POWER MADNESS

by David Nuttle

Historically, millions of people have died due to power-hungry and power-mad men who had no empathy for their fellow man. In early times, Genghis Khan was such a man and in recent decades Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot were such men. Putin, of Russia, is a current example. To defend mankind from the horrors that might be created by such men, we need to understand the conditions causing them to typically have such madness. Scientific studies of such men indicate they all had certain personality traits, a harsh developmental history, and negative neurobiological-type experience.

Such experiences tent to create two types of personalities: 1) Narcissists who seek to do the extreme to validate self-image; and 2) Machiavellians who use their fellow man as tools of manipulation and strategic gain. Both have traits of greed and arrogance while being fully motivated by a need for prestige and dominance. They always have low scores for honesty and humility while having an urgent need to prove their self-worth. All had a type of psychic wound they had insatiable need to cure.

Power madness triggers a dopamine brain response suppressing all empathy allowing them to murder persons who oppose them. They violate all human norms and resist any negative feedback from others. Their fellow man is objectified as tools to help them quickly achieve their horrific goals. When opposed, they shift into fight mode. Too often the societies they seek to control will give them some level of support. This factor is misleading since the known power-hungry men have murdered many million people who opposed them.

Stable and loving family environments free of most all stress or trauma, on a global basis, appears to be the only possible hope of not having more such power madness.