Defend Truth

Opinionista

Who loves ya, Donald? Donald loves ya, Donald!

mm

Dr Alexander O’Riordan holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Cape Town, is an associate faculty of Royal Roads University, Canada and is a political analyst who works on a freelance basis largely advising the US Government, European Union and UN institutions on development cooperation. O’Riordan has also been advising on the development of joint cooperation activities in Palestine intermittently since 2010.

For those in the vicinity of a narcissist, the best one can do is defend oneself by defining barriers and boundaries. Problem is, when a narcissist is the commander-in-chief of the world’s most powerful military, setting personal boundaries ain’t going to cut it.

Say one thing for Donald Trump: At least he has drawn attention to the suffering of people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder and their victims. Trump being dumped on the world stage seems to have made narcissism mainstream. Last year Rolling Stone magazine ran an article titled: Why aren’t we talking more about Trump’s narcissism”, and if one runs the word “narcissism” into Google news, the results range from how to deal with narcissists in the workplace to choice articles like Trump And Other Gaslighters/Narcissists Create Crises And Then Act Like They Solved Them,” currently available on Forbes.

Of course, it goes further than Trump: the US’s former director of the CIA, Michael Pompeo, (now Secretary of State) famously used his podium to call WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange a narcissist. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is so eloquently called “a subclinical narcissist whose chief qualification for the gig is knowing the ancient Greek for raghead”; “Netanyahu’s Narcissism” is the title of an article in the Jerusalem Post and disgraced former Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, seems to have also earned the moniker in the press.

But what is a narcissist and more importantly, if it is a clinical disorder, are democratic societies safe when narcissists have decision-making authority?

Sigmund Freud’s explanation of narcissism is perhaps the most elegant and easy to understand. Simply put, narcissism is when a person is so deprived of love and affection that he or she treats his or her own self as an object of desire. Others argue that the root of narcissism is extreme deprivation such as from parents who are obsessively critical, chronically withholding love and affection. More recently, the disorder has also been associated with extreme adoration, but in reality, extreme adoration is in itself extreme deprivation because smothering a child with adoration only suffocates and deprives the child of his or her agency and independence.

In short, somebody with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (see the American Psychiatric Association’s definition): tends to have fantasies of self-importance, expecting to be treated as a superior without achieving much, requires excessive admiration, is interpersonally exploitative and is unwilling to recognise others’ feelings or needs.

Of course, having fantasies of self-importance might be necessary qualifications for politics. But what of the other traits?

According to Town and Country magazine’s 2017 coverage of Donald Trump, “In 2000, shortly after Fred Trump Sr. died, Fred Jr.’s son contested the will in Queen’s court. (Fred Trump Sr.’s estate, which was valued at between $100-million and $300-million, had been divided between the living siblings, leaving considerably less to Fred III and his family.) Donald Trump retaliated by cutting off medical benefits for Fred III’s critically-ill infant son. It was a bitter fight, and like so many Trump family battles, one waged publicly in the tabloids.”

Surely that should give us all pause for concern. If indeed Dumpy Trumpy is a narcissist, he may be physically unable to recognise other peoples’ feelings and would be interpersonally exploitative. Donald Trump applauding the conviction of his personal lawyer Michael Cohen is one thing. But, a man who would cut off medical benefits to his own disabled relative to score leverage in a legal dispute…

With hindsight, the world should not be surprised, then, when Trump causes children to be locked in cages, vilifies and encourages violence against the most vulnerable people on the planet (refugees and other migrants forced to move because of violence).

It should equally not be surprising that he would, if he had his way, destroy healthcare for millions of Americans to score a political victory against the Democrats. And, what of the environment: If a narcissist cannot empathise with humans who are suffering, surely we cannot reasonably expect him to empathise with the destruction of whole biospheres and species?

Sadly the dominant position on how to survive a relationship with a narcissist is not positive. At best, the hope is that the narcissist seeks therapy and learns not to hurt people around him or her. For those that remain in the vicinity of a narcissist, the best that one can do is defend oneself by defining barriers and boundaries. Problem is, when a narcissist is the commander-in-chief of the world’s most powerful military, setting personal boundaries ain’t going to cut it.

Clearly armchair pundits like myself are not qualified to classify psychiatric disorders. However, as voters and citizens at the receiving end of narcissist politicians’ decision-making, it is perfectly reasonable to demand that our elected leaders are mentally well before giving them the keys to the kingdom.

Maybe it is time for parliaments to require a mental bill of health before giving politicians executive authority. After all, we may be on the cusp of seeing what a narcissist is truly capable of, if Trump proceeds with his warmongering with Iran. DM

Gallery

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.