Posted on 09/20/2016 4:50:19 PM PDT by Kaslin
The Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch was first published in 1979. Many of his observations are as applicable now as then. The major thesis of this work is that the 20th century was dominated by a drift from 19th-century values. Individual identity, i.e. rugged individualism, was replaced by a societal identity which is populated by narcissists.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, founder of the transcendental movement, was a proponent of the power of the individual. To live, one must experience, was his credo. He thought that all people, times, and places are similar.
Since “… there is properly no history only biography … in what is true for you and your private heart is true of all men.” He was against the idea of human progress, popular in liberal circles: “…society never advances for everything that is given, something is taken.” In those times, individuals with self-reliance and the positive values of industry, creativity and personal responsibility were able to positively change the open frontier. These individuals had great confidence, boundless energy, and a vision to foster the country to undergo a massive technological revolution. Using Freudian terms, they had a strong ego. They had an appropriate superego (conscience) and had their id (drives of aggression and sexuality) under control. Despite some negative aspects, they were able to achieve many tangible results which positively affected Americans and other citizens of the world.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
And Lasch was one of three influential Marxist historians. The other two being William Appleman Williams and Eugene Genovese. Today they would be conservatives. I read Lasch’s work in Grad School at St. Johns in 83. It was an eye opening analysis of much that was erong with America. I was a Scoop Jackson liberal in those days but my change of direction began with Reagan, with the impotence of Carter and his seeking to blame Americans for his failures, and with The Culture of Narcissism.
I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark here and guess that it’s whoever the person that wrote the article is voting against.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder has nothing to do with political issues. It’s a serious psychological issue.
You’re right.
Unfortunately, some narcissists seem to make excellent politicians.
That’s because most politicians are narcissists.
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As re: O'Bummer, he is starting to suffer from a shortage of what is called "narcissistic supply."
He was always put on a pedestal...and now he's not.
Sucks to be O'Bummer.
In the future, he will see nothing but negative input about himself.
Painful, but well deserved.
Drug overdose...another presidential first.
Narcissistic supply is a drug...and when one drug is cut off, the user will substitute others in its place (in this case...pot, coke, amyl nitrate).
And he will nightly head for the local gay bathhouse.
His crash is coming. Can't come soon enough.
Wouldn’t be at all surprised.
Interestingly, Lasch was never much of a joiner of communist/Marxist parties (as possibly opposed to “organizations” such as the Socialist Scholars Conference).
Williams remained a softcore Marxist and kept some academic status for the Left.
Genovese defected, over time, from being a hardcore Viet Cong supporter to being an intellectual anti-communist (and possibly more traditional liberal - I’m not clear on this side of him). He even condemned his support for the VC and Hanoi during the Vietnam war. Now that took guts and the hardcore Left went after him with a vengeance.
Obama is a super-Narcissist with very strong Marxist and Islamic propensities. Also, he views himself as the “Avenging Angel” of Black Americans even though he is not one. Perhaps a Munchhausen By Proximity role.
Also he is so filled with hatred of America, having been raised by Marxists and communists and having them for friends and advisors all his life - father, Marxist; mother - leftist; grandfather - communist sympathizer; Frank Marshall Davis - CPUSA operative, Hawaii; neighbors - reds and hardcore leftists; Canter - Soviet asset/CPUSA; Rose - Communist sympathizer by own admission since the late 1940’s; Axelrod - mentored by Rose and Canter; Jarret - from a leftist in-law family; Anita Dunn - advisor - Maoist; Bill Ayers - colleague in Chicago - psychopathic communist terrorist, along with his wife (probably Cuban trained while a member of the Cuban DGI/KGB created Venceremos Brigade, etc).
In other words, perhaps even uttered by Freud, “this man is one mixed up muther f*cker”.
BTTT
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Spectacularly, the current president.
Williams was the kind of leftist who'd put in a good word for Herbert Hoover or John Quincy Adams, but he was never going to become a conservative.
The advantage of models like Adams and Hoover for him was that they were very far from both today's liberals and today's conservatives.
It might have been interesting to see how Williams would have reacted if, say, Ron Paul became the Republican nominee, but I suspect he would have found a way to stay with his friends on the left.
IIRC Williams dedicated one of his works to Quincy Adams, quoting from the famed Independence Day 1821 speech, “America goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy...” And when I said conservative, I meant in comparison to the Progressive mob we have today.
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