Americanistic Personality Disorder (type 1776.0)
by Jason Miller
"Believing in their inherent superiority, they eschew laws
or rules except when they can utilize them for personal gain or when they fear
punishment."
This article originally appeared in Cyrano's Journal.
The essential features of Americanistic Personality Disorder
include pervasive
patterns of extreme self-absorption, profound and long-term
lapses in empathy, a deep disregard for the well-being of others, a powerful
aversion to intellectual honesty and reality, and a grossly exaggerated sense
of the importance of one's self and one's nation. These patterns emerge in
infancy, manifest themselves in nearly all contexts, and often become pathological.
These patterns have also been characterized as sociopathic,
or colloquially as the "Ugly American Syndrome." Note that the latter
terminology carries too benign a connotation to accurately describe an
individual afflicted with such a dangerous perversion of character.
For this diagnosis to be given, the individual must be
deeply immersed in the flag-waving, nationalistic, and militaristic fervor
derived primarily from the nearly perpetual barrage of reality warping
emanations of the "mainstream media," most commonly through the medium of
television. Typically indoctrinated from birth to believe that they are morally
superior, exceptional human beings, these individuals suffer from severe
egocentrism, a condition further engendered by the prevalence of the acutely
toxic dominant paradigm known as capitalism.
"The individual must be deeply immersed in the
flag-waving, nationalistic, and militaristic fervor."
Individuals with Americanistic Personality Disorder are
generally covertly racist, xenophobic, and openly species-istic. They readily
participate in the execution of heinous crimes against human and non-human
animals, even if their complicity is banal and limited. As long as they are
comfortable, safe, and enjoying the relative affluence and convenience afforded
by their nation's economic extortion, cultural genocide, rape of other species
and the environment, and imperial conquests, such individuals display an
apathetic disregard for the well-being of other human beings, sentient
creatures, and the environment.
Individuals with Americanistic Personality Disorder tend to
exhibit unabated greed and an insatiable desire for material goods. Fueled by a
compulsion to shop and acquire excessive amounts of material goods, a condition
sometimes referred to as consumerism, they have no regard for the misery and
destruction caused by their pathological need for "more stuff." When confronted
with the finitude and fragility of the Earth, they frequently react with level
one ego defenses by denying that their behavior is a part of the problem or by
distorting reality by asserting that concerns about Climate Change, resource
depletion, and irreversible damage to the environment are over-blown. Their
deeply entrenched sense of entitlement renders excessive consumption a nearly
immutable aspect of their behavior.
Individuals with Americanistic Personality Disorder are
virtually devoid of empathy or compassion. They view life as a game played by
"law of the jungle" rules and co-exist with others in a chronic state of
hyper-competitiveness, seeking only to advance their careers and "keep up with
the Joneses." Their desire to win, get ahead and "protect what is theirs" has
been so deeply etched into their psyches that their capacity to empathize and
experience true concern for the well-being of others is severely stunted or
extinguished. The pursuit of property, profit, and power rules their malformed
psyches, nearly eliminating their capacity for humane behavior.
"The pursuit of property, profit, and power rules their malformed
psyches."
Individuals with Americanistic Personality Disorder almost
always rely on extortion or violence to get their needs met and to resolve
conflict. Believing in their inherent superiority, they eschew laws or rules
except when they can utilize them for personal gain or when they fear
punishment. Given a choice between a just resolution to a situation and the
opportunity to humiliate, subdue, or subjugate the other party, they will
choose the latter with a high degree of frequency. They have an amazing
capacity to justify their unethical or criminal behavior using false pretexts
such as self defense, good intentions, ignorance of the consequences of their
actions, or asserting that they were merely carrying out orders.
Individuals with Americanistic Personality Disorder tend to
manifest traits indicative of two of Erich Fromm's personality orientations.
They thrive on adding to their possessions, and appreciate their acquisitions
more when they attain them through coercion, theft, or manipulation, thus
showing strains of Fromm's exploitative type. They also exist at a very
superficial level, offering the world the "friendly face" of the marketing
personality that Bernays and Madison Avenue have taught them is the most
effective way of advancing their selfish agenda. Opportunism, careerism, and
narcissism poison nearly all of their interactions and relationships.
Specific Culture Features
Americanistic Personality Disorder appears to prevail in a
very high percentage of those in the upper strata of the socioeconomic order in
the United States (and to persist tenaciously because these individuals have
little motivation to alter their pathological behavior as they are largely
immune from the consequences of their actions). While it is epidemic amongst
the opulent, this characterological deficiency does not recognize socioeconomic
boundaries. Various segments of the middle, working and impoverished classes
comprise a notable percentage of those exhibiting this condition, including
those practicing deeply conservative Christianity, many residents of
reactionary states such as those in the south, Kansas, Idaho, Utah, and
Wyoming, and many members of the Republican Party.
Prevalence
The overall prevalence of Americanistic Personality Disorder
was recently measured at approximately 35% of the overall population in the
United States.
Diagnostic Criteria for 1776.0 Americanistic
Personality Disorder:
A pervasive pattern of greed, selfishness, and lack of
empathy, beginning the moment he or she begins to intellectualize and presented
in nearly all contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
1. lacks empathy due to an excessive degree of
self-absorption
2. believes that he or she is exceptional and morally superior
3. frequently engages in exploitative behaviors
4. requires frequent acquisition of goods he or she doesn't need
5. usually resorts to some form of overt or covert violence, coercion, or
extortion to resolve conflicts
6. perceives others as obstacles to his or her "success"
7. disregards laws and rules except as a means to achieve his or her agenda
8. demonstrates deep hypocrisy by projecting a righteous, benevolent image
while committing reprehensible acts
9. refuses to accept the consequences of his or her actions
Jason
Miller is a wage slave of the American Empire who has freed himself
intellectually and spiritually. He is Cyrano's Journal Online's associate
editor (http://www.bestcyrano.org/) and publishes Thomas Paine's
Corner within Cyrano's at http://www.bestcyrano.org/THOMASPAINE/. You can reach him at JMiller@bestcyrano.com
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