Tag: psychopaths in suits

Guest Post by John W. Whitehead

“Politicians are more likely than people in the general population to be sociopaths. I think you would find no expert in the field of sociopathy/psychopathy/antisocial personality disorder who would dispute this… That a small minority of human beings literally have no conscience was and is a bitter pill for our society to swallow — but it does explain a great many things, shamelessly deceitful political behavior being one.”—Dr. Martha Stout, clinical psychologist and former instructor at Harvard Medical School

Twenty years ago, a newspaper headline asked the question: “What’s the difference between a politician and a psychopath?”

The answer, then and now, remains the same: None.

There is no difference between psychopaths and politicians.

Continue reading “Don’t Vote for a Psychopath: Tyranny at the Hands of a Psychopathic Government”

“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

Winston Churchill

“A confident, aggressive delivery style – often larded with jargon, clichés, and flowery phrases – makes up for the lack of substance and sincerity in their interactions with others … they are masters of impression management; their insight into the psyche of others combined with a superficial – but convincing – verbal fluency allows them to change their personas skillfully as it suits the situation and their game plan.”

Paul Babiak and Robert Hare, Snakes in Suits

“We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men… Do remember that dishonesty and cowardice always have to be paid for. Don’t imagine that for years on end you can make yourself the boot-licking propagandist of any régime, and then suddenly return to mental decency. Once a whore, always a whore.”

George Orwell

Authored by Alanna Kelter via Collective Evolution blog,

Often when we think of the word psychopath, we think of deranged serial killers that are hopefully locked up in prison for life.

While there are many psychopaths who kill for reasons that are unfathomable to most of us and who are indeed in prison, there is an even greater number roaming free in our society and often using their condition to their advantage in any way possible.

In fact, it is very likely that you know some – they might even be your colleagues.

Continue reading “Snakes In Suits: Are Psychopaths Running The World?”

“It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue, and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it; it required no brains at all. It merely required no character.”

Joseph Heller, Catch 22

“We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men. It is not merely that at present the rule of naked force obtains almost everywhere. Probably that has always been the case. Where this age differs from those immediately preceding it is that a liberal intelligentsia is lacking. Bully-worship, under various disguises, has become a universal religion.”

George Orwell

“Crowd-pleasers [demagogues] are generally brainless swine who can go out on a stage and whip their supporters into an orgiastic frenzy— then go back to the office and sell every one of the poor bastards down the tube for a nickel apiece.”

Hunter S. Thompson

“A confident, aggressive delivery style – often larded with jargon, clichés, and flowery phrases – makes up for the lack of substance and sincerity in their interactions with others … they are masters of impression management; their insight into the psyche of others combined with a superficial – but convincing – verbal fluency allows them to change their personas skillfully as it suits the situation and their game plan.

The most debilitating characteristic of even the most well-behaved psychopath is the inability to form a workable team.”

Paul Babiak and Robert Hare, Snakes in Suits

“Lying, deceiving, and manipulation are natural talents for psychopaths. When caught in a lie or challenged with the truth, they are seldom perplexed or embarrassed— they simply change their stories or attempt to rework the facts so that they appear to be consistent with the lie. The results are a series of contradictory statements and a thoroughly confused listener.

Psychopaths have a grandiose self-structure which demands a scornful and detached devaluation of others, in order to ward off their envy toward the good perceived in other people.”

Robert D. Hare, Without Conscience

“A confident, aggressive delivery style – often larded with jargon, clichés, and flowery phrases – makes up for the lack of substance and sincerity in their interactions with others … they are masters of impression management; their insight into the psyche of others combined with a superficial – but convincing – verbal fluency allows them to change their personas skillfully as it suits the situation and their game plan.

They are known for their ability to don many masks, change ‘who they are’ depending upon the person with whom they are interacting, and make themselves appear likable to their intended victim.”

Paul Babiak and Robert Hare, Snakes in Suits

“All my life I have been fighting against the spirit of narrowness and violence, arrogance, intolerance in its absolute, merciless consistency. I have also worked to overcome this spirit with its evil consequences, such as nationalism in excess, racial persecution, and materialism. In regards to this, the National Socialists are correct in killing me. I have striven to make its consequences milder for its victims and to prepare the way for a change. In that, my conscience drove me – and in the end, that is a man’s duty.”

Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, Lawyer Executed in Plötzensee Prison on 23 January 1945

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Minister Executed in Flossenbürg Camp on 9 April 1945

Via MSN

Everyone knows the old saying that the quiet ones are the most dangerous. But how true is it, really? According to one new study, it’s pretty accurate—at least as far as American states go. That’s right. The state with the most psychopathic residents is also one of the most under-the-radar.

So just where will you want to watch your back? Connecticut. The tiny northeastern state ranked number one on Southern Methodist University professor Ryan Murphy’s research-backed list of the most psychopathic states in the country. California, New Jersey, New York, and Wyoming filled out the top five. If you live in one of these states, make sure you know the 13 signs you’re dealing with a psychopath.

Continue reading “This Is the U.S. State with the Most Psychopaths”

“No amount of observations of white swans can allow the inference that all swans are white, but the observation of a single black swan is sufficient to refute that conclusion.”

David Hume

“It has been more profitable for us to bind together in the wrong direction than to be alone in the right one. Those who have followed the assertive idiot rather than the introspective wise person have passed us some of their genes. This is apparent from a social pathology: psychopaths rally followers.”

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan

“Definite signs that business and industry have turned the corner from the temporary period of emergency that followed deflation of the speculative market were seen today by President Hoover. The President said the reports to the Cabinet showed the tide of employment had changed in the right direction.”

News dispatch from Washington, January 21, 1930

“The narcissist devours people, consumes their output, and casts the empty, writhing shells aside.”

Sam Vaknin

Continue reading “QUOTES OF THE DAY”

Three dark personalities, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy have been studied in businesses. Although the first two share similar traits with psychopathy, such as superficial charm, lying and manipulation, the inability to accept responsibility for their actions, and the complete lack of empathy, guilt and humility, a large body of research has demonstrated that psychopathic individuals are more dishonest, treacherous and destructive than the others.

While all three dark personalities can be bad news for a company, corporate psychopathy is the most dangerous. Nevertheless, because they use hard/deceitful manipulation tactics, are perceived as more dominant, and use overt means to appear more ‘attractive’ to those they wish to manipulate, psychopathic individuals may have the upper hand when it comes time to identify and select the most likely to succeed candidate for employee selection and promotion.”

Cynthia Mathieu, The Devil Lurks In the Suit

“Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by twenty well-documented traits and characteristics. The most visible are glib/superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self worth, a strong need for stimulation (that is, psychopaths are easily bored) and impulsivity.

However, there are others, which they successfully hide from view, in particular pathological lying, conning, manipulation, a lack of empathy, remorse and guilt. Over time, one might begin to see examples of irresponsibility, lack of realistic, long-term goals, and their failure to take responsibility for their own actions.”

Paul Babiak, co-author with Robert Hare of Snakes In Suits

Continue reading “QUOTES OF THE DAY”