Posted by Sigismund on April 19, 2008, at 23:53:25
In reply to Re: 'The invisible hand', posted by Sigismund on April 19, 2008, at 16:03:54
Politics and evolution select for certain traits.
Consider WWII.
Churchill.......bipolar, alcoholic
Roosevelt.......mild bipolar
Stalin..........clinically paranoid
Hitler..........some combo including OCD, amphetamine intake.These people were selected, just as bipolar is selected through evolution as a trait worth inheriting.
So what types of people are selected to run our countries?
The thing these days seems to be someone who connects with the voters, and who is not part of the so called elites (Obama/guns/religion).
I say 'so called', because it seems that those elites are you and me.We have that here with our new Labor Government which uses the mantra 'working families', like a crucifix against the vampire accusation that the ALP is somehow part of the elites.
I haven't read "The Mask of Sanity"(1941) but I plan to.
I gather the gist of it is that our societies preferentially favour the leadership of the psycopathic, which I take to mean that you don't get far in this world unless you are prepared to stop being nice.
poster:Sigismund
thread:823991
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20080312/msgs/824368.html