"To reach this narcissism saturation, there has to be a personality trait or traits which make people vulnerable and can be activated and amplified by social factors."
And there has to be a powerful societal mechanism that consistently (and deliberately?) activates and amplifies these personality traits in its victims, or it would not reach such proportions.
I use the word 'victim' deliberately here, because if your theory is correct, then many, or even most, narcissists became so through being manipulated by their social environment. Others turned them into narcissists, they weren't born that way.
And if we assume that narcissism is an unhealthy mindset to have (which very much seems to be the case) then any societal model that creates large numbers of them, could in turn be classified as an unhealthy, and undesirable, societal model.
And in turn, the current rise in the number of narcissists also strongly suggest that the preceding societal model, the one prior to the rise, was more healthy than the current one, at least in this regard.
Your observation, that the percent of narcissists in high (about 1/3 of the populations of Western nations) and growing, may be due to more that just the overt recruitment and reprogramming being implemented by the globalist elites. I submit that another major factor is that most Western nations have been experiencing prolonged affluence for several generations and this has resulted in the death of environmental hardship and natural existential threat. As a result, we have become soft and now lack the ancestral robustness that our forebears earned by running a gauntlet of hardships. "That which does not kill us makes us stronger" is no longer operative. This progressive weakening due to an absence of hardship gauntlets may be what results in the preconditions for narcissism. Once upon a time, realism kept you alive in a harsh environment. But now, most people can coast on welfare or fraud; no productive skill or talent required.
Very thorough analysis of a very confusing and (at the same time) enlightening topic of the current state of the Western society and individuals of the society.
My experience with corrupt politicians, which included their attacks against me, taught me about narcissism and sociopathy, and the masochism of the Public serving them. I'm appreciative of your articles.
"To reach this narcissism saturation, there has to be a personality trait or traits which make people vulnerable and can be activated and amplified by social factors."
And there has to be a powerful societal mechanism that consistently (and deliberately?) activates and amplifies these personality traits in its victims, or it would not reach such proportions.
I use the word 'victim' deliberately here, because if your theory is correct, then many, or even most, narcissists became so through being manipulated by their social environment. Others turned them into narcissists, they weren't born that way.
And if we assume that narcissism is an unhealthy mindset to have (which very much seems to be the case) then any societal model that creates large numbers of them, could in turn be classified as an unhealthy, and undesirable, societal model.
And in turn, the current rise in the number of narcissists also strongly suggest that the preceding societal model, the one prior to the rise, was more healthy than the current one, at least in this regard.
Lots to ponder here, thanks once again!
I think a part would become narcissists no matter what but for the majority your observation is without doubt accurate.
I liked it but I really hope you didn't need the like.
Your observation, that the percent of narcissists in high (about 1/3 of the populations of Western nations) and growing, may be due to more that just the overt recruitment and reprogramming being implemented by the globalist elites. I submit that another major factor is that most Western nations have been experiencing prolonged affluence for several generations and this has resulted in the death of environmental hardship and natural existential threat. As a result, we have become soft and now lack the ancestral robustness that our forebears earned by running a gauntlet of hardships. "That which does not kill us makes us stronger" is no longer operative. This progressive weakening due to an absence of hardship gauntlets may be what results in the preconditions for narcissism. Once upon a time, realism kept you alive in a harsh environment. But now, most people can coast on welfare or fraud; no productive skill or talent required.
Very thorough analysis of a very confusing and (at the same time) enlightening topic of the current state of the Western society and individuals of the society.
Thank you.
My experience with corrupt politicians, which included their attacks against me, taught me about narcissism and sociopathy, and the masochism of the Public serving them. I'm appreciative of your articles.