do YOU suffer from APD?

[Guest guest]

1776.0 Americanistic

Personality Disorder

- A Satire

 

By Jason Miller

 

 

 

The essential features of Americanistic Personality Disorder include

pervasive patterns of extreme self-absorption, profound and long-term

lapses in empathy, a deep disregard for the well-being of others, a

powerful aversion to intellectual honesty and reality, and a grossly

exaggerated sense of the importance of one's self and one's nation.

These patterns emerge in infancy, manifest themselves in nearly all

contexts, and often become pathological.

 

These patterns have also been characterized as sociopathic, or

colloquially as the " Ugly American Syndrome. " Note that the latter

terminology carries too benign a connotation to accurately describe an

individual afflicted with such a dangerous perversion of character.

 

For this diagnosis to be given, the individual must be deeply immersed

in the flag-waving, nationalistic, and militaristic fervor derived

primarily from the nearly perpetual barrage of reality warping

emanations of the " mainstream media, " most commonly through the medium

of television. Typically indoctrinated from birth to believe that they

are morally superior, exceptional human beings, these individuals

suffer from severe egocentrism, a condition further engendered by the

prevalence of the acutely toxic dominant paradigm known as capitalism.

 

 

Individuals with Americanistic Personality Disorder are generally

covertly racist, xenophobic, and openly speciesistic. They readily

participate in the execution of heinous crimes against human and

non-human animals, even if their complicity is banal and limited. As

long as they are comfortable, safe, and enjoying the relative

affluence and convenience afforded by their nation's economic

extortion, cultural genocide, rape of other species and the

environment, and imperial conquests, such individuals display an

apathetic disregard for the well-being of other human beings, sentient

creatures, and the environment.

 

Individuals with Americanistic Personality Disorder tend to exhibit

unabated greed and an insatiable desire for material goods. Fueled by

a compulsion to shop and acquire excessive amounts of material goods,

a condition sometimes referred to as consumerism, they have no regard

for the misery and destruction caused by their pathological need for

" more stuff " . When confronted with the finitude and fragility of the

Earth, they frequently react with level one ego defenses by denying

that their behavior is a part of the problem or by distorting reality

by asserting that concerns about Climate Change, resource depletion,

and irreversible damage to the environment are over-blown. Their

deeply entrenched sense of entitlement renders excessive consumption a

nearly immutable aspect of their behavior.

 

Individuals with Americanistic Personality Disorder are virtually

devoid of empathy or compassion. They view life as a game played by

" law of the jungle " rules and co-exist with others in a chronic state

of hyper-competitiveness, seeking only to advance their careers and

" keep up with the Joneses. " Their desire to win, get ahead and

" protect what is theirs " has been so deeply etched into their psyches

that their capacity to empathize and experience true concern for the

well-being of others is severely stunted or extinguished. The pursuit

of property, profit, and power rules their malformed psyches, nearly

eliminating their capacity for humane behavior.

 

Individuals with Americanistic Personality Disorder almost always rely

on extortion or violence to get their needs met and to resolve

conflict. Believing in their inherent superiority, they eschew laws or

rules except when they can utilize them for personal gain or when they

fear punishment. Given a choice between a just resolution to a

situation and the opportunity to humiliate, subdue, or subjugate the

other party, they will choose the latter with a high degree of

frequency. They have an amazing capacity to justify their unethical or

criminal behavior using false pretexts such as self defense, good

intentions, ignorance of the consequences of their actions, or

asserting that they were merely carrying out orders.

 

Individuals with Americanistic Personality Disorder tend to manifest

traits indicative of two of Erich Fromm's personality orientations.

They thrive on adding to their possessions (and appreciate their

acquisitions more) when they attain them through coercion, theft, or

manipulation, thus showing strains of Fromm's exploitative type. They

also exist at a very superficial level, offering the world the

" friendly face " of the marketing personality that Bernays and Madison

Avenue have taught them is the most effective way of advancing their

selfish agenda. Opportunism, careerism, and narcissism poison nearly

all of their interactions and relationships.

 

Specific Culture Features

 

Americanistic Personality Disorder appears to prevail in a very high

percentage of those in the upper strata of the socioeconomic order in

the United States (and to persist tenaciously because these

individuals have little motivation to alter their pathological

behavior as they are largely immune from the consequences of their

actions). While it is epidemic amongst the opulent, this

characterological deficiency does not recognize socioeconomic

boundaries. Various segments of the middle, working and impoverished

classes comprise a notable percentage of those exhibiting this

condition, including those practicing deeply conservative

Christianity, many residents of reactionary states such as those in

the south, Kansas, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming, and many members of the

Republican Party.

 

Prevalence

 

The overall prevalence of Americanistic Personality Disorder was

recently measured at approximately 35% of the overall population in

the United States.

 

Diagnostic Criteria for 1776.0 Americanistic Personality Disorder:

 

A pervasive pattern of greed, selfishness, and lack of empathy,

beginning the moment he or she begins to intellectualize and presented

in nearly all contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

 

1. lacks empathy due to an excessive degree of self-absorption

2. believes that he or she is exceptional and morally superior

3. frequently engages in exploitative behaviors

4. requires frequent acquisition of goods he or she doesn't need

5. usually resorts to some form of overt or covert violence, coercion,

or extortion to resolve conflicts

6. perceives others as obstacles to his or her " success "

7. disregards laws and rules except as a means to achieve his or her

agenda

8. demonstrates deep hypocrisy by projecting a righteous, benevolent

image while committing reprehensible acts

9. refuses to accept the consequences of his or her actions.

 

 

read...appreciated...posted:

 

..b b.b.