Psychopaths and “Ponerology”

If it is true as Martha Stout says, that psychopaths may comprise 5% of the population, how can that small a number have such power over people who have consciences. For one thing, as Kurt Vonnegut points out, people without a conscience tend to rise to the top of power hierarchies.

But still, they are only one out of twenty. According to an about to be published book on the scientific study of evil by Andrew M. Lobaczewski, Political Ponerology, the crucial step is the effect that an interaction with a psychopath has on people who have consciences but who may not be strong enough to withstand the negative effects.

Lobaczewski contrasts the group of ruling psychopaths (the Pathocracy) with the society of normal people:

The actions of [pathocracy] affect an entire society, starting with the leaders and infiltrating every town, business, and institution. The pathological social structure gradually covers the entire country creating a “new class” within that nation. This privileged class [of pathocrats] feels permanently threatened by the “others”, i.e. by the majority of normal people. Neither do the pathocrats entertain any illusions about their personal fate should there be a return to the system of normal man. [Andrew M. Lobaczewski, Ph.D. (psychology); Political Ponerology: A science on the nature of evil adjusted for political purposes]

In a nutshell, if the defense mechanisms of normal society are not well enough developed, interactions with ruling psychopaths can create wastelands in the souls of people with consciences, wastelands where conscience no longer functions effectively. In addition, those who are potentially with conscience but very weak, can become effectively psychopathic after interactions with the Pathocracy. Thus, the number of people acting psychopathically can be multiplied, make it much easier for the Pathocracy to retain power.