Once again we are facing a hysteria. This time it is about them damn “narcissists.” In 1990s it was about them damn “sociopaths” and them damn “perverts.” In 1950s it was about them damn Commies. In 1940s it was about them damn Jews.
Why do things like this happen? We have these supposed disorders that are supposedly incurable and that supposedly make people evil for life. They do not know what causes it. They do not know how to treat it.
What this means in the real world is that they have nothing of value to say on the subject.
We know both from religion and from reason that these people are dead wrong. If people's actions are their choices, then anyone can choose to act righteously, whatever their neurological or psychological makeup. In this matter religion is light years ahead of psychology; and until psychology has similar realizations it will continue righftully to lose power to religion.
According to the definition of the narcissistic disorder in particular, the world owes most of what it has to people with this disorder. If it is narcissistic to seek great success, then everyone who's had great success is a narcissist. If it is narcissistic to have original ideas, then everyone who's had original ideas is a narcissist. If it is narcissistic to dislike authority, then the people who gave America and the rest of the Western world its liberty is a narcissist. This would mean that everyone who's made any kind of a major contribution to the world, and America in particular, is a narcissist; and the people who think themselves normal owe their freedom, their nationhood and most of their scientific achievements and economic power to people with this disorder. Do not claim that you are serving your society when you are destroying what made it great or even possible at all.
More definitions. “Complains about being misunderstood.” Well sure. If I think one way and you think another way, you will misunderstand me and I will misunderstand you. If someone thinks in ways different from people around them, then others will misunderstand him. Similarly if someone thinks like a Muslim and he is surrounded by people who think like feminists, they will not understand one another either – which is probably for the better, as if they actually did understand one another they would blow one another to shreds.
Further. “Sense of entitlement.” To what exactly? If you believe that you are entitled to me not shooting you, that is quite a rightful thing to expect. Many of the rights and liberties that we enjoy now would have been seen historically as a luxury. By the standards of most of history, the bulk of the people in Western democracies have a sense of entitlement and are narcissists for that reason.
Continuing. “Outsize sense of self-importance.” According to whom? Anyone who has any knowledge of history knows that people come from all sorts of places and do all sorts of significant things. You will never know who is going to become important and in what way.
Going on. “Manipulative.” I've come to the conclusion that this is a term that is used to describe people possessive of emotional intelligence who do not have political or economic power. In business and politics this is called people skills, competence and strategic thinking.
More. “Lack of empathy.” For whom? If you are a dog and I am a cat, I would find it hard to empathize with you. I will however empathize a lot better with another cat. Having dealt with all sorts of completely different people, I have come to a conclusion that some are like dogs and some are like cats. A cat will find it hard to empathize with a dog; and a dog will fail to empathize with a cat. What the dog will do instead is brand the cat with an untreatable disorder while himself failing completely to show the cat any kind of empathy and manipulating others into treating it like dirt.
Further. “Envious of others and believes that others are envious of them.” That would mean that everyone who's been a part of 1980s, when everyone was taught to envy one another, was a narcissist.
More. “Seeking association with high-status people and institutions.” Why the hell not?
Continuing right along. “Intolerant of others' views.” That would make every Republican, every Communist and every Muslim a narcissist. Most of the world's ideologies promote intolerance and see tolerance as weakness or sin.
“Needing constant admiration from others.” That could get annoying I suppose, but then again if we are made in God's image we would have quite a few of His tendencies.
“Pompous and arrogant demeanor.” That would include most of your priests and politicians. It would also mean that everyone from any number of places in Europe is a narcissist.
These are the main ones, and what I say is this. What we are dealing with is not a bug but a feature. If you are to be an innovator, then you will have any number of these traits. We see this in everyone from Bill Gates to Donald Trump who have been such things. And the first is a billionaire and the second was president, and people who believe such things are not.