The Cassandra Complex of Narcissism
Danger, danger. How do people not see it?
While this life-lesson is mostly for all the frustrated Cassandras out there with the gift of foresight, it also applies to everyone who has shared some accurate, reality-based danger warning with someone, only to have them dismiss or ignore it for no good reason. Of course later that person is heard saying, “Why didn’t someone warn me?”
Personally, ever since I heard the Greek myth of Cassandra, I have empathized with her curse and plight. For the unfamiliar, her story is an epic tale in the era Homer’s Iliad. She was a Trojan princess, sister of Hector and seer who the god Apollo coveted. The most famous version of her mythical story claims he offered her greater prophetic power in exchange for being with him.
The tale continues with Cassandra apparently changing her mind after getting her new ability, so in the completely unjust power dynamic of god to human, the vengeful Apollo unable to take his “gift” back cursed her to live in a hell where she foresaw tragedies, but all of her warnings fell on deaf ears. This includes her warnings about the world’s first Trojan Horse, that led to The Fall of Troy.
A timeless human experience
What makes the story of Cassandra so resonant today is that there are in fact millions if not billions of us around the world currently frustrated with how others seemingly ignore or are blind to obvious dystopian dangers, and what an existential doom it will be for every American and all of humanity if trump and vance can hook or crook their way to power.
Seriously, what logic or psychology explains how any human with a conscience can justify voting for a Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate who shows no tangible signs they possess a conscience? Danger, danger. How do people not see it?
One reason I instantly identified with Cassandra in my teens was because I discovered that when it came to seeing problems clearly, knowing how things will play out and finding best paths forward, answers and solutions usually came easier to me than most of my peers.
Back then, I just figured my gift of foresight came from my love of logic, truth and a dog sense from having a puppy when I was a puppy myself. I would even joke I had a little ESP, but that is a different (non-paranormal) story.
However, the main thing that took my Cassandra kinship to the next level was that several times after giving solicited advice, likelihoods or predictions, my comments were often ignored, soon proven true, and I would later hear that person say, “If only someone had warned me.” 🙄
This type of experience is what I came to know as the Cassandra Complex, although I’m pretty sure the catchy moniker of an 80s, Avant-garde, Punk, New Wave band of the same name helped me make the connection.
Warning, NSFW.
The Cassandra Complex
Per Wikipedia:
“The Cassandra metaphor (variously labeled the Cassandra "syndrome", "complex", "phenomenon", "predicament", "dilemma", "curse") relates to a person whose valid warnings or concerns are disbelieved by others.”
Indeed, it can be a bit psychologically torturous and gaslighting for those who often see humanity or inhumanity clearly, can accurately calculate how things will play out, or which solutions will or will not work, because just like Cassandra, we are often forced to watch greed, stupidity, mistakes and tragedies play out as logically foretold by common sense, logic, reason and science.
Certainly for most of Gens X, Y and Z, Man-Made Climate Destruction is one of those tragedies we have tirelessly warned about, yet have been forced to watch as ever increasing environmental disasters unfold just as science predicted, due to greed and purposeful ignorance over several decades. Hotter hots, colder colds and more extremes were foretold, this is exactly what has been happening, and sadly Mother Nature is just warming up.
The Narcissist mindset
I once asked my stockbroker father in the 80s, “How do all the people you know in the market justify destroying the environment for profit?” In a massive truth bomb on the inner workings of Wall Street’s predatory antisocial mindset, he said “basically the attitude is the whole world is going to shit so you should get yours while you can.”
In hindsight, that seems virtually identical to the dark broken thinking of malignant narcissists, sociopaths and psychopaths, but this is not a “woe is me” story. This is about letting everyone who has experienced the Cassandra Complex know that there are so many more of us now due to trump being so transparent to those with self-awareness.
If you are one among millions who get it now, CNI philosophy tells us that continuing on this increasingly powerful and unifying path is what should take us across the finish line first in this election, and is a main decultification mode we must continue to invest in and stay vigilant on, to save and refortify American and global democracy.
Remember, the Trojans didn’t believe Cassandra about the Greeks either, but she was right, just as everyone who calls trump putin’s puppet is right. What else can you call someone who has literally checked off everything he could from putin’s wishlist?
No coincidence vance wants to do the same for aspiring supervillains Thiel, Musk and putin as well. Who knows what Vlad the blackmailer has on all of these highly narcissistic individuals, but just like trump, they all seem to perform like putin’s flying monkeys.
Clearly, greed and thirst for power is a human lizard-brain condition but chalking it all up to primal instincts almost renders any solution meaningless. This brain hack happened to us because narcissists groomed our societies with the half-truth that there are no solutions for primal human conditions, when there scientifically are.
CNI tools
On the bright side, Cassandras can now use Counter-Narcissist types of philosophy to help guide them to empirically scientific answers and actionable intelligence, regarding the “how’s and why’s” of logic and reality being effectively dismissed by almost everyone who supports trump and vance.
Answer: At almost 100%, CNI tells us it is or has been all connected in some way to their unhealthy narcissism and insecurities, but it varies from individual to individual. For most though, it is psychological manipulation. For far more than most of civil society realizes, it is an incurable compulsive narcissistic mindset that must be contained, because we are on a path where they will destroy the vast majority of humanity soon.
This is why CNI constantly works to explain how every vector available needs to be used in our defenses, because there are far more humans stuck in primal narcissistic lizard brain mode than even the vast majority of the good folks in academia, the media, business, politics or nearly all societies realize, so we all need to help them figure it out.
Ergo, a focus of CNI’s mission is to provide individuals, groups and societies with the concepts and tools to recognize the existential narcissistic threats to human civilization, and how to find ways to address them wisely and strategically, because these types of global menaces are threats to every individual as well. If you are able to support this vital effort, please consider doing so.
For example, imagine someone being narcissistically stupid enough to cut U.S. funding in China for monitoring and containing viruses and causing a global pandemic that kills millions. Oh wait!
The reality of the now
Obviously, all focus must now be on keeping a mad king and his sociopathic/psychopathic maga cabal from power by any means necessary, because if we do not stop these wannabe hitlers before they gain power, it will likely be too late for a generation and possibly our species.
In trump’s case, let us not forget that despite false proclamations of not fighting any wars, if the insecure, grandiose narcissist and sadist somehow steals power again, we know he wants military parades to glorify himself, throw America’s military might around to feel like a tough guy, and wants to drop nukes, just like he inquired about the last time, to feel like a big boy. What is terrifying is this time, his Project 2025 says to only hire “yes men.”
Can trump kill us all in a nuclear war? Yes 100% if he gains power again.
Icymi, approximately 200 nuclear explosions will put so much debris in the atmosphere that the sun will be blocked out for 2 years, which itself will end most life on Earth. This is why putin’s nuclear threats have always been hollow. He understands this, while narcissist trump bends reality to his psychological needs, so he is incapable of understanding anything that takes away something that small man trump needs to feel big.
We see this psychological failure in understanding and what we are up against from the shocking “closeness” of our election between a coalition of the sane and competent vs. a kleptocratic, christofascist cabal (see Leonard Leo’s Supreme Court) of malignant-type narcissists, sociopaths, psychopaths, and the millions they have groomed, gaslit or propagandized not to take their authoritarian threat seriously.
Indeed one of the hardest and yet most revelational parts of having a deep understanding of narcissist psychology is observing how little the vast majority of everyone in pro-social media, academia, politics, business and civilized society understand about Cluster B-type personality disorders. It seems important for these pillars of civilization to know that a consistent percentage in their midst can’t help or stop themselves from trying to grab everything they crave, until they hit a firm barrier they understand will prevent them from doing so.
Just as trump was putin’s Trojan horse to destroy America, it seems obvious jd vance is foreign born Peter Thiel’s and Elon Musk’s sociopathic tech bro Trojan horse as well. Either way, there seems to be little beyond a weird assortment of a rogue’s gallery of the swampiest malignant narcissists, sociopaths and psychopaths, we can never let have power over us again, if we value our freedoms.
Note: It is rarely the pathological narcissist’s fault they have one of these dark and antisocial personality disorders. It is just the way they were wired in their brain and/or genes from birth, and/or were re-wired through massive psychological trauma.
Either way, currently there are no medications or therapies that can cure these disorders, so it must start with society protecting itself from those who pathologically bully others to get what they want, because their disorder makes them psychologically incapable of stopping themselves. This dictates that everything is always up to us, meaning free societies have firm barriers and guardrails that must be maintained to keep free civilizations from falling into malignantly narcissistic dictatorships.
Counter-Narcissist Database
For those unfamiliar with how the think tank’s library is designed to function, it is important not to think of CNI in a traditional publication sense. What is labeled as “archive” is a mostly free r…
After many yrs in relationship with narcissistically wounded individuals, I learned how to extract myself (my mind) from the dysfunction that developed. It's a difficult journey to deconstruct from codependency. The freedom is worth it. One needs to develop complete autonomy to fully disconnect.
The collective narcissism that we see at work in the lizard brains of mislead souls around the world is rearing its ugly head. I write about how to free ourselves from their influence in my SS. I greatly appreciate Sam's work here. My new post on it's way soon.
As I get older, I try not to be pulled into the game of, "How can you not see the wall you are about to run into?" with others. I have had what has been lovingly dubbed as "Askholes" come to me for advice, ignore it, and later cry upon my shoulder after really obvious thing happens.
Try as I might, I often have a hard time mustering sympathy in such a situation, although lord knows I have made my own dumb mistakes. I suppose it is akin to feeling dissed, like someone valued your opinion enough to ask, but decided not to follow said advice and learned the hard way despite your desire for them not to be hurt. The flip side of this, of course, is that we cannot control the actions of others, everyone has to live life and make mistakes to learn, so is it fair to be upset? I try not to gloat, but I admit to feeling hellah peeved.
Still, we have all done stupid crap, so I can only feel so aggrieved. I do not blame others for feeling the same kinda WTF Alicia at me in that role reversal. As I grow older, I have come to a "pick your battles" kind of place, where I temper my love and care with the knowledge that I cannot control the actions of others, I can only be there for when the inevitable comes and try not to "I told yah so--" even when and if it merits...
Thanks for this, as usual a most insightful piece :-)