32 Comments

Trump: described by many professionals as a malignant narcissist. Berlusconi - appears to have all the characteristics of a charismatic psychopath. Common feature - biologically based complete lack of conscience. Ditto The Russian. 'Ideological masks' - the ideologies they pretend to believe in to amass wealth and power.

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Thank you - great sociological work by Brooke Harrington, I'll put it in my next SOC 101.

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I have coined a new hashtag, #MDDOS my daily dose of sanity. Thank you for continuing to be MDDOS, good medicine for sure and some of the voices we really need to hear right now, guiding us with historic perspectives, integrity and intelligence. Thank you for all that you do.

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Interspersing the uber wealthy w/ those who follow them and feel they’ll be protected by say the Trump’s of the world: Maxwell, Epstein, the Royal family, Koch’s, Mercer’s, Walton’s, Falwell’s, Flynn’s; then the middle men (unqualified judges, the McCloskey’s, Kyle Rittenhouse, the island of Jersey), then the religious followers. It resembles a massive ponzu scheme for the lawless).

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In line with what another reviewer said, astounding indeed. But it should be understood that corporations work in tandem with individual sociopaths as players in the creation of the nascent neo-fascist world order, both as cat’s paws of individual sociopaths, and as legally- and socially-sanctioned sociopathic Frankenstein monsters with a (death-in-) life of their own. Individual sociopaths do need to be controlled under the law as the outlaws they are; but in addition, as some people have pointed out, oil companies are obligated under the law to maximize profits, thereby destroying the planet as the habitat of living things: corporations contribute to achieving the self- destructive nihilistic goals of neo-fascism simply by obeying the canons of our legal, political, economic, and social systems. Left to its own devices, capitalism ages into fascism. This interview puts flesh on Sarah Kendzior’s characterization of the modern government as part of an international crime syndicate masquerading as a government. I must say, as a man, that I have found myself wondering why the best analysts of our neo-fascist moment seem to be women.

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Sorry. "conscious", NOT "conscience"

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Aug 4, 2021Liked by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

That 25% you call the unreachable "hardcore" reflect the same 25% of the world's populace Anders Lobaczewski and his colleagues determined to be sociopaths and coined the term "ponerology"---the conscience use of evil for political purposes---as their standard operating procedure. Hence the numbers that surprised you. (Of course political equates to financial with them.) Joseph H. Eusterman, MD

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What a great last question you asked Ruth." Has this changed your view of human nature? I'm reminded of the quote from Dante Alighieri "Human history can't change until human nature changes". Human nature= greed and corruption.

The people funding the spread of fascism and autocracy around the world and here in America are billionaires. Jane Mayer in the New Yorker details how organizations have turned from their previous advocacy work to focus on drafting voter suppression laws and funding Trump's phony election audits like the one's Arizona and Georgia are coming from the Heritage Foundation, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the anti-regulation FreedomWorks, and the Judicial Education Project (which is tied to Leonard Leo, a chair of the Federalist Society, which has worked since the 1980s to stack the courts with originalists) These groups are bankrolled by Milwaukee’s Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, whose board member Cleta Mitchell was on Trump’s January 3, 2021, call to Georgia election officials. They're all billionaires seeking more and more impunity and protection for their great wealth.

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After reading this interview, I immediately thought of Ayn Rand's influence on Greenspan and therefore Reagan and how neoliberal capitalism replaced the more society-based capitalism of the 1950's. I see neoliberal economics as a reversion back to capitalism's feudalist roots, where authoritarian minds ruled. It's a failed concept.

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Aug 4, 2021Liked by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Astounding interview. We never could have evolved as a species without a sense of community and a sense of reciprocal altruism. As these traits decline, so does our hope of survival. We have two universal myths about the future---one says we will evolve OUT of humanity as we evolved INTO it. The other says we will destroy ourselves. I believe the odds have drifted to something more pessimistic than a coin toss.

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What a good interview, thank you both for your much needed valuable insights. Without impunity a mindset of pure selfish narcissistic greed for the sake of pure narcissistic selfish greed. Frightening to me how many of these sorts are roaming around. I would also use without a conscious or for that matter consciousness of what they have done, are doing and will continue to do for the lack of any real consequences. The only thing these sorts understand because of their lack of conscious and their much lower consciousness level, obliviously, willingly, purposely unaware. I cannot help but be reminded of Boaz and the Boaz principle lessons of good stewardship, leadership or King Solomon and all the wisdom that he gave to us especially regarding wealth. Some humans never learn but thankfully their are some that do and these are the ones that will continue to fight for change, do justice, love mercy and walk humbly. So honored to be able to share in your learned perspectives. Thanks again

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What a good interview, thank you both for your much needed valuable insights. Without impunity a mindset of pure selfish narcissistic greed for the sake of pure narcissistic selfish greed. Frightening to me how many of these sorts are roaming around. I would also use without a conscious or for that matter consciousness of what they have done, are doing and will continue to do for the lack of any real consequences. The only thing these sorts understand because of their lack of conscious and their much lower consciousness level, obliviously, willingly, purposely unaware. I cannot help but be reminded of Boaz and the Boaz principle lessons of good stewardship, leadership or King Solomon and all the wisdom that he gave to us especially regarding wealth. Some humans never learn but thankfully their are some that do and these are the ones that will continue to fight for change, do justice, love mercy and walk humbly. So honored to be able to share in your learned perspectives. Thanks again

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What an amazing lady Brooke Harrington is! Now I will have to read all her books. Thank you Ruth!!!

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This has to be one of the most interesting interviews I have come across. Ms Harrington's points regarding the proliferation of offshore accounts and their role in the rise and sustenance of right-wing tyrants seem to indicate that we neither have the motivation nor any effective means to tackle them.

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Did she say anything about HOW to turn off the taps? Leaks are important and good, but then what? If no one acts on them and turns off the taps, the problem persists. Guess I'll have to read her book. Thanks for the interesting interview.

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Very interesting.....I always struggled with making the the link between the rich and authoritarians. It also could explain why Trump appears to have gathered a war chest of more than 100 MM USD this year only. This makes the threat of Capital driven/supported fascism on a larger Global scale even more scary and real. Cutting off the money, which is effective in combatting it, appears to be a much bigger challenge than I thought.....

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