Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes

goals. This dichotomy of worlds is permanent and does not

disappear even if they succeed in realizing their youthful dream

of gaining power over the society of normal people. This

strongly suggests that the separation is biologically condi-

tioned.

In the psychopath, a dream emerges like some Utopia of a

“happy” world and a social system which does not reject them

or force them to submit to laws and customs whose meaning is

incomprehensible to them. They dream of a world in which

their simple and radical way of experiencing and perceiving

reality would dominate65; where they would, of course, be as-

sured safety and prosperity. In this Utopian dream, they imag-

ine that those “others”, different, but also more technically

skillful than they are, should be put to work to achieve this goal

for the psychopaths and others of their kin. “We”, they say,

“after all, will create a new government, one of justice”66. They

are prepared to fight and to suffer for the sake of such a brave

new world, and also, of course, to inflict suffering upon others.

Such a vision justifies killing people, whose suffering does not

move them to compassion because “they” are not quite con-

specific. They do not realize that they will consequently meet

with opposition which can last for generations67.

Subordinating a normal person to psychologically abnormal

individuals has severe and deforming effects on his or her per-

sonality: it engenders trauma and neurosis. This is accom-

plished in a manner which generally evades conscious controls.

Such a situation deprives the person of his natural rights: to

practice his own mental hygiene, develop a sufficiently

autonomous personality, and utilize his common sense. In the

light of natural law, it thus constitutes a kind of crime - which

65 i.e. Lying, cheating, destroying, using others, etc. [Editor’s note.]

66 For psychopaths only; injustice for everyone else. [Editor’s note.]

67 “Kill them all; God will know his own,” seems to be the method advocated

by psychopaths. [Editor’s note.]

140

PONEROLOGY

can appear at any social scale, in any context - although it is

not mentioned in any code of law.

We have already discussed the nature of some pathological

personalities, e.g. frontal characteropathy, and how they can

deform the personalities of those with whom they interact.

Essential psychopathy has exceptionally intense effects in this

manner. Something mysterious gnaws into the personality of an

individual at the mercy of the psychopath and is then fought

like a demon. His emotions become chilled, his sense of psy-

chological reality is stifled. This leads to de-criterialization of

thought and a feeling of helplessness, culminating in depressive

reactions which can be so severe that psychiatrists sometimes

misdiagnose them as a manic-depressive psychosis. Many peo-

ple rebel against a psychopathic domination much earlier than

such a crisis point and start searching for some way of liberat-

ing themselves from such an influence.

Many life-situations involve far less mysterious results of

other psychological anomalies upon normal people (which are

always unpleasant and destructive) and their carriers’ unscru-

pulous drives to dominate and take advantage of others. Gov-

erned by unpleasant experiences and feelings, as well as natural

egoism, societies thus have good reason to reject such people,

helping to push them into marginal positions in social life,

including poverty and criminality.

It is unfortunately almost the rule that such behavior is

amenable to moralizing justification in our natural world view

categories. Most members of society feel entitled to protect

their own persons and property and enact legislation for that

purpose. Being based on natural perception of phenomena, and

on emotional motivations instead of an objective understanding

of the problems, such laws in no way serve to safeguard the

kind of order and safety we would like; psychopaths and other

deviants merely perceive such laws as a force which needs to

be battled.

To individuals with various psychological deviations, the

social structure dominated by normal people and their concep-

tual world appears to be a “system of force and oppression”.

Psychopaths reach such a conclusion as a rule. If, at the same

time, a good deal of injustice does in fact exist in a given soci-

POLITICAL PONEROLOGY

141

ety, pathological feelings of unfairness and suggestive state-

ments emanating from deviants can resonate among those who

have truly been treated unfairly. Revolutionary doctrines may

then be easily propagated among both groups, although each

group has completely different reasons for favoring such ideas.

~~~

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