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A world of psychopaths - The superiority complex of psychopaths - and Israel and the US
Paul J. Balles considers the psychopathic phenomenon of the
"superiority complex" as an explanation of dysfunctional behaviour among
individuals and states, such as Israel and the US.
When I was living in Kuwait, I found it disturbing that a number of
Kuwaiti drivers behaved arrogantly. These drivers ruled the roads.
Everyone else was a paltry nuisance.
They flashed lights behind you when it was impossible to get out of
their way. They cut in front of you with total disregard for safety or the
driver they offended. They ignored right-of-way rules. They literally
stole spaces you were manoeuvring to park in, and they double parked
blocking you from leaving when it suited them.
What made matters worse: they became irritated when you complained
about any of this behaviour. I don't want to generalize as only a minority
acted as I've described; but they amounted to enough to irritate many
others.
What these arrogant drivers displayed certainly seemed like they felt
superior to others. I thought that their actions might have resulted from
a superiority complex. To understand the behaviour, I decided to do some
research.
I discovered that a "superiority complex refers to a subconscious
neurotic mechanism of compensation developed by the individual as a result
of feelings of inferiority". That definition, by psychologist Alfred
Adler, made sense since the offenders had no good reason to feel
superior.
They held what Adler described as an "exaggeratedly positive opinion of
their worth and abilities, unrealistically high expectations in goals and
achievements, vanity and a tendency to discredit others' opinions,
forcefulness aimed at dominating those considered as weaker or less
important".
As I travelled the world, I discovered examples of the same kinds of
pathological behaviour almost everywhere I went, though not only among
drivers, and expressed in different ways. Enforced traffic laws often
inhibited arrogant driving.
Currently, I see evidence of that same "subconscious neurotic
mechanism" when I read the news. The US administration exhibited many of
the symptoms when deciding that American democracy would be better for
Iraq than anything the Iraqis might establish on their own.
Israelis have clearly demonstrated that they have an "exaggeratedly
positive opinion of their worth and abilities" over their apartheid Arab
subjects. What other explanation could fit their unconscionable treatment
of the Palestinians?
A couple of members of the US Congress were reported demeaning
President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela in retaliation for his remarks about
President George W. Bush at the UN recently.
House speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi called Chavez "a thug" because Chavez
had called Bush "a devil" - both revealing their deeper sense of
inferiority. Representative Tom Lantos was refused entry into Venezuela
because of an earlier attempt to interfere in Venezuelan politics.
In Holland, the Dutch cabinet has just backed a proposal to ban the
wearing of burqas in public, saying that "burqas disturb
public order, citizens and safety". Several European countries have
disallowed the hijab or veils in schools. They obviously consider
their own ways superior.
Does this mean that Americans, Israelis and several European countries
have demonstrated a superiority complex indicating that they really feel
inferior? It does if Adler and other psychologists who have studied the
complex were right.
The whole business has a sickening echo of the attitudes held during
the heyday of the Aryan Third Reich or of those held in America by whites
before the civil rights movement, or those demonstrated worldwide by
misogynistic men toward women.
When are we going to grow up enough to recant against these exaggerated
estimates of our own value and importance? The best way to overcome the
deeper feelings of inferiority might be to better ourselves rather than
demeaning others.
It's also time to call a halt to the psychopathic behaviour of our
leaders. Look for the reasons why in a relevant case history of murder at
Columbine High School seven and a half years ago in the US.
According to the psychiatrists who studied those who murdered students
and teachers at Columbine, the leader of the two killers was really
expressing contempt. Does that ring any bells? Think of the torturers in
places like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and the prisons in a number of
countries.
Psychopath Harris was "disgusted by the morons around him". The
psychiatrist called that "rantings of someone with a messianic-grade
superiority complex, out to punish the entire human race for its appalling
inferiority".
Can anyone honestly tell me that Americans and Britons don't feel that
Afghans and Iraqis are punishable inferiors? Tell me that Arabs aren't
appallingly inferior to Israelis. Tell me that syndrome isn't what shocked
the Israelis by the drubbing they took in Lebanon.
Tell me, too, that the American neo-conservatives and the Israelis
(including all of their supporters in the US government and American
media) aren't mentally - psychopathically - prepared to punish the entire
human race for the appalling inferiority of the Iranians who booted their
puppet Shah and his American supporters out of the country years ago.
A second confirmation of the diagnosis was one of the Columbine
murderers' perpetual deceitfulness. "I lie a lot," Eric wrote to his
journal. "Almost constantly, and to everybody, just to keep my own ass out
of the water." Tell me that doesn't reverberate with the realization by
the voters in the 2006 elections in the US of the Bush administration.
Harris claimed to lie to protect himself, but that appears to be
something of a lie as well. He lied for pleasure, psychiatrist Fuselier
says. "Duping delight" - psychologist Paul Ekman's term - represents a key
characteristic of the psychopathic profile. Notice the smirk on Bush's
face when he tells a lie at the podium.
The Kuwaitis that I first noticed suffering from this syndrome were
simply more obvious because their behaviour immediately conflicted with
others in ways that made them look like they believed they were
superior.
Too much of the world's bad behaviour - and there's plenty of it -
seems to emanate from this psychopathic disease of believing that our
tribe, our country, our way, our selves are better than others.
Writings 
When I was living in Kuwait, I found it disturbing that a number of
Kuwaiti drivers behaved arrogantly. These drivers ruled the roads.
Everyone else was a paltry nuisance.
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