Sunday, June 19, 2016

Necrophilic Narcissism and Donald Trump

Eric Fromm coined the term "necrophilic narcissism" in his book, Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, as he probed the extremes of human evil. In this syndrome, the ordinary narcissist's selfishness and lack of empathy and insight is infused with sadistic joy in the sufferings, more, actual destruction, of others, whose humanity the necrophilic narcissist can not feel. Often, these people seem ordinary and do not understand that what they are doing is wrong, as Hannah Arendt observed of Adolf Eichmann in his war crimes trial, citing "the banality of evil."
My parents were Holocaust-involved and, early in Donald Trump's campaign, I recognized something. A bully. A man who enjoys humiliating others. A pathological need for attention. An inability to understand honesty or integrity. The love of scapegoating. Bigotry. A person who doesn't care, in every sense of the phrase, about anyone except himself. People told me I was foolish to be alarmed, that he could never win the Republican nomination. Now they tell me he can't win the presidency. Are you sure? Really sure? It's important not to miss on this one.
I want to fight him now. While I still can. Please, tell me how.

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