Ned Pepper's Outrages

Saturday, October 30, 2010

A hypothesis for narcissistic people

Ned has been musing of late on what causes the kinds of narcissistic behavior that he has documented with wry amusement in the modest pages of this blog. Ned's friends recall what he means: the dog owner whose beast craps on one's flowers; the shower spitter; in fact, anyone who routinely appropriates public space for private use. He has a hypothesis that he would like to try on his friends for their analysis: that narcissists are either supremely ignorant or are members of one or the other political extreme.
Now, Ned's friends might respectfully suggest that Ned himself is an extremist--to which Ned would reply, not so. Ned is in fact an extremist only in the pursuit of truth, beauty and logic. He holds that all else is relative.
Ned has in fact never claimed to be infallible: he has changed his mind on many subjects and will continue to do so as the evidence may require. For example, he was an early supporter of Barry Goldwater for all the wrong reasons: to wit, that Goldwater denigrated social security without realizing that much of the fund goes to widows, survivors and the "disabled." When this was brought to Ned's attention he immediately changed his tune. Moreover, he supported Goldwater because, in those regrettable times, Ned was unenlightened on the subject of brotherhood and racial equality, having grown up among the poisonous weeds of the South. Moreover, he thought that deficits and the national debt were anathema, much like the ignoramuses of the modern extreme Right, until it was (patiently) explained to him that the country's investors needed a place to park their money that is absolutely safe. Ned, however, is forever grateful that he was never a supporter of that Supreme Ayatollah of the ignorant, Ronald Reagan.
But we digress.
Back to our hypothesis: Ned thinks it is at least arguable that selfish narcissists glide through life absolutely convinced that they are right about everything and everyone else is a cretin, unworthy of their notice. Ned thinks this may apply to those of extreme political views more so than other cohorts, because of his experiences with both right wing and left wing extremists who are to ready to insult (in print of course) anyone whose views do not agree with their own. Ned considers some of his own views to be left wing, such as his hatred of the sneering plutocracy, and other perhaps to more appropriately be called rightish--such as his rather extreme views on immigration.
At least, that is Ned's hypothesis.
(Smiley face here.)

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