The biological, psychological, moral and economic destruction of the majority of normal people becomes, for the pathocrats, a biological necessity. Dr. Andrew Lobaczewiski

The system that is in place is a pathological system that is at odds in a very profound way with the being or nature of most people. People of conscience are being ruled by people with no conscience. This fact is the primary injustice and is the basis for the other ills of society. Henry See[1]

It is not power that corrupts, it is that corrupt individuals seek power. Laura Knight-Jadczyk

We are in the throes of a raging war on the fault line of human nature, a chasm of epic proportion. Psychopathic Civilization, a Goliath armed to the hilt with extraordinary powers of authority and influence versus an unassuming but inspired David. To win a decisive battle, strike your opponent clean and hard for to miss is to rattle the monster’s cage and beckon a protracted, bloody contest that cannot be won. “And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang [it], and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.”[2]

Activists, dissidents and do-gooders of all shape and size have for decades and going back further, centuries, decried the domination of an elite that acts only to further its own interests on the back of the people – it is a very old story indeed. Over the past four decades and in particular since the 1980s when the seeds of neoliberal economics were laid down in trade agreements drafted and agreed in back room deals, the noise level has been rising. While some gains have been made, destructive dynamics have become more deeply entrenched. The revolving door between government and corporations, and the disproportionate influence applied by corporations on government and policymaking, through lobbying, campaign finance, sponsorship of biased think tanks and control of popular media, has served to degrade the democratic rights we fought so hard to establish only a few centuries ago. The game has been rigged in what amounts to an outrageous, raw deal for most of us.

In researching the escalating problems of poverty, inequality, injustice and the ticking time bomb that is our spectacularly beautiful planet and its fragile biosphere, I have come to conclude that the root cause of this malaise is psychopathy. The behavioral traits I explore throughout this book have become deeply embedded in our modern, Psychopathic Civilization. The fault line is the same as it has been since the dawn of civilization – domination versus equality. By reframing the battlefield and setting our objective on disabling the enemy at his weak point, we can once and for all triumph.

A mass movement, driven by an awakening that we have discovered the root cause that underlies the inequities imposed upon innocents, and the gross maltreatment of mother Earth, is an absolute necessity – if there is one accomplishment I wish to make in penning this book, it is a collective awakening. We can no longer play the role of pawns in this wicked, deceptive scheme that is playing out right under humanity’s nose. If ours are weapons of mass progression, theirs are weapons of mass deception.

Understanding that psychopathy is the root cause of evil requires us to reframe the narrative. We have been running in circles, advocating change based on overwhelmingly supportive data, notably but not exclusively in the areas of global warming and widening social inequality. I am convinced that the picture is different than the one we have been taught.

Psychopathy is the enemy, like a cancer progressing through the weakened body of empathy at alarming pace. The body is the people and our common habitat, and the doctor is our course of action, an operative war of the righteous. There is no silver bullet but rather a diverse arsenal that if unleashed at the right time and in the right dose, can return the body to health before it reaches the point of no return. Time is of the essence and for those of us who care, watching in apathetic ignorance as we march to the grave is as great an obstacle as the cancer itself.

Taking the medical analogy a step further, the cancer has a mind of its own and will not of its own volition agree to partake in any form of treatment. “If you want to treat a problem, you have to have a patient. The word patient comes from Latin, and means to suffer. A patient, by definition, is someone who is suffering and seeks treatment. Psychopaths do not experience distress and do not think that anything is wrong with them. They do not suffer stress or neuroses, and do not seek out treatment voluntarily. The psychopath recognizes no flaw in his psyche, no need for change.”[3] We have little choice but to cart the body into the emergency ward, strapped down and tranquilized.

That this will be difficult is not a question, but we can unearth the knowledge to devise the tools and tactics required to achieve our noble objective – to reside in our naïve little bubbles and muse over the latest pop culture icon’s personal drama is more than to miss a brilliant opportunity, it is to sanction evil to run its nasty and unnatural course.

Psychopathic traits are embedded in our systems, enabled by a twisted set of incentives that reward behavior that serves society and civilization at large no good. Psychopathy is the root cause of human folly and in order to transform civilization to a more peaceful, equitable and environmentally sustainable path, it must be called out, weeded out, bled dry and laid to rest. We can literally rewrite the history books with a new lens that captures depth of field unlike any other we have mounted onto our collective intellectual camera.

Where empathy was the backbone of our distant tribal ancestry, psychopathy has thrived since. The larger our cities and systems became and the faster the pace of change and complexity accelerated through time, the greater the opportunity has been for the psychopath to thrive. Not only did civilization transform the way in which we live, but its emergence, growth and scale have enabled the psychopath to wrap his greedy, self-serving and destructive hands around humanity’s throat. This is an archetypal story of good versus evil, of light versus darkness, of kindness versus greed and of equality versus domination. This is an epic superhero drama where the forces of good dual with a masked enemy that blends into our population, undetected by all but those who possess the force of knowledge and an awakened consciousness.

The systems we depend upon and the values that are promoted in our society are psychopathic, thus in turn many who thrive in modern civilization have learned that psychopathic behavior is rewarded. To selfishly pursue personal gain is Economic Man’s calling card, a norm enforced by capitalism gone wild. Henry See shares his view on how psychopathic traits have permeated our culture and values, boldly stating that “in a society dominated by pathological values, the existence of a small group of conscienceless people promoting a culture of greed and selfishness creates an environment where the pathological becomes the norm. In a society, such as the United States today, where the President can lie with impunity on matters of life and death, a pathological environment is created where lying becomes acceptable. Violence is acceptable. Greed is acceptable. It is part and parcel of the ideology of the American Dream, that anyone can be a success no matter who you have to hurt to do it. And, it is in what they must do to actually succeed that the seeds of pathology are sown. In that environment, people of conscience who are weak and easily influenced take on the characteristics of the pathological in order to survive and succeed. They see that their leaders lie and cheat, and they figure that if they want to get ahead, then they can lie and cheat as well.”[4]

To lift the enemy’s mask, we must understand what motivates him and spot the instruments of his vicious trade. The psychopath is a sly predator who hides amongst us. Once we have lifted his mask, we can understand how far and wide his influence has become. He is the grand architect of the Psychopathic Civilization, the deceptor, dominator, propagandist, lawyer, judge, jury and enforcer.

This is truly an amazing story, filled with the intrigue of an epic tale of good versus evil. I present facts grounded in the fine research of a number of leading subject matter experts who are themselves academics, authors and journalists, but have applied a punchy tone to hammer home a story of grave importance to us all. If I wanted to preach to the choir, I’d write this book for readers like me. I want The Empath Strikes Back to be an accessible, compelling and provocative story that serves one goal – awakening.

Know Thine Enemy

It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle. Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Forget about everything you’ve learned – leave your assumptions and beliefs at the door. This is not a story of the Good Samaritan – “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.” The Bible’s vindictive passages are what apply here – “Never trust thine enemy: for like as iron rusteth, so is his wickedness.” The psychopath doesn’t give a shit about you – he is a parasite that serves only his own purposes. There is no reforming him and should be no mercy for the wrongs he commits. Be angry and beware that he operates amongst us disguised in a mask of sanity that is anything but. The long arms of his wicked ways reach near and far, leaving a trail of destruction, dysfunction and despair upon everything he touches. There is no good in him – he is without soul, absent of everything that makes humans unique and special. He is alter-human, a sentient animal that looks the human part. He is an intra-species predator and we are his prey.

There are many misconceptions of psychopathy. While a small number are indeed calculating killers, many more thrive in the business world, walk our halls of government and wield significant influence in high seats of office across the economic and political spectrum. Psychopathy and sociopathy are interchangeable terms – many differentiate between the two in order to avoid confusion with psychoticism and insanity. Psychopathy is neither – psychopaths are in fact very rational and sane. “Psychopathy is not mental illness; it is a personality disorder, and psychopaths are well known for coming across as particularly “sane” to others. They display few, if any, of the idiosyncrasies, foibles, and neuroses that make the rest of us unique.”[5]

To attack someone who suffers from a mental disease or disorder would be unfair, nasty and horrible – this is not fascism, but rather a fight to reclaim empathy. As dangerous as it is to single groups out and to attack them for their differences, a singular and special exception to this hard and fast rule applies here. If the damage psychopaths cause were anything short of devastating, their presence could be managed and grudgingly accepted as a part of the collective human condition – sadly, this is not so thus I see no option but to draw the hardest of lines.

It pains me to think like this and I assure you that if there were a better way, I would advocate it – if you have more progressive ideas, I want to learn of them. This is dangerous argument I’m making and one that will render me an unpopular outrage in many circles. Such arguments have been made in various forms in past and always result in horrors unimaginable. I don’t support capital punishment and believe that everyone has a right to fair and civil treatment. There should be no concentration or internment camps (although the prison industrial complex can be seen as such) and certainly no mass extermination – we’ve been there and done that and should be ashamed that humanity is capable of such crimes. I also don’t believe that all psychopaths should be incarcerated – I simply don’t want them to hold the reigns of our collective sleigh. I’ve seen enough to know that it ends poorly.

I hope you will understand as you read on why I believe we have come to this. The story of psychopathic domination has repeated itself since the dawn of civilization and there is no evidence to suggest that outcomes will be different this time around unless we change the narrative. Dangerous times call for dangerous measures and provided we keep our sanity in check, pursue righteous ends and apply the rules of fair and just laws that are properly applied and enforced, despite the costs that we must endure to repair civilization, this war is fair game.

Where psychopaths have lived in challenging economic and social conditions, they are more likely to exercise their destructive nature through the blunt instruments of violence. “Not all psychopaths are smooth operators. Some do not have enough social or communicative skill or education to interact successfully with others, relying instead on threats, coercion, intimidation, and violence to dominate others and get what they want.”[6] The prison population is roughly 25% psychopathic but they are responsible for an estimated 50% of society’s crimes and in particular, violent crimes. There is no cultural differentiation, confirming that psychopathy is a biologically determined personality type. The psychopath’s “personality make-up is also consistently documented more often in men versus women; in fact, the ratio has been as high as 20:1.”[7] Another source estimates the psychopaths number more than 10 percent in male populations and approximately 1 percent in female populations.[8]

Shockingly, one study found that the prevalence of psychopathy within the police force is as high as it is in prisons.[9] The implications of this phenomenon are significant – look no further than the social unrest seen in America and the events being played out in the Black Lives Matter movement to appreciate how disruptive psychopathic abuses are to society’s wellbeing. That criminals make the best cops appears, at least in some cases, to be true.

Psychopaths are brilliant manipulators and mind readers who under the microscope can spin a story to throw even the most skilled of interviewers off their naughty trail. “To their credit, psychopaths have the deserved reputation of being good judges of the personalities of others – perhaps because they work harder at it – and have the uncanny ability to project the most effective persona, depending on the situation, to get what they want. How do they do it? To psychopaths, your face, words, and body language are your autobiography, printed in large type.”[10] It is not my objective to qualify anyone in particular as a psychopath, but rather to underscore the behaviors that impair our ability to progress in establishing a better world.

Psychopaths test high in a list of behavioral traits detailed below, but not necessarily so in all categories. At their hollow core, psychopaths lack empathy and pursue in absolute their own interests and all too often at the painful expense of others. Like any spectrum of human behavior, shades of grey differentiate each person uniquely from another. “The number and severity of psychopathic features ranges from near zero, perhaps sliding into sainthood, to abnormally high, rising into big trouble.”[11] Robert Hare has found no convincing evidence that psychopathy is the direct result of early social or environmental factors – it is thus biologically defined.[12] The psychopath’s trail has only recently been exposed and researchers are pursuing a deeper understanding: “Very little is known about subcriminal psychopathy. Some researchers have begun to seriously consider the idea that it is important to study psychopathy not as a pathological category but as a general personality trait in the community at large. In other words, psychopathy is being recognized as a more or less different type of human.”[13]

If this is a Psychopathic Civilization, biology has found a home in sociology. As a result of the rewards associated with psychopathic behavior, many of us apply tactics that are advantageous to their personal advancement. They haven’t become psychopaths – biology is inherited. Evolutionary biology informs us that over a long enough period of time, where conditions have changed, biology adjusts. 12 thousand years, or 500 generations, is long enough for the forces of evolutionary biology to run their course. Social factors have thus combined force with biology to proliferate psychopathic behaviors.

Research into psychopathy has made great progress over the past decade, notably in the work of Robert Hare and associates, who are widely regarded as the field’s leading experts. Hare’s psychopathy checklist now serves as the basis for diagnostics and is being applied by such agencies as the FBI. Hunting down criminals and protecting the innocent from crime is an important cornerstone of a civil society. A greater impact than the classic psychopath’s crimes is the corrosion of civilization and the values and norms that define our common, social experience.

Hare’s checklist breaks the disorder down into four categories: (i) Interpersonal Traits: he is grandiose, deceiptful, cunning, manipulative, a pathological liar and possess a charming personality, however superficial; (ii) Affective Traits: he lacks remorse and empathy, is emotionally shallow and doesn’t take responsibility for his actions; (iii) Lifestyle Traits: he is impulsive, prone to boredom and thus seeks out constant stimulation, is parasitic in taking advantage of others’ goodwill, work, money and so on, lacks goals and is irresponsible and (iv) Antisocial Traits: he has poor behavioral controls, demonstrated from adolescence through to adulthood. All psychopaths score “very high on the affective dimension, but there are variations in their scores on the other three dimensions, giving rise to a number of psychopathic styles.”[14]

Successful psychopaths typically come from economically advantaged backgrounds. They are sophisticated, charismatic, arrogant, masters of manipulation, corporate climbers, ruthlessly political and equally as self-centred as their less socio-economically advantaged peers. These are the individuals most dangerous to society because they hold high seats of office enabling them to wield disproportionate influence. They are CEOs and senior executives, lawyers, lobbyists, media moguls, politicians and high ranking military and law enforcement officers. While caregiving fields such as medicine, psychology, social work and teaching generally attract empathetic people that are motivated at least in part by altruism, psychopaths are also found in these professions – they seek out positions where they are able to dominate others. They are everywhere, a masked intra-species predator that lays down traps on unsuspecting prey.

Duplicity, manipulation, persuasiveness and ruthlessness are the tools of the psychopath’s trade. A growing body of research indicates that psychopaths are drawn to many positions of professional responsibility because they provide them with the sources of power, prestige and money they seek to accrue for themselves.[15] They willfully engage in political gamesmanship with a penchant for dangerous winner take all strategies that serve them well in climbing the organizational ladder. They routinely create excuses for their behavior and place blame on others, taking no responsibility for the disruptive outcomes that result. They are devoid of guilt and empathy.

Charm and charisma are magnetic traits that generate attention and often the praise of others. They are rarely shy, insecure or at a loss for words. They are convincing liars, confident and assertive in delivering false messages. They bore easily and require constant stimulation. Looking into their relationships with others is another key to identification. They are effective at convincing others to do what they want, applied through charm and possibly aggressive means. In an organizational context, aggressivity can translate into their subject’s job security and potential for success and promotion – if you aren’t with me, you are against me and if you are against me, I can’t protect you and things may not go well for you as a result. Their manipulative nature is revealed in a refined ability to influence and dominate others – they tend to seek out positions of leadership in order to control others. They believe themselves to be entitled and enjoy accolades but are incapable of dealing with criticism.[16]

Superficially charming, they make strong first impressions and are perceived to be exceptionally normal. “The truly talented ones have raised their ability to charm people to that of an art, priding themselves on their ability to present a fictional self to others that is convincing, taken at face value, and difficult to penetrate.”[17] Psychopathy is a confounding personality type. Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, it is terribly difficult to see them for who they are. Their exceptional ability to read their audience and modify their behavior to capitalize on opportunity makes large organizations perfect feeding grounds. “Like all predators, psychopaths are attuned to the weak spots of those with whom they interact. There are many types of human weakness, and the astute psychopath knows most of them.”[18] Be forewarned – if you are morally inclined, you are a target. You have already discovered this but may be confused as to why you have been singled out and preyed upon by people with whom you are supposed to share a common interest.

What is most interesting about the successful psychopath is how effective he is in controlling his aggression. “An individual may benefit not only from being aggressive, but knowing when to be aggressive and when to restrain aggressive impulses. Just as an aggressive instinct may provide a selective advantage under some circumstances, so too an aggression-reduction instinct may provide a selective advantage under other circumstances.”[19] The ability of the sophisticated psychopath to control his aggressive impulse is fundamental to his success – without this unique, possibly evolutionary adaptation, he would be no different than his criminal cousin.

Lifting the successful psychopath’s mask, we discover three common profiles, two unique, the manipulator and the bully, and one a hybrid, the puppet master. You will see in these character types the faces of many you have encountered, work with and for, or on television in political debates or in executive interviews.

The manipulative psychopath applies his charm and charisma as a master of manipulation and deception – he is particularly adept in his control of aggressive impulse. He is a big talker but not a doer – he seeks to control others who he needs to perform the hard work he is incapable of performing himself. The manipulator is particularly well suited to careers in business and politics – his ability to con others into believing he is honest, talented, ethical, experienced and has the right stuff for leadership is outstanding.[20] I for one have found this personality trait in countless pockets of large corporate organizations and have suffered the consequences of the trust I bestowed upon them. They are compelling orators, charismatic and exude the qualities we ascribe to successful leadership. Leaders however they are not for to lead equates to, at least in my worldview, an ability to develop and inspire others to perform while protecting their interests as integral members of the organization – the manipulator, like any other psychopath, doesn’t give a shit about you – his interests are all that matters and you are a pawn in his devious game.

Where organizational bullies lack the talent of the manipulative psychopath in sophistication and smooth talking, they excel in coercion, abuse, humiliation, harassment, aggression and fear tactics to achieve their objectives. Their callous disregard for others is universal and they commonly prey on the weak. They are attracted to conflict, liberally deflect responsibility and pass blame, and attack others in persistent fashion. They are hell bent on getting their way and are highly vindictive when they do not. While the bully may seem a poor fit for organizational success, their ability to keep rivals and subordinates at bay enables them to consolidate power.[21] In my career, I have seen fewer of these but in understanding the profile, this sort of psychopath is clear as day when you find one, a nasty brew indeed.

The puppet master is a hybrid of the manipulator and bully. They surround themselves with obedient followers who they control and attack for any perceived disobedience with a paranoid eye to potential opposition. Puppet masters are well suited to rising to the top, in control of systems, processes and procedures, but are also more prone to organizational and regulatory discipline as a result of their significant responsibility (and inherent irresponsibility).[22] These qualities are so common in upper management ranks that I find it easier to spot them be separating the chaff (psychopaths) from the wheat (the honest, decent, disciplined, and hard working executive that apply a healthy does of integrity in everything he/she does). The wheat is quite visible so by method of reduction, leaders who don’t pass this simple test are in my admittedly untrained eyes suspect.

In researching this fascinating subject and discussing my findings with others, I have been overwhelmed by how many people identify with each of these styles, and with the general theme of the successful psychopath. There is little doubt that psychopaths have found fertile grounds across industry segments and government. Consistent with the findings of researchers, they are commonly found in senior positions and more prevalently in certain fields, notably those that either pay handsomely or afford them significant influence and domination over others.

Think of the executive psychopath as the captain of a ship on which we depend for our safe passage through what can be treacherous and unpredictable waters – his recklessness and lack of regard for our wellbeing imperils us on our common journey. “It is important to note that psychopaths – like great leaders – are risk takers, often putting themselves and others in harm’s way. Risk taking, often difficult to quantify or differentiate from foolhardiness, is a trait that closely lines up with what we expect of leaders in times of crisis.”[23] It is indeed very difficult to differentiate the psychopath from the normal leader. So pervasive is psychopathic influence and the advantages that accrue to those willing to apply their behavioral traits, that this has become less a matter of diagnosis than a broad socio-economic phenomenon.

Diagnosed psychopaths represent around 1 percent of the general population, but their numbers swell considerably in executive ranks. Hare and associates found through their extensive research that around 3.5 percent of executives are psychopaths.[24] Another study indicated that 7% of the population fall into the highly selfish actor category and an additional 9% were borderline cases. These individuals tested higher in average IQ, higher in impulse control and believe that success in life requires manipulation of others. The research qualified that such an individual is a “prototypical member of the social and economic elite.”[25] At the other end of the spectrum, 25% of people fell into a category called consistent cooperators. The remaining 59% were qualified as “ordinary people”.

Dr. Andrzej Lobaczewski, the only author I have discovered who thoroughly explored the systemic impacts of psychopathy, estimated that 18% of any given population is active in the “creation and imposition of a Pathocracy – the 6% group are members of the elite and the 12% group are “individuals who are susceptible to the influence and thinking style of the psychopaths.”[26] Knight-Jadczyk summarizes Lobaczewski’s research: “18% or more of any given population that seeks to subdue and control the rest. If you then consider that remainder, the 82%, and keep in mind the bell curve, at least 80% of the remainder will follow whoever is in charge. And since psychopaths have no limitations on what they can or will do to get to the top, the ones in charge are generally pathological. It is not power that corrupts, it is that corrupt individuals seek power.”[27]

Results from research vary but a common theme emerges. Elites are far more likely to be diagnosed psychopaths and 10 to 18 percent of the working population are qualified as highly self-centred actors who see manipulation as a critical success factor for career advancement – these are what I consider to be spectrum psychopaths, or broadly speaking successful psychopaths. Fortunately, there are more people, perhaps 25 percent, who are consistent cooperators. As would be expected, the largest cohort, around 60%, are an apathetic majority who go with the flow – we will explore these personality types further in Chapter X.

Organizational development consultant Gloria Elliot runs “jerk training seminars” and estimates that 10 percent of those in the workplace are full-time jerks.[28] I like to think of the psychopath’s collective game as a jerkathon – I for one was challenged to continue running it and reached a point in my corporate career, 15 years in, that in anger and frustration I felt compelled to throw my badly warn runners into the dustbin. Radiohead’s words echo a dark truth that somehow comforts me in the knowledge that others have seen and understood the same evil: “I keep the wolf from the door but he calls me up. Calls me on the phone tells me all the ways that he’s gonna mess me up. Steal all my children if I don’t pay a ransom and I’ll never see them again if I squeal to the cops.” I paid the wolf’s ransom, kept my children but lost my career. My consolation prize is the opportunity to write this book – were it not for these experiences, my eyes would never have opened.

Organizational psychologist Fred Kiel’s research qualifies the thesis that psychopaths destroy value but most importantly, that empathetic leaders deliver a significant value premium. He evaluated character scores of leaders based on four criteria: integrity, compassion, responsibility and forgiveness. The scores were based on ratings generated by 8,000 employees who were familiar, through first hand experience, with the surveyed leaders. He went on to split the scores at the median average in order to compare the financial performance between businesses where the CEO scored either below or above the median. The results were profound. Return on Assets (ROA) for corporations where the leader tested above the median average character score were 3 times higher; 5.9% versus 1.9%. He followed to evaluate performance of the highest character score CEOs, what he calls Virtuoso CEOs, with those at the bottom of the character rating scorecard, some of whom he qualified as psychopaths. The results were even more compelling – Virtuoso CEOs contributed an average ROA of 8.4% versus -0.6% for the lowest character score CEOs.[29]

It is a very difficult exercise to spot a sophisticated psychopath but ultimately, understanding their behavioral traits and tactics is to open the door and embark on a path of discovery and self defense. They are experts in reading their audience in order to deliver a storyline that leads us to false conclusions. They are narcissists who promote themselves with a grandiose sense of self-worth. “Psychopaths have a great sense of superiority and entitlement and think nothing of helping themselves to property that belongs to others. Their grandiose sense of self-importance leads them to believe that other people exist just to take care of them.”[30] Babiak and Hare go on to explain that “it is the psychopath’s arrogance that stands out so clearly to coworkers. Unfortunately, when dealing with higher-ups, the ability of psychopaths to manage and promote their arrogant self-perceptions, and to package them as self-confident and strong leadership, effectively hides their true nature. Genuine modesty among psychopaths is so rare as to be nonexistent. Its absence, while not an indication of psychopathy directly, can help to corroborate other suspicions.”[31]

Cases of abuse across industry sectors and government are many. Amazingly, very few of these leaders have been held to account. The difference between a crime and an oversight is often sufficiently foggy that the best (and all too often psychopathic) lawyers have successfully defended them in the small number of cases that have been brought to a court of law. One has to wonder whether the vested interests shared by organizational psychopaths in business and government have served as a further layer of protection against indictment. “Unless caught and prosecuted for breaking the law, psychopaths suffer little consequence for physical, emotional, psychological, and financial abuses they leave behind. The sad fact is that few victims report them to the authorities because of the shame they feel for being conned. Even in large firms, such as banks and brokerage houses, frauds and scams sometimes are not reported for fear of damaging the reputation of the firm. Psychopaths know and use this to their advantage. Others are too intimidated by fears of reprisal or litigation to speak up.”[32] One criminologist, Georgette Bennett, estimates that the financial damage caused by sophisticated psychopaths is 10 to 50 times that of common crime.[33]

Psychopaths have proved adept at inflicting significant damage on organizations and on the wider economy and thus society and civilization at large. The consequences of their actions include a range of calamities, including fraud, unnecessary employee redundancies, an exploited and disheartened workforce, a rise in workplace bullying, environmental damage, decisions of questionable legality, business partnerships with other psychopaths and lost economies of expertise.[34] Indeed, psychopaths are adept at identifying their own kind, yet another advantage they hold over the rest of society. When they coalesce in evil union, the outcome can be devastating as we will explore shortly.

There should be no confusion about the prevalence of psychopathy in society. Indeed, they are so common that most of us should expect to “come across at least one psychopath during a typical day.”[35] And we should beware, so much so that the experts advise that we place less trust in the people we meet, even those who ostensibly seem to be good and decent by intuitive measure. “They are the perfect invisible predator. Like chameleons, psychopaths can hide who they really are and mask their true intentions from their victims for extended periods.”[36]

Expanding upon the successful psychopath thesis, organizational change is a critical enabler, a pasture replete with all they need to thrive. Unfortunately, in a world of dynamic, hyper-competitive and disruptive change, organizational change is the new normal and touches organizations of all shape, size and type, in businesses and government alike. “Constant change and uncertainty causes stress for most employees and managers, but opens the door for the psychopath.”[37] Changes in staff, management and the alignment of their seating offer new relationship network opportunities. Change is also infused with a heightened level of interest, intrigue, gamesmanship and challenge. These dynamics create “new opportunities for psychopaths to perpetrate their fiction.”[38] Change for a psychopath is like establishing air force superiority with loads of camouflaged ground cover – he can lurk, attack and hide seamlessly. It’s a perfect battlefield.

Dispelling any suggestions that the hard work associated with organizational change might scare a psychopath off, Babiak and Hare conclude that the business world has “become more psychopath friendly in recent years.”[39] In fact, he seeks out opportunities to play the role of “knight on a white horse, cool, calm, and confident… When dramatic organizational change is added to the normal levels of job insecurity, personality clashes, and political battling, the resulting chaotic milieu provides the necessary stimulation and sufficient “cover” for psychopathic behavior.”[40]

An effective tool in the psychopath’s arsenal is secrecy. The higher up he has climbed, the more information he will be privy to and information assymetry in an organization experiencing disruptive change is commonplace. “Secrecy is the pretender’s friend. The success of psychopathic manipulation, especially in large groups of people, depends on maintaining a cloak of secrecy about what is really going on. A culture of secrecy in an organization makes it much easier for pretenders to hide and much harder for management to catch them in their lies, to accurately rate their performance, or to see the abuse they heap on coworkers.”[41] The secrecy tactic applies exceptionally well in the political sphere – a principle of need to know touches countless aspects of governments where disclosures can be withheld from the public record for far longer than make them relevant.

According to the experts, identification is a mugs game. “Many individuals believe that they are good at telling if someone is lying or not. Few of us can really tell. Even those who are trained to detect lying and deception are not particularly good at it.”[42] Their ability to establish relationship networks, to triangulate information and use it to manipulate is masterful. “Using a variety of influence tactics, the psychopaths manipulated their network of one-on-one personal bonds to gather information they could use to advance their own careers, derail the careers of rivals, or enlist technical support when the company made demands on them. Specifically, their game plans involved manipulating communication networks to enhance their own reputation, to disparage others, and to create conflicts and rivalries among organization members, thereby keeping them from sharing information that might uncover the deceit.”[43] The trail of human destruction they leave behind can’t be quantified.

Once you have served the psychopath’s purpose, regardless of the status of your seat at the table, you will be discarded unless your utility is deemed worthy of his continued attention. “To be able to abandon people in such a callous and harmful manner one must be immune to the feelings of those one hurts. Psychopaths can easily do this because their emotional and social attachments to others are poorly developed; weak at best.”[44]

What we have is a group of people well equipped to win in a capitalist society that places disproportionate value on authority. Victors accrue power, prestige and wealth. Certain types of organizations, many of which are systemically important, such as the police and armed forces, financial institutions, energy producers, media and government, are perfect playgrounds. They “tend to take jobs in [organizations] where they can take advantage of others, make a big killing, and hide as well.”[45] There’s is a game with a singular objective – domination.

There is a strong evolutionary argument for psychopathy. In light of the progressively more favourable conditions that exist, not only is psychopathy thriving but over time, it has become a trait more widely distributed across human populations. “From an evolutionary perspective, a behavior as ubiquitous as aggression is best understood as an adaptation to environmental pressures that provided a selective advantage to members of the species. That is to say, members of the species who possessed the genotype related to the production of aggressive behaviors were more likely to survive and produce viable offspring than members of the species with genotypes that were less likely to produce aggressive behaviors. Benefits to aggression may also include higher success regarding intraspecies competitive pressures.”[46] More than any other factor I see this as the scariest – if the cancer is spreading, be it through genetics or more broadly in application of psychopathic behaviors, it is imperative that the Empath Strike Back.

Knight-Jadczyk further backs the case of psycho-social evolution: “Psychopathy is an adaptive life strategy that is extremely successful in American society, and thus has increased in the population. What is more, as a consequence of a society that is adaptive for psychopathy, many individuals who are not genetic psychopaths have similarly adapted, becoming effective psychopaths. In other words, in a world of psychopaths, those who are not genetic psychopaths, are induced to behave like psychopaths simply to survive.”[47] Knight-Jadczyk’s colleague and co-editor of Lobaczewski’s work, Henry See further argues that “if we look at North America or Australia, areas colonized to some extent by people either being forced to leave their homes, criminals, or adventurers, we can ask whether or not the prospect of conquering continents might not have appealed to certain types more than others. Does the history of the American west for example, and the genocide of the indigenous peoples, not point to a higher incidence of psychopathy? Perhaps the level in the United States is higher today because of it.”[48] These are speculative arguments but serve to highlight how certain conditions attract certain personalities and that success in these systems is largely defined by an ability to adapt. This psycho-social evolutionary argument conforms to the data insofar as certain types of modern organizations and certain industries and sectors have attracted more psychopaths than others and in particular, in high ranking positions. One researcher, Alan Harrington, refers to the psychopath as the new being produced by the evolutionary pressures of modern life. “We now need to fear the super-sophisticated modern crook who does know what he is doing – and does it so well that no one else knows. Yes, psychopaths love the business world.”[49] We should not forget that they love government as well – indeed, the highest seats of office may well be the ultimate prize.

Unfortunate both for the psychopath and society at large, there is no evidence that psychopaths can be cured or reformed. Neither pharmaceutical nor psychiatric therapy works. In fact, researchers have found that therapy may be counter productive – psychopaths have been successful in using the information and insights gained in therapy to enhance their ability to manipulate. Criminal recidivism rates have been highest amongst released psychopathic prisoners who tested particularly well in their treatment: “After their release, it was found that those who had scored highest in terms of good treatment behaviour and who had the highest empathy scores were the ones who were more likely to reoffend after release.”[50] Clearly, the story gets thornier the further we progress in exposing it.

There is a glimmer of hope that will be explored thoroughly in Chapter X, Weapons of Mass Progression. Beyond our ability to identify psychopathic behavior in a social context, scientific diagnostics are making great strides. Still an emerging field of research, scientists have discovered through brain-imaging techniques that certain emotion-generating sections of the brain operate differently from person to person. The limbic system, primarily the amygdala, regulates emotions and feelings of empathy. As a result of limbic under-activation, psychopaths lack the ability to generate basic emotions. “Recent brain imaging research indicates that the experiences and events that most people find emotional are associated with activation of several brain areas, including the limbic system, which is sometimes referred to as the “emotional brain.” But these same experiences and events fail to activate components of the limbic system in psychopaths. Indeed, psychopaths respond to what should be an emotionally arousing event as if it were not emotional at all. Their callous indifference to the plight and inner pain of others is more akin to that of a predator to its prey.”[51] We must recognize and accept that in this regard, we are not created as equals – the qualities that make us concerned, sensitive and caring creatures are absent in a significant portion of our population. Our ability to scientifically diagnose the condition is an important factor in lifting the enemy’s mask.

THE EVIL KINGDOM

Consider your origin; you were not born to live like brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge. Dante Alighieri

What I discovered in my research is that the diagnostic criteria of the successful psychopath are precisely the factors that impede our transition to an Empathic Civilization of peace, equality, justice and environmental sustainability.

Peering into the eyes of evil, we can understand and overcome the powerful grip and hold empathy as a touchstone for transformation. “When you come to understand that the reins of political and economic power are in the hands of people who have no conscience, who have no capacity for empathy, it opens up a completely new way of looking at what we call evil.”[52]

I have looked near and far for research to ground my Psychopathic Civilization thesis and was surprised that only one comprehensive study appears to exist, an obscure book written by a now deceased Polish psychiatriast named Andrzej Lobaczewski, titled Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes. Lobaczewski’s work was based on his and other experts’ research in Eastern Europe before the Iron Curtain fell, and focused on what he refers to as pathocratic regimes, Hitler’s Nazis and Stalin’s Soviet Union in particular. He defined pathocracy as a system of government “wherein a small pathological minority takes control over a society of normal people.”[53] Learning that so very little is understood about this fundamentally critical link in the human chain, I was all the more inspired to get the story out.

Understanding how psychopaths have impacted society and civilization at large is the foundation upon which this battlefield is defined. Where Robert Hare and others have opened our eyes to the psychopath at the individual level, Lobaczewski and his co-editors, Laura Knight-Jadczyk and Henry See, have provided invaluable insight into the social and systemic impacts of psychopathy.

The first factor that needs to be understood is how psychopathy impacts social systems. To start, look no further than the foundation upon which civil society is protected and its values upheld, the legal system. For a psychopath, testimony under oath is a “useless farce.” [54] Where the psychopath is not bound by the moral guidelines that direct his victim’s testimony, judges and juries tend to apply a “basic assumption that the truth lies between the testimony of the two sides” thereby shifting “the advantage to the lying side and away from the side of telling the truth.”[55] From this simple guideline we can understand a great deal about how the system favours manipulation and deceit – it is in no way fair. If the referee isn’t willing to call the boxer out for punching below the belt, the game is fixed to the clear advantage of the unscrupulous. The world is your oyster if you are prepared to lie and are good at it.

Outside of what is supposed to be the objective domain of the court system, psychopaths are in a similar fashion able to twist the truth in all aspects of political and economic life, rendering false realities upon the unsuspecting masses. Applying the assumption that the truth lies somewhere in the middle ground, normal people are drawn to a “golden mean between the truth and its opposite, winding up with some satisfactory counterfeit.” Where the psychopath holds the seat of authority, he applies this method with “virtuosity, adeptly preying on the weaknesses of human nature.”[56]

Of course not everyone is easily manipulated and some are willing to stand-up for the truth. The pathocrat is absolutely contemptuous in quashing what he considers to be naïve moralists who preach “the need to rediscover lost human values to develop a richer, more appropriate psychological world view.”[57] It is thus that the psychopathic leader twists the truth and crushes any opposition that may emerge, setting a tone that is clearly understood by anyone who may consider venturing down the truth seeker’s path.

Consolidating his grip still further, the pathocrat effectively “forces human minds to incorporate pathological experiential methods and thought-patterns” consequently influencing them to accept his rule while never openly admitting to his manipulation. This goal is “conditioned by pathological egotism, and the possibility of accomplishing it strikes the pathocrats as not only indispensable, but feasible.” Efforts of moralists fall consistently short. The result is a “general stifling of intellectual development and deep-rooted protest against affront-mongering hypocrisy”.[58]

In a healthy society, grounded in democratic principles and associated rights and freedoms supported by the robust, objective rule of law, criticism is the critical tool required to stifle the pathocrat’s agenda. However, in a society that has fallen into a destructive trap marked by social injustice, the pathocrat is able to trump common sense. This dynamic often plays out in a battle for hearts and minds, a polarization of social attitudes where “each side justifies itself by means of moral categories.”[59] Yet again, we fall into the trap of the golden mean, allowing ourselves to be dragged into ridiculous arguments of he said she said. Clearly truth seekers haven’t found a sufficiently wide audience, a matter that must be resolved if we are to tackle the challenges that lie ahead. I return again to the objective of this book – awakening.

We should not be deceived into falling into weak ideological arguments for these are merely propaganda tactics. For the minority who are politically active in voicing opinion that ultimately drives them to take sides in support of one party over another, or one candidate over another, the value of this lesson cannot be understated – we can’t afford to be fooled. Pathocrats apply ideology as a tool but are themselves indifferent to the underlying ideology itself. When they join together in a group, it is common for them to justify their actions on the basis of a particular ideology against which they “furnish motivational propaganda.” Most people abhor outrageous acts of cruelty and abuse but somehow and all too commonly accept these when the narrative is coloured by ideological mystique. Lobaczewski offers the best antidote to this dangerous illusion – were a pathocracy to be “stripped of its ideology, nothing would remain except psychological and moral pathology, naked and unattractive. Such stripping would of course provoke moral outrage.”[60] Further confusing the matter and as commonly seen in political posturing, pathocratic regimes often rest upon claims of righting wrongs on the basis of a superior set of values. Critical thought and the freedom to seek and discover the truth is a mission critical prerogative.

Further complicating the matter, any organization of any kind, government, business, not-for-profit or religious, can be held hostage by pathocrats. “The ideology of any social movement, even if it is sacred truth, can yield to the ponerization [becoming evil] process. The greater and truer the original ideology, the longer it may be capable of nourishing and disguising from human criticism.”[61] This is important for it enables us to understand that our worldview may indeed be reasonable – it is in how these views are manipulated that we must be conscious. The antidote is to place your vote in the court of the empathy, whatever his or her political stripes may be.

Consistent with the psychopath’s behavioral profile and known tactics, secrecy plays an important part of the pathocracy’s strategy. Ideology “becomes a disguising story concealing the new reality from people’s critical consciousness, both inside and outside one’s nation.”[62] By the time the pathocracy has been formed, grounded in the perversion of ideological righteousness, the nation has been duped.

Further disguise is found in the public face. Plutocrats “aspire to political power in order to impose their expedient legislation upon societies in the name of a suitably prepared ideology, deriving advantages in the form of disproportionate prosperity” but “remain ostensibly in the shadows (e.g. directing small groups)”. In order to conceal themselves, the “leadership role is generally played by a different kind of individual, one more easily digestible and representative.” Don’t be fooled – however normal a given leader may appear, it is in the shadows of power that plutocracy lurks. We often “overestimate the role of the leader” but the leader is actually “dependent upon the interests of the union, especially the elite initiates.”[63] We may think a given leader is reasonable, a palatable portrayal of social and ideological values that are consistent with our worldview. Think of them like puppets and consider who the puppet master is. We need not necessarily know who hides behind the mask but it need not matter. What we need to understand is that whatever the party or the ideological views propagated, there are interests that prop the pathocracy up and direct its behavior. This amounts to yet another grand exercise of manipulation.

In America, the elite have effectively hedged their bets on both sides of the isle. Lobbying and campaign finance have married in a corrupt cocktail of vested corporate interests rendering much of the political debate moot– either way you skin the cat, mainstream Democrat or Republican, the meat and bones is the same. Naomi Klein correctly refers to lobbying and campaign finance as legal bribery, references some egregious sums: In 2013 in the United States alone, the oil and gas industry spent just under $400,000 a day lobbying Congress and government officials, and the industry doled out a record $73 million in federal campaign and political donations during the 2012 election cycle, an 87 percent jump from the 2008 elections,”[64]

There are however rare cases where leaders are motivated by a higher moral standard and are prepared to take the risks required to break the pathocracy’s back. I believe that Bernie Sanders is one such man and hope that Americans find the courage to step outside of the ideological security blanket that is the hidden and corrosive pathocratic agenda. Remember that ideology has nothing to do with this – Republicans need not pinch their nose or fear that America will become a bastion of communism. Ideology matters far less than the integrity of the individual. The plain and simple truth is that Sanders is not beholden to the elite – the revolving door and open phone line between the highest office of government and the elite can be shut down. Two centuries ago, in order for democratic institutions to be robust, we established the important principle of separation of church and state. This time around, the separation of corporation and state is required to repair the damages inflicted upon democracy’s noble foundation.

Short of revolution, which I for one would rather no live through, an empathetic leader is our best chance of loosening pathocracy’s throttling grip – however manipulative, coercive, militaristic and economically motivated America has become, the blunt reality is that America sits at the apex of the hierarchy as the ultimate author and arbiter of the game’s rules. Courageous leaders stand a chance of unwinding, or at least backing down from this aggressive game of cat and mouse. Where there is will however, there is no certainty that there is way – once a pathocracy has corroded democracy’s foundation, it takes more than the willpower of one to overcome. This is where the people come in – we are the point around which all outcomes revolve. Vigorous support for corruption fighters empowers them to deliver upon the promise of a better, fairer world. I hate to say this, but were an empathic leader for instance assassinated, it is the overwhelming voice of the people that would be required to ensure that the pathocracy didn’t get its way – we should expect for them to fight like hell to maintain their dominant position.

The process as described by Lobaczewski is one that has yielded the pathocracy’s intended results time and again throughout history. The grand deception requires that the pathological face be “hidden from the world somehow, since recognition of the deviant rulership by world opinion would be a catastrophe. Ideological propaganda alone would then be an inadequate disguise.” Understanding the limitations of what amounts to ideological bullshit, a twisting of facts in blatant disregard for the truth and any semblance of moral righteousness, the elite form the core of the pathocracy and press to establish and maintain “commercial relations with the countries of normal man. The pathocratic state aims to achieve international recognition as a certain kind of political structure; and it fears recognition in terms of a true clinical diagnosis.”[65] Claims today of the establishment of a new type of oligarchy or plutocracy, the corporatocracy, are well grounded.

Once an ideology and political system has become contaminated, the factors that balance repression in a healthy society vanish. A useful case in point is seen in Rome where its system was too rigid to accommodate for the real aspects of spiritual life that was at the time possible as Christianity was absorbed into the empire. The result was that a “foreign element infiltrated Christianity resulting in the Catholic church adopting imperial strategies to enforce its system on others by violence.”[66] This is the point at which Psychopathic Civilization finds its home at the macro-social level where society at large holds contempt for “factual criticism and humiliates anyone sounding an alarm.”[67]

According to Lobaczewski, all societies vacillate between “happy times” and “unhappy times.” During happy times, societies enjoy prosperity and suppress dissent. “During good times, people progressively lose sight of the need for profound reflection, introspection, knowledge of others, and an understanding of life’s complicated laws. A clever, liberal, and merry individual is a good sport; a more farsighted person predicting dire results becomes a wet-blanket killjoy. Perception of the truth about the real environment, especially an understanding of the human personality and its values, ceases to be a virtue during the so-called happy times; thoughtful doubters are decried as meddlers who cannot leave well enough alone. This, in turn, leads to an impoverishment of psychological knowledge, the capacity of differentiating the properties of human nature and personality, and the ability to mold minds creatively. The cult of power thus supplants those mental values so essential for maintaining law and order by peaceful means. A nation’s enrichment or involution regarding its psychological world view could be considered an indicator of whether its future will be good or bad. During good times, the search for truth becomes uncomfortable because it reveals inconvenient facts. The problem is that any thought process based on such truncated information cannot possibly give rise to correct conclusions; it further leads to subconscious substitution of inconvenient premises by more convenient ones, thereby approaching the boundaries of psychopathology. Such contented periods for one group of people – often rooted in some injustice to other people or nations – start to strangle the capacity for individual and societal consciousness.” [68]

It is human nature to perceive the world this way. Ominously, Lobaczewski warns that through this process of information distortion and collective apathy, “catastrophe waits in the wings.” Society loses its “capacity for logical and disciplined thought, born of necessity during difficult times. When communities lose the capacity for psychological reason and moral criticism, the processes of the generation of evil are intensified at every social scale, whether individual or macrosocial, until everything reverts [again] to bad times.”[69]

This is in essence of Lobaczewski’s sine curve, a contrarian indicator of a society’s health. Not unlike individuals, when all is well, there is little perceived need to question and when things are difficult, we are left to ponder and introspect as to why. I have asked myself about this very question, sitting in my comfortable office and gazing out upon my lovely treed street. What is wrong with this? Am I wrong to be ringing alarm bells? Will people think that I’m crazy, or at least wildly off base? I am time again compelled to remember that all is not well – wars rage, social injustice rears its ugly head near and far, leaders lie and win, big corporations crush markets and squeeze out small businesses to hire their owners back as underpaid staffers, and the environment bleeds on. We exist in a form of moral purgatory – the veneer may appear reasonable, perhaps even decadent, but the floor is rotten. I don’t know if we are at, approaching or past the apex of Lobaczewski’s sine curve but I am certain of where we stand in relative order. An awakening can enable us to avert the ultimate downfall that awaits. If Lobaczewski is right that these are the times that “provide fertile soil for future tragedy because of the progressive devolution of moral, intellectual, and personality values,”[70] I for one don’t want to be a spectator. I see far too many signs of moral decay and gross, callous indifference to the suffering of others to believe that we presently reside in a healthy state of human consciousness.

The downside of the sine curve has proved to be a slippery slope and a nasty ride down. “When bad times arrive and people are overwhelmed by an excess of evil, they must gather all their physical and mental strength to fight for existence and protect human reason. The search for some way out of the difficulties and dangers rekindles long-buried powers of discretion. Such people have the initial tendency to rely on force in order to counteract the threat.” [71] Today’s rising temperature of dissent strikes me as harbinger of what is to come – the gap between the reality as crafted by the pathocracy and the needs and expectations of the people has widened to the point of intolerance. Coupled with the grip of the Orwellian surveillance state, media manipulation, vested interests executed through effective lobbying and campaign finance and callous disregard for the needs of the less fortunate at home and abroad, a pathocracy appears by objective historical measurement to have been formed.

There is a corrective mechanism in Lobaczewski’s sine curve. I worry however that time won’t afford us the ironic luxury of playing the story out this time around – the environment can not handle any more of a beating. 97 percent of environmental scientists are in unison declaring in unequivocal terms, backed by real data and free of political interests, that there is no time left to delay. Where the rise and fall of societies, nations and empires is well documented and through Lobaczewski’s work, better framed and understood as a function of psychopathic power, the scale of human civilization is different this time around – the scale of disruption, dysfunction and destruction is like a rising tide above which a tipping point will be reached.

Had the Nazis won WWII, perhaps we would have reached a tipping point three quarters of a century ago, but they did not. Had Soviet style communism won the Cold War that followed, perhaps we would have reached the tipping point, but they did not. Triumph was the West’s, inspired by the noble principle of democracy and the superior values of liberty, freedom and the rule of law, not to mention the deep pockets of capitalism. As history teaches, even robust systems become corrupted when psychopaths, motivated by the single objective of grasping the reigns of power, penetrate and unite. Our governments are not benign in serving the needs of the people, but rather are motivated to execute the will of their elite, corporate, pathocratic backers through whatever means necessary, economic or military, with callous disregard for the needs and wants of the people.

We can rediscover all that is exceptional about the values Western Civilization was inspired through the Enlightenment to form and promote. We must remember that it is not our values or political ideology that are false. The cause of our malaise rests squarely on the shoulders of pathocrats who have rested power and disabled us from thinking clearly and acting properly. “The process ultimately corrects itself where “slowly and laboriously, [we] discover the advantages conferred by mental effort; improved understanding of the psychological situation in particular, better differentiation of human character and personalities, and, finally, comprehension of one’s adversaries. During such times, virtues which former generations relegated to literary motifs regain their real and useful substance and become prized for their value. A wise person capable of furnishing sound advice is highly respected.”[72] If Noam Chomsky, likely the greatest thinker of our time, can be derided for provoking intelligent debate into the corrupt workings of government and its wide reaching impact on society, then we are clearly not there yet. I will watch popular media for signs that our thought leaders accrue the respect they deserve – this will be the sign that a healthy balance has been established. Until then, an amplified voice from the ground up is a base upon which reason can counter the manipulator’s heretical chorus.

Our fragile environment cannot be sustained through another cycle of delusional “good times” and I’m certain that the impoverished and underprivileged victims of the global economy cannot bear this for much longer. If they could, we wouldn’t be watching as the flee their homelands in the millions and at great risk knowing full well that few in the West want them. Don’t be fooled, no one wants to leave their home – they are normal people who want nothing more than to live a normal life just like we do. As one Syrian refugee shared, “the worst is leaving your home with your suitcases. You’re not leaving on a holiday. This is for good. You wonder, “Will I return someday? Will I see my bedroom again? Our kitchen? Will I ever open this window again? What about my neighbourhood. Will I see these people again? The neighbourhood lady, hanging out laundry every day?” I don’t know. The day we left Syria was very hard.”[73]

Lest there be any confusion of what the downside looks like, Lobaczewski explains how the story has played out in history. As we have already seen across a range of political and economic matters, notably environmental destruction, wars and refugee crises, civil rights abuses at home and overseas and the recent financial crisis, Lobaczewski informs that “setbacks in terms of political failure or military defeat can be a warning in such a situation and may turn out to be a blessing in disguise if properly understood and allowed to become a factor in the regeneration of a society’s normal thought patters and customs.”[74] We have missed grand opportunities to divert course. Applying the pressing case for the transformative action required to avert environmental collapse, Naomi Klein references the sort of missed opportunity we can no longer afford to overlook: “Obama, it’s worth remembering, also came to office with the big banks on their knees – it took real effort not to nationalize them. Once again, if Obama had dared to use the power that was handed to him by history, he could have mandated the banks to provide the loans for factories to be retrofitted and new green infrastructure to be built. Instead he declared that the government shouldn’t tell the failed banks how to run their businesses. Green businesses report that it’s harder than ever to get a loan.”[75]

One way or another, people will come to their senses – pathocracy ultimately falls; it always does. “The achievement of absolute domination by pathocrats in the government of a country cannot be permanent since large sectors of the society become disaffected by such rule and eventually find some way of toppling it. This is part of the historical cycle. Under such conditions, no area of social life can develop normally, whether in economics, culture, science, technology, administration, etc. Pathocracy progressively paralyzes everything.”[76] Henry See, co-editor of Political Ponerology, furthers Lobaczewski’s argument: “When the major positions of power in that society, in government, in industry, in business are filled by pathocrats, the downward cycle begins. At the same time, normal people begin to see the society for what it is and devise survival strategies. They begin to recognize that their leaders are not like them.”[77] Once society has awoken to the abuses meted out by the leaders they have entrusted, common sense prevails. “The pathological minority’s attempts to retain power will be threatened by the society of normal people, whose criticism keeps growing.”[78]

The outcome of dissent is a dangerous one for the pathocracy who fight vigorously to maintain their dominant position at the apex, replete with all of the advantages that accrue to the powerful and wealthy. This process is already underway, led by a range of advocates and dissidents, both overt such as authors and thought leaders, and covert such as the Occupy movement and Anonymous, hackers extraordinaire. “The rejected majority … start mobilizing against the block of psychopaths who have taken over. Ruthless confrontation with these forces is seen by the psychopathic block as the only way to safeguard the long-term survival of the pathological authority.”[79]

In closing, Lobaczewski inspires us to understand that “societies have a right to defend themselves against any evil harassing or threatening them. National governments are obligated to use effective means for this purpose, and to use them as skillfully as possible. In order to discharge this essential function, nations obviously utilize information available at the time in that given civilization relating to the nature and genesis of evil, as well as whatever means they can muster. Society’s survival must be protected, but abuse of power and sadistic degenerations come about all too easily.”[80]

As I began to connect the dots, it became evermore apparent that to fell Goliath, we need to know who he is, what motivates him, how he moves and behaves and responds on the battlefield. If we are to strike decisively and win this war of good versus evil, we have no choice but to prepare well, draft our plans, ration and allocate our arms and supplies and march on with the confidence that this ultimate moral victory is ours to take. The risk of inaction has simply become too great.

We know that pscyhopaths form in malevolent union, uniquely able to sniff one another out from the crowd. We know that they prey upon those of us with the empathy required to overcome this tragedy of the commons. We know that they manipulate information to warp public opinion and where opposition emerges, they crush it with impunity. We now know enough to lift the psychopathic, pathocratic mask that has so effectively shielded the predator from naked eye’s view. “If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.”[81]

That so many efforts to correct the grave imbalances that imperil our collective good, the environmental and social commons in which over 7 billion of us congregate, have failed has left me wondering what can be done to reverse the overwhelming force of history. I am as certain as I can be that its time that the Empath Strike Back. By looking at this dilemma as a matter not of human limitation but as a function of psychopathy, we can progress in designing, developing and unleashing our weapons of mass progression.

[1] http://www.sott.net/article/148141-The-Trick-of-the-Psychopaths-Trade-Make-Us-Believe-that-Evil-Comes-from-Others

[2] Samuel, 17:49

[3] http://www.sott.net/article/148141-The-Trick-of-the-Psychopaths-Trade-Make-Us-Believe-that-Evil-Comes-from-Others

[4] http://www.sott.net/article/148141-The-Trick-of-the-Psychopaths-Trade-Make-Us-Believe-that-Evil-Comes-from-Others

[5] Snakes in Suits p 216

[6] Snakes in Suites, p 39

[7] https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-equation/201205/female-psychopaths

[8] Salekin, Trobst, Krioukova, “The Construct Validity of Psychopathy in a Community sample: A Nomological Net Approach”, in Journal of Personality Disorders 15:5 (2001): p. 425

[9] http://www.ageofaltruism.com/happens-psychopathy-invades-work-place/

[10] Snakes in Suits p 74

[11] Snakes in Suits p 29

[12] http://www.human-nature.com/nibbs/01/psychopathy.html

[13] Political Ponerology, Editor’s Notes

[14] Snakes in Suits p 183

[15] http://www.ageofaltruism.com/happens-psychopathy-invades-work-place/

[16] http://www.wikihow.com/Determine-if-Someone-Is-a-Psychopath

[17] Snakes in Suits p 50

[18] Snakes in Suits p 274

[19] p 167 http://psych.colorado.edu/~carey/Courses/PSYC5112/Readings/aspEvolution_Fuergerson.pdf

[20] (Hardin, https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/alife/0262297140chap85.pdf).

[21] Snakes in Suits p 188

[22] Snakes in Suits 191-192

[23] Snakes in Suits p 197

[24] Snakes in Suits p 193

[25] http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterubel/2014/12/15/is-homo-economicus-a-psychopath/

[26] http://www.sott.net/article/148141-The-Trick-of-the-Psychopaths-Trade-Make-Us-Believe-that-Evil-Comes-from-Others

[27] http://www.sott.net/article/148141-The-Trick-of-the-Psychopaths-Trade-Make-Us-Believe-that-Evil-Comes-from-Others

[28] Snakes in Suits p 318

[29] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqBPZR63vfA&feature=youtu.be

[30] Snakes in Suits p 48

[31] Snakes in Suits p 249

[32] Snakes in Suits p 88

[33] Political Ponerology, Editor’s notes

[34] http://www.ageofaltruism.com/happens-psychopathy-invades-work-place/

[35] Snakes in Suits p 37

[36] Snakes in Suits p 39

[37] Snakes in Suits p 98

[38] Snakes in Suits p 127

[39] Snakes in Suits p 164

[40] Snakes in Suits p 166

[41] Snakes in Suits p 168

[42] Snakes in Suits p 231

[43] Snakes in Suits p 129

[44] Snakes in Suits p 54

[45] Snakes in Suits p 93

[46] p 166 http://psych.colorado.edu/~carey/Courses/PSYC5112/Readings/aspEvolution_Fuergerson.pdf

[47] http://www.sott.net/article/148141-The-Trick-of-the-Psychopaths-Trade-Make-Us-Believe-that-Evil-Comes-from-Others

[48] http://www.sott.net/article/148141-The-Trick-of-the-Psychopaths-Trade-Make-Us-Believe-that-Evil-Comes-from-Others

[49] Political Ponerology, Editors notes

[50] National Post, January 7, 2000

[51] Snakes in Suits p 184

[52] http://www.sott.net/article/148141-The-Trick-of-the-Psychopaths-Trade-Make-Us-Believe-that-Evil-Comes-from-Others

[53] Political Ponerology, Chapter 5

[54] Political Ponerology, Editor’s Notes

[55] Political Ponerology, Editor’s Notes

[56] Political Ponerology, Chapter 4

[57] Political Ponerology, Chapter 5

[58] Political Ponerology, Chapter 5

[59] Political Ponerology, Chapter 4

[60] Political Ponerology, Chapter 4

[61] Political Ponerology, Chapter 4

[62] Political Ponerology, Chapter 5

[63] Political Ponerology, Chapter 4

[64] Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything, p 149

[65] Political Ponerology, Chapter 5

[66] Political Ponerology, Chapter 4

[67] Political Ponerology, Chapter 4

[68] Political Ponerology, Chapter 3

[69] Political Ponerology, Chapter 3

[70] Political Ponerology, Chapter 3

[71] Political Ponerology, Chapter 3

[72] Political Ponerology, Chapter 3

[73] http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/human/

[74] Political Ponerology, Chapter 4

[75] http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2009/12/obama-no-opportunity-too-big-blow

[76] Political Ponerology, Chapter 5

[77] http://www.sott.net/article/148141-The-Trick-of-the-Psychopaths-Trade-Make-Us-Believe-that-Evil-Comes-from-Others

[78] Political Ponerology, Chapter 5

[79] Political Ponerology, Chapter 5

[80] Political Ponerology, Chapter 4

[81] Sun Tsu, The Art of War