The higher office a politician is elected to, the less empathy and morals they have. Honest politicians are only found at the local level: that’s people who care about their local community. Above that, they’re all stronger shades of immoral and psychopathic.
And there’s a reason for that: always remember that someone who runs for congress, governor, senator, president… is someone who wakes up one morning, looks in the bathroom mirror and says “I know what the country needs, and that’s me.” No mentally sound human being thinks like that.
And even beyond that - hierarchical systems effectively reward and thus select for psychopathy.
People with morals, ethics, integrity and/or empathy will refrain from making choices that would conflict with their principles, while people without any of those things are free to pursue any course of action that will benefit them, with no concern for anything else.
So all other things being more or less equal, psychopaths actually have a competitive advantage in hierarchical systems.
The higher office a politician is elected to, the less empathy and morals they have. Honest politicians are only found at the local level: that’s people who care about their local community. Above that, they’re all stronger shades of immoral and psychopathic.
And there’s a reason for that: always remember that someone who runs for congress, governor, senator, president… is someone who wakes up one morning, looks in the bathroom mirror and says “I know what the country needs, and that’s me.” No mentally sound human being thinks like that.
Yes.
And even beyond that - hierarchical systems effectively reward and thus select for psychopathy.
People with morals, ethics, integrity and/or empathy will refrain from making choices that would conflict with their principles, while people without any of those things are free to pursue any course of action that will benefit them, with no concern for anything else.
So all other things being more or less equal, psychopaths actually have a competitive advantage in hierarchical systems.
And it shows.