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Are right wingers sociopaths ?


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2012 Sep 3, 1:09pm   35,949 views  65 comments

by marcus   ➕follow (6)   💰tip   ignore  

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/09/02/sociopathic/

Ayn Rand and the Sociopathic Society or ‘How I Learned to Stop Loving My Neighbor and Despise Them Instead.’

A fat, smug bastard friend of mine (that’s his chosen nickname, The FSB) pointed out to me some time ago that pretty much ALL conservative politics are selfish at their core. Take any conservative position on a social or economic issue and boil away all the rhetoric and what you are left with is “I got mine, screw you.”

I thought about that for a while. I suppose its simplicity struck me as being a little too easy, a little too sound bitey. So I sat down and made a list:

No gay marriage – Homosexuality makes me uncomfortable (due to misguided religious influence or poor upbringing or both) so gay people should be punished because of my beliefs. Stoopid homos…

No welfare, food stamps or Medicaid – I’m not poor enough to qualify for these programs so my tax dollars shouldn’t pay for it. Stoopid poor people and by poor I really mean black…

No health care reform – Why should I help pay for other people who are sick when I’m not? Stoopid sick people…

No environmental protection – Environmental laws makes things more expensive for me and that’s bad. I also don’t understand the concept of long term impact; I want cheap gas and gadgets now! Stoopid…ah, you get the idea…

Don’t raise my taxes – EVER. The government can find its own money to pay for stuff.

Medicare – Young conservatives: Why should I help pay for old people and the disabled?
Older conservatives: Keep your government hands off my Medicare!

Social Security – Young conservatives: Sacrifices need to be made, people should take care of themselves, not depend on handouts from people like me.
Older conservatives: Sacrifices need to be made BUT DON’T YOU TOUCH MY SOCIAL SECURITY!

No abortion – The government should tell women what to do with their bodies because I don’t like abortion.

No prayer in school? – GOVERNMENT OVERREACH!! I like The Jesus™ so everyone should have to listen to my prayers. No Muslim prayers, though. That’s indoctrination.

This list goes on for some time. The more I thought about it, the more obvious it became. A conservative society is a borderline sociopathic society.

Dictionary.com defines a sociopath as: a person, as a psychopathic personality, whose behavior is antisocial and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience.

Conservapedia says a sociopath is “someone with a personality disorder characterized by an antisocial behavior and an absence of moral responsibility or social conscience.” (I would have cited Wikipedia but we all know they’re a liberal front for George Soros, I think I heard that on Glenn Beck)

The key words here are “moral responsibility” and “social conscience”. Conservative politics lack these essential characteristics. In their place we find greed, hate, lies, an inability to empathize and an overblown sense of entitlement and self importance. In other words: all the indicators of a seriously disturbed person. Except it’s a political philosophy and it has millions of disciples.

But Justin, you filthy liberal scum, how can you say that?

Well, that’s kind of easy. Who is the guiding light of conservatives (and Libertarians) all the way from corrupt CEOs down to easily manipulated Tea Party fanatics? Ayn Rand.

Ayn Rand’s specific worldview was that “The pursuit of his (man’s) own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.”[i] This is in direct opposition to a functional humane society where the whole must be cohesive in order to provide for its weakest and most vulnerable. You’ll notice my inclusion of the word “humane”. You can have a perfectly functional society without a shred of humanity in it. Take, for example, the Industrial Age societies. They literally built the foundations for the world we know and yet they allowed or even encouraged child labor; essentially the slavery of children. Speaking of slavery, they had THAT, too, and no matter what Haley Barbour, Pat Buchanan and the other apologists revisionists would have you think, it was horrible and inhumane.

Ayn Rand’s ideal world is one where society has no say in your actions short of you physically assaulting another person. “The only function of the government, in such a society, is the task of protecting man’s rights, i.e., the task of protecting him from physical force.”[ii] One is forced to wonder what she would make of Wall Street’s Epic Fail. Rand was a big champion of no regulation at all. Close your eyes and imagine what Wall Street could do with even less regulation than it had before. Think of all the possibilities. Taste the freedom.

Are you done vomiting yet?

Do you know why Rand’s laissez-faire utopia would fail? It’s the exact same reason a socialist utopia would fail; people are imperfect. We are greedy, envious, petty and selfish. There will always be some among us who will better themselves specifically to the detriment of others because they simply don’t care. There will always be those who, as they gain power and wealth, will want more at any expense. We saw this in action in communist Russia. It was rife with the kind of corruption described so very well in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Everyone was equal, but some were more equal than others.

We see it today in that bastion of capitalism: America and its budding Oligarchy. As wealth and power becomes ever more concentrated, the rest of us suffer. Any attempts to remedy the situation by imposing restrictions on the rich and powerful to keep them from fleecing the country is met with howls of class warfare, Socialism and government overreach. Any attempts to remove any of the sweetheart deals in place allowing those same anti-government rich and powerful to pay less taxes (or no taxes at all) or to reap billions in unnecessary subsidies are also met with howls of unfair treatment.

Now that’s what I call having your cake and eating it, too.

These people are sociopaths, pure and simple. As long as they get what they “deserve”, it doesn’t matter what happens to anyone else. Homeless families are not their problem. Malnourished children are not their problem. Uninsured sick people are not their problem. The elderly reduced to abject poverty (as they were before the advent of Social Security) are not their problem.

Ayn Rand and her delusional rantings provide a rationalization for this immoral behavior. After the Enron scandal and again after the crash in 2008, CEOs started to reread Atlas Shrugged. “CEOs put the book down knowing in their hearts that they are not the greedy crooks they are portrayed to be in today’s business headlines but are heroes like the characters in Rand’s novel.”[iii]

Heroes? Really? Is that so?

I would love to walk a group of Wall Street executives out to a Tea Party rally and have them explain to the crowd all the ways these “heroes” have stolen away the TPers money and future. Then announce that it’s OK because Ayn Rand says self interest and greed are good so whatever these “heroes” do in pursuit of that goal is morally just, even necessary. I figure the cognitive dissonance would make at least half of the crowd’s heads explode.

Mahatma Ghandi said a society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable. By this very simple criterion, the conservative sociopathic society would be found wanting and yet the conservative movement claims to be the party of God, family and human decency. It is none of these things as we’ll examine in my next liberal descent into madness, “Republican Jesus.”

#politics

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1   Patrick   2012 Sep 3, 1:16pm  

Saw a funny fake street sign today:

"Slow Thinkers Keep Right"

2   Bigsby   2012 Sep 3, 2:50pm  

Nice post.
Too many on here seem to lack empathy with their fellow man.
Just as one example, I, along with a lot of other Europeans, find your healthcare debate bizarre. What is so problematic about greater government involvement in medical care? It doesn't strike me as an area where the profit motive should be a driving force. But oh no, any mention of universal healthcare and it's commie this, socialist that. No mention of the fact that a great number of countries manage such universal care at far lower cost and far greater beneficial impact to society as a whole than the largest economic power in the world (and yes, check the WHO list and GDP spend - the US doesn't fair so well on that list for a country with by far the highest GDP spend on healthcare of any major industrialized nation).
Seriously, why do so many Americans find the idea of say a French based system (or whichever other highly rated system you care to pick) such a threat?

3   futuresmc   2012 Sep 3, 3:17pm  

Ayn Rand's novels are contradictory, namely, her heros are supposed to act in thier own self interest, yet they refuse to loot like the villians. The villians loot out of self interest, yet that is glossed over. Also glossed over is the fact that often those Rand would classify as moochers produce far more than those she'd classify as producers, they are just denied a moral wage. The assumption is that all moochers and looters behave in a stereotypical villian-like manner, moochers refusing to do any labor and looters looting for the sheer power of it, when reality is not so black and white. She has some good ideas, but then so did Marx. When rubber meets road, both come up short.

4   FortWayne   2012 Sep 3, 3:18pm  

Just look at human history, it's a history of abuse of humankind by their own. And that system is live and well today.

We are a bit more humane today, but far from greatness.

As far as Ayn Rand, her idea of a hero is someone who looks out for himself, but accomplishes something. A villain would simply take from others to enrich himself. That's the difference. Her villain would be Mitt Romney.

5   thomaswong.1986   2012 Sep 3, 3:21pm  

marcus says

Social Security – Young conservatives: Sacrifices need to be made, people should take care of themselves, not depend on handouts from people like me.
Older conservatives: Sacrifices need to be made BUT DON’T YOU TOUCH MY SOCIAL SECURITY!

would you outlaw 401K, IRAs and other personal savings / retirement accounts ?

is there a problem with individuals buying US Treasury Bonds into their IRAs, 401K ?

6   thomaswong.1986   2012 Sep 3, 3:25pm  

marcus says

No abortion – The government should tell women what to do with their bodies because I don’t like abortion.

Radical Hilary calling for Zero Abortions as rare !

Abortion is "a sad, even tragic choice to many, many women," said (Hilary) Clinton. Then she went further: "There is no reason why government cannot do more to educate and inform and provide assistance so that the choice guaranteed under our constitution either does not ever have to be exercised or only in very rare circumstances."

7   thomaswong.1986   2012 Sep 3, 3:37pm  

marcus says

No welfare, food stamps or Medicaid – I’m not poor enough to qualify for these programs so my tax dollars shouldn’t pay for it. Stoopid poor people and by poor I really mean black…

No health care reform – Why should I help pay for other people who are sick when I’m not? Stoopid sick people…

No environmental protection – Environmental laws makes things more expensive for me and that’s bad. I also don’t understand the concept of long term impact; I want cheap gas and gadgets now! Stoopid…ah, you get the idea…

both black and white are poor because our govt discourages industries from employing them in US factories.. and overburden them with regulations and taxes.

the real question is what will the US govt do to encourage work and job creation ? Pretty much every Liberal has written off mfg in our country and rather see fewer working in retail and malls.

8   thomaswong.1986   2012 Sep 3, 3:44pm  

marcus says

No prayer in school? – GOVERNMENT OVERREACH!! I like The Jesus™ so everyone should have to listen to my prayers. No Muslim prayers, though. That’s indoctrination.

Learn our history of the Western Tradition and History for once.. Our founding fathers made a hobby of it all their lives.. Yes many are from Europe .. even Elizabeth Warren. Thats where our tradition comes from.. Have a Beer and a smile...

9   marcus   2012 Sep 3, 10:52pm  

I guess wrong wong is a little sensitive with his realization that his political pov is all a bout selfishness.

Hey, don't feel bad wong. You're not alone.

10   Ignatius Pugg   2012 Sep 3, 11:31pm  

thomaswong.1986 says

the real question is what will the US govt do to encourage work and job creation ? Pretty much every Liberal has written off mfg in our country and rather see fewer working in retail and malls.

Mr Douchey,
Not sure how you are reasoning that "liberals" are against manufacturing jobs. It seems to me that Obama stuck his neck out to save manufacturing jobs in Detroit and also tried like hell to upstart a green manufacturing sector in the US with the stimulus plan, which may have had some slow growing effectiveness. There is nothing anti-jobs about supporting a living wage and environmentally sustainable industries. These "liberal" priorities just happen to be wise, while blind faith in instant dividends in the absence of social infrastructure are simply retrogressive. Poop head.

11   anonymous   2012 Sep 3, 11:50pm  

A conservative is a statesman who is enamored of existing evils, distinguished from the liberal, whose wishes are to replace them with others - Bierce

I'm amazed at how many people still fall trap to the so called two party, label-a-thon. Conservative, liberal, democrat, republican,,,,,its impossible to identify with any one faction

12   marcus   2012 Sep 3, 11:59pm  

Thomasina.1986 says

would you outlaw 401K, IRAs and other personal savings / retirement accounts ?

Just because one is in favor of keeping social security safe, doesn't mean they are opposed to other retirement planning on top of it. In fact that's necessary.

But I think we all know that the social security surplus should not have been given to the wealthy via the Bush tax cuts. IT's mind boggling if you think about it, and the one of the best examples I can think of demonstrating the farce that is the right wing in America.

You better go tune in to some Glenn or some Rush or your favorite radio program before you realize what an idiot you've been.

13   Shaman   2012 Sep 4, 2:11am  

The key to life is balance. Lean too far to the left or the right and you fall right off the tight rope of morality to descend into . . . Wait for it . . . Cannibal anarchy!

14   zzyzzx   2012 Sep 4, 2:51am  

thomaswong.1986 says

Pretty much every Liberal has written off mfg in our country

I agree. Liberals HATE manufacturing. But they are perfectly OK buying stuff made in overseas factories by children, non-union labor, and in countries that don't have or enforce any emission standards.

15   Tenpoundbass   2012 Sep 4, 3:20am  

And Liberals are the humanitarians they are.
They want to create destitute wards of the state out of the Middle class so they can join in on the Poor's plight.

You Libs need to get out and see the world. The poor in this country live in Ritz Carlton compared to the poor in the rest of the world.

Liberals are selfish too they just have different motivation. But make no mistake they have a screw you, I's gots mine attitude, while they hide behind the poor and the minorities(what ever that word even means in this mixed race/cultre country we live in today).

16   anonymous   2012 Sep 4, 4:30am  

No captian shuddup, you're wrong, so you shut up.

And, you're an idiot

17   freak80   2012 Sep 4, 4:36am  

errc says

A conservative is a statesman who is enamored of existing evils, distinguished from the liberal, whose wishes are to replace them with others - Bierce

That sums it up nicely, I think.

18   anonymous   2012 Sep 4, 5:09am  

http://www.cracked.com/article_14990_what-monkeysphere.html

snip

That really annoying person you know, the one who's always spouting bullshit, the person who always thinks they're right? Well, the odds are that for somebody else, you're that person. So take the amount you think you know, reduce it by 99.999%, and then you'll have an idea of how much you actually know regarding things outside your Monkeysphere.

19   Tenpoundbass   2012 Sep 4, 5:13am  

There's just not enough Likes and Dislikes in a Liberal biased website in the world that will get this Motherfucker reelected. You guys all know that right?

Right HRHMedia? The Liberal social media guru schill the Obama Super Pac money paid to come to Patnet, and abuse the conservative members, and indiscriminately dislike all their posts.

Dislike me all you want, my Shuddupbots will speak loud and clear come November.

errc, I'm proud to be an idiot, when compared to the educated lot in this country.

20   marcus   2012 Sep 4, 10:39am  

CaptainShuddup says

I'm proud to be an idiot, when compared to the educated lot in this country

That pretty much sums up the attitude of the right winger.

"Just because I's stupid, that don't mean I isn't all equal and shit, and it don't mean I can't tell what's best for this country neither."

21   Bigsby   2012 Sep 4, 10:46am  

Ruki says

CaptainShuddup says

errc, I'm proud to be an idiot, when compared to the educated lot in this country

Damn straight!

Romney Is Only Going To Win Because Obama Fucked Up

Congratulations. You are a pair of self-confessed idiots. Honesty is the best policy as they say.

22   Tenpoundbass   2012 Sep 4, 10:48am  

Bigsby says

Congratulations. You are a pair of self-confessed idiots.

You indulge me.

23   thomaswong.1986   2012 Sep 4, 1:12pm  

Ignatius Pugg says

It seems to me that Obama stuck his neck out to save manufacturing jobs in Detroit and also tried like hell to upstart a green manufacturing sector in the US with the stimulus plan, which may have had some slow growing effectiveness.

Manufacturing or were they Union jobs ?

Politics picking winners and losers..

there certainly was no help for Solyndra (non union jobs) and his personal pet project....

24   thomaswong.1986   2012 Sep 4, 1:25pm  

CaptainShuddup says

Dislike me all you want, my Shuddupbots will speak loud and clear come November.

Righteous !

25   thomaswong.1986   2012 Sep 4, 1:34pm  

Ignatius Pugg says

There is nothing anti-jobs about supporting a living wage and environmentally sustainable industries. These "liberal" priorities just happen to be wise, while blind faith in instant dividends in the absence of social infrastructure are simply retrogressive.

is that the new technocrat word of the day.. Social Infrastructure. Our "infrastructure" was created by tax dollars created from jobs REAL jobs that rebuilt the world...

YOU NEED JOBS FIRST to get taxes to build and fix your roads...

No Jobs, No Taxes No Roads ...

and if you dont like it... you will not have a JOB like OBAMA very shortly because someone will the jobs and much much better... !

26   Vicente   2012 Sep 4, 1:52pm  

thomaswong.1986 says

YOU NEED JOBS FIRST to get taxes to build and fix your roads...

Where did the money for the interstate highway infrastucture come from? Which pieces were built by industrialists or banks? Was it the tremendous demand? Did we scrimp and save and build one little bit at a time as we came up with the cash for it? No.

Interstate highways were a massive defense and civil Federal project, a HUGE waste of money. A boondoggle of seemingly insane proportion. And secondarily as an investment in a more mobile future.

It fascinates me sometimes how the people who are so derisive of anything the government does, frequently drive on an Eisenhower highway on the way to their Teabagger rally.

27   thomaswong.1986   2012 Sep 4, 1:57pm  

Vicente says

Where did the money for the interstate highway infrastucture come from?

Jobs rebuilding Europe! Booming industries higher taxes collected ... thats how! Else no jobs, no taxes no highway...

Silicon Valley..New Industries New Markets New Jobs... more taxes collected... build a city/roads... this was at one time all farmlands... it certainly wasnt Govt that build the SouthBay cities.

28   Vicente   2012 Sep 4, 2:07pm  

thomaswong.1986 says

Booming industries higher taxes collected ... thats how!

Except industries found ways to evade taxes, so those "booming industries" did less and less for bottom line revenue. Tech industries are famously good at routing their profits through some country in Texas of offshore to hide from taxes. In recent decades middle class wages have stagnated as more and more goes to the 1%.

29   thomaswong.1986   2012 Sep 4, 2:29pm  

Vicente says

Except industries found ways to evade taxes, so those "booming industries" did less and less for bottom line revenue.

in the 1950-60s ? only the MOB was evading taxes.

30   thomaswong.1986   2012 Sep 4, 2:38pm  

Vicente says

Tech industries are famously good at routing their profits through some country in Texas of offshore to hide from taxes. In recent decades middle class wages have stagnated as more and more goes to the 1%

There were no tax heavens when CA tech companies started their boom years..

Again its Laughable to suggest "hiding profits" ... practically impossible!

Besides in the sales to foreign countries was all from US soil in USD audited and taxed.

As if somehow the IRS doesnt review/reconcile SEC filings to the IRS tax return.

31   marcus   2012 Sep 4, 2:43pm  

thomaswong.1986 says

only the MOB was evading taxes

Right. The top marginal rate was 90% and only the mob was evading taxes. Are you kidding ? Back then a lot of compensation to high level people was in the form of perks that were expenses to the company.

And tax shelters for individuals were huge.

Hey, that's another reason taxes should be raised. To increase investment in tax shelter vehicles that are productive. Reengineer the tax code to make the best tax avoidence investments also the most productive. Alternative energy, various types of r&d. I started this paragraph as a joke, but I think it makes some sense.

Some argue lower taxes increase investment. But if taxes are higher with big tax breaks for certain kinds of investments, wouldn't that be even better ?

32   thomaswong.1986   2012 Sep 4, 3:14pm  

marcus says

tax shelter vehicles that are productive.

there are temporary and permanent tax difference.. not so much as the media calls shelters.

eventually you do pay the tax down the road.. it even might be at higher rates.

Majority of the Perm differences create higher taxable income, while temp only deffer them to a later date. Pay less in years 1-2 and more in years 4-5.

33   freak80   2012 Sep 5, 12:20am  

In the end, it's all just apes fighting over limited resources. Its been going on for millions of years.

Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!

34   Dan8267   2012 Sep 5, 12:33am  

CaptainShuddup says

And Liberals are the humanitarians they are.
They want to create destitute wards of the state out of the Middle class so they can join in on the Poor's plight.

You Libs need to get out and see the world. The poor in this country live in Ritz Carlton compared to the poor in the rest of the world.

Once again, you are confusing liberal with the left. The left is pro-socialism. The right is anti-socialism. Liberal philosophy does not even address this issue as it's a cost distribution mechanism not a civil or human rights issue or a matter of freedom.

35   bob2356   2012 Sep 5, 1:03am  

Vicente says

Except industries found ways to evade taxes, so those "booming industries" did less and less for bottom line revenue.

I think you mean avoid taxes not evade . Tax evasion is not paying taxes owed which is illegal. Tax avoidance is minimizing your tax bill buy all legal means (aka tax breaks) available.

36   marcus   2012 Sep 5, 1:06am  

thomaswong.1986 says

eventually you do pay the tax down the road.. it even might be at higher rates.

Majority of the Perm differences create higher taxable income, while temp only deffer them to a later date. Pay less in years 1-2 and more in years 4-5.

What, you think 401Ks are what I mean by tax shelter ? It must be because you are young and because tax rates are so low that you have no idea what a tax shelter is.

Are you a college student ?

37   freak80   2012 Sep 5, 1:25am  

bob2356 says

I think you mean avoid taxes not evade . Tax evasion is not paying taxes owed which is illegal. Tax avoidance is minimizing your tax bill buy all legal means (aka tax breaks) available.

According to Kent Brockman of Channel 6 News Springfield, tax evasion and tax avoision are the same thing.

38   Auntiegrav   2012 Sep 5, 1:54am  


Saw a funny fake street sign today:

"Slow Thinkers Keep Right"

I like the implied humor, but disagree with the statement. I consider myself "so far right that I'm Left, and John Birch is a commie"(someone else told me that). If one follows the logic of the conservative point of view (self-made man, etc), then they have to follow it ALL the way through the costs and benefits, the needs and resources. When one does that, no matter if you start out believing that God put us all here to spread our word, then they would have to learn science and evolution and all of the natural processes that are involved in what a human being IS (not what they believe them to be). After a thorough examination of reality, one will see the absurdity of all human belief systems and the evils which come from belief in any "righteousness", as nature has no "meaning", no "right" or "left": just action and results, based on living organisms that cooperatively contribute more to their future than they consume in resources. All of the human System of systems and the political machinations are as temporary as our population explosion based on petroleum. In a petri dish where the pathogen doubles every 30 seconds, the dish is only half consumed at 30 seconds before doomsday. Conservatives as well as Liberals seem to believe that we can always 'fix' the last 100 years in the next 30 seconds: because they only see what was "accomplished" in the past, not what was consumed or the rate of consumption growth vs. the available resources. By the time humanity allows reality into its model of the universe (the fantasy we all live in), it is too late to become a different species (we are now Homo Consumpticus). There is actually very little difference between the Democrats and the Republicans on this. They are both trying to convince the public that no matter how bad things really are, "They" will continue the comforts of the status quo and expand them in some magical way, regardless of facts. The only logical response to overconsumption is a reduction in our economy. No sane politician can make that statement (sanity is relative to societal 'normal', not reality).
Evolution happens. Try to keep up.

39   Auntiegrav   2012 Sep 5, 1:59am  

freak80 says

In the end, it's all just apes fighting over limited resources. Its been going on for millions of years.

Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!

Yes, but meaningless is not the same as pointless, nor is it hopeless or useless. We just seem to make it come out that way because humanity is all about the Dream, not the reality. Meaning is part of the marketing of dreams. It works great on the belief mechanism in the human brain: until the resources run out. We have invented mechanisms in the past to keep from doing things that are self-destructive, but for every "regulation", someone comes along to "deregulate" the regulations: usually with a mob or a pile of money they made by avoiding the regulations.

40   Auntiegrav   2012 Sep 5, 2:08am  

The first big government project was only possible because of government backed bonds and land grants: the Transcontinental Railroad. Who was the first Champion of Big Government? The first Republican, Abe Lincoln.
How did it actually get built? By men who created fake companies and swindled the taxpayers. Thus it has been.
How did American companies get so much money to rebuild Europe after WWII? Pretty easily, since their weapons destroyed all of their competition, they had a monopoly on almost anything that had to be made in a factory.
Who created the EPA? Richard M. Nixon.
Who signed NAFTA into law? Bill Clinton
Tell me again how we are supposed to distinguish Left and Right in America? By made up rules about "Life" and "Choice" and tax rates on a minority of the population?
To what future's end are we actually working?

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