Who Are These People?

And why do we care?

Why do so many Americans fawn over the rich? Why are the wealthy so admired? I know some partial answers; I know Americans, or American white males, in particular, see the world through a lens that lumps everyone into two categories: winners and losers. On social media the other day there was a story about a man who has lived in the US for forty years but is being deported. The comments were astounding and yet utterly predictable. Men said he was a ‘dumb ass’ for not getting his citizenship. Compassion? That’s for sissies. For losers.

Because according to the cultural impairment of toxic masculinity, real manly men don't cry:

“Being cut off from our own natural self-compassion is one of the greatest impairments we can suffer.”

— Gabor Mate

Misdirected aggression maybe?

People are given an external enemy to hate, an enemy on which to focus their frustration, resentment, and aggression. The system encourages managed protest about issues that are themselves of little consequence. Gun control for one. Nobody talks about the MILLIONS of dead at the hands of the US military over the last twenty years. Nobody protests 900 military bases globally. What are those bases there for? Oh, to protect us….from *enemies*. The US needs its enemies.

American culture sucks!

And any opportunity to ridicule and demean other cultures, so it seems, is readily embraced. Americans are, by and large, an astoundingly mean spirited people. At least white america. Snarky, snide, suspicious, vainglorious and provincial; THAT is the great USA, as well as Puritanical, prudish, narcissistic, and generally xenophobic.

Nobody does propaganda better than America:

I do wonder what these people are thinking. I mean do they know something I don’t? And the list of propagandists, both in media and governments throughout the west, is quite long. In fact finding someone who objects to this war mongering is much harder. There are some, of course, but they are largely invisible in mainstream media.

What does the ruling class want?

Does the ruling class have an agenda?

Why do they want to promote conflict? To make more money? If so, what can that extra money buy them? What does John Bolton not have that he wants? What does Rachel Maddow want that she can’t afford? This has always troubled me. When I ask such questions I usually get an answer like “they want power” or “they want control;”. But why? What does more power bring you? The ability to create institutions in your own image, in accordance with your ideological leanings? Is that it? If this is correct, for some, what does being able to shape institutional authority actually bring you? What benefits? Is it some moral demand for change?

Is Mike Pompeo driven by moral or ethical issues? What do the Clinton’s want? Are they motivated by a moral calling? What does Chuck Shurmer want, or Nancy Pelosi? They lead extraordinarily comfortable privileged lives. What would an even limited conflict with Russia or China bring such people? Are the Koch brothers concerned with the happiness of the people of the world? Of course not. They are, in their minds, concerned with their own happiness. But does promoting their irrational ideology bring them a feeling of well being?

An article at Counterpunch says It Is Us

As in "we have met the enemy and it is us" I guess. Personally, I prefer blaming the ruling class oligarchy and our racist, genocidal founders.

The author attempts to answer the question of what their goal is, by digging deeper than more money, more power and more control. My answer is that a sociopath is gonna do what a sociopath does.

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Alligator Ed's picture

My answer is that a sociopath is gonna do what a sociopath does.

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earthling1's picture

The more wealth a person obtains, the more they must have.
At some point, they become unable to stop until they have ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD.
Mike Myers caricature "Dr. Evil" best personifises these people, using the term " people" very loosely.
For, at some level of extreme wealth, they cease to be actual human beings and morph into monsters of differing degrees of malevolence, some feigning benevolence successfully.
There is only one known cure for this disorder.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

@earthling1

...There is only one known cure for this disorder.

So, we should be investing in guillotines? Or producing them? Or both?

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

and I swear they seem to be the only supposedly "successful" people in this country. From what I see, they are much in demand in America, anyone who can lie relentlessly and constantly and not feel the slightest bit of shame or even embarrassment is how one gets success in this country. And the only success that counts is monetary, all other attributes are not only not important but are seen as a detriment. Too honest for your own good? Loser! Feel guilty fucking over others? Bigger Loser! Care about other people's welfare? The Biggest Loser of all!

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

Lenzabi's picture

They also paid for Institutions and think tanks and foundations to come up with ways to make it so that they could prosper at our expense as the hornswoggled think that they too can become one of the wealthy themselves.

The way the news media portrays wealth as opposed as to how they do stories on the poor, demonizing the poor while near beatification of the wealthy.

TV shows like "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" and that ilk of garbage entertainment for the masses to consume, furthering the idea in their heads that one day they too may afford such nice things for themselves.

Basically, the wealthy are following the old P.T. Barnum philosophy of a "Sucker is born every minute" and folks fooled into thinking thy too can be a wealthy will drop their compassion and humanity to try aspiring to such low levels as the sociopath and psycho can achieve and get away with.

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So long, and thanks for all the fish

... My answer is that a sociopath is gonna do what a sociopath does.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.