The recent superficial change in leadership in Cuba and the troubles associated with the 84 year old Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has led me to consider the thought of a strong presence of narcissism among leaders in the seventy and over age category.
Narcissism, according to Wikipedia, is the display of a character base on self love, self image, or ego. Applying this concept to a social group it means an indifference to the plight of others.
Septuagenarian leaders are leaders aged in the seventies and over that tries to influence human behaviors to accomplish missions designated by them.
We have seen several of these types of leaders in the past seventy five years namely Winston Churchill of Great Britain, Marshall Tito of the former Yugoslavia, Edward Seaga of Jamaica, Vere Bird Of Antigua, Fidel Castro of Cuba, Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe formerly Rhodesia, and Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago.
Currently John McCain at age 71 is running for the Republican nomination for the President of the United States of America and many are questioning his longevity.
A look at the characteristics of narcissistic personalities and comparing and contrasting them with the behavioral patterns of several of these septuagenarian leaders will hopefully help to prove my point to the reading audience.
Narcissistic traits include:
- A need for a lot of attention
- Preoccupation with oneself, preferences, aspirations, and fantasies of unlimited success
- Devoid of human empathy
- Inclination to lie and deceive
- Very critical of others even to the extent of damaging their reputation
- Different behavioral patterns in public compare to private
- Strong dislike for critics
- A feeling that they are entitled to special privileges
- Display of shifting morality
- High levels of impatience
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is currently in his 84th year and has been a tremendous leader for the country especially as a guerilla fighter against the Ian Smith apartheid regime in the 1970's.
He must be respected for his leadership role in bringing the people of Zimbabwe to independence. However having entered the septuagenarian phase of his life, a behavior pattern emerged that seems to qualify him as narcissistic.
He does not like to be criticized and abuses his opponents especially Morgan Tsvangerai, calling them sellouts, political prostitutes, political charlatans, and two- headed political creatures.
It seems the success of Mr. Mugabe has caused him to become devoid of the feeling of the people of the country, as he is presently seeking a sixth term despite his unpopularity, and a British engineered inflation rate of 1281%.
Mr. Mugabe in my opinion seems to feel he must be given special privileges because he will not permit free and fair elections and hold on to power like it is exclusively his for life.
The stance he has taken against the British and other multinational interests who are trying to destroy the economy of the country; is not helping the people and may even contribute to the present situation where only one in five persons are employed, and the country has the shortest life span (37 and 34 years for men and women respectively) in the world.
We should also balance the issue by saying it is immoral for foreign interest to destroy a country because of one man. Lives are being destroyed on both sides due to personal greed of many multinationals and Mr. Mugabe perceived stubbornness to yield to the will of the people.
The scenario in Cuba is no different as after 50 years Fidel Castro in his 81st year has set up his 76 year old brother Raul as a puppet leader over the country while he controls the country from the confines of his sick bed.
The people of Cuba deserves more than this but this narcissistic septuagenarian dictator seems devoid of empathy for them and feels like he must be given special privileges in leading the people. Have not these people suffer enough?
Fidel Castro has been known to send opponents who criticized him to jail or even to death and often ridicule foreign leaders who are not in agreement with the stranglehold of poverty and oppression he imposed on the precious people of Cuba.
The US government should also look beyond Fidel Castro and abolish the useless embargo imposed over forty years ago. We are helping to destroy thousands of lives that could better serve the global market elsewhere. The Cuban climate could be a good source to utilize in the production of ethanol a vital alternate source of fuel.
Marshall Tito of the former Yugoslavia served his people well in many respect from 1944 until his death in 1980.
He was literally worshiped especially when his birthday comes around.
However he ruled the country while being a septuagenarian and when he demit office there were no proper succession planning in place and as a result his sons fought for control and most likely help to bring down this powerful communist empire.
