Was Al Capone a negative role model for inner-city kids born in the mid 20th century? That depends on who you ask. Was he a Sociopath? A Malignant Narcissist? A “Dark Triad” of unbridled hubris and socially conditioned “lizard brain” mentality? A monster of a bully?
Yes. Probably a little bit of each if you consider the possibility he suffered from comorbid culturally inspired personality disorders affectations ranging on the spectrum from mild to extreme. But technically speaking, had his parents been more loving and socialized their own children while constructively learning how to re-parent their own inner child themselves, the need for a street boss in a city like Chi-town would not be necessary.
As such, an argument can be made that people who have Cluster B personality traits and use them to rise to positions of social status, public recognition, or power are technically leviathans in the most ‘Hobbesian’ philosophical sense possible. Here is where we embark on the next stage of social evolution in accordance with Charles Darwin’s world-famous scientific theory.
Thomas Hobbes, a philosopher who spent great time and effort writing a treatise that suggests monarchs who rule with iron fists or narcissistic extremism fill a power vacuum created by social structures where individual humans fail to cooperatively work together as a whole. The insight he offered contemporary philosophers of his time was to appreciate effective and efficient rule by a leader no matter how ruthless or ridiculously self-indulgent.
He called them “Leviathans” — monsters, technically speaking. But clearly pointed out that having one dominant personality on top to be the final decider on any social or political matter was, above all else, both necessary and prudent. An inescapable truth, he might say, that in the absence of intelligent team leadership that a single authoritarian figure or family representing a figurehead ideal of a king and queen will logically enable all to more deferentially prosper.
Hobbes’ classic philosophical work begs the presumptive question of whether or not mankind benefits from being led by people who by nature and nurture grow up to be dangerous, violent, and ill-tempered people. In a culture where might makes right, then yes — as in Capone’s case. But seriously, folks… do we really want to keep nurturing narcissism and self-indulgent moral values in children or fostering in them a ruthless sense of competition.
If you are a short term thinker who lacks empathy for future generations, you might say yes. But there is another alternative. Consider the possibility that due to the rise of multiculturalism in the 20th century, the global acceptance of English as the preferred language for science, technology, and math subjects, and the ease of which humans move about from place to place during times of active relocation or travel, a new sort of power vacuum is by default being created. One where empathy and cultural sensitivity are rewarded for demonstrating publicly as social behaviors… a new dawn, so to speak.
One where children who are raised to work independently and are self-sufficient but as a matter of civic pride devote their lives to playing for #TeamEmpath. A kinder, gentler, less divided human culture that celebrates diversity rather than struggling to reach a point where all who are “different” are forcibly estranged, ostracized, or culturally assimilated.
A global McWorld where empaths lead rather than being socially persecuted.
Why? Because children who learn to emotionally self-soothe effectively reduce the need to engage in attention-seeking behaviors. Furthermore, those who develop a healthy self-image that includes being the kind of person who respects the fundamental human rights of others to live peacefully and co-exist without brutality tend to perceive entitlement values as inherently toxic, undermining to the social order, and a waste of human life energy.
There is no pragmatic way to prepare children to succeed as the parents and grandparents of future generations without choosing to go the route of the hacker group Anonymous. People who live their lives as men and women of goodwill (in the philosophical sense) without a need for being dictated to and controlled by civil or religious authority figures understand inherently both how and why technology has given rise to the need for new leadership values to ethically and humanely be promoted on the planet.
A quick fact check on the realities of quantum entanglement will help explain both why and how a global vision supports the need for empathic leaders (rather than ruthless dictators). A hundred years from now, how tolerant will 80% of the human beings in the world be to narcissistic abuse either online as cyberbullying or brutish extremism? How many friends from around the world who get to know more about one another’s lifestyles and cultures and subsequently start showing interest in communication for the purpose of learning about people rather than acting xenophobic will tolerate being told they cannot like or enjoy spending time with someone who has different religious values or social customs? How many people will continue to preach racial nonsense or promote nationalistic isolation?
Chances are unless they want to be seen as narcissistic and petulant as say, our favorite “monarch” (of sorts) from North Korea has been behaving both in public and privately towards his people? Situational abusers include those who have inherited political power but lead ineffectively.
Is North Korea a stand-alone country still functioning despite dynastic domination by people who more than likely have biologically rooted social dysfunction and Cluster B personalities? Yeppers.
But would you want that guy with his controlling the “Mission to Mars” journey NASA and scientists from around the world are working on as the next human project? Since landing on Mars is likely within the next 20 years and outright colonization of the red planet is expected in 30 years or less, parents who actually love their children need to consider learning how to re-parent themselves in such a way that their children are socially and emotionally allowed to thrive and progress.
