I await a credible alternate explanation. It is, after all, all part of the Chicago way.
4 thoughts on “Is It Really That Simple?”
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I await a credible alternate explanation. It is, after all, all part of the Chicago way.
Comments are closed.
From day 1 he has punished his enemies and rewarded his allies. I don’t think someone like Obama has what we consider friends. Everyone has a use and when they don’t , they’re “under the bus”.
There may be subtext but I’m amazed that anybody would think there’s much more to it. People do get used to the nose on their face.
Though I don’t care much for following the latest internet meme, I must admit Obama’s behavior is textbook narcissism. I wrote somewhere that I’ve known people like this, who have no real friends, and only seem to trust their immediate families — which consist of spouses (the person they have sex with), any children of that unit, and sometimes their parents or another relative or relatives who once had authority over them. But they don’t actually see even these as persons separate from themselves: the sex partners are supposed to fit into the movie scheme of “lover/wife/husband” that they have conceived for them, the children are aspects of themselves, the parental figures are the ones to blame when things go wrong who then have to “fix” everything by reiterating their belief in the narcissist.
Needless to say, outsiders to this tight, delusional circle can’t possibly be considered “friends” as the word in English is usually understood. Like Bill Maron said, there are outsiders who have uses, and those who do not. This is why narcissists discard friends so easily yet at the same time act as if nothing but utter loyalty is acceptable from “friends.” There is no reciprocation to this relationship: you do not use the narcissist, he uses you.
Whoops, forgot to add: narcissist therefore tend to gather a group of people around them that start to behave narcissistically, even if they aren’t actually narcissists themselves. But narcissists are often charismatic: the movie that is their life and the part they have for you to play is often attractive. Humans are social creatures and also tend to adjust their behavior to the person they’ve chosen as leader of their social group. Obama’s social group — his administration — is just following this pattern. It also helps that most of his cabinet members seem to be both weak-willed and power-hungry. That makes them easier to control and direct. In fact, Obama doesn’t really have to do anything — due to innate human social group dynamics they’ll control their own behavior in ways that please their leader.