The Narcissism of Ideology
The Eyes are Useless when the Mind is Blind
One way of recognizing a narcissist is his/her inability to learn, an inability to admit to mistakes [it’s always somebody else’s fault] and a complete absence of being able to see things from another person’s point of view [i.e. “walk in their moccasins”] The result of this state of being, which seems to be as much an pandemic as the Covid-19 virus, is a kind of blindness, an inability to see any Reality outside the bubble of their self-created self-absorption. Now, I don’t think this is a new problem, however, given the complexity and challenges of our modern world, when our leaders are narcissists without even recognizing that they are, we have a problem. A big problem. A huge problem, because this blindess is causing a massive amount of avoidable suffering. A problem causing death in its many forms: disease, suicide, drug overdose, despair, depression, family breakup, giving up on even having a child, anxiety, loneliness, unchecked cancer because the person does not go in for a checkup; in other words life of fear, a self-created hell.
Today we are exploring a very specific form of narcissism, that of our leaders whose ideologies, both left and right. This destructive blindness is well described by this idea: people obsess in what they are worst at.
“Why does pertain so often? It’s because people fall in love with their own heterodoxies and double down when their wrong ideas come under attack. Ideology begins to replace reality, and their focus gets ever more distorted. Once that ideology is lodged deeply in the mind, it takes control of all perceptions. There is a scene in the movie Inception that explains how this works. Inception involves planting an idea in someone’s head, via an externally managed dream, in a way that misleads a person into thinking that he or she originated it. That’s when it becomes the most powerful guide to action.“ If you’re going to perform inception, you need imagination,” explains a character. “You need the simplest version of the idea — the one that will grow naturally in the subject’s mind. Subtle art.” Once that idea has grown and mutated into a political ideology, to the point that it seems to explain events, it becomes almost impossible to dislodge. A crisis of faith becomes necessary before a shift happens. And that is not easy to achieve. The world can come crashing down around you and still the true believer will stick to their story. We are surrounded by examples of this from both the right and left.” [1]
In Canada today leaders efforts seem, to me, to be text book cases of this problem and their “Inception idea” which controls them without them even knowing it, is their ideology. I will give examples of this now using two leaders, one Liberal [Trudeau], the other Conservative [Ford] but not because I am picking on them – but rather simply as examples for which much has been written about, plus making the point that this is not a Left/Right problem but a challenge for all us who have any kind of ideology guiding our life – which is obviously all of us. This is thus a precautionary tale for ALL OF US! Here then are a few recent news stories highlighting nonsensical choices made by these leaders. Please try to read them using the lens of ideology causing a narcissism that makes these leaders blind to any reality outside of their small “bubble of reality”.
No more politics. Scientific leadership urgently needed as second wave emerges
Separation between political interests and the pandemic response has been lost. [3]
Dr. Peter Jüni says the government continues to ignore the advice of experts like him to implement better protections and paid sick days for the front-line workers who are disproportionately impacted by the disease. [4]
The Ontario government has reversed its decision to close playgrounds after the ban was widely criticized, with one Toronto infectious diseases doctor calling the closure of outdoor spaces the wrong move in the fight against COVID-19. [5]
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is indicating the federal government is looking at additional COVID-19 measures to protect international borders but won’t stop flights into Canada from India. Trudeau would not acknowledge it was a weak quarantine system that allowed the P.1 variant to get into Canada. The variant of concern originating in Brazil has accounted for 2,062 cases in British Columba. Note: later that day [April21] later he stopped flights from India. [6]
March 15, 2020 Australia started their quarantine system but Canada only began Feb.22, 2021
On March 15, two weeks before new cases of COVID-19 began to decline in Australia, all travellers arriving in the country were “required” to self-isolate for 14 days. In comparison, self-isolation for return travellers was only “advised” in Canada until March 25. That is the period when many Canadian families returned home from their March Break trips, as did many of the snowbirds who spend their winters in Florida. Perhaps because of these lax instructions, and the seamlessness of travel from the U.S., returning Canadians spread the virus throughout their communities. In Australia, community transmission has only accounted for about 10 per cent of COVID-19 cases; in Canada this rate is close to 75 per cent. And the spread of the virus into at least 600 retirement and nursing homes in Canada – perhaps accounting for the strikingly different death toll – is a fate Australians have been spared to date. [7]
I want to emphasize a rather dramatic difference between the leaders of Canada and Australia who made different choices when the pandemic started. Strict quarantine of travellers and protection of long-term care facilities are key lessons Australia learned from Canada’s crisis over 1 years ago. Australia stopped almost all international travel in the Spring of 2020 when their very tough quarantine system was put in place. Since then Australia has an effective [ours still does not work,8] quarantine system which has stopped new cases coming in from overseas, especially the new variants that are causing our third wave and filling our ICUs. Our international travel quarantine system still does not work. There has clearly been no learning on the part our Federal government. I suggest that ideological narcissism is the root cause.
So, what can you and I do about this? Well, trying to be more rational helps, as long as you know that the driving power behind all we do, even our “rational” choices, are our emotions and beliefs. Even saying or thinking that any ideology or “side’ is a destructive concept and we can thus only be free intellectually by having no ideology is itself an ideology. We somehow need to struggle with this Catch-22. A skeptic wrote about this challenge in a way that I think can be helpful for all us, not as “the answer” but rather as “a question” worth asking. I believe a focus on questions, or what this writer calls the process, rather than answers, is part of the key to all of us avoiding the narcissism of ideology.
“The skeptical movement has always struggled with some unavoidable ironies. We are like a group for people who don’t like to join groups. We actively tell our audience not to trust us (don’t trust any single source – verify with logic and evidence). Our belief is that you really should not have beliefs, only tentative conclusions. Essentially, our ideology is anti-ideology. This is because scientific skepticism is not about any set of beliefs or conclusions. It is all about process, just like science itself – question, observe, analyze, repeat. This approach is both empowering and freeing. One of the most common observations I hear from those who, after consuming skeptical media for a time, abandon some prior belief system or ideology, is that they feel as if a huge weight has been lifted from their shoulders. They feel free from the oppressive burden of having to support one side or ideology, even against evidence and reason. Now they are free to think whatever they want, whatever is supported by the evidence. They don’t have to carry water for their “team”. At the same time, this is one of the greatest challenges for skeptical thinking, because it seems to run upstream against a strong current of human nature. We are tribal, we pick a side and defend it, especially if it gets wrapped up in our identity or world-view. All of the recent hand-wringing about fake news and a post-fact world is largely about an increase in this partisanship. People use motivated reasoning to defend their ideology against the intrusion of reality, and hyper-partisanship leads to hyper-motivated reasoning. It’s also about echochambers – ideological bubbles of information that reinforce our tribe and demonize all others.” [2]
All your best in your personal efforts to escapes the trap of a blindness caused by any narcissistic ideology. It’s tough, but the rewards are well worth it. The Buddha really said all of this with other words thousands of years ago.
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
References
- https://www.aier.org/article/ideological-blindness-on-the-right-and-left/
- https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/against-ideology/
- https://healthydebate.ca/opinions/scientific-leadership-covid/
- https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-monday-edition-1.5993254/this-doctor-almost-quit-ontario-s-covid-19-scientific-advisory-table-over-ford-s-response-1.5993370
- https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/premier-ford-reverses-decision-to-close-ontario-playgrounds-amid-backlash-1.5391546
- https://globalnews.ca/news/7778952/ottawa-consulting-on-stricter-border-measures-wont-stop-flights-from-india/
- https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-canada-and-australia-a-tale-of-two-covid-19-responses/
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/25/canada-covid-quarantine-rules-international-air-travellers-under-fire
Canada’s Covid plan under fire as air passengers evade hotel quarantine
Some travelers have reported hours-long delays when trying to book a hotel, but police in Ontario say others are instead simply walking out of the airport. Police at Toronto’s Pearson airport, the country’s busiest terminal, say they have fined several people who have attempted to evade controls, but the C$880 penalty is well below the estimated bill of C$2,000 for a three-night stay at the quarantine hotels. Police also told reporters they will not detain anyone breaking public health rules unless there is clear indication of criminality. The country’s public health agency may possibly issue any potential subsequent fines under the Quarantine Act – including a maximum fine of up to $750,000 or six months in jail. The Public Health Agency of Canada has said it was “aware” of reports that travelers are bypassing mandatory hotels and was looking into the situation. [nothing has changed yet as of April 23]
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