Fanaticism and its Discontents

Why are Republicans so dishonest? Probably because as extreme rightwingers, they tend to be fanatics, and most fanatics are outrageously dishonest.

That extends from Linux (or insert another product) fanatics to political fanatics to extreme nationalist fanatics to ethnic and tribal fanatics of all stripes to religious fanatics. They may also just be crafty psychopathic bottom-liners, who play the zero-sum game for keeps. The more I study the fanatic, the more convinced I am that this is a sick way of thinking.

And what it looks like at core is human egotism. Because the fanatic's relationship to the thing he is fanatical about is identical to the egotist's relationship to the individual. After all, the ego is the biggest liar that any of us know. The ego lies to most all of us every minute of every day, and this is adaptive to some extent.

When it gets out of control, the lying of the egotist or his extensions assumes gargantuan proportions. This is seen in the addict, the sociopath, the narcissist, the histrionic, the borderline, indeed, in every single personality disorder - in a word, the extreme selfish human.

Other characteristics of the egotist are reacting with rage to all criticism, and and treating all criticism as libel, assault, character assassination, defamation, or especially, hatred.

To the egotist, all criticism is always absolutely uncalled for and baffling. Of course, the egotist reacts towards this outrageous assault with a wild counterattack that often has overtones of threats, verbal, physical, monetary or social (the egotist will threaten to end the relationship with the critic).

At the same time, the egotist engages in nonstop criticism of others, often of a very harsh nature. In fact, many egotists are in a constant state of attack against supposed inferiors and enemies, which makes them seem mean, aggressive or hostile. In conflicts, the egotist portrays himself as the knight in shining armor radiating perfection, pure goodness and righteousness in all directions.

The person conflicting with the egotist is portrayed as purely bad or crazy, the essence of negativity and evil boiled into human shape. The egotist is 100% right and good and his opponent is 100% wrong and evil. Any suggestion to the egotist that there may be a 1% grey area in the conflict is met with fury, threats, and accusations of "working for the enemy".

It's tough being friends with an egotist, since you're either 100% supportive of the egotist, or if not, you are blackened by the egotist into a 100% enemy. As this situation gets more out of hand, the egotist's behavior gets more virulent in its pathology, and we often see frank paranoia, audacious attempts at attention-getting and appalling manipulation of others.

This little psychological aside has a purpose. I want you to think about what I just said and plug it into the notion of fanaticism. The stunning conclusion is that the fanatic is "egotistical" about the object of his fanaticism.

Therefore, the relationship of the fanatic towards rival or conflicting products, ideologies, political parties, tribes, races, religions or nations, is precisely the same diseased, pathological behavior that the egotist displays towards his critics and rivals! Now we need to know why this is.

Does the fanatic see his fanaticized objects and notions as extensions of himself, of his own ego? Surely the tribal, racial, religious or ethnic fanatic must. If you attack my "tribe", then you attack me, and I will react accordingly as if you threatened to kill me. But does the Republican fanatic or the Linux fanatic see the party or the operating system as an extension of the self? How could they?

Food for thought...

Howard Fast and Revolutionary Picnics

I was getting my Master's Degree at a California state university and it was Fall 1992. I befriended a Chinese man from mainland China who was also in the Master's program. He was one smart guy, and he was also really nice, but I had to tell him to quit putting his arm around me as we walked across campus cuz of all the funny glances we got. We used to talk about socialism, China, Mao, Marx, and many other things.

The guy (name forgotten) called himself a socialist, but hated the present CP in China. One warm afternoon we were outside of Historical Linguistics class (fascinating subfield) and we were talking about something or other. He got this wicked twinkle in his eye and said, "Well, you know, Chairman Mao said, 'Revolution... is not a picnic'". He laughed, and I did too, and to this day, I just love that nugget of pungent Maoist wisdom.

P.S. If you are clicking the links above, try this one: an article by Howard Fast from the Daily Worker in 1956, the year he broke with the American Communist Party. Even if you hate Communism, you have to admit it's a gorgeous piece. Wow, what a writer. I know very little about Howard Fast, but the index page for the link above seems to have a trove of information about this fine writer and thinker. Nice biography here.

Katrina Death Toll Climbs to 1,271

The unofficial death toll for Hurricane Katrina climbed to 1,271 on Tuesday, October 4, as eight more bodies were found in Louisiana, raising the total there to 972. The eight bodies in Louisiana were found one day after FEMA declared the search for the dead in Louisiana to be officially over and issued a "final" death toll. Snort. Isn't it odd that after they call off the search and issue a final toll, more bodies keep turning up?

Louisiana:   Tues. October 4:    972
Mississippi: Tues. October 4:    221
Florida:     Wed., September 28: 14
Alabama:     Wed., September 28: 2
Georgia:     Fri., September 23: 2
Ohio1:       Fri., September 23: 2
Kentucky2:   Fri., September 23: 1
Evacuees3:   Tues. October 4:    57
Total:                           1,271

Footnoted totals are controversial. Explanations for controversial totals follows:

¹The Ohio victims are Cassondra Ground, 19, of Monroeville, Ohio and Thelma Niedzinski, 84, of Norwalk, Ohio. Both were killed in a car accident near Monroeville, Ohio on August 30, 2005. The Ohio State Highway Patrol felt that a wet road caused by Hurricane Katrina caused the car accident. See Ohioans Focus on Helping Katrina Victims, by Jay Cohen, Associated Press , August 31, 2005

²The Kentucky victim was Deanna Petsch, 10, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. On August 29, 2005, she fell into a Hurricane Katrina-swollen ditch in Hopkinsville and drowned. See Storm Surge: State Gets Soaked, City Avoids Major Flooding, Homes, Life Lost in Hopkinsville , Sheldon S. Shafer and James Malone, The Louisville (Kentucky) Courier-Journal, August 31, 2005

³53 of the 57 hurricane evacuee deaths occurred in Texas after evacuating the storm; the total includes two suicides in Texas. Two more evacuees died in Tennessee. Two other evacuees died in an unknown location.

I consider all of these deaths to be storm-related, and it is my understanding that authorities felt they were hurricane-related also. The evacuees section is particularly controversial.

Critics have suggested that the evacuee death toll of 57 deaths is simply a normal death toll for the huge number of evacuees. Yet the figure of 57 dead is far lower than the number of evacuees who died after the storm - a very large number of evacuees died post-Katrina, but the vast majority of them are not included in this tally.

For example, this tally mostly includes evacuees in Texas, omitting the huge number of evacuees from Louisiana, for whom a dubious zero deaths are recorded. Furthermore, evacuees in very poor health or on the verge of death post-Katrina never even made it to Texas; they were evacuated to hospitals, often via airplane.

It is my understanding that officials consider the 57 deaths (mostly in Texas) that occurred very soon after the hurricane to be hurricane-related. Apparently most of the deaths were exacerbated by the stress of the hurricane. The two suicides in Texas have also been questioned.

However, they both occurred very rapidly after the storm and I understand that they are considered to be hurricane-related. There have been many more suicides post-Katrina that are not yet included in this tally.

This section needs further research. Critics with valid data helping to clarify the evacuee death toll are encouraged to email me at the email address at the top right of this page. See 57 Evacuees Reported Dead; At Least 2 Committed Suicide, Steve Quinn, Associated Press, September 15, 2005.

Only 61 of the 972 dead in Louisiana have been identified. In Mississippi, 196 of the 221 dead have been identified. 2000 children are still missing in the disaster, and a list of them can be found here (Excel viewer or Excel required). A page of their photos can be found here. In addition, around 3,600 adults are still missing, according to this list. So the total missing from Katrina is around 5,600 people.