Forbes-5 ways to shut down a narcissist (3 years old but very relevant)

[OregonBlue]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenberglas/2012/05/21/5-ways-to-thwart-a-narcissists-most-pernicious-propensity-setting-you-up-then-shooting-you-down/#7781c8cd2545

Narcissists Promise You Gold But Deliver Pyrite. If you want a primer on narcissism, watch Oliver Stone’s movie Wall Street: It illustrates how corporate raider and supreme narcissist Gordon Gekko used every nuance of splitting in the book to grind those close to him into the dirt.

Take, for example, how Gekko told Bud Fox, a broker who emulated his every move, “I’m gonna make you rich, Bud Fox.” In the end, Fox made a fortune working for Gekko, but he was indicted by the SEC for insider trading –the “gift” that made Gekko appreciate him— and, ultimately, jailed.

What can you do about narcissists’ over-promising? Keep your expectations of what they will deliver as low as possible, and understand they will give you only what they need to sustain your involvement with them. When you no longer serve a function in their life, they’ll dump you. Until that day comes, play their game: Never expect anything from them you do not pay for— in advance and in excess of fair market value.

Narcissists Never Like You, Care About You, or Become Your Friend. Gordon Gekko also told Bud Fox, “If you need a friend, get a dog.” The savagery of this remark lies in its killing two sacred cows with one blow: (a) Gekko was ostensibly Fox’s friend, so the remark gave lie to something Fox valued, and, (b) Gekko denigrated the concept of friendship, rendering it no more valuable than a canine’s bonding reflex.

2 pages long and very well written.

[DonCoquixote]

1. can democracy's Achilles hell be

that it needs narcissists to be able to run in it?

[OregonBlue]

2. I guess we are about to find out what happens when a psychotic narcissist runs a

powerful democracy.

[milestogo]

3. My dog doesn't talk, but he's a much better friend than the

family members who are narcissists.