What a tragedy California is, and especially San Francisco. It really is a superb advertisement for what narcissism actually looks like. Any rational person can easily see the decline and the dysfunction, a true open air lunatic asylum. And yet they double down because the narcissist's thinking is disordered. Their self-image must always be attended to above all else, hence the rage when ordinary people point out that people shooting up in broad daylight is a sign of a broken society. Anyone can see it, except of course the narcissist. They only see themselves.
Truly, narcissism is an organizing and explanatory principle that governs our society, so it makes sense that would be abundantly clear in this libertarian and progressive project called San Francisco.
I lived in NYC for 7 years, I was hopeful Mayer Eric Adams would restore some normalcy. The migrant crisis there looks pretty gnarly. Yep, thx, I follow Chris Bray for sure.
Soooooo Gingaaah. Writing from Baaast'n, could you please tell us what you really think about California. :-) Your commentary and lament was wicked awesome (what's so awesome about being wicked, asked Chief Magistrate William Stoughton 331 years ago). Terrible to be buffeted and ordered about by the extremes of the left and right- and thus understand the yearning for a big easy.. A quibble. We do use language to create "reality" as well as to try to describe and understand it. I've been reading about why people who are ignorant are so certain, while those who are wise and experienced are much less so. Doesn't seem to portend well for humanity. Like narcissism, how is this a beneficial evolutionary trait?
Hi Pete! Thanks for reading all the way from Baaast'n and your comment. I appreciate your sympathizing with my geographical plight! As far as my comment that words don’t construct reality, rather they describe reality, this sentiment is readily bandied about in discussions of postmodernism as the underpinnings for wokeism. It’s a dangerous postmodern and woke idea, for example, that sex and gender are social constructs, and if we change our gender pronouns, take hormones, or get surgery, etc. that we can obviate or change sex and gender. I have also seen information that entrepreneurs tend to be average or below average intelligence, because they misgauge how difficult establishing a business is, whereas smarter people tend to hold back because they understand potential obstacles better. Same idea with breeders who aren’t that bright versus smarter people not having children. Narcissism also attracts adherents in that it provides (at times) simple, but false direction for those who are easily misled, owing to infantile and primitive defense mechanisms are like splitting, for instance, (dichotomous, black-and-white thinking). Narcissism becomes a so-called “positive adaptation” in a narcissistic society that values narcissistic traits. Narcissistic civilizations, however, invariably fall apart.
What a tragedy California is, and especially San Francisco. It really is a superb advertisement for what narcissism actually looks like. Any rational person can easily see the decline and the dysfunction, a true open air lunatic asylum. And yet they double down because the narcissist's thinking is disordered. Their self-image must always be attended to above all else, hence the rage when ordinary people point out that people shooting up in broad daylight is a sign of a broken society. Anyone can see it, except of course the narcissist. They only see themselves.
Great article. Thanks for publishing.
Truly, narcissism is an organizing and explanatory principle that governs our society, so it makes sense that would be abundantly clear in this libertarian and progressive project called San Francisco.
Ginger i feel the same way about nyc that you do about sf. myrna minkoffs on steroids have taken over.
trouble is i don't have a memphis to fall back on. what a crucible for genius that place was.
chris bray has been kicking some serious ass on the cali situation https://chrisbray.substack.com/p/parent-notification-parsing-the-endless
I lived in NYC for 7 years, I was hopeful Mayer Eric Adams would restore some normalcy. The migrant crisis there looks pretty gnarly. Yep, thx, I follow Chris Bray for sure.
adams is a wef puppet, was all about the lethal injection mandates. a vegan who eats steak.
I think you nailed San Francisco well.
I strongly agree that it's childish to make. everything into a binary choice.
There are so many more ways to look at things.
Oh Ginger, I feel for you/us.
Soooooo Gingaaah. Writing from Baaast'n, could you please tell us what you really think about California. :-) Your commentary and lament was wicked awesome (what's so awesome about being wicked, asked Chief Magistrate William Stoughton 331 years ago). Terrible to be buffeted and ordered about by the extremes of the left and right- and thus understand the yearning for a big easy.. A quibble. We do use language to create "reality" as well as to try to describe and understand it. I've been reading about why people who are ignorant are so certain, while those who are wise and experienced are much less so. Doesn't seem to portend well for humanity. Like narcissism, how is this a beneficial evolutionary trait?
Hi Pete! Thanks for reading all the way from Baaast'n and your comment. I appreciate your sympathizing with my geographical plight! As far as my comment that words don’t construct reality, rather they describe reality, this sentiment is readily bandied about in discussions of postmodernism as the underpinnings for wokeism. It’s a dangerous postmodern and woke idea, for example, that sex and gender are social constructs, and if we change our gender pronouns, take hormones, or get surgery, etc. that we can obviate or change sex and gender. I have also seen information that entrepreneurs tend to be average or below average intelligence, because they misgauge how difficult establishing a business is, whereas smarter people tend to hold back because they understand potential obstacles better. Same idea with breeders who aren’t that bright versus smarter people not having children. Narcissism also attracts adherents in that it provides (at times) simple, but false direction for those who are easily misled, owing to infantile and primitive defense mechanisms are like splitting, for instance, (dichotomous, black-and-white thinking). Narcissism becomes a so-called “positive adaptation” in a narcissistic society that values narcissistic traits. Narcissistic civilizations, however, invariably fall apart.