Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes, Andrew M. Lobaczewski

 Trained as a clinical psychologist, the Polish Lobaczewski “experienced firsthand the violence and oppression of both the Nazi and Soviet occupiers.” Instead of pondering the gigantic question of why mankind is afflicted with evil, the book asks something more specific: Why do individuals plot to gain power over others for the sole purpose of oppressing them?

 

Lobaczewski hypothesizes that humanity is made up of two groups, the normals and the pathological. The latter have distinct biological differences from the former. They were either born with them, or developed them later in life due to trauma, brain damage or early contact with other pathological people. The biological differences are so extreme that the pathological are actually identified as a subspecies of humanity, dubbed “para-Homo Sapiens.” The pathological seem to be aware of these differences, though they “ultimately consider themselves not a subspecies, but almost an entirely separate species from normals – and a far superior species at that.”

This superiority complex, combined with a lack of empathy, leads the pathological to seek power over the normals using manipulation tactics termed:

• Paralogisms - Particular manners of twisting logic to falsely make the illogical appear logical and vice-versa

• Paramoralisms - Specific methods of twisting morality to falsely portray the unethical as ethical and vice-versa

The health of a society, “at any point is profoundly influenced by the current state of this seemingly endless power struggle between its normal and pathological members. At any given time, the system’s state is determined by how successful or unsuccessful it is at resisting the pathologicals’ myriad methods of attempting to seize control and translate their “us vs. them” mentality from malevolent obsession into harsh reality.”

The book then compares the human immune system to society at large. In a weakened immune system, small threats “can take root and flourish into a dangerous cancer or infection that then further erodes the body’s ability to resist.” In society, mass denial and misunderstanding of the true nature of the pathological “can contribute to increasing the number of normals who are either hijackable by the pathological or, more commonly, are simply unmotivated or unable to resist them.”

After gaining a foothold in a weakened society, “the pathological, now operating within a more conducive environment, develop particular relationships amongst themselves and hijackable normals. These relationships then form the basis for the development of certain kinds of pathological groups.” “Later… the group… may use ideology or religion as a Trojan horse to convince the wider public that it has benevolent motivations and fool it into ceding the group greater power.” “Thus, ultimately, enormous evil can be carried out by pathological impostors waving the banners of the most benevolent sounding doctrines. And the public, focusing more on words than deeds, can be deceived into believing that a group is pursuing beneficial ends long after its words have become nothing but a mask for the underlying and growing pathology.”

“Eventually, a tipping point is reached at which the severely pathological are viewed within the system as impressive respectable figures, while normals are viewed with contempt. The pathological may forcefully defend against threats to this perception through actual censorship of books and other communications. They may further reinforce it by exerting control over educational systems, exercising censorship to rigidly determine which material can and cannot be taught or designating who can and cannot participate in teaching.”