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The Psychotic Left: From Jacobin France to the Occupy Movement
"Reading The Psychotic Left will be an eye-opener for many. The supposed repressive neuroses of the right pale in comparison with the selfish, vicious paranoia of the left (sometimes assisted by drug use and demonstrable brain damage). How can the right have failed to prevent the growth of socialist states all over the West with policies of filling themselves up with third-world immigrants to make up for their own failure to educate their young to the maximum (according to ability)? Probably the family-venerating Chinese will sweep all before them as the West collapses under the ridiculous burdens which the psychotics of the left have helped impose. But this book will allow a most enjoyable moment of re-thinking – a new chance to accept what Eysenck first began to explain academically in 1954." – Dr Chris Brand. Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh (1970–1997)
"One consequence of the triumph of the left is the proliferation of fanciful psychiatric diagnoses for all manner of conservatives. Now Kerry Bolton has written a factually based account of the pathology of the left - the vanity of Rousseau, the sadistic cruelty of the Bolsheviks, and inadequate parent-child relations of the 1960s New Left. A common thread of many of the personalities discussed here is an overweening narcissism - the arrogance of people who are absolutely confident in their prescriptions for redesigning society and absolutely ruthless in putting their ideas into action. An important contribution to a psychologically based critique of the left." – Dr Kevin MacDonald, Professor of Psychology, California State University – Long Beach
"One consequence of the triumph of the left is the proliferation of fanciful psychiatric diagnoses for all manner of conservatives. Now Kerry Bolton has written a factually based account of the pathology of the left - the vanity of Rousseau, the sadistic cruelty of the Bolsheviks, and inadequate parent-child relations of the 1960s New Left. A common thread of many of the personalities discussed here is an overweening narcissism - the arrogance of people who are absolutely confident in their prescriptions for redesigning society and absolutely ruthless in putting their ideas into action. An important contribution to a psychologically based critique of the left." – Dr Kevin MacDonald, Professor of Psychology, California State University – Long Beach
294 pages, Paperback
First published January 29, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 19, 2013
Very interesting analysis of the all to typical behavior of the left. Many interesting facts and quotes from left wing royalty but I would have liked people like Pol pot and Noel Ignatiev included in this analysis as I think they represent some of most obvious cases of the lefts embrace of psychopathic ideas.
Years ago I read a book with the Marx households correspondence and the thing that struck me was the incessant whining about perceived injustices (like paying rent and repaying loans) and constant slander of everyone and anyone that accompanied his ever present self glorification (everyone that did not agree with him in every detail was an idiot and a liar) and the letters always ended with a shallow attempt at ass kissing as a precursor to asking for money. Bolton shows how this is a common trait among leftists.
A few years back I remember reading about women in anti-fascist action being drugged and raped and how this was suppressed within leftists revolutionary circles as it would show the "movement" in a bad light and was handled "internally". This phenomenon is explained by Bolton and shown to be a part of the left from every revolution up to modern day groupings like the occupy movement.
Alex Kurtagic wrote a very interesting article in the same vain as this book on the background of feminists and wondered if maybe these female left wing radicals perception of men has less to do with men in general and more to do with what type of people they choose to associate with. After reading this book its pretty obvious that radical feminism is a reaction to, as much as it is a product of the psychotic left.
Years ago I read a book with the Marx households correspondence and the thing that struck me was the incessant whining about perceived injustices (like paying rent and repaying loans) and constant slander of everyone and anyone that accompanied his ever present self glorification (everyone that did not agree with him in every detail was an idiot and a liar) and the letters always ended with a shallow attempt at ass kissing as a precursor to asking for money. Bolton shows how this is a common trait among leftists.
A few years back I remember reading about women in anti-fascist action being drugged and raped and how this was suppressed within leftists revolutionary circles as it would show the "movement" in a bad light and was handled "internally". This phenomenon is explained by Bolton and shown to be a part of the left from every revolution up to modern day groupings like the occupy movement.
Alex Kurtagic wrote a very interesting article in the same vain as this book on the background of feminists and wondered if maybe these female left wing radicals perception of men has less to do with men in general and more to do with what type of people they choose to associate with. After reading this book its pretty obvious that radical feminism is a reaction to, as much as it is a product of the psychotic left.
November 29, 2015
Warning: only read short sections of this book at a time, otherwise this concise history of the leaders of socialism will make you quite ill.
Mr. Bolton makes the case in this book that the foundation of Leftist thinking is anti-social, and that many of its leaders had classic anti-social mentalities. These included complete sociopaths who believed other people were mere tools to be used, all while claiming that their movement was "for the people."
What is the foundational thinking of the Left? Well, it's that terrible evil exists in the world today, and it needs to be fixed. Who could disagree with that? The problem comes with the proposed solution, which is that all of society needs to torn out by its roots, regardless of how much violence and pain such an act creates, and rebuilt in the Image of the Left. No wonder this idealology attracts narcissistic people who hate their parents and want to destroy society so that their favorite vice will no longer be restrained and can run rampant. No wonder this ideology led to the deaths of at least 100 million, from the French Revolution to the Bolshevik killers to the violent 60s radicals who have been embraced by academia today (some of whom have been linked to President Obama, if memory serves).
It is a timely book. I, for one, was completely unaware that Karl Marx, the founder of the belief system that billions find themselves under today, was so evil a man. And while he was probably quite brilliant, his thinking basely reflects his real-life situation: he was continually in debt to the middle class merchants he so abhorred. Why? Well, for one, he felt no need to work and support his family. Instead of putting his shoulder to the wheel like the rest of us, he invented a belief system to destroy his creditors. Truly malevolent. Probably why politicians today, while following closely in Marx's footsteps, no longer dare utter his name.
At the same time, this book may open you up to self-examination. I was continually asking myself, "am I like this?!" But that reaction illustrates just how important a stable, law-abiding society is. It helps restrain the beast in all of us.
So read the book. It tears the cover off the Left.
Mr. Bolton makes the case in this book that the foundation of Leftist thinking is anti-social, and that many of its leaders had classic anti-social mentalities. These included complete sociopaths who believed other people were mere tools to be used, all while claiming that their movement was "for the people."
What is the foundational thinking of the Left? Well, it's that terrible evil exists in the world today, and it needs to be fixed. Who could disagree with that? The problem comes with the proposed solution, which is that all of society needs to torn out by its roots, regardless of how much violence and pain such an act creates, and rebuilt in the Image of the Left. No wonder this idealology attracts narcissistic people who hate their parents and want to destroy society so that their favorite vice will no longer be restrained and can run rampant. No wonder this ideology led to the deaths of at least 100 million, from the French Revolution to the Bolshevik killers to the violent 60s radicals who have been embraced by academia today (some of whom have been linked to President Obama, if memory serves).
It is a timely book. I, for one, was completely unaware that Karl Marx, the founder of the belief system that billions find themselves under today, was so evil a man. And while he was probably quite brilliant, his thinking basely reflects his real-life situation: he was continually in debt to the middle class merchants he so abhorred. Why? Well, for one, he felt no need to work and support his family. Instead of putting his shoulder to the wheel like the rest of us, he invented a belief system to destroy his creditors. Truly malevolent. Probably why politicians today, while following closely in Marx's footsteps, no longer dare utter his name.
At the same time, this book may open you up to self-examination. I was continually asking myself, "am I like this?!" But that reaction illustrates just how important a stable, law-abiding society is. It helps restrain the beast in all of us.
So read the book. It tears the cover off the Left.
April 27, 2017
Information About The Destructive Nature Of Leftist Ideology
This is a self published explanation of the Left written in a fierce tone.
Leftist ideology is a problem for humanity and throughout history the proponents of the flawed ideology have shown themselves to be dangerous breed suffering from disordered mentalities.Yes, they love to shove their hatred for all that is traditional in your face.
People's lives have been literally wrecked by the theories of Leftist extremists. Over the last two generations traditional mores have been systematically denigrated & dismantled by delusional progressives who see breaking taboos as a wonderful thing for humanity.The new Left cannot give up their taboo breaking behaviour because they are stuck at an infantile stage of psychological development.
They have a compulsive need to show their independence from authority.Taboo breaking is seen as a wholly positive thing whereas tradition and normality are perceived as negative & repressive.These people want to undermine the male and female modalities & they consider conventional morality to be prejudicial.It is a gratifying experience for them to smash the supporting walls in the house down to demonstrate their power and act out their anger at the establishment-a stand in for the parent figure.They can rationalize this destructive narcissism as being a revolutionary act against an oppressive evil system.
This is a self published explanation of the Left written in a fierce tone.
Leftist ideology is a problem for humanity and throughout history the proponents of the flawed ideology have shown themselves to be dangerous breed suffering from disordered mentalities.Yes, they love to shove their hatred for all that is traditional in your face.
People's lives have been literally wrecked by the theories of Leftist extremists. Over the last two generations traditional mores have been systematically denigrated & dismantled by delusional progressives who see breaking taboos as a wonderful thing for humanity.The new Left cannot give up their taboo breaking behaviour because they are stuck at an infantile stage of psychological development.
They have a compulsive need to show their independence from authority.Taboo breaking is seen as a wholly positive thing whereas tradition and normality are perceived as negative & repressive.These people want to undermine the male and female modalities & they consider conventional morality to be prejudicial.It is a gratifying experience for them to smash the supporting walls in the house down to demonstrate their power and act out their anger at the establishment-a stand in for the parent figure.They can rationalize this destructive narcissism as being a revolutionary act against an oppressive evil system.
July 15, 2016
This book lays bare all the thoughts you have ever had after conversing with avid leftists. It almost describes to a tee what is happening here in our country via a wonderful analysis of past leftists and their psychology. It's amazing how the works of psychoanalysts from over a hundred years ago describe with almost eerie detail the behavior we are seeing manifested in todays leftists; absolutely nothing has changed. If you have ever finished a conversation with a leftist or rather finished listening to a leftist speak because they never shut up, and been left thinking, "this person is the most paranoid, angry, conspiratorial piece of sh@t I have ever met," then you must read this book. You most certainly won't be disappointed and will walk away truly enlightened.
September 29, 2020
it was annoying and very low quality reading
February 21, 2019
This is a long saga of radical leftist moonbattery, from the French Revolution to the present day. A century ago, Frankfurt School characters began trying to prove that rightists (people with traditionalist beliefs) are neurotic. However, it turns out that quite a few radical leftist luminaries - some glorified by the media - were more than a few French fries short of a Happy Meal. Kerry Bolton manages to out-Freud even Theodor Adorno himself.
It opens with a brief discussion of the degeneration theory concept of mattoids. These are half-crazy types who often become career criminals. They have a way of gravitating to radical leftist politics since they feel alienated by society. When they get control of a regime, things can get very bad indeed.
The survey of leading leftists begins with Rousseau. The guy could've used a good psychiatrist. All told, his philosophy wasn't really too bad so long as one doesn't mistake it for absolute truth, but it turned out to be a stepping stone for worse things. The howling mobs of the French Revolution followed later, and Bolton describes them and their leaders.
However, that was just a drop in the bucket compared to Communism. It begins with Karl Marx, someone who was quite famous but details about his life aren't publicized too widely. He was a chronic moocher who apparently was allergic to work and soap. His followers during the Russian Revolution were something else. There's much about Lenin and his Swiss cheese brain. Chairman Mao is well described too.
Western leftists get plenty of description as well, from the famous 1960s burnouts and more. Some of those characters, like the White Panthers and the Socialist Patients' Collective, are quite pitiable and sort of make me miss Leonid Brezhnev.
I've researched some of these characters too. His analysis is spot-on, though sometimes the level of detail varies in this broad outlook. Even so, there's enough material on radical leftist whack-jobs to fill another volume. If he writes a sequel, some other targets might be the Symbionese Liberation Army (described briefly), more about Jim Jones and Charles Manson, and also some deep dives on Andrea Dworkin, Valerie Solanas, Shulamith Firestone, Kate Millett, and some more postmodernist drips, feminist whack-jobs, and Social Justice Warriors.
It opens with a brief discussion of the degeneration theory concept of mattoids. These are half-crazy types who often become career criminals. They have a way of gravitating to radical leftist politics since they feel alienated by society. When they get control of a regime, things can get very bad indeed.
The survey of leading leftists begins with Rousseau. The guy could've used a good psychiatrist. All told, his philosophy wasn't really too bad so long as one doesn't mistake it for absolute truth, but it turned out to be a stepping stone for worse things. The howling mobs of the French Revolution followed later, and Bolton describes them and their leaders.
However, that was just a drop in the bucket compared to Communism. It begins with Karl Marx, someone who was quite famous but details about his life aren't publicized too widely. He was a chronic moocher who apparently was allergic to work and soap. His followers during the Russian Revolution were something else. There's much about Lenin and his Swiss cheese brain. Chairman Mao is well described too.
Western leftists get plenty of description as well, from the famous 1960s burnouts and more. Some of those characters, like the White Panthers and the Socialist Patients' Collective, are quite pitiable and sort of make me miss Leonid Brezhnev.
I've researched some of these characters too. His analysis is spot-on, though sometimes the level of detail varies in this broad outlook. Even so, there's enough material on radical leftist whack-jobs to fill another volume. If he writes a sequel, some other targets might be the Symbionese Liberation Army (described briefly), more about Jim Jones and Charles Manson, and also some deep dives on Andrea Dworkin, Valerie Solanas, Shulamith Firestone, Kate Millett, and some more postmodernist drips, feminist whack-jobs, and Social Justice Warriors.
Want to read
June 9, 2020"Psychohistory is the science of historical motivations which combines the insights of psychotherapy with the research methodology of the social sciences to understand the emotional origin of the social and political behavior of groups and nations, past and present".
July 28, 2015
You won't read the news the same again...
My eyes have been opened, to use a cliche. I long suspected members of the Occupy movement or the Free Love protests had "issues" well beyond the ones they claimed to support. This thorough and engaging psychohistorical review of the major Left movements from the Jacobians to Occupy Wall Street brings those mental health problems to the surface. Rapists, murderers, Oedipal sons, and the schizophrenic drug addicts... Sometimes all in one person... And all leaders of freedom matches for "peace". I think everyone should read this, especially, left-leaning armchair politicians.
My eyes have been opened, to use a cliche. I long suspected members of the Occupy movement or the Free Love protests had "issues" well beyond the ones they claimed to support. This thorough and engaging psychohistorical review of the major Left movements from the Jacobians to Occupy Wall Street brings those mental health problems to the surface. Rapists, murderers, Oedipal sons, and the schizophrenic drug addicts... Sometimes all in one person... And all leaders of freedom matches for "peace". I think everyone should read this, especially, left-leaning armchair politicians.
January 13, 2016
Not as thorough as "Liberal Fascism", and at times it reads like a summary of Paul Johnson's "Intellectuals". But still worth reading, as it presents an unusual but pretty persuasive case that hard-core leftism is a species of psychopathy.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews