"Conjuring up our familiar image of wolves as sinister and deceitful, Brooks draws out the common personality contours of these leaders and notes their shared psychological dispositions-typically their origins in "loveless homes," a reflexive bullying "driven by secret insecurity," and psychopathy that prevents "feeling others' pain." They followed similar paths to power by exaggerating and exploiting a sense of humiliation and betrayal among their followers."
"Fearmongering, the rising political tide even in the once optimistic and buoyant United States of America, supports these leaders' predatory instincts. Their schemes include aggressive foreign policy and malign fantasies of racial superiority. And their public personae, the reckless swagger and threats, the outrageous speechifying about humiliation and betrayal, and the transgressive personal acts, writes Brooks, amount to a kind of "performance art.""
Ten contemporary leaders — Bolsonaro, Bukele, Erdogan, Modi, Muhammad bin Salman, Netanyahu, Orban, Putin, Trump, and Xi Jinping — exhibit parallel authoritarian behaviors. Many trace psychological dispositions to loveless childhoods, exhibit reflexive bullying driven by secret insecurity, and display limited empathy. They mobilize followers by exaggerating humiliation and betrayal, promising revenge and status restoration. They craft warrior-style public personas that invite humiliating elites labeled 'weenies.' Fearmongering and narratives of superior identity enable aggressive foreign policies and racialized fantasies. Their performative swagger, threats, outraged speech, and transgressive acts function as theatrical displays that legitimize predatory political agendas.
Read at Psychology Today
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