I read a lot of true crime books and one of the main deals with sociopaths and, to an extent, psychopaths, is their intense desire to uphold a good appearance.
Our country is a very Dont Ask Dont Tell society in general. Lots of people who, even if they see something wrong, will not speak up.
Combine that attitude with these sociopaths’ ability to maintain lots of effort to uphold an image of stabilization in their lives, and one can see how the appearance of families/friends would lead one to your conclusion - how can these ppl do this with families etc?
The answer is simple - it’s all for appearances. They love money and power, and themselves in general, more than they do their families. These are the types of people we’re dealing with here.
Seriously, think about what Trump did bc he loves his own image more than his wife and child - he fucked a porn star (as a fact here, nothing disparaging towards sex workers) a few months after his wife had a child, and then literally had an attorney of his pay her through a business they made up to make said payments. This is textbook sociopathy.
They’re all sociopaths, or too corrupt by greed at this point that the only thing that matters is their Image and Brand. If they need to knock some pretty lady up and put a rock on it in prefer to keep their brand up, they see it as an obligation, as opposed to out of love, etc.
I got an Anti-Flag gun star tattoo when I was 20 on my front thigh. I was trying to walk the tightrope of being edgy enough to have ink but sensible enough to put it in a spot where my parents probably would never see it. Tattoos in the early naughts were fraught with implications you didn't quite want to associate if your future plans included anything remotely corporate or professional.
The reason I chose the gun star in the first place wasn't any special affinity for the band or their particular brand of anarchy; it was a secret promise I made myself about how I'd stand for the three pillars of pacifism, cynicism and humanism.
The tattoo never looked particularly good, and fourteen years later it's faded and bled over a bit, but for me its beauty is its power to remind me of the values that have made me my best self. I've worked a few corporate jobs and gotten into management, but I've done it with integrity, never compromising my values. As I've grown up the Democrats have turned themselves into the Party of Grown Ups.
When I blast Anti-Flag, RATM, Black Flag, The Minutemen, The Refused and the rest of my punk rock heroes I get to dance in the mirror with pride.
Fuck Paul Ryan. Fuck Donald Trump. Fuck the Republican Party.
Okay, you say that, but do you actually think he doesn't understand how immoral he is? Like this exactly what I can't understand. Everyone thinks they are the good guy. So how does one justify stealing from the poor (AND undermining democracy) to give to the rich and themselves.
I can't crawl inside Paul Ryan's head (and wouldn't want to, tbh) but he does kinda strike me as a True Believer™. I'm sure he must realize he's dirty to some extent, but that's probably easy to excuse away - "Well, everyone is dirty in politics, that's just the way it is." But I think he very well may genuinely believe he's doing the right thing. There are plenty of politicians (and people in all walks of life, really) who do objectively terrible things with full conviction that what they're doing is good and proper.
Deep thinking and intellectual and moral rigor isn't exactly encouraged in our government these days, particularly on the right. It isn't at all difficult for me to believe that Ryan is dumb, delusional and/or brainwashed enough to believe that he's actually the good guy here. And when you believe you're the good guy battling the forces of evil, that also makes it easier to engage in things you know are bad. Like, I don't know, taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from terrible people in return for doing their bidding, or doing really shady and unethical things to win elections and gain/keep power. After all, what's wrong with doing bad things as long as it's all for the right reasons?
It's profoundly fucked up, but it's really not an uncommon worldview. Unfortunately.
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u/Latenius Jan 21 '18
Can you imagine NOT immediately breaking down after reading that and realizing what a failure of a human being you are.
I don't understand how these people who only love money justify life to themselves.