Unlike the MAGA movement, which is led by a candidate who is defiantly amoral, post-liberalism is steeped in a revolutionary religiosity.
Most Americans havenāt heard of the post-liberal right, the small but influential group of conservative, mostly Catholic men who have declared that liberal democracy, the animating principle of Americaās founding, hasĀ failedĀ and want to bring about a new social order where there is no separation of church and state and men and a hyperconservative Catholicism reign supreme. They are disdainful of secularism and individual liberty. Just like Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump illustrated during Tuesday nightās debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, these menĀ idolizeĀ the authoritarian Viktor OrbĆ”n, the prime minister of Hungary.
Theyāre alsoĀ nostalgicĀ for Spain as it was run by the dictator Franco and see OrbĆ”nās government and Francoās as potential models for the kind of regime they wish to install in the United States. The groupāsĀ political prioritiesĀ ā which include restricting access to contraception and divorce and banning marriage equality and pornography āĀ areĀ wildlyĀ unpopular. And yet the Republican nominee for vice president, my former friend JD Vance, isĀ a prominent voiceĀ of this fringe movement, as so many of his regrettable podcast interviews have demonstrated.
I went through this with a friend of 20+ years. It is pretty much one of the worst things that have ever happened to me.
Same but for my mom
Iām so sorry. I hope they find their way back to you.
Went through something broadly similar a few years ago. Itās kinda confidence-shattering, tbh. I had thought I was a pretty deft judge of character up to that point. Years after the fallout, Iāve come to realize that while I am actually still probably a better than average judge of character, that doesnāt really apply to psychopaths that actively hide their true nature as a habit and rule. But the whole clusterfuck and how much I missed the signs still fucks with my head sometimes even today.
Iāve given up thinking Iām a good judge of character completely. You canāt do much better than judging people by the company they keep, anyway. Sometimes people of quality can be alone, but utter bastards never are.
But Iāll be damned if Iām not still good at standing up to my friends. After I failed to make them see reason for long enough to be sure it was permanentā¦ I cut them off 4 years ago and havenāt said a word to them since, even when they literally stalked me.
If you havenāt got integrity, you donāt really have anything, do you?
Judging character and identifying psychopaths are two wildly different skill sets, though arguably one depends on the other.
Iām slowly getting better (more experienced) at identifying psychopaths and narcissists, but holy shit it can be difficult.