Mao’s Long Shadow

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Ian | disorderedworld

Our political system continues to produce human rights disasters and social crises, thereby not only constricting China’s own development but also limiting the progress of all of human civilization. This must change, truly it must. The democratization of Chinese politics can be put off no longer.

Charter 08 for Reform and Democracy in China

Following Mao’s death, the CCP changed direction dramatically. Mao’s ideology of permanent revolution, which was responsible for decades of violent chaos, was replaced by a doctrine of ‘social harmony’. The Party gradually abandoned communism and enthusiastically adopted state capitalism, ushering in decades of unprecedented economic growth. Continue reading →

Psychology and the U.N. Development Goals

Posted on September 26, 2015 by Ian | disorderedworld

Before the end of 2015, the leaders of the world’s nations will attend two major summits. Their task is nothing less than to change the course of history.

This week in New York, the U.N. post-2015 Development Summit seeks to agree a set of goals that together aim to create a more peaceful and equal world by 2030. Then, in December, the 2015 Paris Climate Conference will aim to reach a legally binding agreement on climate, with the goal of keeping global warming below 2°C.

A discussion of human psychology, however, will be largely absent from both of these crucial meetings. Laudable as current international efforts are, they are unfortunately doomed to failure if they do not pay more attention to some unpalatable facts about the psychology of our species. Continue reading →

Political Paranoia’s Fatal Attraction

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Ian | disorderedworld

‘Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.’ Eric Hoffer

Paranoid personality disorder is one of a range of personality disorders classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association. It is characterised by pathological suspicion and an obsessive need to eliminate enemies, both real and imaginary.

Pathological paranoia played a dominant role in the mindsets of those responsible for the worst atrocities of the twentieth century.

In our contemporary world, reeling from global financial crisis, turmoil in the Middle East, and Russian aggression in Ukraine, the world is reacquainting itself once again with this deadliest of mental disorders. Continue reading →

Q&A on Dangerous Personality Disorders Part 1

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Ian | disorderedworld

I recently had the honour of appearing as a guest on Doug Bennett’s radio show ‘Unspun: An Experiment in Truth Telling’ on KKRN in Northern California. During our conversation, Doug Bennett and I explored dangerous personality disorders, what they are and how they are caused, and the damage that people with these disorders cause in the world. This blog has extracts from part 1 of the interview. The interview can be heard in full here. Continue reading →

How Psychopaths Changed America

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Ian | disorderedworld

I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government.

Martin Luther King

According to a recent global survey, the United States is perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace today. Its unrivalled war machine, out of control surveillance programme, decades-long record of attacking other nations, and its use of drones to carry out extrajudicial killings, lend credence to the charge that America is the world’s number one war monger. It has not always been so. Before the Second World War the United States was reluctant to intervene militarily overseas, and no American troops were stationed in any foreign country.

World War Two changed all that. Within a few short years, the United States began the largest build up of arms in history and adopted a policy of armed intervention in the affairs of other nations. Psychopaths were largely responsible for these dramatic changes. This is the story of how psychopaths changed America. Continue reading →

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