The Fundamental Nature of Narcissistic
Something caught my attention when listening to Norman Finkelstein's interview from TRT World about Palestine which caught me off guard. A video that initially wanted me to get more informed about the Palestine-Israel conflict, turned out to be more philosophical in nature, and really cleared my vision of how I perceive the world.
At the end of the interview, he talks about how to be a truthful journalist without biases. He said that to be a good journalist, you need to uphold the spiritual values and that the Spiritual values are the opposite of Material values.
Material values are such things as Fame, Wealth, Recognition, and Privilege, while Spiritual values are Truth and Justice. What really interesting is that he explain what I constantly think about the world, about people with that I interact, and about how business, government, and society works. Which is,
Because spiritualism and materialism are two fundamental differences, you cannot be materialistic and spiritual at the same time, and you cannot be (truly) truthful and just, if you are seeking to be famous and wealthy, while the others are also true, the most truthful and just people usually don’t seek wealth and fame.
This paradoxical fundamental concept really scares me in how relatable this nature is, the most influential people are mostly liars and unjust, making sure they are perfect in front of the (social) media while doing the opposite in their daily lives, hypocritical.
You can also see that the most wealthy and narcissistic person lie every time, whether by grandiose of their self-image by making up stories or exaggerating their achievements, all for the purpose of getting more follower and recognition.
This two opposite value can explain a lot of thing on what is happening on this world. Where the people that govern us are mostly liars, since fame win the election, and “corporate approval” also needed to fund a political campaign.
This world now is a materialistic dystopia where fame, money, privilege, and recognition is what drives the world and everyone goals.
Dissatisfaction in the society now comes because not everyone can have equal value of those things. Take fame for example, being famous mean that a person is more known than other, there are no equal, shared fame. Or even money, privilege, and recognition, someone has to have less value than other to become famous and rich. This can be supported by the high wealth gap where 1% people own 33% of the money in the world.
As unstructured as my post is, my point is, being narcisstic have foundational explanation on why people behave that way, as explained by Norman Finkelstein. You can be a nascissist and pursue to become the richest and most famous person in the world. But you will be stressed, each time you are not the best, or even better than other. Even if you reach the top, you will be desperately want people to know how great you are, or anxiously maintain your throne to be the one.
Don’t be a narcissistic, says the truth, be just, even if no one acknowledges you.
