At the risk of being redundant, I want to come back to one of the most important concepts in DGB Philosophy -- narcissism.
My thoughts on narcissism are borrowed mostly -- aside from my own modifications -- from Psychoanalysis. My influences within Psychoanalysis are predominantly Sigmund Freud and Heinz Kohut -- mainly Freud although many of my ideas relative to 'healthy narcissism' and the 'narcissistic transferences' peel off towards Kohut. The concept of narcissistic transferences will be developed at a future time under the heading of 'Transference'.
Narcissism, short and simple, equals self-interest -- at least in DGB Philosophy. Now narcissism is like almost everything else in life -- you can have too much of it and you can have too little of it. Too much of it and you come across as arrogant, selfish, conceited, cocky, self-absorbed, and uncaring about the well-being of others. The extent of narcissistic pathology in a person can range from mild to the psychopathic and/or sociopathic. Too little narcissism and you may appear invisible to othters, mild-mannered, modest, wanting to please, submissive, obedient authority, mascohistic, etc.
The opposite of narcissism is -- altruism with its derrivatives such as love, caring, generosity, empathy, compassion, senisitivity...
The healthy derivatives of narcissism/self-interest include: self-assertiveness, self-confidence, being in touch with oneself, being alive with passion, goal-directed, purposeful, self-empowered, willful, knowing what you want and confident you will get it...
The unhealthy derrivatives of narcissism include; addiction, self-infatuation, blindness to the needs and/or wishes of others, excessive drugs, alchohol, partying, eating, sex, gambling, power-seeking, revenge-seeking, rage, hate, violence, the exploitive, psychopathic, and/or sociopathic mentality...
The message of DGB Philosophy is not new -- just re-stated with new philosophical and psychological integrations, modifications, extensions, applications etc.
Everything in balance, including: narcissism and altruism -- caring about oneself and living one's life with passion and self-empowerment on the one hand, without self-destructiveness; and compassion, empathy, sensitivity, kindness, generosity,
caring, love on the other hand.
Most people tip the scale at one side or the other. Psychological and social health comes to those people who can find a good balance of both without upsetting the applecart at either end. That is easier said than done. Most people have too much 'yang' or too much 'yin' but not the perfect mix of both. That is a DGB philosophical ideal in the spirit of Daoism -- a philosophical perspective with deep roots in Chinese history. Soon, DGB Philosophy will be exploring the philosophy, the history of Chinese philosophy and politics -- and the chasm between them.
I look astonishingly at the life of someone like Mao Tse Tung. I found a small little book on philosophy by Mao -- in which I have so far read two excellent papers by him: 1. on the relationship between knowledge and practice (It was called: 'On Practice'); and 2. On Contradiction.
Then I buy a biography of him and I read that 'In all, well over 70 million Chinese perished under Mao's rule -- in peacetime.'
And I have to ask myself, how does such an intelligent man write two beautiful papers like I just read -- and be associated with the deaths of over 70 million people not including, the wars that he was involved in? That is a collosal gap, a collosal chasm between philosophical idealism and/or ideology on th one hand and narcissistic power-building and ruthless politics on the other hand.
And it is on this last note that I answer my own question: Philosophical idealism and ideology has to meet narcissistic self-interest, power-mongering, greed, money-chasing, and ruthless politics on the playing field of reality. It is only after the two have met in battle, in collision, that we can attempt in hindsight to determine how much idealistic ideology is left in the mind, heart, and behavior of the leader and/or party that trumpeted it to victory; and how much this idealistic ideology has been trampled under the marching feet of political leaders, corporate leaders, religious leaders, and the general public.
Idealistic ideology, integrity, character, and ethics has to be continually re-visited, re-cycled, re-trumpeted, re-invigorated, re-practised - or it will always end up losing to narcissism from any and/or every corner of human existence. Marx thought that Capitalism was the enemy but he was wrong. Narcissism is rooted much deeper in human nature and behavior than Capitalism -- Lenin, Stalan, and Mao Tse Tung have all showed us that. You can be an imperialist Socialist and/or Communist just as easily as you can be an imperialist Capitalist or Feudal Lord.
Dictators come in all sorts and shapes, in all different varieties of righteous ideology -- from Capitalism to Communism.
What underlies them all is a ruthless narcissism. Can anyone name me a 'benign' dictator that wasn't narcissistically ruthless? Maybe one day I will come upon one but I haven't yet.
In summary: idealistic ethics has to meet reality on the battlefield of ruthless narcissism. When they have met, then we can talk about whether there is any idealistic ethics left that is still worth talking about -- or whether it has blown away in a cloud of smoke under the fire of human narcissism.
-- dgb, Aug. 18th, 2008.
