Comments by "" (@DavidJ222) on "Brother of officer who died after Jan. 6 blames Trump and his 'sycophants'" video.

  1. Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, who taught at Harvard Medical School, wrote a paper titled Cult Formation in the early 1980s. He delineated  primary characteristics, which are the most common features shared by destructive cults like Trumpism. 1. A charismatic leader, who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose power. That is a living leader, who has no meaningful accountability and becomes the single most defining element of the group and its source of power and authority. 2. A process of indoctrination or education is in use that can be seen as coercive persuasion or thought reform commonly called "brainwashing". The culmination of this process can be seen by members of the group often doing things that are not in their own best interest, but consistently in the best interest of its leader. 3. The exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling members. Here are some warning signs of a potentially unsafe group or leader. • Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability. • No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry. • No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget or expenses, such as an independently audited financial statement. • Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions. • Former followers are always wrong for leaving, negative or even evil. • The group/leader is always right. • The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is acceptable or credible. "This man is a genius at every level! Why can't we all be like him? He must be something special, and we are clearly not. Ergo, let's listen to him since he knows best." -- Trump supporters Scientific American asked Bandy Lee, a forensic psychiatrist, to comment on the psychology behind Trump’s destructive behavior, and what attracts his followers to him. "TheReasons are multiple and varied. I have outlined two major emotional drives: narcissistic symbiosis and shared psychosis. Narcissistic symbiosis refers to the developmental wounds that make the leader-follower relationship magnetically attractive. The leader, hungry for adulation to compensate for an inner lack of self-worth, projects grandiose omnipotence—while the followers, rendered needy by societal stress or developmental injury, yearn for a parental figure. When such wounded individuals are given positions of power, they arouse similar pathology in the population that creates a “lock and key” relationship. “SharedPsychosis”—which is also called “folie à millions” [“MadnessForMillions”] when occurring at the national level or “induced delusions”—refers to the infectiousness of severe symptoms that goes beyond ordinary group psychology. When a highly symptomatic individual is placed in an influential position, the person’s symptoms can spread through the population through emotional bonds, heightening existing pathologies and inducing delusionsParanoia and a propensity forViolence—even in previously healthy individuals." Destructiveness is a core characteristic of mental pathology, whether directed toward the self or others. When mental pathology is accompanied by criminal-mindedness, the combination can make individuals far more dangerous than either alone. In my textbookonViolence, I emphasize the symbolic nature ofViolence and how it is a life impulse gone awry. Briefly, if one cannot have love, one resorts to respect. And when respect is unavailable, one resorts to fear. Trump is now living through an intolerable loss of respect: rejection by a nation in his election defeat. ViolenceHelps compensate for feelings of powerlessness, inadequacy and lack of real productivity." --Bandy Lee
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