A Spectrum of Sociopaths
No matter who wins this election we must accept that we live in a world where sociopaths are common.
People who use ignorance as a weapon. That “choose” to believe the convenient. Who look to dominate those around them, and operate in constant fear of being judged inadequate. Whose objective at work or any other organization is coercion and control rather than utility.
We must accept that there is a spectrum of sociopaths, and we are all on the spectrum. That avoiding humanity’s worst tendencies is not something you get for free by being “normal”.
Nor is there even a sell out position that guarantees you happiness for a portion of your soul. The fascists might be briefly having fun, but long term their prospects are dim. The corporate middle managers might seem to be enjoying themselves, but they’re not. Even those desiring to keep their heads down and raise a family, find that ignoring socioeconomics has landed their children in a baby bust.
Which brings us to god, the traditional cheat code for living a good life. How can serving god and/or progress not remove us from the spectrum?
The problem with that approach begins immediately, “I will serve god” or “I will serve progress”. Imagining some organized religion, science, or politics that does good works, and you merely need to join is already a conceit. Imagining that not joining anything will end any better is also a conceit.
This election shows that one end of the spectrum has noticed the only easy way to make a difference is to break things. The instant gratification of destruction has crossed class divides to appeal to sociopaths of all walks of life.
The racism and misogyny shown in current politics is devoid of any purpose beyond pure destruction. This is no longer about building an empire on the backs of slaves or subjugating women to produce more babies. The ship has sailed on such endeavors leaving only poison pill, if I can’t have it no one can.
Not that the women and people of color starting to replace white men without college degrees on the socioeconomic ladder had that attitude when they were further down. You have to have a sense of entitlement for that.
A sense of entitlement that everyone with a college degree (or higher) might also have. Or not. No way to even be sure where on the spectrum you are.
However white men with higher education were never really on top in the same way. Not necessarily the right religion, popular in high school, or represented as the stars of westerns, sci-fi, tv shows, and whatever category James Bond is. Though Indiana Jones is a professor on the side and there were some successful doctors and lawyers with their own shows.
Plus how do you even represent the quiet and studious — much easier to show the loud and obnoxious or violent. Much easier to adhere to stereotypes in general as they give you instantly recognizable characters.
The battle against woke is equally poison pill politics. As if it were obvious that government or giant corporations should spend all of its time protecting property rights and former status quo and none of its time stopping or discouraging racist or misogynistic bullies. What are property rights if not preventing property bullies? Again the idea is that if the government isn’t going to enforce my status then it shouldn’t exist.
The more power technology puts in the hands of the masses, the more destructive tendencies are a problem. Everyone with a hand on a nuclear launch button would obviously destroy the planet. Everyone able to effortlessly voice an opinion on the internet will not favor the quiet and studious anymore than earlier media did.
The spectrum of sociopaths is as much an institutional problem as it is a result of human biology. Supposedly inequality is on the rise recently but our entire history is about inequality. The only difference now is the inequality has manifested itself in a different form and for a different group.
Our democracy being on the line is also nothing new. What’s new is the sense of entitlement that has led many to be at all surprised. In retrospect from where does outrage that fascism might be a problem in America come?
We knew that America had put big business in charge of everything. We knew that we were just coming out of endless foreign wars. We knew that our incarceration rate was crazy and that education and health care costs were skyrocketing while the manufacturing base plummeted.
Perhaps we weren’t aware of the level of support for Christian nationalism. In a way the peasant uprising was expected but we thought the peasants would be less religious.
Isn’t that the same ignorance as a weapon that made us upset with more obvious sociopaths? Police could kill black people as long as they were not in our face about it. Men could harass women as long as they were subtle about it.
But the internet ended that veneer of civilization and with it “quite fascism” as well. Now the fascists are loud and our democracy obviously strained as it was all along. Get used to life on the spectrum; it is here to stay.