Next, I want to focus on the "Nature vs. Nurture" debate when it comes to psychological traits. Inherent in my conception is that the sociopathy I am focused on is acquired. In order for it to spread within the population, the mechanism for acquisition is from the society itself, rather than any inherent mental defect (although sometimes it may project as such).
People are not generally "born" sociopaths, although, as I mentioned earlier, some people may be mentally prone to developing such tendencies. It is, principally a "learned" behavior. But, like Autism, I think these traits exist on a continuum or spectrum, and they are displayed on such a spectrum in our society. In this instance, the sociopathy is like or related to
antisocial personality disorder. "Some people seem to have no regard for others and can cause harm to them without any regret or feelings of guilt. When this behavior is pervasive, a person may have a chronic mental health condition known as antisocial personality disorder. Sometimes people with antisocial personality disorder are called 'sociopaths.'"
The gist of this conception is how such behavior patterns, that are not inherent, can spread throughout a society. How such "abnormal" psychology can become "normalized".
I mentioned that I was not the first to coin the phrase "Mass sociopathy". As it turns out, it has been used before. In researching this thread, I came across this article:
This is Neoliberalism, Part II: Alienation and Mass Sociopathy by Design by Joe Brunoli. It was not the trigger for the discussion, but, conceptually, it is related, so I am linking it here as part of the discussion. What we share in presentation is the belief that the sociopathy is not only acquired, but
deliberately germinated.
The starkest example of the concept is "the Big Lie" promoted by Donald Trump. But, I do not want this thread to become about that. Rather, this is an example that sprang from a seedbed of such examples, and a societal trend. Mr. Brunoli identifies one of the sources as "neoliberalism", and I agree. Let's go back to that definition of sociopathy: "a pattern of antisocial behaviors and attitudes, including manipulation, deceit, aggression, and a lack of empathy for others." When put together, we call it a pathology, but I think we all recognize it in our everyday lives, and that, my friends, is that point. Where does it come from, and why is it so ubiquitous?
Some people are just jerks, of course - they cut in line, make rude gestures or comments, and are all-around boors. But we call them jerks, boors and "assholes", because those behaviors are "out of line", not the norm, socially dysfunctional, deserving of opprobrium. So how did we get from the point that that was unacceptable to it becoming ubiquitous?