SIGforum.com    Main Page  Hop To Forum Categories  The Lounge    Narcissism and the Republic - 'Me the People?'
Go
New
Find
Notify
Tools
Reply
  
Narcissism and the Republic - 'Me the People?' Login/Join 
I believe in the
principle of
Due Process
Picture of JALLEN
posted
Townhall.com
Tom Purcell
March 26, 2018

Boy, is narcissism getting out of hand with younger generations.

San Diego State psychologist Jean Twenge examines the trend in two books: "Generation Me" and "The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement."

Twenge says the self-esteem movement - in which everybody gets a trophy - has produced many "me-centered" young adults, whose opinions of their own skills and talents are often out of sync with reality.

Why is this an issue? Because, says Psychology Today, "true narcissists can only see things from their own perspective." They are incapable of the civility and thoughtful deliberation a representative republic requires to address the many challenges ours is facing.

Lucky for me, I grew up in the 70s when it was impossible to become self-centered.

Unlike many modern parents, who often give their children unique names to demonstrate how "special" they are, I was given the biblical name Thomas, after my father. I never took myself too seriously, because thousands of other kids had names - Bill, Bob, Tim, Joe - just as common.

Families were bigger in the 70s. Growing up as the only boy with five sisters was awfully humbling.

When I was 12, Bobby Grebber, the neighborhood bully, began roughing me up. Well, I didn't have older brothers to teach me how to fight; my sisters taught me. I looked Grebber dead in the eyes and said, "You are sooooo immature! Get a life!"

Even though I had five sisters, my father, always pinching pennies, made me wear hand-me-downs. It wasn't too bad most of the year, but Easter Sunday was unpleasant. Do you know how hard it is to outrun a bully with your pantyhose bunching up and your bonnet flopping in the wind?

We never experienced a self-esteem movement at St. Germaine Catholic School. The nuns didn't worry about making us feel good about ourselves. They focused on pounding values into us and making sure we mastered math, science, reading and writing. Any narcissistic tendencies were wacked out of us with a hard wooden ruler.

I attended a public high school, where I was finally able to attempt a little narcissism - until my parents saw a slip in my grades. That resulted in a temporary loss of every privilege. No B grade or better meant no car, friends or the freedom to leave the house.

I made it to Penn State University, where I gave narcissism a full go. It was there that I was introduced to my first love: Rolling Rock beer. By the time I was a junior, I had attained, to quote comedian Frank Nicotero, a "3.2" (blood-alcohol level).

But my parents intervened and humbled me yet again. No B grade or better meant no more cash.

What's worse, my father, worried that my liberal-arts major would fail to land me a job, persuaded me to sign up for more practical courses. I'm the only person ever to graduate from Penn State with a major in English and a minor in air conditioning and heating.

In any event, unlike older generations which had little choice but to be humbled out of their narcissistic impulses, newer generations are getting too self-centered.

Twenge tells NPR that millennials score higher on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory than prior generations. She says narcissism is evident in pop songs, which focus on the self, as well as in books that frequently use phrases such as "I am special" and "all about me."

And obsessive use of social media, home of the "selfie," certainly nurtures a narcissist's worst tendencies.

Perhaps parents should re-embrace some of the harsh child-rearing techniques of prior generations, so that we may reverse today's Narcissistic Personality Inventory scores.

Because today's growing narcissism is hurting an entire generation of our children, which is not good for our country.

Link




Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
 
Posts: 48369 | Location: Texas hill country | Registered: July 04, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Poacher
posted Hide Post
Parents better reverse it in a hurry.




NRA Life Member

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Teddy Roosevelt
 
Posts: 2242 | Location: Newnan, GA USA | Registered: January 24, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Staring back
from the abyss
Picture of Gustofer
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by JALLEN:
Perhaps parents should re-embrace some of the harsh child-rearing techniques of prior generations, so that we may reverse today's Narcissistic Personality Inventory scores.

Because today's growing narcissism is hurting an entire generation of our children, which is not good for our country.

Some of us have been preaching this for thirty years (or more).


________________________________________________________
"Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton.
 
Posts: 19975 | Location: Montana | Registered: November 01, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
No double standards
posted Hide Post
quote:
....But my parents intervened and humbled me yet again. No B grade or better meant no more cash....


Reminds me of the quip, a college kid writes home to his parents, "No mon, No fun, Your son". The dad writes back "Too bad, So sad, Your dad".

But the bottom line of the piece seems to be that the culture of equality/diversity/tolerance leads to a lazy self-centered generation. Makes sense, seems to fit what I see around me.




"Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women. When it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it....While it lies there, it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it"
- Judge Learned Hand, May 1944
 
Posts: 30668 | Location: UT | Registered: November 11, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
I personally think the rise of social media has more to do with it. Facebook, My Space, Instagram, Twitter it is all about "look at me". It convinces people that everyone else is interested in what you are doing, how great your life is, what you are eating for dinner and what your opinion is.
 
Posts: 333 | Registered: January 12, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Poacher:
Parents better reverse it in a hurry.


Who do you think started it?
"Ohhh, Our baby DESERVES a trophy!"


______________________________________________________________________
"When its time to shoot, shoot. Dont talk!"

“What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It’s not good at much else.” —Author Tom Clancy
 
Posts: 8320 | Location: Attempting to keep the noise down around Midway Airport | Registered: February 14, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
No double standards
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by paceac:
I personally think the rise of social media has more to do with it. Facebook, My Space, Instagram, Twitter it is all about "look at me". It convinces people that everyone else is interested in what you are doing, how great your life is, what you are eating for dinner and what your opinion is.


Maybe it's a chicken and egg thing. Is it the me generaton that feeds social medial. Or is it social media that feeds the me generation.




"Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women. When it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it....While it lies there, it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it"
- Judge Learned Hand, May 1944
 
Posts: 30668 | Location: UT | Registered: November 11, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
They call them "selfies" because narcisstee is too hard to spell. Or pronounce.
 
Posts: 260 | Registered: March 08, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
SIGforum Official
Eye Doc
Picture of bcereuss
posted Hide Post
I saw it here some time ago--call it the "LAME" generation:

Look
At
Me
Everyone
 
Posts: 2927 | Location: (Occupied) Northern Minnesota | Registered: June 24, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Drill Here, Drill Now
Picture of tatortodd
posted Hide Post
Here is how the millennials would “appropriate” the lyrics to My Country Tis of Thee.

My country, Tis of Me,
Sweet land of tyranny
Of Me I see.
Land where my fathers lie
Land that the pilgrims stole
From every mountain sight,
Let prayers be to Me.

My father's supporting Me,
Author of liberty
To Me we sing.
Long may My land be bright
With progressivism’s holy light
Protect us by My mind,
Great Me, your king.



Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
 
Posts: 23098 | Location: Northern Suburbs of Houston | Registered: November 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
  Powered by Social Strata  
 

SIGforum.com    Main Page  Hop To Forum Categories  The Lounge    Narcissism and the Republic - 'Me the People?'

© SIGforum 2024