Posts matching tags 'psychopaths'
2003/4/8
Is George W. Bush a psychopath? This piece examines the evidence, comparing the clinical definition of the psychopathic personality syndrome to an article profiling Bush and other media. (And then, of course, are those stories of him blowing up frogs as a small child, and taunting death-row inmates as Governor of Texas.)
Of course, this isn't a valid clinical test, but it suggests that he may be one. Which makes one wonder what proportion of politicians are psychopaths (a useful mutation for that line of work).
Hare puts the average North American incidence of psychopathy at 1 per cent of the population, but the damage they inflict on society is out of all proportion to their numbers, not least because they gravitate to high-profile professions that offer the promise of control over others, such as law, politics, business management ... and journalism.
(via Charlie's Diary)
2003/3/11
Rant of the day: The USA has been taken over by non-human life forms.
An individual human being has dozens of often-conflicting drives: fear, charity, hunger, hatred, boredom, fatigue, disgust, inspiration, and so forth. Corporations generally only display one drive: a desire to make as much money as they possibly can. A human being who acted like that would be considered an utter psychopath--but when a board of directors acts in such a way, they're rewarded with bonuses.
When a corporation goes public, though, it often displays behavior similar to that of an animal whose nervous system has been taken over by a parasite. Its motivation changes from long-term sustainability to maximizing shareholder value on the short-term, ignoring such irrelevant side-conditions as ecological or social damage, plunging worker morale, or political instability.
And more. (Btw, are corporations legally considered persons in Australia/Europe/the UK/elsewhere, or is it just a US thing?)