Alan C. Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 I recommend both of these interviews if you have the time. Both contain very good information about narcissism. The article mentioned, which Sam wrote in 2008: Barack Obama - Narcissist or Merely Narcissistic? An earlier interview: Sam Vaknin Analyzes Barack Obama Stef's Get off Julia! video, plus a bunch of links. The Obamas' extravagant lifestyle at taxpayer expense. Obama's barber flies from Chicago twice a month to cut his hair (I wonder if he also has wipers)
Jose Perez Posted June 25, 2013 Posted June 25, 2013 Good stuff, but Sam lost a lot of credibility with me when he said – right at the beginning of the first video – that we need "healthy narcissism" in order to look out for ourselves, have a sense of boundaries, pursue goals... ouch... OUCH!
Andersfilosof Posted June 30, 2013 Posted June 30, 2013 Thanks Alan, I'm always interested by Vaknin's videos, especially about Obama. Good stuff, but Sam lost a lot of credibility with me when he said – right at the beginning of the first video – that we need "healthy narcissism" in order to look out for ourselves, have a sense of boundaries, pursue goals... ouch... OUCH! I don't mean to be callous, but are you kidding? If there is no sense of elevation of the self's preferences above others then the self is much more open to exploitation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy_narcissism
Pepin Posted June 30, 2013 Posted June 30, 2013 Good stuff, but Sam lost a lot of credibility with me when he said – right at the beginning of the first video – that we need "healthy narcissism" in order to look out for ourselves, have a sense of boundaries, pursue goals... ouch... OUCH! If narcissism is selfishness, and if altruism is selflessness, then narcissism is the opposite of altruism. If both extremes of the spectrum are unhealthy, then it would be argued that a healthy state of being is achieved through in some middle ground of the states of narcissism and altruism.
Alan C. Posted June 30, 2013 Author Posted June 30, 2013 Narcissism resides on a gradient. Examples of healthy narcissism include care taken in preparing one's appearance or presentation, personal hygiene and fitness, and joy at receiving recognition for one's accomplishments. Regarding Obama, Sam is referring specifically to malignant narcissism in the form of a personality disorder. Healthy narcissism poses no danger to others. People afflicted with NPD are a menace.
Jose Perez Posted July 1, 2013 Posted July 1, 2013 I don't mean to be callous, but are you kidding? If there is no sense of elevation of the self's preferences above others then the self is much more open to exploitation. This false dichotomy is exactly what makes Obama appear both non-exploitative (altruistic) and exploitative (dictatorial), the same as any collectivist, abusive parent... none understands the differentiation or non-differentiation of the self other than with power as a reference.
Jose Perez Posted July 1, 2013 Posted July 1, 2013 If narcissism is selfishness, and if altruism is selflessness, then narcissism is the opposite of altruism. If both extremes of the spectrum are unhealthy, then it would be argued that a healthy state of being is achieved through in some middle ground of the states of narcissism and altruism. No, both ends of the spectrum are unhealthy only when the standard and reference is power, and not reason, which is the standard of narcissists. Only selfishness is moral. Selfishness only appears narcissistic to the narcissist, who does not understand reason.
Jose Perez Posted July 1, 2013 Posted July 1, 2013 Examples of healthy narcissism include care taken in preparing one's appearance or presentation, personal hygiene and fitness, and joy at receiving recognition for one's accomplishments. I don't regard those examples as healthy for the most part, as they tend to be motivated by the standards of others. Sam Vankin, too, is an academic and not very likely to be using reason as a standard for identifying narcissism or be very sensitive to the actual pervasiveness of this trait in himself and others. Healthy narcissism poses no danger to others. That's like saying voting poses no danger to others. "Healthy" narcissism poses a danger to children, primarily.
Alan C. Posted July 25, 2013 Author Posted July 25, 2013 Obama: Reporters tell me my ideas are 'great' President Obama said reporters praise his economic proposals as "great" and tell him they are "all good ideas."
Guest Exceptionalist Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 If narcissism is selfishness, and if altruism is selflessness, then narcissism is the opposite of altruism. If both extremes of the spectrum are unhealthy, then it would be argued that a healthy state of being is achieved through in some middle ground of the states of narcissism and altruism. There is no altruism, cuz that would mean to not even gain an emotional benefit from helping others. Thus you can say that real altruism is unhealthy and lead to suicide.
Hector_Viera Posted January 24, 2014 Posted January 24, 2014 There isn't successful politician without narcissism, the question is the degree of morbidity of this narcissism. Héctor
Alan C. Posted January 24, 2014 Author Posted January 24, 2014 Obama Says Racial Animus Blunts Approval, New Yorker Reports “There's no doubt that there's some folks who just really dislike me because they don't like the idea of a black president,” Obama said... Obama blames unpopularity on Limbaugh, Fox News for making him into a ‘caricature' Narcissists never take responsibility for anything. Everything that goes wrong is somebody else's fault. The reason why people dislike Obama has nothing to do with his complexion.
Hector_Viera Posted January 24, 2014 Posted January 24, 2014 Psychopathology does not care about race, skin color and sex (or ''gender'' as like say socio-constructionist sophists) Héctor
Alan C. Posted February 11, 2014 Author Posted February 11, 2014 "That's the good thing as a President, I can do whatever I want" Even with all that power, he can't accomplish anything productive.
MarkIX Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 I don't regard those examples as healthy for the most part, as they tend to be motivated by the standards of others. Sam Vankin, too, is an academic and not very likely to be using reason as a standard for identifying narcissism or be very sensitive to the actual pervasiveness of this trait in himself and others. That's like saying voting poses no danger to others. "Healthy" narcissism poses a danger to children, primarily. So being motivated by the "Standards of others" is bad, Why? "That's the good thing as a President, I can do whatever I want" Even with all that power, he can't accomplish anything productive. Are you kidding? Him and his mates are making out like bandits! How much more productive does he have to be?
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