Greg, Thank you. I think of three things: Environment, training and trigger... (1) How was the monster brought up, e.g. Saddam Husein in poverty and brutal life on the streets, (2) how were they treated and trained, especially in their late childhood and teen years e.g. Hitler with monster father and doting mother as counter influences, and (3) what incident(s) triggered the hatred and cruelty that felt so good to them, along their path to becoming fully fledged monsters. I am sure some historian will find that Hitler was deeply insulted or humiliated by someone or some class of people, and carried that shame and anger his whole life.
Wow! Really interesting subject!!! I hope everyone I shared this with listens to it. Thank your introducing Brandon to my radar, I will certainly follow him.
The other day I was thinking that maybe we need to stop demonizing people altogether. We still need to call out the evil, but I wonder if labeling these evildoers as "demons" gives them more of the power that they crave. Many GOP pols seem to deliberately speak and act in ways that beg for us to call them assholes. They're actually just children who deserve our pity (and justice!).
I found Mary Trump's book "Too Much and Never Enough" to be an eye-opening reveal of the younger version of tfg. It wasn't enough to make one feel sorry for the guy, but it was enough to help one understand how he went down the path his life has been.
What each of these men lack is the capacity for empathy. In my experience working in domestic violence and as a psychotherapist, their early years are marked by ongoing abuse, ridicule or neglect and NO ONE RECTIFIES THE SITUATION (key point). Mom might be “loving”, but she does not protect. These children, then, come to believe that they are inherently flawed and therefore unlovable, which is the basis of the personality disorder. Now, with an existential imperative to prove their worth to themselves and others, their empathy is overwhelmed by the need to attain power over others, as if to say, “See, not only am I equal to you, I am better”, no matter the consequences. The more resources they have, the greater their capacity for criminal acts and cruelty, but the man who kicks his dog has the same psychological profile as the man who, with greater resources and more power, does evil on a grand scale.
Apr 29, 2022·edited Apr 29, 2022Liked by Greg Olear
The only difference (between the average guy kicking his dog and the famous dictator) is probably that the evil grandmaster is trying to prove something. All that reading and need for power and notoriety is trying to fill some kind of internal hole, a lack of self-esteem and self-love. It’s really obvious with DJT, but also with Hitler and Putin: very thin skins. Easily insulted. They take things personally even when they are not being deliberately criticized or attacked.
Yes. The only remedy is developing self-confidence: true self-love and self-appreciation is the antidote. But a person who doesn’t do the work of strengthening that quality, of filling that inner hole, will resort to Band-Aid “solutions.” Coping strategies. Drugs and alcohol. Intimidating and even killing others, to attain a fleeting false sense of “power over.” Look what Putin is doing in Ukraine, and what his soldiers who are criminals are committing. That’s where the rape and abuse and torture comes from. Putin is pulverizing Ukraine indiscriminately in a vain attempt to feel better inside. Yes, this does humanize him, and you can humanize Hitler the same way. Unfortunately, sometimes when the artist produces a work of art that is so deeply flawed it can never be redeemed, it’s time to destroy the art and start over. Take two. If you’re talking about children or young adults, you work with them. But someone like Putin is not accessible that way, and he is not open to doing the personal development work that he so desperately needs. He’s a menace.
Apr 29, 2022·edited Apr 29, 2022Liked by Greg Olear
Yes, I remember posting about this phenomenon here and on Heather sometime in 2021 or 2020 or both. I studied Hitler in my early 30s because I had to, because of my all-German heritage. All of my relatives from my parents’ generation lived in Germany during the inter-war years and the Nazi years. I just had to understand: my parents, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles. They all lived that era.
The common factor that I discovered between Hitler, DJT, and the few others I studied is a super permissive mother. Greg uses the word “doting,“ and that is correct.
Curiously, I also had a doting mother. Having a loving and attentive and highly permissive mother makes for an awful lot of privilege. And arrogance. You have to learn humility, because humility doesn’t come naturally to a white male who is fawned on and praised extensively.
Interesting to find Greg doing a piece on this subject.
Yes, Roland, I too was compelled to delve deeply into WWII about 10 years ago. For me the information came in the form of books of firsthand accounts from survivors of the Holocaust and also from survivors who lived throughout Europe. My Father was born in Hungary in 1943. Unfortunately I didn’t pay attention to the few stories my Grandmother tried to tell me when I was young. My father and his family all died young - a result of all the tragedy they witnessed. The school district that I grew up attending (Evanston, IL), educated us about The Holocaust for as long as I can remember, it’s always been in my awareness. But reading those books as an adult, put me right there next to those people while they experienced it. Absolutely chilling.
An anecdotal aside to my earlier comments - a jailer once told me that the first, and often only, call a criminal made from jail was to his mother. And who did OJ call from the Bronco? His mother! These “loving” mothers and sons have unhealthy attachments, at best!
Intriguing. Like they never grew up. Yes, I had a doting mother, but I also grew up and moved away from her, developmentally and physically. She was not very functional: didn’t drive, intimidated by technology and society.
So a weak and doting mother is unable to set limits and impose discipline. That’s the real issue. A human being, especially a privileged male, who is not raised with clear discipline, feels free to try out all kinds of illegal and immoral behavior. And that is the real problem with the parenting. Imposing no limits. Without discipline, a human being runs amok.
It’s even evident, to a lesser degree, with Andrew and Queen Elizabeth. He is her favorite child. She accepts him back no matter what. Not healthy parenting. If she had disapproved of his misogynistic behavior, he probably would not have engaged in it. I am speculating, of course, from a great distance, but that’s what it looks like.
A friend of mine worked as a defense attorney at Legal Aid in NYC. He took a tour of Riker's Island. The guy giving the tour said, "Before you ask, YES, people do escape, but they only go one of two places: their girlfriend's or their mom's. So we send two squad cars out and have them back by dinner."
In 1931, my grandmother had some pics of my uncle Johnny taken by a professional photographer. Johnny’s photo was re-touched (by someone whose identity remains a mystery) to create an image of a quite grotesque-looking baby. The photo was sent off to Austria, where it was circulated on the newswires as a photo of “Baby Adolf”. The photo “went viral,” or as viral as was possible back then, eventually landing on the pages of newspapers across all of Europe and the U.S.
Hitler was enraged … ordered retractions and apologies everywhere … and demanded that his propagandists circulate his real, and not so evil-looking, photo.
I know this is off-topic, but to me the story is a fascinating example of how messaging, imagery and authoritarianism are intertwined.
I wrote a little piece about it in Atlas Obscura if anyone is interested.
Jeffrey, this is the LAST thing I expected to read in the comments. What a story...and a beautifully written piece. Your poor uncle! All of that is so sad. Thanks for sharing this.
I disagree strongly that this is off-topic. On the contrary, it points out the weakness and immaturity of the dictator.
It has been widely stated that Hitler had a huge problem with Charlie Chaplin’s movie The Great Dictator. Chaplin satirized and lampooned Hitler, who hated it. America and other Western societies like to pride themselves on the thought that this movie was Hitler’s nemesis, his greatest irritation, but I don’t think that’s true based on my study. He was worried about his height, a spate of health issues, and a ton of personal matters. But it’s helpful for us to notice that satire, criticism, and ridicule are powerful weapons in fighting dictators. We should use those weapons liberally against Putin and his Keystone Cops Kremlinites and cronies.
'... “Should we humanize the inhumane?” asks the historian Brandon Gauthier, today’s guest on the PREVAIL podcast. His answer, emphatically, is yes. His fascinating new book, Before Evil, is a series of portraits of strongmen as young men: Kim, Mao, Stalin, Lenin, Mussolini, and Hitler. ...'(article)
Greg, Thank you. I think of three things: Environment, training and trigger... (1) How was the monster brought up, e.g. Saddam Husein in poverty and brutal life on the streets, (2) how were they treated and trained, especially in their late childhood and teen years e.g. Hitler with monster father and doting mother as counter influences, and (3) what incident(s) triggered the hatred and cruelty that felt so good to them, along their path to becoming fully fledged monsters. I am sure some historian will find that Hitler was deeply insulted or humiliated by someone or some class of people, and carried that shame and anger his whole life.
Vienna Art Academy
Wow! Really interesting subject!!! I hope everyone I shared this with listens to it. Thank your introducing Brandon to my radar, I will certainly follow him.
The other day I was thinking that maybe we need to stop demonizing people altogether. We still need to call out the evil, but I wonder if labeling these evildoers as "demons" gives them more of the power that they crave. Many GOP pols seem to deliberately speak and act in ways that beg for us to call them assholes. They're actually just children who deserve our pity (and justice!).
Excellent point, Rick.
I found Mary Trump's book "Too Much and Never Enough" to be an eye-opening reveal of the younger version of tfg. It wasn't enough to make one feel sorry for the guy, but it was enough to help one understand how he went down the path his life has been.
Her book is really good: informative and wonderfully written.
What each of these men lack is the capacity for empathy. In my experience working in domestic violence and as a psychotherapist, their early years are marked by ongoing abuse, ridicule or neglect and NO ONE RECTIFIES THE SITUATION (key point). Mom might be “loving”, but she does not protect. These children, then, come to believe that they are inherently flawed and therefore unlovable, which is the basis of the personality disorder. Now, with an existential imperative to prove their worth to themselves and others, their empathy is overwhelmed by the need to attain power over others, as if to say, “See, not only am I equal to you, I am better”, no matter the consequences. The more resources they have, the greater their capacity for criminal acts and cruelty, but the man who kicks his dog has the same psychological profile as the man who, with greater resources and more power, does evil on a grand scale.
The only difference (between the average guy kicking his dog and the famous dictator) is probably that the evil grandmaster is trying to prove something. All that reading and need for power and notoriety is trying to fill some kind of internal hole, a lack of self-esteem and self-love. It’s really obvious with DJT, but also with Hitler and Putin: very thin skins. Easily insulted. They take things personally even when they are not being deliberately criticized or attacked.
That internalized shame is triggered. “Can’t be criticized, nope, I need to know that I’m better than others, I’ll show YOU!”
Yes. The only remedy is developing self-confidence: true self-love and self-appreciation is the antidote. But a person who doesn’t do the work of strengthening that quality, of filling that inner hole, will resort to Band-Aid “solutions.” Coping strategies. Drugs and alcohol. Intimidating and even killing others, to attain a fleeting false sense of “power over.” Look what Putin is doing in Ukraine, and what his soldiers who are criminals are committing. That’s where the rape and abuse and torture comes from. Putin is pulverizing Ukraine indiscriminately in a vain attempt to feel better inside. Yes, this does humanize him, and you can humanize Hitler the same way. Unfortunately, sometimes when the artist produces a work of art that is so deeply flawed it can never be redeemed, it’s time to destroy the art and start over. Take two. If you’re talking about children or young adults, you work with them. But someone like Putin is not accessible that way, and he is not open to doing the personal development work that he so desperately needs. He’s a menace.
He’s a monster.
Thanks for sharing this, Barbara. It's a very good explanation of something complex.
Yes, I remember posting about this phenomenon here and on Heather sometime in 2021 or 2020 or both. I studied Hitler in my early 30s because I had to, because of my all-German heritage. All of my relatives from my parents’ generation lived in Germany during the inter-war years and the Nazi years. I just had to understand: my parents, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles. They all lived that era.
The common factor that I discovered between Hitler, DJT, and the few others I studied is a super permissive mother. Greg uses the word “doting,“ and that is correct.
Curiously, I also had a doting mother. Having a loving and attentive and highly permissive mother makes for an awful lot of privilege. And arrogance. You have to learn humility, because humility doesn’t come naturally to a white male who is fawned on and praised extensively.
Interesting to find Greg doing a piece on this subject.
I recall you sharing all of this history, Roland...fascinating stuff.
Yes, Roland, I too was compelled to delve deeply into WWII about 10 years ago. For me the information came in the form of books of firsthand accounts from survivors of the Holocaust and also from survivors who lived throughout Europe. My Father was born in Hungary in 1943. Unfortunately I didn’t pay attention to the few stories my Grandmother tried to tell me when I was young. My father and his family all died young - a result of all the tragedy they witnessed. The school district that I grew up attending (Evanston, IL), educated us about The Holocaust for as long as I can remember, it’s always been in my awareness. But reading those books as an adult, put me right there next to those people while they experienced it. Absolutely chilling.
An anecdotal aside to my earlier comments - a jailer once told me that the first, and often only, call a criminal made from jail was to his mother. And who did OJ call from the Bronco? His mother! These “loving” mothers and sons have unhealthy attachments, at best!
Intriguing. Like they never grew up. Yes, I had a doting mother, but I also grew up and moved away from her, developmentally and physically. She was not very functional: didn’t drive, intimidated by technology and society.
So a weak and doting mother is unable to set limits and impose discipline. That’s the real issue. A human being, especially a privileged male, who is not raised with clear discipline, feels free to try out all kinds of illegal and immoral behavior. And that is the real problem with the parenting. Imposing no limits. Without discipline, a human being runs amok.
It’s even evident, to a lesser degree, with Andrew and Queen Elizabeth. He is her favorite child. She accepts him back no matter what. Not healthy parenting. If she had disapproved of his misogynistic behavior, he probably would not have engaged in it. I am speculating, of course, from a great distance, but that’s what it looks like.
A friend of mine worked as a defense attorney at Legal Aid in NYC. He took a tour of Riker's Island. The guy giving the tour said, "Before you ask, YES, people do escape, but they only go one of two places: their girlfriend's or their mom's. So we send two squad cars out and have them back by dinner."
Speaking of baby Hitler ...
In 1931, my grandmother had some pics of my uncle Johnny taken by a professional photographer. Johnny’s photo was re-touched (by someone whose identity remains a mystery) to create an image of a quite grotesque-looking baby. The photo was sent off to Austria, where it was circulated on the newswires as a photo of “Baby Adolf”. The photo “went viral,” or as viral as was possible back then, eventually landing on the pages of newspapers across all of Europe and the U.S.
Hitler was enraged … ordered retractions and apologies everywhere … and demanded that his propagandists circulate his real, and not so evil-looking, photo.
I know this is off-topic, but to me the story is a fascinating example of how messaging, imagery and authoritarianism are intertwined.
I wrote a little piece about it in Atlas Obscura if anyone is interested.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hitler-baby-photo-fake
WOW! What an interesting and tragic thing to happen. Your Grandparents must have been devastated.
Jeffrey, this is the LAST thing I expected to read in the comments. What a story...and a beautifully written piece. Your poor uncle! All of that is so sad. Thanks for sharing this.
I disagree strongly that this is off-topic. On the contrary, it points out the weakness and immaturity of the dictator.
It has been widely stated that Hitler had a huge problem with Charlie Chaplin’s movie The Great Dictator. Chaplin satirized and lampooned Hitler, who hated it. America and other Western societies like to pride themselves on the thought that this movie was Hitler’s nemesis, his greatest irritation, but I don’t think that’s true based on my study. He was worried about his height, a spate of health issues, and a ton of personal matters. But it’s helpful for us to notice that satire, criticism, and ridicule are powerful weapons in fighting dictators. We should use those weapons liberally against Putin and his Keystone Cops Kremlinites and cronies.
'... “Should we humanize the inhumane?” asks the historian Brandon Gauthier, today’s guest on the PREVAIL podcast. His answer, emphatically, is yes. His fascinating new book, Before Evil, is a series of portraits of strongmen as young men: Kim, Mao, Stalin, Lenin, Mussolini, and Hitler. ...'(article)