Donald J. Trump, How Different from You and Me?
I have come to recognize POTUS' behaviors as those of a sociopath but before we get too involved, the reader needs to understand that sociopaths play a needed role in our society--they make the best surgeons, soldiers, lawyers, and, unfortunately for the consumer, businessmen. The main reason for their success in these areas is that a sociopath is cool and collect. More so than in the average person, he/she is able to think without emotional baggage or emotion that can cloud one's judgment. However, that is not to say that our sociopath friends and family (if you look for them, you'll find them) are stoics and can keep from showing us their very universal "human" side. On the contrary, when personally assaulted, for instance, they are quite capable of lashing out at others and being as vindictive as the next guy.
Let's outline the sociopath's characteristics and then relate them one by one to President Trump:
What is Empathy and why would one want to have it? It is the ability to put oneself in an other's shoes and feel, in some sense, what that person must be experiencing. Sometimes no amount of imagination can guarantee that a person can do this without that person having actually been exposed to the sensation but you can approximate. Perhaps more importantly, as an empath, you have a need to at least attempt to put yourself in an other's place. If you very graphically tell a sociopath that something horrible happened to you, you'll not see an empathic face looking back at you.There will be little, "eew," and "ugh" expressions made. Empathy has one principle role that is its raison d'etre--it might prevent us from harming others when we elicit the "golden rule" to do unto others as we would like them to do onto us. If empathy doesn't kick in when we see the dead on the battlefield, nothing will help assuage additional carnage.
How are we to determine if he lacks empathy? I take you back to a hurricane and the most powerful man on Earth throws paper towels to a crowd. They caught them, you say? Sure, but how much of that was because of the mystique of the President of the United States? If anyone else had tried that, they would have thrown the towels back. Perhaps they could have used them but weren't they more in need of power and water? Recently, we heard him refer to "shit hole countries." Someone with empathy would have a hard time calling anyone names especially if they had not been personally attacked in any way. What about rescinding DACA? Put yourself in their place and you would know how heart-wrenching it might be to lose one's country. President Trump could have known this firsthand had he had empathy and considered the plight of Friedrich Drumpf who was kicked out of Germany after he tried to return to it after playing the soldier of fortune here in the U.S. The grandfather had left Germany without the mandatory military service then required of German citizens and, as punishment, was stripped of his citizenship--yet, for the President, rescinding DACA has no empathic connection to that expatriated grandfather.
Let's go on a bit more for empathy is high on the list. Here in the U.S., we have political pendulums that swing from conservative to liberal and back again but no intelligent person is so despotic and foolhardy as to think that conservatism is the be-all and end-all of political thought; yet, he is quite prepared to have 100% conservative courts--the reason is not that he is a staunch conservative but rather that he does not have any empathy for the role that liberals play in our society. There is much that Trump Supporters get today that was the product of liberal thought.
Empathy, for a world leader, means that the masses and their needs must be addressed but he has chosen to promote policies that benefit the elite. It is only the corporation that benefits fully in Trumpian society. Via Pruitt, Mulvaney, Sessions, Mnuchin and most other cabinet members, the public be damned under the specious guise of helping the public. Let's allow the corporations to rip off the public (Mulvaney); let's allow them to pollute (Pruitt); let's allow them to incarcerate for profit (Sessions); and, let's allow them to pay fewer taxes (Mnuchin).
Now, we move on to "glib responses." We all give them especially when we are pressed for time. As parents, we give our children glib answers to their questions and stop doing so when we notice that they can see through our guile. "Mexico will pay for the wall," is a glib response that no one would have uttered with just a modicum of understanding about how things work in the real world for no country would pay for something that only benefits some other country. You might as well emulate Imperial Rome and start invading countries. A glib response is that response that first pops out of your mind when asked a question. A sociopath blurts out the response without regard to veracity, logic, or hurting any one's feelings. "I am the least racist person," is glib because the entire world knows of how his RE agency added "C" to applications by non-Whites. D.T. is said to often lie but, in reality, it is just a sociopath being glib.
The egocentric behavior of the President was evident even before he was elected. Who makes money by having buildings use your name? Who considers using Trump Tower as his White House? Who takes affront at every little slight that comes his way? Who ignores the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution by not releasing taxes and by continuing to profit from his businesses when conflicts of interest are as clear as day?
It is said that to be happy, one must live in the present. It is sage advice but not without unintended consequences. Let's take the past. Sure, if someone wronged you, it is to your benefit to forget about it and let bygones be bygones; but, the past is also the template for the future. If we, as a country, evolved to where we are today, we did not do it without our constitution and all its intents aimed at "Life, Liberty and Justice for all." We did not do it without fighting a civil war that tested "whether that nation or any nation so endowed and so dedicated can long endure." We did not do it by ignoring Nazi fascism.
Ignoring the future is just as problematic. It is said that sociopaths do not have "future memory." What in God's name is this? It's not as cryptic as you might think. Future memory is the ability that most of us have to envision the future and make plans based on possible outcomes. It is this ability that helps us keep our goals in sight. We put aside money for our kids' tuition because we know the piper will come calling in the future. A sociopath tends to squander all he/she has without regard to future consequences. His agenda is to spend left and right on all manner of projects and do so, not because he wants to beat Bill Gates although he would certainly welcome being on Forbes list of top 10 of the wealthiest people but because he views himself as a genius who can succeed at anything; never mind that there have been failures galore. The sociopath trudges on concerned only with the present and how to make easy money. If there was collusion with Russia, it would not surprise me. Given the opportunity to launder money, no sociopath would think twice of the dangers this would present to his future--he would just go for it.
Lack of future memory is particularly troublesome to the Nation because so much of our future livelihood depends on what we do today. A sociopath is incapable of considering the danger that climate change poses. That scenario is somewhere in the "nebulous" future and he would rather concentrate on the present. Same thing with pollution. Glibly, I'm breathing, eating, and I'm keeping myself apparently healthy so why should I worry about pollution? There is one area where our President seems to have a bit of future memory--he had Congress do away with the estate tax. Certainly, this benefits his heirs; yes, but political analysts need to ask if he really has his children in mind or if it was just an appeasement to all the rich farmers that he came across on the campaign trail. I think it's the latter or else he would have instructed his sons and confidants to stay away from Russian oligarchs fearing the legal consequences of that cesspool.
A well-known thing about sociopaths is that they suffer less infectious diseases than the rest of us. This, many suspect, is because they tolerate stress very well and stress messes with our immune system big time. They tolerate stress well because (here we consider our last characteristic) they are fearless in their endeavors. This is not to say that sociopaths are particularly courageous. At one point during the campaign, a protester stormed the platform where Mr. Trump was speaking and we clearly saw the future president take a Secret Service man by his coat and yank him in front of him to act as a barrier to any would-be assassin. No, he wasn't courageous then but he was fearless because he went right on with his speech. His incendiary speech also shows how fearless he is that he can insult many without regard to incurring any vengeance. Our President has a horrible diet and does not exercise and is overweight; yet, he's been given a clean bill of health. Only a sociopath can claim such immunity to common risk factors.
Can someone occupying the Oval Office ignore those who might impeach him or use the 25th amendment to remove him from office? Nevertheless, fearless Don, insults members of Congress and members of his own cabinet with abandon.
Finally, impulsivity also shows up in the life of a sociopath. "You can grab her by the pussy." is not just locker room talk; it is impulsivity at work and very real. It happens because of egocentricity--I have an absolute need to satisfy my id; fearlessness and no future memory--what can happen to me?; and lacking in empathy--it's OK to treat women like objects. On a positive note, sex with female sociopaths is the best because there are few hangups--I can't speak for how a male sociopath might be appreciated by a female.
[caveat] I am not an expert and many rail against the non-expert expressing his/her opinion, but do you need one to tell you your house is on fire? That's a little glib of me, so let me try this: what if your doctor told you that you were hypertensive because your numbers were above 140/90? Are you not now in a position to diagnose anyone else with hypertension (without considering cause, of course)? What if you knew that an inflamed, exquisitely painful toe a week after eating nothing but sardines and beer, was gout? If you heard of similar history in a friend, could you not diagnose gout in him/her? What if you knew that thoughts of suicide were a major sign of depression? Would you not be permitted to say to a suicidal person, "you are depressed?"
In similar fashion, I have read up on sociopaths and I have seen nothing but sociopathological behavior coming from our President. It helped him as a businessman but, as our president,
[note] a sociopath is not a psychopath. Sociopaths are very well-adjusted people who would go unnoticed if it were not for extreme scrutiny like that of the Mainstream Media with@Potus .
Let's outline the sociopath's characteristics and then relate them one by one to President Trump:
- Deficient in Empathy
- Uses Glib responses
- Very egocentric
- Lives in the present
- Lacks future memory (I first encountered this concept when reading about sociopaths)
- Does not dwell in the past
- Generally healthy and disease-resistant
- Fearless
- Impulsive
What is Empathy and why would one want to have it? It is the ability to put oneself in an other's shoes and feel, in some sense, what that person must be experiencing. Sometimes no amount of imagination can guarantee that a person can do this without that person having actually been exposed to the sensation but you can approximate. Perhaps more importantly, as an empath, you have a need to at least attempt to put yourself in an other's place. If you very graphically tell a sociopath that something horrible happened to you, you'll not see an empathic face looking back at you.There will be little, "eew," and "ugh" expressions made. Empathy has one principle role that is its raison d'etre--it might prevent us from harming others when we elicit the "golden rule" to do unto others as we would like them to do onto us. If empathy doesn't kick in when we see the dead on the battlefield, nothing will help assuage additional carnage.
How are we to determine if he lacks empathy? I take you back to a hurricane and the most powerful man on Earth throws paper towels to a crowd. They caught them, you say? Sure, but how much of that was because of the mystique of the President of the United States? If anyone else had tried that, they would have thrown the towels back. Perhaps they could have used them but weren't they more in need of power and water? Recently, we heard him refer to "shit hole countries." Someone with empathy would have a hard time calling anyone names especially if they had not been personally attacked in any way. What about rescinding DACA? Put yourself in their place and you would know how heart-wrenching it might be to lose one's country. President Trump could have known this firsthand had he had empathy and considered the plight of Friedrich Drumpf who was kicked out of Germany after he tried to return to it after playing the soldier of fortune here in the U.S. The grandfather had left Germany without the mandatory military service then required of German citizens and, as punishment, was stripped of his citizenship--yet, for the President, rescinding DACA has no empathic connection to that expatriated grandfather.
Let's go on a bit more for empathy is high on the list. Here in the U.S., we have political pendulums that swing from conservative to liberal and back again but no intelligent person is so despotic and foolhardy as to think that conservatism is the be-all and end-all of political thought; yet, he is quite prepared to have 100% conservative courts--the reason is not that he is a staunch conservative but rather that he does not have any empathy for the role that liberals play in our society. There is much that Trump Supporters get today that was the product of liberal thought.
Empathy, for a world leader, means that the masses and their needs must be addressed but he has chosen to promote policies that benefit the elite. It is only the corporation that benefits fully in Trumpian society. Via Pruitt, Mulvaney, Sessions, Mnuchin and most other cabinet members, the public be damned under the specious guise of helping the public. Let's allow the corporations to rip off the public (Mulvaney); let's allow them to pollute (Pruitt); let's allow them to incarcerate for profit (Sessions); and, let's allow them to pay fewer taxes (Mnuchin).
Now, we move on to "glib responses." We all give them especially when we are pressed for time. As parents, we give our children glib answers to their questions and stop doing so when we notice that they can see through our guile. "Mexico will pay for the wall," is a glib response that no one would have uttered with just a modicum of understanding about how things work in the real world for no country would pay for something that only benefits some other country. You might as well emulate Imperial Rome and start invading countries. A glib response is that response that first pops out of your mind when asked a question. A sociopath blurts out the response without regard to veracity, logic, or hurting any one's feelings. "I am the least racist person," is glib because the entire world knows of how his RE agency added "C" to applications by non-Whites. D.T. is said to often lie but, in reality, it is just a sociopath being glib.
The egocentric behavior of the President was evident even before he was elected. Who makes money by having buildings use your name? Who considers using Trump Tower as his White House? Who takes affront at every little slight that comes his way? Who ignores the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution by not releasing taxes and by continuing to profit from his businesses when conflicts of interest are as clear as day?
It is said that to be happy, one must live in the present. It is sage advice but not without unintended consequences. Let's take the past. Sure, if someone wronged you, it is to your benefit to forget about it and let bygones be bygones; but, the past is also the template for the future. If we, as a country, evolved to where we are today, we did not do it without our constitution and all its intents aimed at "Life, Liberty and Justice for all." We did not do it without fighting a civil war that tested "whether that nation or any nation so endowed and so dedicated can long endure." We did not do it by ignoring Nazi fascism.
Ignoring the future is just as problematic. It is said that sociopaths do not have "future memory." What in God's name is this? It's not as cryptic as you might think. Future memory is the ability that most of us have to envision the future and make plans based on possible outcomes. It is this ability that helps us keep our goals in sight. We put aside money for our kids' tuition because we know the piper will come calling in the future. A sociopath tends to squander all he/she has without regard to future consequences. His agenda is to spend left and right on all manner of projects and do so, not because he wants to beat Bill Gates although he would certainly welcome being on Forbes list of top 10 of the wealthiest people but because he views himself as a genius who can succeed at anything; never mind that there have been failures galore. The sociopath trudges on concerned only with the present and how to make easy money. If there was collusion with Russia, it would not surprise me. Given the opportunity to launder money, no sociopath would think twice of the dangers this would present to his future--he would just go for it.
Lack of future memory is particularly troublesome to the Nation because so much of our future livelihood depends on what we do today. A sociopath is incapable of considering the danger that climate change poses. That scenario is somewhere in the "nebulous" future and he would rather concentrate on the present. Same thing with pollution. Glibly, I'm breathing, eating, and I'm keeping myself apparently healthy so why should I worry about pollution? There is one area where our President seems to have a bit of future memory--he had Congress do away with the estate tax. Certainly, this benefits his heirs; yes, but political analysts need to ask if he really has his children in mind or if it was just an appeasement to all the rich farmers that he came across on the campaign trail. I think it's the latter or else he would have instructed his sons and confidants to stay away from Russian oligarchs fearing the legal consequences of that cesspool.
A well-known thing about sociopaths is that they suffer less infectious diseases than the rest of us. This, many suspect, is because they tolerate stress very well and stress messes with our immune system big time. They tolerate stress well because (here we consider our last characteristic) they are fearless in their endeavors. This is not to say that sociopaths are particularly courageous. At one point during the campaign, a protester stormed the platform where Mr. Trump was speaking and we clearly saw the future president take a Secret Service man by his coat and yank him in front of him to act as a barrier to any would-be assassin. No, he wasn't courageous then but he was fearless because he went right on with his speech. His incendiary speech also shows how fearless he is that he can insult many without regard to incurring any vengeance. Our President has a horrible diet and does not exercise and is overweight; yet, he's been given a clean bill of health. Only a sociopath can claim such immunity to common risk factors.
Can someone occupying the Oval Office ignore those who might impeach him or use the 25th amendment to remove him from office? Nevertheless, fearless Don, insults members of Congress and members of his own cabinet with abandon.
Finally, impulsivity also shows up in the life of a sociopath. "You can grab her by the pussy." is not just locker room talk; it is impulsivity at work and very real. It happens because of egocentricity--I have an absolute need to satisfy my id; fearlessness and no future memory--what can happen to me?; and lacking in empathy--it's OK to treat women like objects. On a positive note, sex with female sociopaths is the best because there are few hangups--I can't speak for how a male sociopath might be appreciated by a female.
[caveat] I am not an expert and many rail against the non-expert expressing his/her opinion, but do you need one to tell you your house is on fire? That's a little glib of me, so let me try this: what if your doctor told you that you were hypertensive because your numbers were above 140/90? Are you not now in a position to diagnose anyone else with hypertension (without considering cause, of course)? What if you knew that an inflamed, exquisitely painful toe a week after eating nothing but sardines and beer, was gout? If you heard of similar history in a friend, could you not diagnose gout in him/her? What if you knew that thoughts of suicide were a major sign of depression? Would you not be permitted to say to a suicidal person, "you are depressed?"
In similar fashion, I have read up on sociopaths and I have seen nothing but sociopathological behavior coming from our President. It helped him as a businessman but, as our president,
[note] a sociopath is not a psychopath. Sociopaths are very well-adjusted people who would go unnoticed if it were not for extreme scrutiny like that of the Mainstream Media with
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