Narcissism as a political force has been an essential, if covert, problem in the United States since the 1960s. Christopher Lasch famously theorized narcissism as a collective undercurrent that shapes, or rather, breaks down, social cohesion and purpose. What Lasch called “the culture of narcissism” in the book of the same name 46 years ago is now, simply, culture. There is no American culture without narcissism. We cannot even conceive of it.
What Lasch called “the culture of narcissism” 46 years ago is now, simply, culture.
In 2025, narcissism—a state of self-involvement in which everything external is relevant only insofar as it is relevant to the self—drives not only social antagonism, but political stupidity, and increasingly, violence and terror.
The early days of the Covid debacle were tangible proof that many Americans—or Westerners at large—had been conditioned and worked up into an anxious and clearly narcissistic state, so that they became obsessed with identifying who might harm them through un-Covid-safe behaviors. Thus, in 2020, we saw how a social crisis could become about “me”, and how anxious, lonely, narcissistic types could use social media to bully, coerce, and shame anyone who didn’t care enough (ostensibly about Covid, but really about them).
These kinds of behaviors have only become more normal (not least because until recently they were rewarded and valorized by corporations, NGOs, and government). The pathological responses of seemingly millions after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and the cheerleading for further political violence among Redditor and TikTok leftists have demonstrated that activist ideology, at least in its current incarnation, is nothing more than the crystallized narcissism of an affluent, comfortable, and bored professional-managerial class, who can only derive meaning from feeling superior to somebody (anybody).
The pathological responses of millions after the assassination of Charlie Kirk is nothing more than the crystallized narcissism of an affluent, comfortable, and bored professional-managerial class.
The muted non-response by this caste to the emerging peace in the Israel-Hamas war, for instance, is revealing. This peace isn't about them, wasn't achieved by them, and indeed was actually achieved in part by the otherized bogeyman (Trump), so it has no symbolic use.
