Fromm on Romney [View all]

[H2O Man]

I'm finding the discussions on DU regarding Willard Romney's bullying as a high school senior very interesting. The majority of the OPs & posts that I've read have accurately identified the absolute character trait that Romney displayed then .... and continues to display today, though in what the 1% identifies as in a "winning" way. A few, including some have appear to experience difficulty caused by the blurring of their youthful behaviors, do not grasp the implications.

In an effort to keep this OP short, I will recommend that anyone and everyone here would do well to get ahold of a copy of Erich Fromm's 1973 book, "The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness." Some of my old buddies here will know that Fromm is the "social-thinker" who has had the greatest influence on the way I view society; a couple may even recall my speaking of this particular book here, in the past.

In my opinion, this book would be of more value for most folks than a current reading of the current mental health definition of anti-social personality disorder. This is in part because the "official" definition was altered to absorb the sociopath/psychopath, due entirely to the billing system of insurance companies. (But that is, of course, another topic for further discussion.) Equally important is that Fromm combines his usual fields of psychology and sociology, with history, genetics, and nature.

Briefly, Fromm writes that human beings can engage in two types of aggression: "benign" (or defensive) or "malignant" (or cruel destructiveness). A good case can be made that the benign aggression is rooted in the genetic "flight or fight" found in most of the animal kingdom. Malignant aggression, however, is a trait that infects only the human species.

An important point that I think too many people miss is the role the malignant agressor plays in society. Certainly, if one reads "true crime" books, say by former FBI profiler John Douglas, we are aware of how a "loner" can destroy the lives of those in his/her path for entertainment. But not all malignant aggressors do not always come individually unwrapped. Some are like former president George W. Bush, a man who delighted in the suffering of others from an early an age as high school senior Willard Romney.

In such cases, this type of person often rises to a leadership position. It usually isn't becoming the President of the United States, or even the head of a corporation. Such character traits can be found in many "gang" leaders, and I'm not restricting "gang" to the Bloods or the Savage Skulls. It is found in "good old boy" groups, and in the James "Whitey" Bulgers in our society. Indeed, in a sick cultural group (including sub-groups), extreme cruelty can be mistaken for "leadership ability."

Thus, the fact that Romney was the leader of cruel attacks is important for two significant reasons: first, as an individual, what internal flaw caused him to be violent and cruel to people his self-image caused him to try to define as "weak"?; and second, how did this play out in the group setting? It is no coincidence that Romney was the group leader, and that everyone in his gang (and who witnessed his cruelty) remembers the incidents that Willard claims to "not remember" -- a most obvious and glaring lie.

I'll end with this: I absolutely believe in human redemption. I think that people can change, even those who have been cruel and violent. But when it is a deeply rooted character flaw, the work required for such a change is visible. I do not see anything about Willard Romney's life or being that suggests he has changed.