Andrew Lobaczewski - Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes

Since the beginning of time, this mystery of the estate of man,

this Curse of Cain has existed. And, since the Ancient of Days,

the cry has been: My punishment is greater than I can bear!

It is conjectured that, in ancient times, when man perceived

this intolerable and incomprehensible condition in which he

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EDITOR’S PREFACE

found his existence, that he created cosmogonies to justify all

the cruelties, aberrations, and tragedies of history. It is true

that, man, as a rule and in general, is powerless against cosmic

and geological catastrophes, and it has long been said that the

average man can’t really do anything about military onslaughts,

social injustice, personal and familial misfortunes, and a host of

assaults against his existence too numerous to list.

This is about to change. The book you hold in your hand is

going to give you answers to many of the questions about Evil

in our world. This book is not just about macrosocial evil, it is

also about everyday evil, because, in a very real sense, the two

are inseparable. The long term accumulation of everyday evil

always and inevitably leads to Grand Systemic Evil that de-

stroys more innocent people than any other phenomenon on

this planet.

The book you hold in your hands is also a survival guide.

As I said above, this book will be the most important book you

will ever read. Unless, of course, you are a psychopath.

“What does psychopathy have to do with personal or social

evil?” you may ask.

Absolutely everything. Whether you know it or not, each

and every day your life is touched by the effects of psychopa-

thy on our world. You are about to learn that even if there isn’t

much we can do about geological and cosmological catastro-

phe, there is a lot we can do about social and macrosocial evil,

and the very first thing to do is to learn about it. In the case of

psychopathy and its effects on our world, what you don’t know

definitely can and will hurt you.

Nowadays the word “psychopath” generally evokes images

of the barely restrained - yet surprisingly urbane - mad-dog

serial killer, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, of Silence of the Lambs fame.

I will admit that this was the image that came to my mind

whenever I heard the word; almost, that is. The big difference

was that I never thought of a psychopath as possibly being so

cultured or so capable of passing as “normal”. But I was

wrong, and I was to learn this lesson quite painfully by direct

experience. The exact details are chronicled elsewhere; what is

important is that this experience was probably one of the most

painful and instructive episodes of my life, and it enabled me to

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overcome a block in my awareness of the world around me and

those who inhabit it.

Regarding blocks to awareness, I need to state for the record

that I have spent 30 years studying psychology, history, cul-

ture, religion, myth and the so-called paranormal1. I also have

worked for many years with hypnotherapy - which gave me a

very good mechanical knowledge of how the mind/brain of the

human being operates at very deep levels. But even so, I was

still operating with certain beliefs firmly in place that were

shattered by my research into psychopathy. I realized that there

was a certain set of ideas that I held about human beings that

were sacrosanct – and false. I even wrote about this once in the

following way:

…my work has shown me that the vast majority of people

want to do good, to experience good things, think good

thoughts, and make decisions with good results. And they try

with all their might to do so! With the majority of people hav-

ing this internal desire, why the Hell isn't it happening?

I was naïve, I admit. There were many things I did not know

that I have learned since I penned those words. But even at that

time I was aware of how our own minds can be used to deceive

us.

Now, what beliefs did I hold that made me a victim of a

psychopath? The first and most obvious one is that I truly be-

lieved that deep inside, all people are basically “good” and that

they “want to do good, to experience good things, think good

thoughts, and make decisions with good results. And they try

with all their might to do so….”

As it happens, this is not true as I - and everyone involved

in our research group - learned to our sorrow, as they say. But

we also learned to our edification. In order to come to some

understanding of exactly what kind of human being could do

the things that were done to me (and others close to me), and

why they might be motivated - even driven - to behave this

way, we began to research the psychology literature for clues

because we needed to understand for our own peace of mind.

1 I have never received any academic degrees, so I am not a “professional”, in

that respect.

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EDITOR’S PREFACE

If there is a psychological theory that can explain vicious

and harmful behavior, it helps very much for the victim of such

acts to have this information so that they do not have to spend

all their time feeling hurt or angry. And certainly, if there is a

psychological theory that helps a person to find what kind of

words or deeds can bridge the chasm between people, to heal

misunderstandings, that is also a worthy goal. It was from such

a perspective that we began our extensive work on the subjects

of narcissism, which then led to the study of psychopathy.

Of course, we didn’t start out with such any such “diagno-

sis” or label for what we were witnessing. We started out with

observations and searched the literature for clues, for profiles,

for anything that would help us to understand the inner world

of a human being - actually a group of human beings - who

seemed to be utterly depraved and unlike anything we had ever

encountered before. We found that this kind of human is all too

common, and that, according to some of the latest research,

they cause more damage in human society than any other sin-

gle so-called “mental illness”. Martha Stout, who has worked

extensively with victims of psychopaths, writes:

Imagine - if you can - not having a conscience, none at all,

no feelings of guilt or remorse no matter what you do, no lim-

iting sense of concern for the well-being of strangers, friends,

or even family members. Imagine no struggles with shame,

not a single one in your whole life, no matter what kind of

selfish, lazy, harmful, or immoral action you had taken.

And pretend that the concept of responsibility is unknown

to you, except as a burden others seem to accept without ques-

tion, like gullible fool.

Now add to this strange fantasy the ability to conceal from

other people that your psychological makeup is radically dif-

ferent from theirs. Since everyone simply assumes that con-

science is universal among human beings, hiding the fact that

you are conscience-free is nearly effortless.

You are not held back from any of your desires by guilt or

shame, and you are never confronted by others for your cold-

bloodedness. The ice water in your veins is so bizarre, so

completely outside of their personal experience, that they sel-

dom even guess at your condition.

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13

In other words, you are completely free of internal re-

straints, and your unhampered liberty to do just as you please,

with no pangs of conscience, is conveniently invisible to the

world.

You can do anything at all, and still your strange advan-

tage over the majority of people, who are kept in line by their

consciences will most likely remain undiscovered.

How will you live your life?

What will you do with your huge and secret advantage,

and with the corresponding handicap of other people (con-

science)?

The answer will depend largely on just what your desires

happen to be, because people are not all the same. Even the

profoundly unscrupulous are not all the same. Some people -

whether they have a conscience or not - favor the ease of iner-

tia, while others are filled with dreams and wild ambitions.

Some human beings are brilliant and talented, some are dull-

witted, and most, conscience or not, are somewhere in be-

tween. There are violent people and nonviolent ones, indi-

viduals who are motivated by blood lust and those who have

no such appetites. [...]

Provided you are not forcibly stopped, you can do any-

thing at all.

If you are born at the right time, with some access to fam-

ily fortune, and you have a special talent for whipping up

other people's hatred and sense of deprivation, you can arrange

to kill large numbers of unsuspecting people. With enough

money, you can accomplish this from far away, and you can

sit back safely and watch in satisfaction. [...]

Crazy and frightening - and real, in about 4 percent of the

population....

The prevalence rate for anorexic eating disorders is esti-

mated a 3.43 percent, deemed to be nearly epidemic, and yet

this figure is a fraction lower than the rate for antisocial per-

sonality. The high-profile disorders classed as schizophrenia

occur in only about 1 percent of [the population] - a mere

quarter of the rate of antisocial personality - and the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention say that the rate of colon

cancer in the United States, considered “alarmingly high,” is

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EDITOR’S PREFACE

about 40 per 100,000 - one hundred times lower than the rate

of antisocial personality.

The high incidence of sociopathy in human society has a

profound effect on the rest of us who must live on this planet,

too, even those of us who have not been clinically trauma-

tized. The individuals who constitute this 4 percent drain our

relationships, our bank accounts, our accomplishments, our

self-esteem, our very peace on earth.

Yet surprisingly, many people know nothing about this

disorder, or if they do, they think only in terms of violent psy-

chopathy - murderers, serial killers, mass murderers - people

who have conspicuously broken the law many times over, and

who, if caught, will be imprisoned, maybe even put to death

by our legal system.

We are not commonly aware of, nor do we usually iden-

tify, the larger number of nonviolent sociopaths among us,

people who often are not blatant lawbreakers, and against

whom our formal legal system provides little defense.

Most of us would not imagine any correspondence be-

tween conceiving an ethnic genocide and, say, guiltlessly ly-

ing to one's boss about a coworker. But the psychological cor-

respondence is not only there; it is chilling. Simple and pro-

found, the link is the absence of the inner mechanism that

beats up on us, emotionally speaking, when we make a choice

we view as immoral, unethical, neglectful, or selfish.

Most of us feel mildly guilty if we eat the last piece of

cake in the kitchen, let alone what we would feel if we inten-

tionally and methodically set about to hurt another person.