Steven BeschlossYes, there are too many malignant narcissists and sociopaths in positions of power. But the bigger problem is the number of voters drawn to them and enablers cheering them on.
Shoq 🌿@StevenBeschloss You left out an equally large problem: voters influenced by a handful of media conglomerates pretending to be "news organizations," while actually being partisan propaganda organizations. It's probably the biggest problem, because it enables or serves both of the others.
Morten Bay@shoq @StevenBeschloss Shoq, I normally agree with you about most things, but here I don't. There are SO many examples of nations with public service media (PSM)-dominany media systems which are under constant scrutiny for partisanship and where people still become very devoted to narcissistic and slightly sociopathic leaders. The UK, Australia, the Scandinavian countries, Germany, France and Japan are good examples. This is not a U.S. phenomenon.
@shoq @StevenBeschloss In my observations however, this is often tied to lack of education and religion. People who find the world to be a complicated place are attracted to leaders who make the world simple for them and gives them a structure they don't have to question. This is similar to what religion does in answering the unanswerable.
Especially post-Reagan conservatism, after the evangelical takeover has suffered from blindly following leaders without questioning them. It tracks.