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Lyle H. Rossiter; Jr.; M.D. The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness.
To jump right in, here is an editorial review from amazon.com:
Are Liberals Out of Their Minds? Why do modern liberals think and act as they do? The radical left's politics and its destructive effects on our basic freedoms have provoked many to speculate on what makes these people tick. The Liberal Mind answers the question. This book is the first systematic analysis of the political madness that now threatens to destroy the West's greatest achievement: the American dream of civilized liberty. In his penetrating analysis, Dr. Rossiter reveals modern liberalism's assaults on: The freedom of adults to make good lives for themselves by cooperating with others, The ability of families to raise children to be self-reliant and mutual, and The morals, rights and laws that protect our freedoms. Modern liberalism's irrationality can only be understood as the product of psychopathology. So extravagant are the patterns of thinking, emoting, behaving and relating that characterize the liberal mind that its relentless protests and demands become understandable only as disorders of the psyche. The Liberal Mind reveals the madness of the modern liberal for what it is: a massive transference neurosis acted out in the world's political arenas, with devastating effects on the institutions of liberty.
But before we get carried away, let's ground ourselves in the critical analysis of a reviewer who isn't "editorial" or something, a customer reviewer:
| John Russell |
"This book is just silly and every argument he makes can easily be attributed to every Fictional Conservative I've ever met From his Nanny State BS (What do you call spending half our budget on our Military Nanny?) to his playing the victim (Gee it's not our fault no WMDs were found,Not our fault planeloads of cash are unaccounted for, not our fault 300,000 weapons are missing in Iraq)
Well you get the point, save your money and if you want to hear poorly argued Pop Psychology with a Rightwingnut twist just turn on your AM radio .."
And there is the "staggering genius" of John F. Michalski , who does it so well I include none further from that line, primarily because of the irony, which goes a long way in a little bit:
"It's ironic that I should stumble across this work at this time, because I have been working on an article of my own in which I argue precisely the opposite thesis. It is my contention that the term "conservatism" doesn't name any particular political or economic ideology but is, rather, an attitude toward ideology. It is, in fact, a personality disorder - an irrational fear of change.
What has caused the rise of conservatism in the past 30 years? It is certainly not a rational response to historical developments. Why would tens of millions of poor and working-class people ally themselves with the rich - with whom they share no reasonable interests? Why would so many of these same millions mindlessly buy into a particularly crack-brained travesty of Christianity, one which teaches contempt for the poor, hatred of the foreigner, and so many other anti-Christian values?
The reason for all this was the radical change our society saw from the 1950s on. The Old Establishment - white, rich, straight American males - had to watch their hegemony crumble. Women, minorities and gays were no longer content to stay in their place. Poor and working people were using unions and political clout to demand their fair share of the riches they were producing. New immigrants were bringing strange skin colors, languages, foods and behaviors to White, WASPY America. And foreign countries began to challenge America's imperium. It all got rather scary.
Some people - liberals - have welcomed these changes. It seemed that, finally, millions who had been held down in the name of the precious status quo were going to be given what they deserved. But others couldn't cope with this brave new world. They were threatened by the changes, and looked to any conman who promised to make time run backward and keep things as they were. These conmen have included William Buckley, George Will, Ronald Reagan, Karl Rove and George W. Bush. All their political success has rested on one skill - their ability to exploit the fears of millions of threatened people.
This book is a particularly crude example of this phenomenon."
Strangely enough, or perhaps not so strange given the vast Right wing conspiracy and so on, only 26 of 172 people who bothered to click found the above review helpful. Life, it seems, is just not fair. There ought to be a law. Hey, what a concept.
http://www.amazon.com/Liberal
2008 WorldNetDaily
"Top psychiatrist concludes liberals clinically nuts
Eminent psychiatrist makes case ideology is mental disorder"
WASHINGTON – Just when liberals thought it was safe to start identifying themselves as such, an acclaimed, veteran psychiatrist is making the case that the ideology motivating them is actually a mental disorder.
"Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern liberals relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded," says Dr. Lyle Rossiter, author of the new book, "The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness." "Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave."
While political activists on the other side of the spectrum have made similar observations, Rossiter boasts professional credentials and a life virtually free of activism and links to "the vast right-wing conspiracy."
For more than 35 years he has diagnosed and treated more than 1,500 patients as a board-certified clinical psychiatrist and examined more than 2,700 civil and criminal cases as a board-certified forensic psychiatrist. He received his medical and psychiatric training at the University of Chicago.
Rossiter says the kind of liberalism being displayed by the two major candidates for the Democratic Party presidential nomination can only be understood as a psychological disorder.
"A social scientist who understands human nature will not dismiss the vital roles of free choice, voluntary cooperation and moral integrity – as liberals do," he says. "A political leader who understands human nature will not ignore individual differences in talent, drive, personal appeal and work ethic, and then try to impose economic and social equality on the population – as liberals do. And a legislator who understands human nature will not create an environment of rules which over-regulates and over-taxes the nation's citizens, corrupts their character and reduces them to wards of the state – as liberals do."
Dr. Rossiter says the liberal agenda preys on weakness and feelings of inferiority in the population by:
* creating and reinforcing perceptions of victimization;
* satisfying infantile claims to entitlement, indulgence and compensation;
* augmenting primitive feelings of envy;
* rejecting the sovereignty of the individual, subordinating him to the will of the government.
"The roots of liberalism – and its associated madness – can be clearly identified by understanding how children develop from infancy to adulthood and how distorted development produces the irrational beliefs of the liberal mind," he says. "When the modern liberal mind whines about imaginary victims, rages against imaginary villains and seeks above all else to run the lives of persons competent to run their own lives, the neurosis of the liberal mind becomes painfully obvious." http://canadianinfidel.blogspot
I can't review this book because I haven't read it, but it attracts my interest. What I find interesting as well the straightforward thesis is the fact that such works are emerging from the fog of euphemisms and Orwellian double speak that floods the book shelves of the shops in this part of the world if not most places still. Yes, the times they are a'changin'. Sloooowly. Call me crazy-- oh hey, call me a kooky loony if you must, but I like it, this a'changin'. Yeah, in spite of being the misoneist that I should be but isn't.
