Don’t Feed the Psychopaths

I remember my aunt’s shock when she learned that I am not a fan of “higher education” and that I think far too many people choose to attend (and pay for) college. After all, I used to pontificate about the importance of learning, working to “quench the thirst for knowledge,” and lots of other claptrap. It’s not that I didn’t believe those things. It’s not even that I stopped believing those things. It’s that I finally came to understand that school is not even close to synonymous with education and/or learning.

My eyes started opening long, long ago, when I was introduced to the concept of home education by my boss, the editor of the newspaper I wrote for. He and his wife had embarked upon the adventure of home education with their young children. One thing built upon another and another and another, and here we are.

I often find it difficult to concisely communicate my thoughts, and, indeed, I don’t always get things straight in my mind. There are things that I know, even when I cannot illuminate and see every detail. Therefore, I am going to let Martin Geddes speak for me for a moment:

So, the arrival of the media business gave psychopaths leverage over the rest of us. This coincided with the growth of urban society, hierarchical organizations and licensed professions conferring authority. These are irresistible targets for psychopaths, since they amplify their control over others.

The result has been the rise of “pathocracy,” which is the societal adoption of psychopaths’ institutionalized beliefs. The process begins with the infection of trusted institutions by a few (who control recruitment) followed by an inversion of their moral value system. Such subversion occurs in all walks of life, but especially in circumstances wherein psychopaths can hold positions of great power over others. The obvious cases include politicians, military leaders and CEOs, but it also manifests in other professions, like surgeons and ministers of religion.

My sense is that we are now at a place of “peak pathocracy.”

I loathe institutions, which is rather ironic, since my family and I belong to the largest institutionalized religion on the planet and my husband works for one of the largest companies in the world. Someday I might delve into what René Girard had to say about the primordial establishment of institutions. I found it fascinating when I first encountered it in I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, but I cannot honestly say what I think of it now. It certainly bears exploring.