According to some of nation’s top psychologists, including Harvard professor Howard Gardener, Donald Trump exhibits qualities of a “textbook narcissist,” which makes him a potentially scary world leader.
According to the Raw Story‘s Bobby Azarian, Trump can be remotely diagnosed with “narcissistic personality disorder,” a mental disorder that puts him in the same class as infamous rulers like Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Mayo Clinic defines narcissistic personality disorder as “a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others.” Several of these traits can arguably be seen in Trump, and Azarian argues that a narcissist with great power usually leads to disaster.
LOL! It is IMPOSSIBLE to be a bigger narcissist than Trump! @bill_mullen pic.twitter.com/BF0yvF31rQ
— Chuck Nellis (@ChuckNellis) January 19, 2016
Azarian first discussed Trump’s apparent lack of empathy, seen in his strict proposed policies that target immigrants.
Trump’s shortage of empathy can be seen clearly by his stances on topics like immigration. Instead of recognizing that the data shows that most Mexican immigrants are not violent, but instead people simply looking for a place where actual opportunity exists, with a broad brush he claims that they are “criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc.” In a similar vein, Trump has vowed to ban all Muslims from entering the country should he be elected. It appears that his lack of empathy has distorted his mind’s ability to grasp the fact that the refugees he speaks of are actually seeking safety from the same murderous maniacs that he wants to keep out. Perhaps if Trump had relatives in countries like Syria and Iraq, he might understand the constant fear that most live under, and in turn become more willing to welcome them with open arms rather than leaving them to be slaughtered.
Azarian went on to compare Trump to other narcissists, like Saddam Hussein, and feared that even more power would lend a scary evolution to his narcissism. Before running for the oval office, Trump supported liberal causes, befriended the Clintons, did not say anything xenophobic, and actually was a registered Democrat at one point. Since the idea of power has already changed Trump, actual power may warp him even further.
Donald Trump is very much like Gollum from Lord of the Rings, and the presidency is his ‘one ring to rule them all.’ In this case we do not have the option of destroying the ring. The best we can strive for is keeping it out of the possession of those who cannot resist abusing its power.”
Featured image via Flickr
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