Political Ponerology - Predators - Part 2

I would not normally spend so long on the preamble to a book, but this book is unique and its genesis forms both part of the story and is a manifestation of the subject it describes.

I think it worth dwelling at the precipice. Few will venture across this threshold unless prepared or curious.

In Dante's Inferno, it is not until Canto III that he beholds the Gates of Hell. Above this portal is inscribed the famous saying:"Abandon all hope!" What kind of hope could one possibly retain?

The first souls Dante meets in Hell's waiting room are the "ignavi"; the indolent, both physically and spiritually, those who neither have faith nor the conviction to rebel. Amusingly, this includes some angels who couldn't be bothered to pick a side!

I don't wish to delve into Catholic mythology too deeply - although Lobaczewski's own beliefs do play a role later in the book - but if one looks at all fideist religions as mere predatory thought-forms designed by elite-priests, then the most dangerous opponents are those who walk the middle way. However, this isn't the way the Last Men are described, but rather as those who would follow even an empty banner - clueless, weak and easily indoctrinated (leaving aside religious indoctrination). They are left in this antechamber because even Lucifer didn't think them worthy of serious punishment. The hope is to be allowed to go back and atone for one's "sins". Within the context of Ponerology, there is no going back once one's eyes have been opened - wide.

Various psychopathic traits can be found scattered across the various circles of Hell. However, the specific type has not been singled out, hence avoids detection amid the psychodrama of God and Lucifer.

The whole of Dante's epic quest can be seen as a Jungian psychodrama and transformation, as he is only allowed to visit Heaven after the descent into Hell and the slow progress through Purgatory. Similarly, some people may find Political Ponerology a journey through a hell they could not conceive existed - hell is other people, or at least some of them. As I mentioned in the first part, the biggest flaw of good people is their belief that everybody else is either good or not-good. The inability to conceive of evil as real and seemingly irredeemable, means they will never be rid of it in their midst. Before expecting the sun to shine on society, it is imperative to discover one's own inner light - and that light must include seeing reality in its stark nakedness and free from distorting preconceptions.

As the subtitle states, Political Ponerology is "The Science of Evil, Psychopathy, and the Origins of Totalitarianism".

Let us return to Laura Knight-Jadczyk:

The book you hold in your hand is going to give you answers to many of the questions about Evil in our world. This book is not just about macrosocial evil, it is also about everyday evil, because, in a very real sense, the two are inseparable. The long term accumulation of everyday evil always and inevitably leads to Grand Systemic Evil that destroys more innocent people than any other phenomenon on this planet.

The book you hold in your hands is also a survival guide. As I said above, this book will be the most important book you will ever read. Unless, of course, you are a psychopath.

What would be interesting are to hear any examples of confrontations with psychopaths in real life. I have discussed this a few times but was on private forums so shall not divulge any details. I have tried to think back and, honestly, have largely avoided such creatures. Have never trusted the "charismatic cretins" or any "leaders" that firmly believe their own bullshit. I've never been very good at joining either clubs or cults. Those few teachers I have had, have all stressed the importance of asking questions and digging deeply and earnestly into inner truths. They are not supposed to be objects of veneration but transmitters of knowledge. Therein lies the deep difference between the priest-class and the shaman-mystics.

Here is Laura quoting Martha Stout, from The Sociopath Next Door (2005):

Imagine - if you can - not having a conscience, none at all, no feelings of guilt or remorse no matter what you do, no limiting sense of concern for the well-being of strangers, friends, or even family members. Imagine no struggles with shame, not a single one in your whole life, no matter what kind of selfish, lazy, harmful, or immoral action you had taken.

Hence,

You can do anything at all, and still your strange advantage over the majority of people, who are kept in line by their consciences will most likely remain undiscovered.

Crazy and frightening - and real, in about 4 percent of the population....

The presence or absence of conscience is a deep human division, arguably more significant than intelligence, race, or even gender.

The full quote is much longer, but to understand how a lack of conscience can be more important in defining social actions than any intelligence or empathy or other abilities, justifies the separation of humanity into predators and prey. This distinction, in contrast to the more prevalent idea of masters and slaves, makes the dynamics easier to understand. We can build predator-prey models of such behaviour, usually used for other animals, but often employed in game theory to simulate other human mass behaviour.

Those of us who remain perplexed as to how a majority of humanity can be so docile and dull to what is happening to them can start to construct reasons. The idea of "having a conscience" comes from neurological reactions such as guilt and fear. Hence the psychopathic-predators suffers from a neurological condition - it is, as Lobaczewski stresses many times, a mental disease. But if you look at the DSM, you will be surprised at how difficult it is to be clinically identified as a psychopath - there is surely a long story there about the capture of psychiatry and how it has turned from healing into drug-dealing.

What really catches the human-prey in the glare of the psychopathic spotlight is that many of them seek the same attributes! Many people seem to believe that they should be confident, charming, smart and goal-oriented. Doesn't this sound like every self-help course? Are they merely trying to turn everyone into pseudo-psychos?

Taking just one trait as an example, why would confidence require a lack of conscience? Can one not be confident and humane? I think we come here to human energetics - the emotional experiences that come from neurological actions. Anybody who thinks chakras require "believing in them" should search for "neural nexus" in the human body. This is not New Age (which I largely detest) but is modern biophysics.

So, what is experienced as a conscience is often blocks in chakras. Everyone has surely had such experiences, such as a lump in the throat, butterflies in the stomach etc etc. Amusingly, such experiences are so common yet few seem to want to understand them. There is here a repeating pattern of willful ignorance, but I shan't dwell on that here. So, it is at least a valid hypothesis to suggest that while most people live with chakras more or less functioning, and more or less blocked, the psychopath can bypass these and have them switched off! But what about the opposite case, where all of them are on and flowing properly? Now that would be a human being - confidence with consciousness.

Let me add one last thought from the Preface,

In short, the psychopath is a predator.

I've said this in comments and I really think that a change of words is important. Psychopaths are both human-predators and predator-humans. They prey on other humans, who seem incapable of even perceiving themselves as prey. How can a species be more deluded? How has it survived this far?

Current day statistics tell us that there are more psychologically sick people than healthy ones. If you take a sampling of individuals in any given field, you are likely to find that a significant number of them display pathological symptoms to one extent or another.

So... humans as a species of sick animal that breeds apex sickos! mmm... any solution must thence heal the majority first.

I will finally get to Chapter 1 in part 3.

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_{image: Bomarzo, flickr}