Help Wanted: Only Psychopaths need apply

[Ichingcarpenter]

For our top banking jobs



Beware corporate psychopaths – they are still occupying positions of power


In a paper recently published in the Journal of Business Ethics entitled "The Corporate Psychopaths: Theory of the Global Financial Crisis", Clive R Boddy identifies these people as psychopaths.

"They are," he says, "simply the 1 per cent of people who have no conscience or empathy." And he argues: "Psychopaths, rising to key senior positions within modern financial corporations, where they are able to influence the moral climate of the whole organisation and yield considerable power, have largely caused the [banking] crisis'.

And Mr Boddy is not alone. In Jon Ronson's widely acclaimed book The Psychopath Test, Professor Robert Hare told the author: "I should have spent some time inside the Stock Exchange as well. Serial killer psychopaths ruin families. Corporate and political and religious psychopaths ruin economies. They ruin societies."


snip..


He then makes an astonishing confession: "At one major investment bank for which I worked, we used psychometric testing to recruit social psychopaths because their characteristics exactly suited them to senior corporate finance roles."
Here was one of the biggest investment banks in the world seeking psychopaths as recruits.




http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/brian-basham-beware-corporate-psychopaths--they-are-still-occupying-positions-of-power-6282502.html?origin=internalSearch

[ProfessionalLeftist]

1. I've been grousing about this problem for years

Nice to see it confirmed by experts, particularly Robert Hare.

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. good ammo to use

against the banksters

[NJCher]

3. up close and personal

My neighbors are psychopaths, I think. They are executives in the pharmaceutical industry. What's troubling is they are also an M.D. and a Ph.D., too. Now how do I know they are psychopaths? Well, how they treat their dog, for example. They chain the dog up and leave it out in cold weather. (FYI, I rescue the dog and bring her in my house). They will not spend one penny on this poor dog, other than the most basic of food. They did, however, (unasked) reimburse me $100 for the toys and treats I bought for her.

They pay no attention to the rules of the town. Example: burn tree debris. TOTALLY AGAINST THE RULES HERE. They don't recycle. TOTALLY AGAINST THE RULES HERE.

One of them is directly in a position handling programs that essentially buy off doctors to get them to use the company's pharmaceuticals.

Four or five houses, four or five expensive sports cars, yet they won't even buy their dog a
bone or put up a gate so she can roam around their sizable,expensive property. What kind of values are these?

To speak to these people, you would think they were perfectly lovely.

So that's what I see, right in my own neighborhood.


Cher

[AnotherMcIntosh]

4. Aren't the police in their Darth-Vader outfits front-line psychopaths for the corporate psychopaths?

If psychopaths inherently know to hire additional psychopaths, what's the best way to deal with them?

Is there any solution except to get out of their way?

[Scruffy1]

10. Police are screened the same way.

I think the most commonly used test is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. I just saw a case where a lawsuit was filed by a man who claimed he was discriminated against by a police department because he scored too high on the intelligence test. The court sided with the employer. It would be interesting to see what kind of personalities police forces are looking for. Maybe someone out there has some experience/knowledge in this area.

[backscatter712]

22. I remember seeing Ray Lewis talking about this.

He brought up this exact personality test, and said that police departments will use these tests to screen out anyone who's too sensitive or empathetic. So the only people getting hired as cops are the hardass borderline psychopaths.

They also screen out anyone who's too smart - they don't want cops getting ideas in their heads and asking questions about their orders. They don't want critical thinkers.

[whathehell]

26. Unfair comparison...Being less than a genius does not mean you are a "sociopath".

I know good cops...I'll take the average cop (at least he/she performs a service -- they do come in handy

from time to time) than a useless, theiving CEO any day.

[NJCher]

33. a little insight

I'm not sure on the police officers, but I know that airlines who are hiring pilots screen for people who don't need people. Yeah, there are people like that, and I think the trait is referred to as "need to be close to others," and this even includes their wife and kids.

I think you can see why they would want that trait, as extensive periods away from family members probably causes a lot of new pilots to resign. If they can screen them out with a personality profile, they can save a lot of money/time on recruiting, administrative, etc.

I learned about this from a person who administered such profiles for corporations.

This part of my post is not pertinent to the overall point of the thread, but as a side comment, I would just like to say that I think there are probably some very fine people who have that trait. In other words, just because a person is low on this need doesn't mean they are a bad person. I'll bet, for example, Chesley Sullenberger, the airline pilot who landed so spectacularly safely in NY a few New Years ago, is probably one of those types of people. I am getting this from reading his book, published a year or so after the flight landing.

But back to the police officers. I know one trait police officers exhibit can be described as a world view. When they look at a situation it is with the slant of "What's wrong with this picture?"

It's an interesting question and one I would like answered, too.


Cher

[txlibdem]

5. I, too, have seen it first hand

I worked for 10 years directly with CEOs, company presidents, VPs, Directors. With very few exceptions, psychopaths all. They would kill us all without a second thought if it meant more dollars in their pocket. They are exceptionally smart people and know where is the line and just how far over it they can go without getting caught, or know how to set up scapegoats to take the fall for their profitable crimes.

[Larry Ogg]

6. The OP is a good perspective and introduction to the subject of psychopathy.

I have been studying this subject for five years, and can easily see the influence psychopaths have on society, and this influence is everywhere and spreading like a plague.

It's a disease that involves biology and pathology, and just like any other pathological disease, it has a way of spreading.

The biological organism is the human brain, and the pathology is a genetic anomaly or a departure or deviation from a normal condition (http://www.answers.com/topic/pathology#ixzz1iE2PCOzz) within the brains of psychopaths which leaves them void of conscience. So now you have a carrier of this disease, which is the psychopath. The difference between psychopathy and other pathological diseases is the mode in which this disease "infects and spreads from one organism (i.e. the human brain) to another”.

The way psychopaths infect other humans -- is through the use of "language." They lie, con, and distort reality etc…, while transposing fault, i.e. putting the blame on others, and left unchecked, they have, throughout human history, taken away and destroyed the lives and livelihoods of countless millions. They are the reason empires collapse. And by not knowing what to look for, most people never suspect the malevolent acts of a psychopath, and it is very common for people, especially Conservatives / Right Wing Authoritarians, to highly respect, and even idolize them, all at their own peril. This is a good reason why the word "evil", so rightly describes the disease of psychopathy.

On a political note: In many ways, true liberals are the opposite of psychopaths, in that liberals have a more developed brain and the highest levels of conscience, whereas psychopaths have no conscience at all, but worse than that, they are literally anti-conscience. And when you see Conservative politicians pandering to elite predators, banksters, corporate CEO’s, foreign tyrants et al, while scapegoating the blame onto liberals, it's easy to see the influence of psychopathy.

And when you see them destroying the gains made by liberals, along with the livelihoods of millions of Americans and people world wide, while claiming the moral high ground in order to gain the support of right wing religion. In a spiritual sense, you could say that not only are they anti-conscience, they are also the Antichrist. Have fun explaining that one to right wing Christians who go against everything Christ said, in order to idolize the wolves in sheep’s clothing known as Psychopaths.

The more Right Wing Authoritarian / Conservative a person is, the weaker the immunity, and the more likely that person can be infected by psychopaths influence, and true liberals, having a stronger immunity, are the first one to get a clue that something is wrong, and thus try to counter the influence with reason and conscience. That's why the political and religious right hate liberals. It's all about the anti-conscience psychopaths verses the influence of liberal conscience.

[Ichingcarpenter]

7. Nice explanation for the novices

I'm familiar with the test the guy was talking about in the OP.
It was given sometimes in testing on adolescents I worked with who had severe behavioral problems.

[Larry Ogg]

11. It's a given that a small percent of children are genetic psychopaths.

Unfortunately, most problem children are the products of dysfunctional families, subcultures, and or brain damage due to trauma or substance abuse, or a culture that is influenced by psychopaths, etc. Plus conscience develops and grows with nurture and age, so one shouldn’t be surprised by the lack of it in children, many of whom will grow up to be compassionate and caring adults.

Keep in mind that problems of conscience can surface in a normal person well after a normal childhood, or any time during conception and the end of a life.

So people, who would otherwise have a genetically normal conscience are changed by the external environment, and can experience a lost or diminished conscience. It's like being born with great vision, only to loose it later in life, which means sociopaths remember what conscience is, and psychopaths haven't a clue. Furthermore, conscience is a variable in normal people, which goes from too much to none. And the loss of conscience in normal people is what you call a “Sociopath”, which should not be confused with a “Psychopath”.

The rule is that Psychopathy is inherited, and Sociopathy is acquired. And Sociopathy is acquired in two ways, one being brain damage…, i.e. from trauma or harmful substances such as drugs and or other toxins. The second way of acquiring Sociopathy is distorted language and or reality. For instance, think of a culture where people are erroneously taught that they must kill or be killed (this could be a culture of barbaric cannibals, life in the ghetto, or the normal people who work on Wall Street, trying to preserve their jobs by conforming to the whims of their psychopath department heads or CEO). These people can qualify as being, what people like Robert Hare describe; “Sociopaths are the product of subculture”.

[WingDinger]

14. I also believe you can turn MOST people into sociopaths, thru hypervigilance.

This has been mastered by the rethugs. Hypervigilance does not make you uncaring about all persons, but narrows your ingroup to only family, and some friends.

[Larry Ogg]

17. Absolutely true...

And I can't help to think that the purpose of military boot camp is to wash away the pains of youthful conscience in impressionable young recruits, and thus turn them into sociopaths.

And let's not forget that, when psychopaths get done with their tour of military duty, they can find a lucrative job with police departments, mercenaries, the CIA, and yes... Even the Republican Party.

[demgrrrll]

21. I am reading a great book titled The Optimism Bias. In one section the author talks about Scalia

going hunting with Cheney right before he was scheduled to hear a case about Cheney. The author stated that there is some kind of disconnect in the brain where Scalia genuinely believed he could hear the case and not be biased.

[Larry Ogg]

25. Conservatives are famous for their double standards, hypocrisy, and blindness to self.

Scalia would probably portray himself unbiased, and declare Adolf Hitler a saint.

He should be on trial for treason, and his opinions of what is right, wrong or just, thrown in dust bin of no moral compass.

[whathehell]

27. .......

but your theory would make everyone

who has gone through military training,

including the millions who were drafted,

into psychopaths and that's

simply, but hugely, false.

[Larry Ogg]

37. I was stating what I thought the objective of military boot camp was,

Last edited Mon Jan 2, 2012, 11:11 PM - Edit history (1)

It was not intended to be interpreted, as me saying, how well they were doing at achieving their goal.

And second: You cannot turn someone into a psychopath that wasn’t born a psychopath.

The point I was trying to make was, what causes Sociopathy, and that Sociopathy is different than Psychopathy.

[whathehell]

38. Really?

Then you should have stated it that way.

[Larry Ogg]

39. whatthehell, I try to do my best,

but it's a big subject with lots of examples and angles that allows someone to look at it in different ways.

I will try to do better next time, so thanks for the input; it's appreciated as much as it is valuable.

[freshwest]

8. Reminds me of Thom Hartmann's review of the book 'Snakes in Suits' a while back.

http://blog.buzzflash.com/hartmann/039

[freshwest]

9. Corporation : Clinical Diagnosis (PCLR)

Who doesn't see this in their actions?

&feature=player_embedded

[LiberalEsto]

12. Psychopaths are also running IT departments

My husband has been in IT (currently a database administrator) for almost 30 years. He's found that managers and executives have gotten progressively nastier and nastier to the point that many now are outright sadists.

For example the HR head in his company, who is immune from complaints because he's the useless relative of a company partner, loves to force employees to take long, complicated tests that have nothing whatever to do with their jobs, in order to be eligible for a bonus the next year. About 16 hours of tests, that have to be taken on your own personal time, not at work. IT people are forced to take multiple tests for high-level accounting, which they know absolutely nothing about.

The company hires young "management trainees" to spy on other people in their department while doing absolutely no work that is related to the department's functions. The suck-ups on the staff who play golf with their supervisors end up working about 4 hours a day, mostly doing nothing, while the non-suck-ups work 12 hour days and long weekends. And this is just one company.

[Larry Ogg]

15. I had the same experience 30 plus years ago, a time when I realized the American dream was a scam.

Psychopaths are very good at convincing others that they are the expert in the work they want power over, even though they have less than adequate skills or ability to perform the job. Unfortunately, compared to the people that know what their doing, psychopaths would eventually be discovered as total frauds.

This means that, if they manage to gain enough power before they are found out, they can deal with the competent people that might make them look bad by changing the rules, and using their influence to adjust competent people, away from, and out of power positions that might shine the light on their big scam. So they must promote unqualified yes men, and sycophants, who will kiss their ass, not question their abilities, and give the shaft to anyone who does.

It’s like the bad apple that spoils the barrel, except the barrel is every power holding social structure and institution within the society, eventually the society collapses into total ruin because of the incompetent puppets, and the psychopaths fantasy to rule the world.

[lib2DaBone]

16. Well said. I saw this very example in action in the State Court system....

also.. in many State Law Enforcement and critical positions.... and some wonder why the jails are bursting at the seams and unemployment is sky high...

[Larry Ogg]

19. Given enough time, I'm sure the examples and testimonies would overwhelm this board.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

When your talking about the influence of psychopathy, you'll find that the truth is usually in plain sight...,
and then there is silence...

Someone just needs to put the words to it, and properly describe it, the hope is that others might see it for what it is.

[Dprang]

42. My IT experience with psychopaths

Yes, I worked in IT, in 2 different companies since 1997.
In the first company, there was a guy who could be described as a hacker. He had a lot of pirated software which appealed to those that were attracted to techie stuff. That gave him an 'in' because the manager (a phone guy) really was quite thrown by IT and networking, so he relied on this IT not knowing how dangerous he could be.
Once the hacker became established and popular for his IT knowledge (mostly through hacking), he replicated the network at his own apartment.
You mentioned spying... that is exactly what this guy was doing. He took delight on spying on employees that were surfing the internet while waiting for calls (call center). He then reported to their supervisors and the employees were put on notice. He was truly a nasty hateful person.

In the 2nd company, there were 4 of us in IT. It was very professional and I loved working there...but in time, the new President wanted the IT manager to bypass testing new systems and of course IT manager's 30 years of experience told him he could not just change systems without testing etc. So, he finally resigned and lo and behold, I met the 2nd IT psychopath. She was horrid, just horrid...enough said.

The problem with IT is accountability and privacy. IT people have full access to all company data. If that does not scare people, it ought to. I believe this is why IT attracts psychopaths. Being a trained IT person, I would never access personnel records but I knew how of course. My reasoning is that all personnel records and companies' financial data and budgets is something an IT person is trusted to not access for personal gain or to snoop...it is wrong, very wrong.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

13. Wow.

Not surprising.....but still, actively recruiting psychopaths.....just plain, "wow"

[WingDinger]

20. It makes perfect sense, that you would recruit manipulation artists, for management.

And those that could fraudulently push bad risks, on others without batting an eyelash.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

34. sure does!

You're not kidding.

I wish you were!

[fascisthunter]

23. So the Greedy give the Keys to Psychopaths, because they are THAT fucking greedy

these people, whoever they are, are pathetic.

[Skittles]

24. my dad said psychopaths become serial killers or CEOs

I think he was on to something

[BlancheSplanchnik]

35. What was your Dad's field?

He sure had it right...I'm curious what he did that gave him the insight?

[Skittles]

40. LOL......meteorology

he just didn't like authority figures

[BlancheSplanchnik]

41. Takes a smart person to do that!!!

He knew the real deal!!!

[RickFromMN]

28. What is missing from this discussion is what can be done about Psychopaths? What is the solution?

I'm guessing...if different organizations want psychopaths, as CEOs, as police, as whatever,
these organizations won't see psychopaths as sick needing to be cured.

This leads me to believe we can't "cure" psychopaths.
This leads me to believe we can only struggle against, resist, fight, psychopaths.

How can we struggle against psychopaths without becoming a psychopath, ourselves?

I want health care for all. I believe health care is a right.

Won't I become hyper-vigilant, suspecting anyone who doesn't agree with me, as evil?

I've come to a terrible idea, especially for the Social Conservatives.

Jesus said the Second Greatest Commandment was, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, Matthew 22:34-40.

I wish to rephrase this commandment as follows, do unto others as you would have other do unto you.

Jesus is very forgiving if your neighbour does not treat you with love.
Jesus said one should turn the other cheek.—Matthew 5:38-42.

I am having trouble forgiving others as Jesus commanded.
In my mind, there is an unspoken corollary, do unto others as others have done unto you.
When others screw me, or screw us, I want to see them screwed.
Republicans speak of fairness...so be it. If Republicans screw us, screw them back.

I think we should tell the elderly, when the Republicans are done gutting Obamacare,
we will stand by, eating popcorn, not lifting a finger to help, as the Republicans
move Social security to the States to better control costs, and privatize Medicare
to better control costs.

We should let the Republicans tell the elderly the States will be able to control costs, namely reduce Social Security benefits, than the Federal government. We can tell the elder, when one state reduces benefits, the rest will follow suit to not be at a financial disadvantage to the states that reduce benefits.

We should tell the elderly we will let the Republicans put the insurance executives in charge of Medicare. The insurance executives can make the tough decisions necessary to control costs, can decide who lives and who dies, can decide which procedures are too expensive even if those procedures are necessary to prolong life.

We should make it clear, if the elderly side against Obamacare, we will have no incentive to work with the elderly to protect Social Security or Medicare. We should make it clear, either we all benefit, or none of us benefit.

For the people who support the Tea Party, we should make it clear, if they don't want government, they shouldn't benefit from FEMA. They shouldn't get any help when hurricanes destroy their communities. Tell them they should have private insurance. They shouldn't benefit from regulations. They shouldn't expect any help from the government when an industrial disaster, like the BP oil spill, happens.

I have a terrible idea for military bases. States should pay all the expenses associated with any military base within their borders. If the state doesn't want to pay, move the base to another state. States will still get a large tax base from all the private industry that springs up around a military base so states won't be hurting. Make the state pay for everything associated with the military base including the utilities, salaries of the military personnel on the base, equipment, food, everything. If the Tea Party doesn't want redistribution of wealth from the Federal Government, then there should not be a redistribution of wealth between states.

And if we don't want the Federal government picking winners and losers, the Federal government should not have farm subsidies or oil subsidies or all the other corporate subsidies. Let's see how the Tea Party likes this.

Jesus said, if one strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other also. —Matthew 5:38-42.
Please forgive me, but I don't think it's working.

The Republicans and the Tea Party practice an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
We criticize Obama for appearing weak when Obama does not fight back.
Obama kept trying to turn the other cheek. It didn't work. It emboldened the Republicans.
We cheer Obama when he fights back.

So far Obama is trying not to go as far as an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
I'm no longer convinced standing your ground, as Obama has done, will be enough.
The Republicans will not back down whenever they have the upper hand.

Is the only way to deal with psychopaths to become one?

Is the only way to deal with the Republicans after trying to be nice doesn't work, and when standing up to them fails, to be as mean and cruel and vindictive as they?

[BlancheSplanchnik]

36. I would think that rather than turning the other cheek, and rather than behaving in kind,

the response that makes most sense is to enact laws against psychopathic behaviors and enforce them.

Forget about pursuing victimless crime, change those laws to be more appropriate to ethical society rather than religiously moral society.

Focus on equalizing the currently economically slanted justice system, with an eye towards sanctions that actually stop the given behavior, protect victims' rights, and prevent further abuses by such psychopaths.

[Dprang]

43. Solutions to deal with psychopaths

Firstly, I would never want to become a psychopath and I doubt I could ever be one as my BRAIN is not wired the same, nor are the brains of 97% of the population. I hope for your sake the same can be said. Once I got a handle on what a psychopath (predator) is, I was pleased to know that in my case it is impossible. Sometimes when we hurt we think those that do not hurt inside are lucky.
I do not think this anymore. Imagine not being able to love. Imagine how bored a psychopath is since they really have no inner reserves for thoughts and good feelings. Despite how smart a psychopath is, he or she only operates on basic needs, no higher needs, no spirituality, nothing but plain existence.

Are you aware that there are tests to determine psychopaths? Not only that, but an MRI will show a different brain in a psychopath than the rest of us. They have no empathy for people. They have no fears. The two areas of their brains show little to no activity in the crucial areas - one being the amygdala area and the other area more at the front of the brain.
The worst of it is that DNA is involved meaning psychopaths can pass their brains on to their offspring. I read about a man who was tested and is a psychopath but was brought up very well and educated to boot, so he is not the murdering type. He did some research and found out he was related to Lizzy Borden and someone else who murdered. Interesting eh!

Learn before you accuse anyone of being a psychopath. They are normal people and share the same world as the 97%. I doubt that will ever change.
However, more and more companies are screening for psychopaths. Contrary to what one might believe, psychopaths do not make good employees and can hurt people for no reasons at all.

[Solly Mack]

29. K&R

[fasttense]

30. Psychopaths can feel but don't love and they know it.

Not all psychopaths are smart enough or ambitious enough to be CEOs. Some are stupid. Some are lazy. Some have blood lust and go on murdering sprees. Some are social climbers and some marry, have children, pets and pretend to be normal.

And that's what they all do, pretend to be normal. They know they can't feel love, they know they are different. They can recognize each other but prefer to be with normal people. Normal people are more easily manipulated, but other psychopaths can be useful.

Ayn Rand set out a rather poorly thought out philosophy for psychopaths. It's all about the individual, it's all about me. I suspect Ron Paul and W of being psychopaths. They can lust but not love. With their families they think of them as objects to be owned. They will look out for their family because it is their family, their object, their possession but not because they love the people.

The post about the dog is telling. They will own a pet but not love it like you and I love our animals. If it is chained outside all day, it doesn't bother them because they don't think about how it might be hungry, thirsty, tired, too hot or cold, bored or lonely. It's a possession that has to have food and water to survive. Not a loved animal who makes their days happy. What they don't want is to be seen as different. So, they paid the poster for her expenses. They didn't change the way they treated the dog (they don't think they are doing anything wrong to the dog). They merely gave the poster back her money because that is what they would have missed the most - The loss of their money.

Psychopaths can hate. They hate a lot of things. A CEO probably hates his workers. They hate because they can never be normal, never feel love, never experience the emotion of selfless giving, pride in helping someone for nothing, a sense of community and social bonding. They think most normal people are stupid. They are always pretending to care but don't. And they hate us because they are different.

I edited this to add something about how to control the damage done by psychopaths. You can not manipulate them like they manipulate us. Because they don't care about people they are more ruthless than any normal person can be. So, you can never win in a war of manipulation.

But you can control them. They need to be held accountable, they must be punished for their crimes preferably as soon after they commit them as possible. Accountability for their actions, efficient and just punishment for their crimes is the only way to control them.

[Ichingcarpenter]

31. I think what most people are describing in this thread with their interactions

with people they think are psychopaths are in fact
Republicans too.

Which is the less psychopathic party?..... Well the democrats do have theirs but I would say the overwhelming majority of republican voters and candidates
would excel on the psychometric test for psychopathic tendencies.

[Fokker Trip]

32. So important.

Great replies in this thread.

In Canada our current Prime Minister, Harper, is either a sociopath or a psychopath and we as a nation are now in serious trouble. He was raised (...not raised at all most likely, given money and sent to school but largely ignored I would bet) by wealthy parents and went to elite schools.

He has completely dead eyes regardless of the expression on his face, and has acted in very obviously disturbing ways. For instance he immediately replaced all of the oil portraits of previous prime ministers with photos of himself in different "costumes" like cowboy, soldier, etc. in one of the main chambers next to the commons room.

We in Canada have had rational leaders for so long that no one is even slightly prepared for what is happening or what is to come including most of those who voted for him.

He idolizes the US and will have dismantled most of our social safety nest when his term is done. Unless there is massive opposition he will do away with our single payer health care system as well (first shots have been fired). Most people say that they can't understand why he does what he does, but he is clearly operating rationally within his own bubble, one just has to start by believing he is very intelligent , which he is.

Unlike the US where there are checks and balances, our system has none(we were a colony after all) and he is essentially a dictator. His cabinet are the same as he is, they attract each other.

Personality disorders (Narcissistic, etc. ) are also very dangerous for society. My parents were alcoholic narcissists.

So good to see this info getting out there, everybody needs toi know this and how to identify these people.

One poster above questions what can be done with them. Now that they are entrenched in power positions en masse we are in big trouble. They are like viruses, and what do we do with viruses when they infect us? I won't say it but ya'll know what I mean.

I've been thinking that these people are the "kill" switch for the human species. As though nature had a built in mechanism to abort the human species if we threatened too much of the planet. Whatever their purpose is, its an ugly road ahead if they stay where they are.

Another issue is Libertarianism.

Hayek was one of the first Libertarians and along with Rand and some others have perpetuated that set of ideas. Thatcher and Reagan both coordinated their plans and Thatcher was a bit of a pen pal with Hayek. Both Hayek and Rand had been close to brutality in their times and places and it seems as though they codified their total lose of faith in other humans in the politics ogf Libertarianism.

Adam Curtis has a great documentary that outlines the effect of the John Nash(the mathematician portrayed in "A Beautiful Mind) and his Games Theory thinking on this whole movement. The idea that everyone only acts out of their own self interest and he won the Nobel Prize for proving with equations that this was possible. It wasn't known at the time that Nash was a Paranoid Schizophrenic.

Libertarianism is essentially the politics of the Sociopath and the Psychopath.

Sorry if this is jumbled but I get worked up about it. I really think its the most important issue humanity faces. I don't believe that anything else will change until this is looked at and dealt with.

If you haven't seen Adam Curtis' documentaries, they are amazing and explain a lot of what is going on now. There are no other documentaries like them.

This one is explains Nash, Thatcher and the beginnings of the cult of individuality and the rise of Libertarianism. It blew my mind when I watched it. all of his docs are amazing.

Part 1 - The Trap - "F*ck You Buddy"

&feature=related

Part 2 - The Trap - The Lonely Robot

&feature=related

Part 3 - The Trap - We will force you to be Free

&feature=related

Please consider watching this and his other documentaries.

[Dprang]

44. Harper

I could not believe he was voted in with a majority. No one I know voted for Harper, but then no one I know will ever vote for Rob Ford.
Harper is one prime minister that I am counting the days to his departure. He is an odd duck, some of his behaviors before he was elected last time while in the USA were simply weird.
The omnibus bill just blows my mind. To make one bill for a long list of changes is beyond comprehension.
I am praying it will continue to be delayed and gets more publicity around election time to remind Canadians of what Harper is all about.
I believe Harper would lock up people for nothing more than being on the street (homeless). Thank goodness more emphasis is being placed on mental health and policing, especially in Toronto. Harper would just round them up and lock them away for good. He is likely a full believer of gated communities and considers his changes to reflect a society that is his utopia.
hat did it for me was a video clip of his talking with his caucus in a nasty mean way of describing the opposition. It was a rant, and he was fully into his rant. I have not seen this video since...probably locked away never to resurface.