@spaf Imagine that you had surrounded yourself with people who competed with each other to fellate you, literally or figuratively. Imagine that all of those people transparently had much to gain from their association with you, many because they have no actual competence, others because they had businesses that, in a corrupt system, could only operate with a pass from you. With even a little self awareness, wouldn't an indelible self-loathing wash over you? More adulation would only exacerbate.

@rose If one had a modicum of decency, yes.

@spaf What I don't get is that even a horrible person - defined, quite frankly, as one with values I don't share - cannot escape the evidence of their eyes. And when that evidence accumulates to the inescapable conclusion that you are surrounded by low-quality people who have no genuine respect for you and treat you like a credulous, blind fool - even a monster would want to step away. Fawning attention makes one's skin crawl, and lack of decency doesn't inoculate against that.