Aaaaaand … as I knew I’d have to … I’ve had to block him already — after he came around spoiling for a fight on my profile *sigh*
But, yes … they are very sad individuals.
A not insignificant number have Cluster B disorders themselves. Either way around, however, what they are is Life’s failures. At school, they were either bottom of the class for (pretty much) everything or else, at best, unremarkably average. And that would’ve been okay if only they hadn’t been given to spouting utter nonsense and getting their arses handed to them by everyone else as a result.
The problem is that, as often as not, what they’d be spouting was some barely even half understood nonsense they’d got from one/other/both of their parents or some other person for whom they had respect. As a result, the ridicule they suffered wasn’t experienced as an attack on them but on something (the person) they valued highly (most especially if it was a parental figure) — an attack on their values as well as their beliefs, arguments, whathaveyou.
That chip on their shoulders never fell off, unfortunately, as … throughout their subsequent lives … they will have been repeatedly ridiculed by those visibly more successful than they themselves (by virtue of being not merely more intelligent but, furthermore, markedly less stupid ¹).
So, they grow increasingly resentful, double down on their ignorance and stupidity. Constantly on the defensive, their only recourse is to deny Reality, play the victim in their own sorry tale of woe, in which they could’ve been contenders if only …
And we are where we are.
It was inevitable that Trump was gonna happen sooner or later: he is America’s Id — its overlooked, its held back, its underachievers, its failures … its seething resentment. And sooner or later, the mess the US is was gonna boil over — if you keep dangling a dream in front of people and telling them it’s theirs for the taking but then never let them have it, eventually, they are going to get frustrated and act out.
It’s not much better in the UK … and I’ve left it twice for years at a stretch because I just can’t cope with the mentality of people here (you have Trump and QAnon, we have BoJo and Brexit) … but we at least still have some semblance of a welfare state and health service … and (thank fuck) no guns — and we aren’t a theocracy, like the US (although an alarming number of people do fawn over Margaret Thatcher in a disconcertingly fervent manner ²).
Until we can breed Cluster B disorders out of the genepool/memepool … or else manage them somehow and neutralise them … there will never be a solution, I’m afraid
But, one thing’s for sure: when people have less reason to worry about their own basic needs being met, they tend to be less resentful of others being granted the same opportunities … and the more educated people are, the less they fear others.
So, in the meantime, what’s needed is free higher education, for life (like in Scandinavia), and basic welfare provision — maybe UBI, I don’t know, but at least unemployment benefits (and ideally like those in Scandinavia), , ‘free’ public health (like in the UK), workers’ representation on company boards (like in Germany), rent caps (like in Germany), that kind of thing … to keep people at a level whereby their basic needs are met and they needn’t feel, let alone be, insecure.
—
¹ No … I’m not always right … it’s that they are always wrong.
² https://medium.com/@WhereAngelsFearToTread/irony-f29a61910a5b
