What factors contribute to people voting for narcissistic psychopaths?

There is no single factor that can fully explain why some people vote for narcissistic psychopaths, but there are several factors that have been suggested as potential contributors:

1. Charisma and persuasive communication: Narcissistic psychopaths can be highly charismatic and skilled at communicating their message in a persuasive way that appeals to people's emotions and fears.

2. Cultivation of fear and anger: Narcissistic psychopaths may also appeal to people's fears and anger, tapping into emotions that can override rational decision-making.

3. Simplistic and polarizing messaging: They may offer simplistic and polarizing messages that present complex issues as black and white, which can resonate with people who feel overwhelmed or frustrated with the status quo.

4. Populist appeals: Narcissistic psychopaths may also use populist appeals, presenting themselves as outsiders who will shake up the system and fight for the common people.

5. Disenchantment with traditional politicians: People who are dissatisfied with traditional politicians and feel like they are not being heard may be more open to alternative candidates who promise change.

6. Confirmation bias: People may also be more likely to vote for a candidate who confirms their existing beliefs and values, even if those beliefs are based on inaccurate or incomplete information.

It's important to note that not all voters who support narcissistic psychopaths are necessarily aware of the candidate's personality disorder or psychopathic tendencies. Instead, they may be drawn to the candidate's perceived strengths and promises for change.

Quote of the day - Stupidity of American Voters

Makes you wonder what the heck is wrong with the people of Long Island who elected such a person (George Santos) to represent them? A running theme on this list which I take responsibility for keeping alive is the stupidity of the American voters. Allowing uninformed people to vote is the major flaw in democracy which the founding fathers were well aware of and took steps to try to mitigate. And then there is the media....

Anonymouse

If you want a change in gun policies, vote for better legislative representatives.

 

Gun policies will not change until we change our legislative representatives.

Be more mindful of who you vote for and encourage other people to vote for.

How to vote for candidates for governmental offices

This management tip of the day appeared yesterday, 08/21/20, on the Harvard Business Review's management tip of the day. It struck me as applying to candidates for governmental offices as much as for business leaders. Supposing voters took the same approach to selecting their candidates for their vote?

Today’s Tip

Stop Promoting Incompetent Leaders

There are too many incompetent men in leadership positions — in large part because businesses tend to promote people on the basis of charisma, confidence, and even narcissism. Instead, companies should be putting people in charge who demonstrate competence, humility, and integrity. If you’re responsible for assessing leadership candidates, you should work on your ability to distinguish between confidence and competence. Remember that overconfidence is a natural result of privilege, which is often linked to gender. Fortunately, you can use scientifically valid assessments to measure the traits you want (or don’t want) in your leaders. You can ask company leaders, including emerging leaders, to take self-assessments, and then measure their responses against their leadership style, performance, and effectiveness. The resulting data will help identify patterns that characterize good and bad leaders at your company. Of course, this practice will take time and effort, and many organizations won’t want to invest those resources. But vetting candidates for leadership roles will pay dividends down the line.

This tip is adapted from “How to Spot an Incompetent Leader,” by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

Right to vote slowly includes more groups of people.

As Americans we value and pride ourselves on our right to vote in elections and yet some people and groups actively work to suppress the vote when they fear that groups of people will vote for their opponents.

Americans have also become, under the Trump administration very anti immigrant. Here are some interesting facts which relate voting with immigrants:

Percentage of U.S. eligible voters who are naturalized immigrants in 2000 = 6.2%
Percentage of U.S. eligible voters who are naturalized immigrants in 2020 = 9.8%
Percentage increase in immigrant eligible voting population since 2000 = 93%
Percentage of increase in U.S. - born eligible voting population since 2000 = 18%
Share of immigrant eligible voters living in just five states: California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas = 61%

The slogan Make America Great Again harkens back to a time when many Americans were not allowed to vote because of voter suppression of various groups such as women, African Americans, immigrants, non land owners, and felons.

By today's standards some argue, America was never great for large groups of people, but is becoming greater every year as be include more groups of people into the franchise.

What motivates people to vote? "Negative partisanship."

While Democrats flipped 40 Republican held House seats in 2018 ousting 31 Republican incumbents, can Democrats do the same in the Senate in 2020? They can if enough Democrats and Democrat leaning Independents come out to vote.

Who needs to vote for the Democrats to prevail? 18 - 49 year olds.

What will it take to get young Democrats out to vote: the fear of a Republican victory which will destroy democracy and the issues they hold dear.

According to Rachel Bitecofer in her article, "Fear Factor," in the March 2020 issue of the New Republic, the biggest motivator for voting is what she calls "negative partisanship."

And what drives people to vote? For many voters, especially intermittent or newly engaged ones (i.e., people activated by the election of a new president), negative partisanship is a critical factor. And due to the polarizing logic of the present electoral landscape, it’s easy to behold the power of negative partisanship nearly everywhere—in news cycles, social media feeds, campaign debates, and impeachment proceedings. But for ordinary voters, negative partisanship chiefly follows the threat response they register in reaction to the opposition party’s control of government.

For more click here.