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The ‘48 Laws’ would seem to be a good look at how high functioning leftist so-called liberals operate.

The 48 Laws of Power would seem to spell out what high functioning liberals are all about. Here is an interesting review that also gives a very succinct summary of the ‘48 laws’ : 1.0 out of 5 stars How to lose friends and alienate people, September 24, 2011 By Meeb (New Jersey) -

Or rather, “How to be a Sociopath in 48 Ways”. This hefty tome’s lessons range from the common sensical to the downright wrong. Reading through, you will most likely find an example of someone you despised for each of the laws. If you pick and choose, follow some and not others, you run the risk of following generalized and ill-suited advice, and will most likely have some bad experiences. If you follow the book’s laws moderately, people will point you out and your game will be over. If you follow and digest the entire essence of the book, and live by these “laws” every day, then you surely have crossed the line into the path of evil. The author says the book is amoral, but let’s examine this distinction. Amoral means without the evaluation or characteristics of right or wrong. An amoral view of human nature says that people do things for their own benefit or self-enhancement. Thus, in the process they will not care if their actions result in harm to others. That’s where it crosses the line into immoral. You can ascribe to an amoral lifestyle and live the life of a hermit, and perhaps not hurt anyone in the process. But if you live in the world and interact with people, you have to consider morals. An amoral person would end up hurting someone. And after all, this book is about power. Then you’ll really end up hurting many, many people. As a psychology graduate, I will tell readers that this book is a guide to becoming like a megalomaniacal, paranoid sociopath (antisocial personality disorder). If you already have some of the dark triad traits (psychopathy, Machiavellianism, narcissism), then some of this book comes naturally to you. But for those people out there that respect human beings, do not like manipulation or power games, please spare this book and read something better, like Daniel Goleman’s “Emotional Intelligence”. The author made an offshoot called “The 50th Law”- and guess who co-authored it? 50 Cent, or Curtis Jackson.

Is it a surprise that his work inspires renowned scumbags? Everyone from Bernie Madoff to the guys at Enron has done the type of things that this book describes. And being well versed in WWII history and totalitarianism, I will tell you flatly that this book’s tactics were all similar to those followed by Adolf Hitler in his rise to power. Ask yourself if the hurt the world has caused you warrants turning into someone like that. If you are someone high in Social Dominance Orientation (look it up), this book is for you- although you probably wouldn’t need it. But these are not “laws” of power. Some of the material in this book is okay- but a majority of it is ill-natured. To read this book and employ its tactics, you must lose all senses of empathy, live for yourself only, begin using people as tools, viewing people as objects, living in total deceit, and losing any of that which makes you a mannered and loving human.

Following these rules will make you not want to shave in the morning because you won’t bear to even look at yourself in the mirror. If you want that for your life, please go ahead. This criticism is not based on religious grounds- I am an atheist telling you that this book is wrong. At least Machiavelli said that he’d rather be both feared and loved, but under dire circumstances, feared. This book will make you feared by some, but hated and held in contempt by others. It’s the culmination of American narcissism that leads to a book like this being published. If you’ve read the author’s other book, “The Art of Seduction” you would be similarly disgusted. At least the pick-up artist losers have an air of almost cute simple-mindedness. The author implores you to masquerade and run circles around your “victim” with mixed messages. Exactly what this country needs to bridge the gender misunderstanding. We already have a problem with cutthroats and selfish individuals. To appreciate this book, you must be a certain type of person. You must have lived in an environment that was bleak, hopeless, and filled with traps and treachery. I know two people who accurately embody the material in this book. One left from communist Russia, the other came a few years ago from the Islamic Republic of Iran.

This is a good survival guide in highly-stressful societies where saying the wrong thing or being associated with the wrong person is a ticket to the gulag or being hung from a crane in the middle of Tehran. But this is not useful for people not in those situations.

Here is what the book teaches you, you decide if its worth it: 1. Kiss the boss’s ass. 2. Make enemies, because you learn from them. 3. Hide your intentions. 4. Speak cryptically. 5. Guard your reputation; destroy those who undermine it. 6. Be an attention-seeker. 7. Use other people to do things for you and take the credit. 8. Bait people. 9. Don’t analyze, act (the motto of fascism). 10. People who are hurt are like infectious parasites. 11. Make people depend on you. 12. Be “selectively honest”, disarm your “victim” with generosity. 13. People have no sense of mercy or thankfulness. 14. Pretend to be someone’s friend while gathering information on them. 15. Destroy people, annihilate them. Ruin their lives. 16. Play hookie to make people “want” you. 17. Interpersonal Terrorism 18. Be one in the crowd, use the crowd to shield you from your enemies. 19. Don’t screw over the wrong person. 20. Be non-commital. 21. Pretend to be dumb, so they won’t suspect. 22. Surrender, to stab your enemy in the back. 23. Use every resource you have to defeat an enemy. 24. Flatter people, yield to your boss, and be cruel to those under you. 25. Don’t abide by the social contract. Ally yourself only to your self. Redefine this self to get as much attention as possible. 26. Keep your hands clean- erase any knowledge others have of you messing things up. Never admit to your mistakes. Instead, scapegoat other people. 27. Develop a God complex. Feed people what they want to hear and make them follow you. 28. Be bold in all of your actions. 29. Plan out every little thing. 30. Make your accomplishments seem effortless. Also, never let anyone know how you did them. 31. Control people’s options. 32. Feed people the lies they want to hear. 33. Find out everyone’s button, save this information, and push it accordingly. 34. Act like a member of royalty. 35. Master timing. 36. Show contempt for things (and people) you cannot have. By showing you are upset, you are admitting “weakness”. 37. Create a lot of spectacles. 38. Behave like other people as a mask. 39. Use other people’s emotions; play with them. 40. Free things are dangerous. Instead, pay for everything yourself and make sure people see it. 41. Don’t follow in anyone’s footsteps. 42. Attack someone that bothers you. Don’t bother negotiating or understanding them. Just attack them so they shut up and your reputation remains intact. 43. Seduce people by playing with their emotions. 44. Mirror people so they get annoyed and humiliated. 45. Preach “change” and other vague promises, but never act too much on them. 46. Pretend to mess up once in a while. People will see that you’re not a sociopath after all. 47. Achieve in moderation. 48. Be formless. Form, order, routine= predictability. And those CIA guys following you over your shoulder all this time will spot that and destroy you. There you have it. The 48 Laws of Power. I will say that if you plan on entering politics or illicit trade, this is a must-read. But if you are not a scumbag, please don’t waste your money on this.