" & attempts to criminalize protest -
& Stalin’s elimination of free & fair elections - think voter suppression.

Tory favourite Roger Scruton has written about Stalin’s destruction: "If enough people are sufficiently determined, & if they are backed by adequate resources & force, then they can destroy ancient & apparently permanent legal, political, educational & religious institutions".

"And if civil society could be so deeply damaged in nations as disparate, as historic & as culturally rich as those of Eastern Europe, then it can be similarly damaged anywhere: the history of post-war Stalinisation proves just how fragile ‘civilization’ can turn out to be.”

Mika: “What struck me most in it is the always shocking, but not surprising, ease with which many so-called normal people revert to primitive, quasi-psychopathic functioning when given the opportunity.”

This is what deserves our particular attention.

"A #pathocracy can create a new reality in which its wildly disordered worldview becomes the new normal, & everyone else must adjust. The rule of a pathological leader & his similarly disordered coterie that defines pathocracy normalizes & champions the worst human impulses."

We saw this under communism, under fascism in Germany, & in the former Yugoslavia:

"We see it everywhere when pathological political leaders give people permission to act on their primitive instincts. We learn quickly how fragile our civilized norms & mores are.”

Richard Hofstadter wrote about "The Paranoid Style in American Politics," describing the conspiratorial mindset of a large enough, dispossessed portion of American citizens. This mindset is activated by ethnic, religious & class conflicts, & by times of upheaval & frustrations.

It does not take much to foment it, especially when conditions are right, eg, people become increasingly unable to cope with the difficulties of their daily life & look for scapegoats: Trump's & Johnson's constant lies, big & small, have thus found naturally receptive audiences.

“People with an impaired conscience tend to gravitate toward each other & excuse their crimes & misdeeds because it's their normal (they) feel stronger & emboldened in the company of those who openly act out their primitive impulses."

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1372489098502549505

Using open & officially sanctioned violence as a means of social control, as well as settling personal vendettas, is a natural progression in the development of tyrants, who are driven by an insatiable desire to gain & exercise deadly power in order to achieve personal glory.

This desire to use violence against his enemies, real or perceived, is self-destructive, of course, but that is not obvious to the tyrant wannabe, nor to his followers.

The media’s repeated reluctance & failure to report about Boris Johnson accurately is another great concern.

Swathes of the news media's lack of critical reportage of him & many of his his Govt's cruel & anti-democratic policies reflects both the pursuit of false balance, among other things, & a general failure to grasp the broader significance & true nature of the spreading pathocracy.

To accurately cover what is happening, the media would have to accept unpleasant facts:

First, it now seems likely that Boris Johnson has a dangerous psychological character disorder that makes him psychologically incapable of functioning within a rules-based democratic system.

In fact, as we are seeing, his character disorder appears to compel him to dismantle that system.

Second, the Tory Party is no longer a democratic party. It too has rejected the rules & values of democracy & is pursuing a power-at-all-costs authoritarian agenda.

Third, a large number of voters seem happy to welcome an authoritarian system if those they despise are "put in their place" - think Muslims, migrants, experts, & the vicious war on "woke” – a right-wing euphemism for people concerned about racism, climate change, or inequality.

Traditional media practices struggle to report the obvious:

“This is a difficult framing for any mainstream media organization to adopt, but it is a scenario that has been repeated ad nauseam in so many countries, that the media really should recognize it by now.”

“We won’t be able to counter the threat we face unless & until we understand it. But the mainstream media doesn’t, or chooses not to, & so there is a complacency or a "behind the curve" quality to most of the coverage. As a result, the gravity of the situation is not accepted".

"The relentless lies & disinformation are allowed to continue without being contextualized.”

Voter suppression, endemic corruption, lies, disregard for the law, & the criminalization of protest - the mainstream media “does not appear too perturbed by the tragic absurdity of it".

The mainstream media is complicit in facilitating pathocracy, but this is typical: "corporate ownership of the media, the purpose of which is to sell ads & generate profits, makes it a natural ally of the political powers that be, with a compromised regard for truth & morality.”

The virtual absence of mass public demonstrations specifically against the erosion of #democracy in the UK & USA are a worrying sign - certainly compared with the mass demonstrations for democracy taking place around the world, from Hong Kong to Chile to Lebanon.

These pro-democracy mass movements spanning the globe is historically remarkable, suggesting comparisons to 1968 — except that the UK & USA are missing this time. Johnson & his enablers will take that silence as a free pass to proceed with their dismantling of British #democracy.

“History shows that the dismantling of democracy by an autocrat is not an end in itself. Rather, it is the precondition that allows the tyrant to violently impose his narcissistic vision upon society.”

Hitler's vision was German domination of, & ethnic cleansing of, Europe.

For Stalin, it was to make the Soviet Union a world power through slave labour camps & the subjugation of the population through terror. For Mao, it was to enable the endless use of revolution & violence in pursuit of his vision in which “half of China may well have to die.”

Trump’s America & Johnson’s Britain – like Orbán's Hungary, Bolsonaro’s Brazil & Modi’s India - all demonstrate the anti-democratic tendencies which have shaped the world.

We must not allow the Tories’ continued attacks on British democracy & the rules based international order.

Here's a few more obligatory memes to hammer home the message!

For different but related takes, here's a few more #THREADS.

While Boris Johnson isn't a genocidal maniac, & the Tories aren't Nazis, the uncanny & disturbing parallels between the tactics of the early the Nazis & the current Tory Govt are undeniable:

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1371265857108738048

A #THREAD on how forty years of deregulated free market capitalism have paved the way for the current disturbing state we're in:

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1359445197113950208

#THREAD on the significant & insidious influence of corporate lobbying - including the role of 'Libertarian' free-market think tanks - AKA 'corporate propaganda':

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1376451860622630912