Political Ponerology AVAILABLE NOW

Yeah, looks like that's a dead link now. I think the poster was based on the older black version of the cover not the current red one, maybe why it was taken down.

But if you have something in mind that you wanted to have a poster for to promote Ponerology we should be able to rustle something up. :)
 
Alada said:
But if you have something in mind that you wanted to have a poster for to promote Ponerology we should be able to rustle something up. :)
Thank you for this very kind gesture, Alada, however I don't intend to give more work to the members of the Forum when I am capable of taking on this task by myself. I just figured if it had already been made maybe I could save a little time/effort. But I don't mind reworking the designs and look forward to the members reviewing them for me if I choose to take on this task. :)
 
Scarlet said:
But I don't mind reworking the designs and look forward to the members reviewing them for me if I choose to take on this task. :)

Well, I have definitely reworked the designs, lol. I cut up and reworded the good doctor's book, even though I know he didn't want it edited much. I just have an urgent desire to share the information in the book with as many people as possible and I know my teenaged students would not be able to understand many of the words that he used.

Parts of me know I did not do it justice and that is why I hope to get input from the members on how my summary can be improved. If anyone can spare some time to read my summary to Political Ponerology below and offer input on what I am missing or need to change, I am most appreciative. Thank you!

An Introduction to Political Ponerology -Second Draft

Understanding Macrosocial Evil and Psychopathy are Keys to Healing Our World

Throughout history large groups of people have been and continue to be manipulated and exploited by others. It is vital to study the dynamics of such macrosocial evil if we ever hope to protect ourselves against it, (Lobaczewski, 32). The only way to heal this “huge, contagious social cancer” is to fully understand it, (44). Through self-education we can begin to empower ourselves against the destructive forces of these social disasters.

When people do things that we classify as “bad,” we do not usually try to figure out if there is an underlying psychological condition that could help to explain these behaviors, (Lobaczewski, 38). Life teaches us that it is natural for there to be ugliness in the world and that instincts and emotions play roles in creating such ugliness. However, when a pathological factor is introduced into such scenarios, we can no longer rely on emotion and intuition alone, (39).

When dealing with people who have certain psychological anomalies that we do not detect, we naively view them in the same light we view a normal person in, (Lobaczewski, 76). Trying to understand how certain people can commit acts of evil so naturally can leave us feeling confused, traumatized and angry. If we are not able to understand any underlying psychological anomalies that make these people act the ways they do, then we are unable to use common sense when dealing with them.

“Humans normally fail to differentiate between moral and biological evil," (Lobaczewski, 105). If we only think of good and evil in terms of morals then the understanding is limited. This is because just thinking that someone who is “evil” must simply lack good morals may be true, but does not fully define the problem with regards to people with certain psychological anomalies, like psychopathic personality disorder. If we are not able to fully understand why certain people commit acts of evil then we cannot take proper action to protect and defend ourselves against them.

Throughout history countless attempts have been made to remedy the problems of macrosocial evil, (Lobaczewski, 23). Yet time and again these efforts have proven insufficient, because they “have been made without taking into account that great maxim of medicine…Do not attempt to cure what you do not understand,” (23). Without having full knowledge of certain contributing psychological anomalies, we cannot understand the nature of macrosocial evil and are left feeling helpless, (29). If we lack this essential information and are overpowered by the circumstances, we can even slip into states of neuroses, (48).

However, if we are able to understand how such pathological phenomena can reach macrosocial levels, then we can reassess our traditional views of the world and start making informed decisions, (Lobaczewski, 58). It will then become clear that proper treatments and vaccines for social epidemics can be found.

How Paramoralisms Clear the Path for Macrosocial Pathological Phenomena

The more we know about how and why we are conditioned to think and act the ways they do, the more we are able to reduce the toxic effects that any conditioning may have on us, (Lobaczewski, 37). If we cannot understand the dynamics of our conditioning then it is not possible to make proper and informed decisions.

Humans have generally held the belief that under certain circumstances it is okay to violate moral values, (Lobaczewski, 106). Acceptance of paramoralisms means that immoral acts can be proven to be moral acts. Our ability to paramoralize prevents us from seeing the big picture and allows us to keep reaching comfortable conclusions to acts that go against our morals, (108).

Whenever we rationalize information that violates our moral values, our morals get repressed into our subconscious minds, (Lobaczewski, 108). Over time it becomes a habit to treat similar information with paramoralisms. People who succumb to paramoralisms lose their ability to critically think when statements and behaviors of certain people whose abnormal ways of thinking derive from pathological anomalies, specifically psychopathic personality disorder, (Lobaczewski, 108). “Paramoralism somehow cunningly evades the control of our common sense, sometimes leading to acceptance or approval of behavior that is openly pathological,” (106).

It is common for us to identify with our leaders and governments, (Lobaczewski, 77). Most people respect the societal roles of others who are more talented and educated than they are so long as these people also hold appropriate positions in society, (54). We willingly give up our ability to use common sense and revert to paramoralistic thinking, because we trust that our leaders will use common sense while acting on their behalves and we defend these leaders even when they do not, (77). It is much too common of a practice to assume that our leaders are competent enough to make decisions in certain areas where they actually are not, (145). “Emotional factors, coupled with a moralizing interpretation of pathological phenomena, frequently play much too great a part in political decision-making,” (154).

When moral values are pushed into our subconscious minds and paramoralisms become the popular consensus, whole societies lose their critical thinking capabilities, (Lobaczewski, 124). Members of these societies become contempt of factual criticism and humiliate people who use it to try to sound the alarm. “This decreasing tendency in a society’s capacity for proper thought should be counteracted, since it also lowers its immunity to ponerogenic processes…Educating people in the art of proper reasoning can thus serve to counteract such tendencies,” (109).

Disassociation through the Pursuit of Happiness

To get through life’s problems we usually pursue happiness and rely on our emotions and intuitions, (Locaczewski, 39). We tend to avoid thinking about material we are scared of and instead find more comfortable ways of interpreting it, (199). When acting solely on emotions, we limit the information we take in and tend to just focus on the positive. Unfortunately, this suppresses our abilities to develop a psychological world view and leads to a state of exaggerated individual and national self-importance, (66).

Extra mental effort can seem like a waste of energy when the alternative is focusing on the pleasures that life has to offer, (Lobaczewski, 62). People who are merry and good sports are accepted more readily in societies than those who offer dire insights of the states we are experiencing. “Happy” times are usually dependent on injustice to other individuals and nations, (130). During these times spellbinders believe they have found simple solutions to fix the world and their world views do not stand out as being odd, because the psychological world view has already become impoverished. “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. During ‘good’ times, the search for truth becomes uncomfortable because it reveals inconvenient facts,” (62).

A rising wave of hysteria intensifies especially during ‘happy’ times and those who try to use their common sense and reasoning skills end up in the minority, (Lobaczewski, 109). “This means that ‘unhappy times’ are not far away,” (109). Yet, usually if we had had the courage to perceive this information realistically to begin with, we would not have had to experience such disastrous results, (199-200).

When communities lose the capacity for psychological reason and moral criticism, the process of the generation of evil are intensified at every social scale, whether microsocial or macrosocial, until everything reverts to “bad” times,” (Lobaczewski, 62). “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, (63).

The Role of Spellbinders

People have a tendency to sometimes become fascinated with their own ideas, but some people have ideas that are tainted by their hidden personality disorders, (Lobaczweski, 52). “These people have always striven to impose pedagogical [teaching] methods which would impoverish and deform the development of individuals’ and societies’ psychological world view; they inflict permanent harm upon societies, depriving them of universally useful values,” (52).

Spellbinders are especially talented at charming and leading large groups of people, (Lobaczewski, 81). They are very effective at creating a great sense of optimism in others, (110). Since people tend to look up to them, they are able to lead us to bypass using our common sense regardless of the tragic outcomes that may occur, (81). If we think of spellbinders as being pathological, then we should be able to prevent ourselves from using paramoralisms to rationalize their behavior, (110).

“The spellbinder places on a high moral plane anyone who has succumbed to his influence and incorporated the experimental method he imposes. He showers such people with attention and property, if possible. Critics are met with “moral” outrage. It can even be proclaimed that the compliant minority is in fact the moral majority since it professes the best ideology and honors a leader whose qualities are above average,” (Lobaczewski, 110).

Psychopaths instinctively have deficient personalities and are able to influence others to also become deficient in their personalities, (Lobaczewski, 170). “Many people with various hereditary deviations and acquired defects develop pathological egotism. For such people, forcing others in their environment, whole social groups, and if possible, entire nations, to feel and think like themselves becomes an internal necessity, a ruling concept. A game that a normal person would not take seriously can become a lifelong goal for them, the object of effort, sacrifices, and cunning psychological strategy,” (104).

When attempting to deceive others, spellbinders will use “feeling” words to get what they want, but they do not understand feelings the way normal people do, (Lobaczewski, 92). They “aim to impose their own conceptual world upon other people or social groups, using relatively controlled pathological egotism and the exceptional tenacity derived from their persistent nature,” (131). However, they are not able to perceive the outcomes of implementing their ideologies and their actions “have led entire societies into large-scale human tragedy,” (110).

Indoctrinating the Public

“The pathological authorities are convinced that the appropriate pedagogical, indoctrinational, propaganda, and terrorist means can teach a person with a normal instinctive substratum, range of feelings, and basic intelligence to think and feel according to their own fashion,” (Lobaczewski, 163-164). “Ideologies do not need spellbinders. Spellbinders need ideologies in order to subject them to their own deviant goals,” (117). “The appropriately adapted ideology must perform the function of a Trojan horse, transporting pathocracy into the country,” (153). By observing the ponerization process of human unions throughout history, we can easily see that “the initial step in their process is a ‘moral warping’ of the groups’ ideas,” (118).

Many factors can increase our chances of being exploited, including paramoralisms, lack of knowledge and insufficient reasoning skills, (Lobaczewski, 73). However, if we can strictly adhere to our morals, educate ourselves and develop better reasoning skills then we should be able to reduce the amount of “evil” there is in the world, (73).

Certain types of people are more easily exploited than others. Young people, people who have been victimized and those suffering from various psychological problems are among just a few groups who are more prone to being controlled, (Lobaczewski, 78-79). “Uncritical, frustrated, and abused people also exist everywhere, and they can be reached by appropriately elaborated propaganda,” (148).

Psychopaths tend to create a simplistic view of human reality that they consider “proper,” (Lobaczewski, 88). In the public arena, they have a tendency to create, print and circulate great doctrines that express these “proper” or “black and white” philosophies. These “revolutionary” doctrines can circulate both the victims and the rebels simultaneously, (Lobaczewski, 100). This is because victims are more easily controlled and certain rebels will approach the “revolutionary” ideas with enthusiasm.

People generally interpret these doctrines in three different ways, (Lobaczewski, 132). Either we reject them, we identify with them because we agree with parts of them, or we are so desperate for revolutionary change that we blindly adhere to them. “Such writings are particularly attractive to a hystericized society,” (132). “The average reader accepts them not as a view of reality warped by this anomaly, but rather as an idea to which he should consider seriously based on his convictions and his reason. That is the first mistake,” (131). Others who may read such writings will be immediately provoked to criticism based on their healthy common sense, yet they also fail to grasp the essential cause of the error: that it emerges from a biologically deviant mind,” (132). “One phenomenon all ponerogenic groups and associations have in common is the fact that their members lose (or have already lost) [or never had] the capacity to perceive pathological individuals as such, interpreting their behavior in a fascinated, heroic, or melodramatic way,” (111).

Regardless of what differing ideologies ponerogenic groups have, they have certain characteristics in common, (Lobaczewski, 116). Motivating people who have been wronged, radically acting to “right” the “wrong,” and labeling their followers as having higher values than non-followers are some common factors of these groups.

It is important to reflect on the failings of certain social doctrines that were created during times when our understanding of these social phenomena was limited, (Lobaczewski, 58). “When we reflect on the role ideologies play in pathocracies while considering the psychopaths in the groups, we can see that psychopaths use the groups’ ideologies like tools to gain leverage over “those other naïve people and nations,” (143-144).

The Ponerization Process

A term has been created to label the study of “evil,” and it is called ponerology, (poneros is Greek for “evil”), (Lobaczewski, 71). “In ponerogenic processes, moral deficiencies, intellectual failings, and pathological factors intersect in a time-space causative network giving rise to individual and national suffering,” (153). Understanding the pathological factors of the ponerogenic process is critical if we want to prevent tragedies during periods of moral crisis in our societies, (119).

There are two types of ponerogenic groups: primary and secondary, (Lobaczewski, 112). Primary ponerogenic groups are those that formed with abnormal members already active within the group. Secondary ponerogenic groups are those that developed from ideas generally accepted as the natural world view, but that have succumbed to moral deterioration. “In order to have a chance to develop into a large ponerogenic association, however, it suffices that some human organization, characterized by social or political goals as an ideology with some creative value, be accepted by a larger number of normal people before it succumbs to a process of ponerogenic malignancy…This is where the weakness of the individual and social ‘common sense’ are revealed,” (113).

“This is reminiscent of a situation psychopathologists know well: a person who enjoyed trust and respect in their circles starts behaving with preposterous arrogance and hurting others, allegedly in the name of his already known, decent and accepted convictions, which have – in the mean time – deteriorated due to some psychological process rendering them primitive but emotionally dynamic. However, his old acquaintances – having known him for long as the person he was – do not believe the injured parties who complain about his new, or even hidden, behavior, and are prepared to denigrate them and consider them liars. This adds insult to their injury and gives encouragement and license to their individual whose personality is undergoing deterioration, to commit further hurtful acts; as a rule, such a situation lasts until the person’s madness becomes obvious,” (Lobaczewski, 113).

The “normal” people in these groups lose their abilities to use common sense and perceive psychological reality, (Lobaczewski, 119). They are pressured by pathological members “who have been allowed to participate in the group because the lack of good psychological knowledge has not mandated their exclusion,” (119). “The phenomenon of counter-selection thus occurs in this phase of ponerization: individuals with a more normal sense of psychological reality leave after entering into conflict with the newly modified group; simultaneously individuals with various psychological anomalies join the group and easily find a way of life there,” (120).

The more defined the culture of a society is, the more resistant the society is in submitting to the ponerization process, (Lobaczewski, 151). The strength these societies find to resist is found in the cultural and religious moral traditions that are supported by the group.

The ponerization process can be long-lasting, but it cannot last forever, (Lobaczewski, 121). Internally, the group is becoming more pathological and once its true colors are shown, its activities become even clumsier. At this time, a society of “normal” people can easily become a threat for these associations, even if the groups have reached macrosocial levels.

Characteristics of Pathocracies

“One of the most disturbing things about psychopaths that normal people must deal with is the fact that they very early learn how their personalities can have traumatizing effects on the personalities of those normal people, and how to take advantage of this root of terror for purposes of reaching their goals,” (Lobaczewski, 98). Psychopaths know they are different from “normal” people and political systems that cater to their pathological pursuits allow them to conceal these differences, (143).

A pathocracy is created when a small pathological minority takes over control of a society of “normal” people, (Lobaczewski, 136). “Pathocracy is a disease of great social movements followed by entire societies, nations, and empires, (140). “In the course of human history, it has affected social, political and religious movements, as well as the accompanying ideologies, characteristic for the time and the ethnological conditions, and turned them into caricatures of themselves,” (140). A pathocratic society usually emerges during intensely hysterical times when the society is experiencing a crisis and its ability to reason has degenerated, (129). “The most dramatic social difficulties and tensions occur at least ten years after the first observable indications of having emerged from a psychological issue,” (66-67).

“An ever-strengthening network of psychopathic and related individuals gradually starts to dominate, overshadowing the others,” (136). “In a pathocracy, all leadership positions must be filled by individuals with corresponding psychological deviations, which are inherited as a rule. However, such people constitute a very small percentage of the population and this makes them more valuable to the pathocrats. Their intellectual level or professional skills cannot be taken into account, since people representing superior abilities are even harder to find. After such a system has lasted several years, one hundred percent of all the cases of essential psychopathy are involved in pathocratic activity; they are considered the most loyal, even though some of them were formerly involved on the other side in some way,” (136).

“Pathocratic leadership believes that it can achieve a state wherein those “other” peoples’ minds become dependent by means of the effects of their personality, perfidious [untrustworthy] pedagogical means, the means of mass-disinformation, and psychological terror; such faith has a basic meaning for them. In their conceptual world, pathocrats consider it virtually self-evident that the “others” should accept their obvious, realistic, and simple way of apprehending reality,” (Lobaczewski, 164).

“Underneath the rulership of its incompetent administrative predecessors, we can even discern a period of hyperactivity on the part of schizoidal individuals mesmerized by the vision of their own rule based on contempt for human nature, especially if they are numerous within a given country. They do not realize that pathocracy will never make their dreams come true; it will rather shunt them into the shadows, since individuals with whom we are already familiar will become the leaders,” (Lobaczewski, 155).

“Approximately 6% of the population constitutes the active structure of the new rulership, which carries its own peculiar consciousness of its own goals. Twice as many people constitute a second group: Those who have managed to warp their personalities to meet the demands of the new reality,” (Lobaczewski, 157). “This group consists of individuals who are, on the average, weaker, more sickly, and less vital. The frequency of known mental diseases in this group is at twice the rate of the national average…We observe not only physiological anomalies, but also the kinds described above at the lowest intensity, with the exception of essential psychopathy…The 6% group constitutes the new nobility; the 12% group gradually forms the new bourgeoisie, whose economic situation is the most advantageous,” (157). “Since their technical capacities and skills are better than those of the active pathocratic group, they assume various managerial positions. Normal people see them as persons they can approach, generally without being subjected to pathological arrogance…So it is that only 18% of the country’s population is in favor of the new system of government; but concerning the layer we have called the bourgeoisie, we may even be doubtful of the sincerity of their attitudes,” (158).

The ways in which pathocrats use their pathological arrogance to inflict psychological terror on the population deprives the people of their capacity to make informed decisions, (Lobaczewski, 172). “Under such conditions, no area of social life can develop normally, whether in economics, culture, science, technology, administration, etc…Pathocracy progressively intrudes everywhere and dulls everything,” (137). “Within this system, the common man is blamed for not having been born a psychopath, and is considered good for nothing except hard work, fighting and dying to protect a system of government he can neither sufficiently comprehend nor ever consider to be his own,” (136).

If the laws of normal people were to be reinstated, the freedoms and lives of these rulers would be threatened, not just their positions and privileges, (Lobaczewski, 145). This would be a nightmare to the pathocrats. Since these people are not capable of making such sacrifices, the survival of their pathocratic systems is imperative. “Thus, the biological, psychological, moral and economic destruction of the majority of normal people becomes, for the pathocrats, a ‘biological’ necessity. Many means serve this end, starting with concentration camps and including warfare with an obstinate, well-armed foe who will devastate and debilitate the human power thrown at him, namely the very power jeopardizing pathocrats rule: the sons of normal man sent out to fight for an illusionary ‘noble cause.’ Once safely dead, the soldiers will then be decreed heroes to be revered in paeans, useful for raising a new generation faithful to the pathocracy and ever willing to go to their deaths to protect it,” (146).

Many people will rebel against such domination early on and start searching for ways to free themselves from this influence, (Lobaczewski, 99). “Lone fighters are looked upon as odd, denied assistance, or forced to work hard for their bread. Meanwhile, the ideological Trojan horse keeps invading new countries,” (183). “A normal person’s actions and reactions, his ideas and moral criteria, all too often strike abnormal individuals as abnormal. For if a person with some psychological deviations considers himself normal, which is of course significantly easier if he possesses authority, then he would consider a normal person different and therefore abnormal…That explains why such people’s government shall always have the tendency to treat any dissidents as ‘mentally abnormal,’” (187).

“Anything which threatens pathocratic rule becomes deeply immoral…Anyone furnishing assistance to the nation will be blessed by it; anyone withholding it will be cursed…The ideology must, of course, furnish a corresponding justification for this alleged right to conquer the world and must therefore be properly elaborated. Expansionism is derived from the very nature of pathocracy, not from ideology, but this fact must be masked by ideology,” (Lobaczewski, 147).

Victims of psychopathic domination suffer psychologically in many ways. Many people react with extreme shock, opposition and protest when they realize they have been subjected to the spellbinding and traumatizing effects of this phenomenon, regardless of whether they supported or opposed the leadership, (Lobaczewski, 201).

It is natural for normal people to suffer from neurosis when they have been subjected to such pathological domination, (Lobaczewski, 177). The trauma they experienced can cause their critical thinking abilities to erode and they can develop feelings of inequality and helplessness which can lead to severe depression, (99). Such suffering is experienced on both microsocial and macrosocial levels. Forcing normal people to become psychologically ill, creating psychiatric institutions for them and abusing psychiatric practices are at the very nature of a pathocracy, (187-188). By abusing and suppressing psychiatry, authorities are able to prevent societies from making the profound medical diagnosis that the system has been designed by pathological influences, (188).

Eventually, internal conflicts arise within the pathocratic system by people seeking to adhere to its original ideologies, (Lobaczewski, 141). “Pathocracy corrodes the entire social organism, wasting its skills and powers…The time comes when the common masses of people want to live like human beings again and the system can no longer resist,” (160).

Healing through Knowledge

Becoming aware that we have been subjected to pathological influences is a crucial part of our treatment, (Lobaczewski, 178). “It’s important to base our attitudes on an understanding of biological and psychological factors instead of basing them on our morals and emotions,” (203). Effectively treating this disease becomes possible once we understand its causes, characteristics, and how it affects others, (197). “Once such knowledge is available, finding the proper treatment measures generally proves a less difficult and dangerous duty,” (197).
“In this “disease,” as in many cases treated by psychotherapists, the understanding alone already begins to heal human personalities,” (198).

“When the human mind comes into contact with this new reality so different from any experiences encountered by a person raised in a society dominated by normal people, it releases psychophysiological shock symptoms…and a stifling of feelings, which then sometimes gush forth uncontrollably,” (Lobaczewski, 167). Many authors have written about “the psychotherapeutic role of making a person aware of what has crowded his subconscious, stifled within by making constant painful effort, because he feared to look an unpleasant truth in the eye, lacked the objective data to derive correct conclusions, or was too proud to permit the awareness that he had behaved in a preposterous fashion,” (199). Ensuring the victims that objectified material will be produced in the form of truthful data is a good practice to minimize their suffering, (202). “Truth is a healer,” (199).

“Instructional activity begins to dominate in psychotherapeutic work at this point. After all, the patient needs this additional data in order to reconstruct his disintegrated personality and form a new world view more appropriate to reality,” (Lobaczewski, 200). “People and values mature in action…Thus, a synthesis of traditional moral teachings and this new naturalistic approach can only occur with reasoned behavior,” (199).

New ideas must be born that are based on deeper understandings of natural laws and in efforts of building new social systems for nations, (Lobacewski, 58). This huge feat is possible and would replace the social systems that can only survive by means of force. “Like every well-managed treatment, therapy of the world must contain two basic demands: strengthening the overall defensive powers of the human community and attacking its most dangerous disease,” (198).

Understanding human instinct is a key to understanding mankind, (Lobaczewski, 185). Thus, understanding peoples’ instinctive anomalies are keys to understanding pathocracies. It is vital that we learn the nature of this macrosocial phenomenon, (187). If we were to study the nature of evil, uncover the factors that allowed it to occur, understand its properties and weak areas, we could begin do discover methods of possibly counteracting such human suffering, (68). In addition, we must understand the relationship and controversy between the pathological system and the areas of science that study it, (187). Otherwise, we will not be able to understand the reasons for the longevity of certain governments’ behaviors.

A psychopath’s ponerological activity should be reviewed in both their public and private lives, (88). These people generally cause trouble for their families, but they are so clever that the families usually remain oblivious and intrigued by them. “Being shown appropriate statistical data concerning the appearance of psychopathy in a given population facilitates their search for understanding of their nightmare years and a rebuilding of trust in their fellow man,” (165).

Our standards for resolving international conflict must develop in a different direction, (Lobaczewski, 32). Treating the world like a doctor of modern science would treat a patient can be an effective means of achieving this. “Solutions to such conflicts should function more like modern antibiotics, or, even better, psychotherapy properly handled, rather than taking the approach of old-style weapons such as clubs, swords, tanks or nuclear missiles. An analogy can be drawn between the archaic method of bleeding a patient as opposed to the modern method of strengthening and restoring the ill one in order to effect the cure,” (32). “Practicing psychotherapy upon the world will therefore demand that the results of such evil be eliminated as skillfully as possible,” (132).

Therapeutic efforts should focus on the factors that allow the ponerogenic process, on scientific studies of the process and on raising our societies’ consciousness of it, (Lobaczewski, 198-199). “A great therapeutic endeavor can only be affected once we do this with the honest control of moral consciousness, moderation of words and thoughtfulness of action, (199). “The specific basis for healing our sick world, which is also a curative factor for restoring full reasoning capabilities to the human personality, must therefore be the kind of science which renders the essence of the phenomenon evident and describes it in sufficiently objective language, (191).”

When studying pathocracies, it is important to separate the pathological components from the original group ideologies for two main reasons, (Lobaczewski, 141). First, it helps researchers to properly evaluate and classify the phenomenon. Second, it aids with the develop solutions to the problems that the phenomenon created. If we do not make this distinction then we lose the chance of understanding this phenomenon, (142).

“A pathocracy’s ideology changes its function, just as occurs with a mentally ill person’s delusional system,” (Lobaczewski, 143). Once we can understand the causes of this disease, its characteristics and the dynamics of how it develops, we can begin to search for effective means of curing it, (160-161).

Understanding this information enables us to ask appropriate questions and to do appropriate research, (Lobaczewski, 182). Once this knowledge reaches large scales, we will be able to force out naïve political and propaganda doctrines. The process of correcting this problem will require a great deal of time and effort and therefore will probably prevent widespread unrest (189).

Healthy common sense can override the results of pathocratic rulership, (Lobaczewski, 140). “Common sense demands caution and endurance,” (150). “Overcoming such states, in effect, correcting our errors and enriching our personalities, is a proper and creative process of reintegration, leading to a higher level of understanding and acceptance of the laws of life, to a better comprehension of self and others, and to a more highly developed sensitivity in interpersonal relationships,” (48).

“Physiological matters are as important to the future as grand politics or powerful weapons,” (Lobaczewski, 178). If our society learns more about psychopathic personality disorder we will better be able to oppose someone who exhibits this psychological anomaly from being appointed to a high position where they are responsible for lots of people, (85). “Power should be in the hands of normal people,” (98).

“Contemporary legislation binding upon normal man’s countries is not based upon an adequate understanding of the psychology of such behavior, and thus does not constitute a sufficient preventative measure against it,” (Lobaczewski, 187-188). “Well thought out and carefully framed legislation should therefore require testing of individuals whose suggestions that someone else is psychologically abnormal are too insistent or too doubtfully founded,” (188).

So, can a system ever give up efforts of territorial and political expansion and settle for what it already has, (Lobaczewski, 146)? What would happen if a nation could maintain peace, order and prosperity? New potentials would emerge and people could make use of their skills and develop them. Since the majority of the population consists of “normal” people, their power would increase. Children of the “privileged” class who did not inherit the pathological genes would join the cause. The pathocracy’s power would weaken and finally lead to a situation when the society of “normal” people reaches for power.

Imagine how much more efficiently societies could operate if the citizens and governments could have a deep understanding of psychopathy, the dynamics it creates and behave like experienced psychologists, (Lobaczewski, 149). “After all, justice and virtue are the opposites of force and perversity…similarly like health is the opposite of an illness,” (69).
 
After skimming through the above excerpt, I'm not sure why I've been holding out on gettin' this book :huh:

I've read a fair bit in previews & have wanted to get it for a long time but I think the prospect of buying it made me feel anxious. As though it was too political to spend money on at the present time - glad I reconsidered & searched for it around the forum.

What also spiked my thoughts related to this was the Chinese president Xi Jinping's travels around, what I can only infer at the time, Eastern territories - a three-nation tour; Russia & Africa included. He went to Tanzania, where I was born, so aroused talk within my family... & being familiar with the notion of psychopathy & ponerization, this book came to mind.

Think I'm going to purchase it, read through & revisit this. The summary definitely stroke a chord Scarlet.
Much gratitude :D
 
Bought this book on Kindle as well as paperback - it'll probably take a few reads to sink in.
 
Skysira said:
Q: Will this book and/or ponerology.com be available in Russian at any point?

Actually it is already translated into Russian and awaits being published. :)
 
Back
Top Bottom