The Americanization of Narcissism

www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.ph...
American social critics in the 1970s, convinced that their nation was in decline, turned to psychoanalysis for answers and seized on narcissism as the sickness of the age. Books indicting Americans as greedy, shallow, and self-indulgent appeared, but as Elizabeth Lunbeck reveals, the American critics missed altogether the breakthrough in psychoanalytic thinking that was championing narcissism's positive aspects.
Unpacking narcissism's rich and complex history opens a new view on the central questions faced by the self struggling amid the tumultuous crosscurrents of modernity.

Пікірлер: 41

  • @sekarkuno4899
    @sekarkuno48997 жыл бұрын

    Healthy narcissism? If, in this day and age, people still somehow feel narcissism is healthy, just go back to the mythology. There's nothing healthy going on in the story. It's all tragic and painful. And, like most of those old stories, it serves as a dire warning. We either wake up out of the trance or we drown in our reflection. (Don't forget Echo and her fate.. that's an entirely different level of misery.) There's no healthy middle ground to be found in the story of Narcissus, just as there's no shortcuts to self awareness. Emancipation from the trance comes only from accepting reality before it's too late. Abusing a word, a narrative, the fidelity of reality, or another human being only serves to prolong the trance.

  • @princeandrey

    @princeandrey

    Жыл бұрын

    Freud talks about "primary narcissism," by which he means the psychological mechanism wherein "loves oneself" and therefore 1.) survives, and 2.) protects one's interests and 3.) maintains healthy defenses against self-destruction. In that sense , yes, it strays from the mythical allusion by positing the idea of self-love as a good thing in some sense.

  • @themanwhoknewtoomuch6667

    @themanwhoknewtoomuch6667

    Жыл бұрын

    "tragic and painful" According to whom?

  • @g2000g

    @g2000g

    8 ай бұрын

    What do you mean by fidelity to reality?

  • @GMarieBehindTheMask
    @GMarieBehindTheMask3 жыл бұрын

    You go to college or university and they dont speak much on it or the other personality disorders now we know why what a disgrace this country has become

  • @LowenKM
    @LowenKM2 жыл бұрын

    Narcissistic Capitalism, aka, "I _AM_ my BMW, Harley, pure-bred Yorkie, Rolex, designer jeans, McMansion, ACLU membership, trophy wife, Glock, whatever..."

  • @HighSpeedNoDrag

    @HighSpeedNoDrag

    2 жыл бұрын

    Smart Phones are a Major League Problem(s) regarding the on-gong and continuous propagation of Narcissism.

  • @FaithflNdscreet

    @FaithflNdscreet

    2 жыл бұрын

    Well first comes "I AM my name and my name is the shit! So buy it!"

  • @annehechesliverdonation9624

    @annehechesliverdonation9624

    18 сағат бұрын

    You are your f@#$@ khakis

  • @GodfreySilas
    @GodfreySilas8 жыл бұрын

    The triad of narcissistic egocentricity, compulsive consumption and greed converges into an explosion in the United States. It is an impulse shared by an alarming contingent of the American population and deployed almost inadvertently. In fact, it is the true American way. It is an existential property or rather a dynamic feature of American exceptionalism. And finally, this is not just the preserve of the privileged. - Godfrey Silas

  • @GMarieBehindTheMask
    @GMarieBehindTheMask3 жыл бұрын

    Narcissism is the Root Of All Evil

  • @robertpetre9378

    @robertpetre9378

    2 жыл бұрын

    It’s definitely a gateway for sure

  • @jnetwork3232

    @jnetwork3232

    2 жыл бұрын

    Devils emotions

  • @HurricaneJD

    @HurricaneJD

    2 жыл бұрын

    It is quite evil I just quit my job because of my narcissist boss who was gaslighting me for four years. now I'm out of a job and I'm about to be homeless because of that A-hole. You have to be a special kind of piece of crap to behave that way

  • @princeandrey

    @princeandrey

    Жыл бұрын

    "Self-love is ne'er so great a sin as self-neglect." There is a healthy narcissism and there is a morbid or "malignant narcissism." Freud calls the former "primary narcissism." In our culture narcissism always equates to "malignant narcissism."

  • @zacharydavis4398
    @zacharydavis4398 Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for spending the time to create and share this content awareness/perspective

  • @ANGEL-eh6pd
    @ANGEL-eh6pd2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you.

  • @ImyStone
    @ImyStone10 жыл бұрын

    Interesting :)

  • @firstnamelastname4653
    @firstnamelastname46539 жыл бұрын

    Lasch's treatment of narcissism goes beyond equating it merely with greed and consumption as she seems to think. I don't think she even read him.

  • @Taylordessalines

    @Taylordessalines

    2 жыл бұрын

    How so?

  • @johnsammis1544

    @johnsammis1544

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Taylordessalines actually, what she attributes to Daniel Bell is much closer to Lasch. Bell advocated for capitalist consumption, whereas Lasch saw conspicuous consumption as a negative feature of capitalism. Lasch is vigorously anti-capitalist throughout every book he wrote.

  • @KimbradleyMasterGardener
    @KimbradleyMasterGardener10 жыл бұрын

    Great Job Liz! I am proud to be your friend and Gardener!

  • @ditchweed2275
    @ditchweed22753 жыл бұрын

    So violence is explosive narcissism

  • @princeandrey

    @princeandrey

    Жыл бұрын

    If it's defensive violence then it is healthy (or primary) narcissism.

  • @matts4893
    @matts4893 Жыл бұрын

    America is capitalism without a conscience.

  • @demontrader1222
    @demontrader1222 Жыл бұрын

    Not only capitalism, but these forms of nationalist socialism we have such as social democracy and Chinese communism. Proper fraternal socialism which does not splice itself with capitalism is possibly less likely to be socially toxic.

  • @johnsammis1544
    @johnsammis1544 Жыл бұрын

    She attributes Lasch’s position to Daniel Bell and vis versa.

  • @ConanDuke
    @ConanDuke4 ай бұрын

    "Capitalism cannot function without consumption." Yet, inequality undermines consumer spending and confidence in capital. Manufacturing their own gravediggers indeed.

  • @ProMediaLLC
    @ProMediaLLC2 жыл бұрын

    You can use narcissist interchangeably with Obama.

  • @princeandrey

    @princeandrey

    Жыл бұрын

    Glib psychologizing in the service of your politics does not qualify as insightful characterization.

  • @LIVdaBrand

    @LIVdaBrand

    Жыл бұрын

    With any president actually