This makes the narcissist perniciously exploitative. He uses, abuses,
devalues, and discards even his nearest and dearest in the most
chilling manner. The narcissist is utility- driven, obsessed with his
overwhelming need to reduce his anxiety and regulate his labile sense
of self-worth by securing a constant supply of his drug - attention.
American executives acted without compunction when they raided their
employees' pension funds - as did Robert Maxwell a generation earlier
in Britain.
The narcissist is convinced of his superiority - cerebral or physical.
To his mind, he is a Gulliver hamstrung by a horde of narrow-minded and
envious Lilliputians. The dotcom "new economy" was infested with
"visionaries" with a contemptuous attitude towards the mundane:
profits, business cycles, conservative economists, doubtful
journalists, and cautious analysts.
Yet, deep inside, the narcissist is painfully aware of his addiction to
others - their attention, admiration, applause, and affirmation. He
despises himself for being thus dependent. He hates people the same way
a drug addict hates his pusher. He wishes to "put them in their place",
humiliate them, demonstrate to them how inadequate and imperfect they
are in comparison to his regal self and how little he craves or needs
them.
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