Says the Anarchist Notebook blog:
Whereas a sociopath possesses as a god-like attitude towards everything (what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine, as well) and believes morality is based on what’s best for them, a narcissist uses the state violence and intervention to cover up personal failings, miseries, and inadequacies.
It is, as the article says, indeed very easy to see. Show a man or woman who possesses some kind of strength that he/she alone has and has used for personal success, and you will see a leftist whining about something. Whether it is wealth, achievement through competition, a call not to be held down by the incompetence of others, the ability to protect oneself, or in any way not needing to rely on the state or society for personal happiness. He or she will have, or do something that is considered unfair. Even within libertarian circles you will find leftists who will complain about something like Bitcoin somehow being too ‘male-centric’.
In the case of the examples above, leftists are against wealth because they abhor economic inferiority to others (not necessarily ‘poverty’, that is why they have a problem with the 1%); they are against competition because it would expose the fact that some are simply superior to others in some areas; they are against the right of parents to have their smarter children educated on a level more befitting their intelligence, because it would make obvious that some kids are simply smarter; they are against the right to bear arms at the same time as they are against vigilantism because criminals are the true victims of society and ordinary citizens should be at least as weak as they are; and of course they are against anyone that doesn’t need the state for success, which explains why the leftist hates companies like Uber. They must be regulated to the hilt so that other companies will not ‘lose out’. It is for the same reason that leftists hate big companies and love ‘local, small businesses’.
Narcissism is a personality trait that despite its outside appearance, is based around a terminally weak ego. Narcissists need constant adulation, attention, admiration or positive feedback. The aim of which is for the narcissist to appear better than others. Which explains the “moral superiority” leftists tend to claim. But in reality it is all about the envy of those who are actually better in some way. That is why narcissists tend to tear others down in order to feel better about themselves. Narcissists, however, do not want to tear others down for the good of ‘equality’, but for the good of themselves being higher than the other.
One of the places most packed with narcissism is Hollywood, which tends to clad itself in a cloak of “moral superiority” whenever they talk about politics or society, all the while wallowing in opulent wealth and privilege themselves. People in the entertainment industry need constant adulation and admiration (remember Sean Penn in a boat taking journalists with him as he set out to ‘help’ people in the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina?), worship even, while adopting a political view that espoused ‘equality’, regardless of the fact that they have enough wealth to feed an entire starving village without even noticing any serious dent in their own income.
An insecure and bruised ego (hidden or not behind a facade of confidence) can be found all over the world where ever there is leftism. It can be found on a macro level with hardcore socialists that are quite open in their ideological leanings. But it can also be found on the micro level with people who are less open about it, but with whom envy for the success of others is still strikingly obvious. It is in the less wealthy people that support government coercion against those more successful than themselves. It can be seen not so much in the desire to lift themselves up, as in the desire to tear others down to their level.
The latter can be seen whenever in a comparatively well-off first world country the word “poverty” is used. When compared to third world countries with emaciated children, there is no such thing as “poverty” in Western countries. Some of the “poor” are overweight and have all kinds of brand clothing and gadgets that are non-essential for survival. You can see it wherever someone claims there should be a right to free internet access, or a call for the handing out of free laptops in schools. This is not coming from any desire to lift people up as to tear others down, because there is no real poverty there. There is only less wealth; less success.
And the sense of entitlement makes this simply unbearable to the narcissist on both the macro level and the micro level.