Sociopaths and why we elect them

The problem is that Critical Thinking is Democratic, slow, complex, reasoned, and solutions delivered from the bottom up. Neoliberalism is fast, simple, and laid on a foundation of division, fear, doubt, and simple solutions that only need to be promised not delivered from the top down. The best way to counter a sociopath isn’t another sociopath

The long-term solution – unlikely while vested interests find sociopaths useful – is to educate people to look beneath the surface. Most progressivists have intuitively practiced this all their lives. Educate everyone, particularly young people, to think critically, question everything they hear, and collect and weigh any evidence before accepting its veracity. Educate to raise intelligence, which steadily increased throughout the 20th Century… until neoliberalism dumbed us down, kept us anxious, and sold us stuff for (temporary) relief; repeat. While narcissistic sociopathy cannot be shifted, laboratory experiments suggest that conservative, fear-driven attitudes might be. So the answer is to educate to shift them early. And the best way to expose the Trumps and Qs of the world, researchers say, is to publicly counter their spin and find genuine leaders to support. It’s hard to argue with that. Where are they?

Source: Sociopaths and why we elect them