The invitation for this end-of-year trip came in early December in a unique envelope. It was sent by Isabella Baumfree, a.k.a. Sojourner Truth. While not revealing the other co-passengers, it described the subject: The pursuit of narcissistic power and the potential outcomes in 2025 and beyond. What intrigued me the most is that it included an off-limits question that was not to be discussed during the flight. The question was: What will happen to Canada’s Trudeau, Russia’s Putin, and France’s Macron in the next two years?
As I approached the gate at the Cincinnati airport for the flight to Naples, Italy, I saw Sojourner Truth in a lively dialogue with Blaise Pascal, General Phocion, and John Steinbeck. I got my clues and was welcomed to take my seat. As every year, it would be a time of magnificent learning, and I knew that my role was to be a listener and a learner. As I was taking my seat, Sojourner Truth passed out a copy of a painting and asked a question: “What does this painting represent and what is its relationship to Impressionism and contemporary economic and geopolitical developments?”
Without hesitation, General Phocion took the floor and reminded us that this painting by Nicolas Poussin portrays his wife gathering his ashes and reflects Poussin’s endeavor into landscapes in the 1640s. We were reminded that Poussin’s pursuit of landscapes prepared the foreground for Impressionism’s landscapes. “But doesn’t it also portray the unjust accusations against you General Phocion as a result of your accusers’ narcissistic pursuit for power?” Sojourner Truth asked.
“We no longer have statesmen like General Phocion who sacrificed their own interests for the interests of the public,” Blaise Pascal added, and he continued “The best executive of the notorious vanity that conceals humans’ wretchedness from themselves is their corrupted imagination, a faculty, a.k.a. the mistress of falsehood and error. The horror of a person’s internal void leads that person to obtain a second nature which empowers the individual to dislocate reason. That’s how bubbles are created in the markets, that’s how miscalculations occur in times of war, that’s how we create our own gods, and that’s how we exaggerate our egos.” Sojourner Truth thanked Pascal and turned to John Steinbeck, asking him: “John, for 85 years now, your book, Grapes of Wrath, is the companion of those who are displaced by industrial, technological, and economic policies that perpetuate dislocations and betray social equalities as particular groups are treated unjustly.”
“My dear Isabella, who am I to elaborate on such important issues when we have you in our midst? You epitomize what oppressive systems like slavery do to a person by depriving them of their full potential, all for the sake of pursuing narcissistic power via corrupt, oligarchic, and unjust means. When the family of Tom Joad deserted their land and packed for California, they were destined to meet death, despair, and depression. On the road to California via Route 66, they meet equally desperate people who – like in Dante’s poem – obey the command to abandon all hope. The roaring 1920s dislocated capital and the result could be seen in California where thousands applied for just a few meager-paying available jobs, only to avoid starvation for their children. How could you retain hope, when oligarchs control power via centers of authority and not just marginalize voices that demand justice but also make sure that those voices are silenced?”
“When corruption is entrenched into a narcissistic power structure, realism departs, vision is extinguished and previous glories simply die, whether we are talking about empires or markets,” Phocion added, only to continue, “Frugality, discipline, and cultured thinking are necessary – but not always sufficient – ingredients that mark a virtuous power. The absence of those ingredients leads to hubristic behavior that sooner or later will bring about catastrophe. Don’t you think that the Great Depression of the 1930s that Steinbeck describes, or the Great Financial Crisis that started in 2007, are the result of those absent marks? As a disciple of Plato, I learned to stand by my convictions even if that meant that I stood alone against the whole Athenian assembly.”
“Well said dear Phocion,” Pascal declared, and he continued, “Since the 4th century BCE, scientists had refused the existence of a vacuum claiming that nature abhors a vacuum. However, as I proved in my experiments using a glass tube, nature has no distaste for a void. When corrupt oligarchic and narcissistic power prevails, people’s ability to judge becomes corruptible too and, consequently, they lose the capacity to think and judge, let alone the ability to distinguish causes from symptoms. In their subtlety, they manufactured reasons to go to war or to invent new currencies whether that’s fiat or digital. Given the corrupted structure, they use fancy names that fill the ears but not the minds. The result is that the mistress we are discussing today gets a hold of the geometry of chances and then all bets are off.”
“When I met President Abraham Lincoln in October of 1864, the message of emancipation, abolition of slavery, women’s rights, and above all the voice of liberating truth that shakes up corrupt structures, was echoed loud and clear. A republic and a democracy cannot stand under structures where equals are treated unequally, and when manufactured deceptions lead lemmings to domestic and foreign wars.”
“Dear Isabella, I have the impression that you had also something else in mind when you showed us Poussin’s landscape with Phocion’s wife gathering his ashes,” Pascal stated, only to be presented with another painting by Sojourner Truth.
She explained, “When corrupt narcissistic power structures change, society is emancipated literally and culturally. From the ashes of a humiliating war against Prussia and then civil domestic strife, a movement was born In France that celebrated freedom and the emancipation of artists who defied the Salon’s status quo and gave life to the Impressionist movement that we admire today. Monet, Degas, Renoir, Manet, Pissarro, and Cezanne are well-recognized names today because they had the courage to celebrate their freedom of expression and decided to no longer be bound by arbitrary and biased juries. The beauty of the Impressionist movement is not limited to the character portrayed in those portraits and landscapes, but also to the elevation of female artists like Berthe Morisot, Eva Gonzales, Mary Cassat, and Cecelia Beaux who inspired the likes of Manet. Freedom became the trademark of the Societe Anonym that they established 150 years ago in 1874 to exhibit their work and marked the dawn of a movement that changed history.”
“These are profound statements,” Steinbeck said, to continue, “Resolute leaders are determined to make a difference that counterbalances corrupt narcissistic power structures. Might doesn’t make it right, as Phocion proved to the Second Athenian League. While he was offered warships by them, he declined them and sailed to the rebellious lands. Not only did he masterfully negotiate peaceful settlements but those who had revolted against Athens sailed with him back to Athens with their peace offerings/treasury for the city of Athens.”
“Thank you kindly,” Phocion stated. He continued, “Sometimes you need to let your enemy believe that the win is within grasp and then attack with all your force if diplomacy fails. That’s what happened in the battle of Euboea or in the conflict with Philip II the Macedon near Dardanelles. However, you cannot humiliate your defeated enemy as that would constitute dishonorable and unjust treatment of the downtrodden. Dignity, humility, and resilience are lessons which, when adopted by resolute leaders, pay off handsomely in terms of realism and strategy, and I wish they could also be revisited today as the world is on fire and the markets may be misinterpreting upswing signals.”
“General Phocion, I admire your courageous and realistic stand in the Athenian Assembly when the time came to confront Philip II, the king of Macedonia,” Pascal stated, and he continued, “There is an aversion for realism and the truth when oligarchic corrupt structures run the state, like in the case that you were warning the Athenians to avoid war with Philip II. It’s a matter of power and self-love because the person knows well that it amounts to small or nothing but wants to be great; it wants to be happy and understands that wretchedness prevails; it desires perfection and discovers imperfection everywhere including thyself but refuses to acknowledge reality. That wretched person wants to be the object of admiration, but sooner or later it will realize that it is destined to be the object of contempt. This predicament arouses the most unjust passions as the reality of the truth reveals deficiencies and shortcomings. The deliberate self-delusion precludes emancipation from that narcissistic prison and underwrites chaotic catastrophes when private behavior brings to the public some very bad consequences. For is it not true that we hate both the truth and those who tell it to us, and that we like them to be deceived to our advantage, and want to be esteemed by them as other than what we really are?”
“Dear Blaise, you could not express it in better words,” Phocion stated, to continue, “We live in a state of perpetual self-deception, and who could exclude that the markets participate in those illusions assisted by perpetual money and a debt machine that baptizes liabilities as assets and offers them to an admiring public which in turn cheers of a Nasdaq at 20,000 and why not at 50,000? Before the US obtained the exorbitant privilege of global currency dominance, the British and the Dutch enjoyed that privilege too. However, fiscal deterioration stripped them both of that narcissistic advantage as market spasm converts into brain hemorrhage when interest rates are sustained at levels significantly higher than the rate of growth, especially at a time when the world is on fire. Magic AI wands – let alone cryptos – won’t do the job at a time of a market panic. Collateralization of assets – which would allow credit creation – might not work next time around given the geopolitical environment and the policies pursued even though US debt offerings are over-subscribed with a bid-to-cover ratio over 2.5. At a time when supply chains are distressed due to potential forthcoming tariffs, and given choke points in international shipping and trade, the upending of global politics reminds me of the time when the Athenian Assembly was pushing for a war with Philip II. The devastation of the defeat at Chaeronea in 338 BCE was the natural outcome.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your ever-eavesdropping captain speaking. It has been another fascinating end-of-year conversation. We will be landing in Naples soon. As you prepare for landing, I know that your minds may be preoccupied with ideas about narcissistic and corrupt oligarchic power structures. However allow me to suggest that we cannot lose sight of the undercurrents in the years 1637, 1797, 1857, 1884, 1901, 1907, 1929, 1934, as I am sure that I do not need to remind you of the most recent years like 1974, 1987, 1997, 2008/’09 – and while you are recalling those undercurrents you may want to contemplate any relationship to the years 1648, 1783, 1814, 1919, 1941, 1989.”
Happy New Year!
Oh, That Mistress of Narcissistic Power: A Conversation Among Blaise Pascal, Sojourner Truth, Phocion, and John Steinbeck
Author : John E. Charalambakis
Date : December 28, 2024
The invitation for this end-of-year trip came in early December in a unique envelope. It was sent by Isabella Baumfree, a.k.a. Sojourner Truth. While not revealing the other co-passengers, it described the subject: The pursuit of narcissistic power and the potential outcomes in 2025 and beyond. What intrigued me the most is that it included an off-limits question that was not to be discussed during the flight. The question was: What will happen to Canada’s Trudeau, Russia’s Putin, and France’s Macron in the next two years?
As I approached the gate at the Cincinnati airport for the flight to Naples, Italy, I saw Sojourner Truth in a lively dialogue with Blaise Pascal, General Phocion, and John Steinbeck. I got my clues and was welcomed to take my seat. As every year, it would be a time of magnificent learning, and I knew that my role was to be a listener and a learner. As I was taking my seat, Sojourner Truth passed out a copy of a painting and asked a question: “What does this painting represent and what is its relationship to Impressionism and contemporary economic and geopolitical developments?”
Without hesitation, General Phocion took the floor and reminded us that this painting by Nicolas Poussin portrays his wife gathering his ashes and reflects Poussin’s endeavor into landscapes in the 1640s. We were reminded that Poussin’s pursuit of landscapes prepared the foreground for Impressionism’s landscapes. “But doesn’t it also portray the unjust accusations against you General Phocion as a result of your accusers’ narcissistic pursuit for power?” Sojourner Truth asked.
“We no longer have statesmen like General Phocion who sacrificed their own interests for the interests of the public,” Blaise Pascal added, and he continued “The best executive of the notorious vanity that conceals humans’ wretchedness from themselves is their corrupted imagination, a faculty, a.k.a. the mistress of falsehood and error. The horror of a person’s internal void leads that person to obtain a second nature which empowers the individual to dislocate reason. That’s how bubbles are created in the markets, that’s how miscalculations occur in times of war, that’s how we create our own gods, and that’s how we exaggerate our egos.” Sojourner Truth thanked Pascal and turned to John Steinbeck, asking him: “John, for 85 years now, your book, Grapes of Wrath, is the companion of those who are displaced by industrial, technological, and economic policies that perpetuate dislocations and betray social equalities as particular groups are treated unjustly.”
“My dear Isabella, who am I to elaborate on such important issues when we have you in our midst? You epitomize what oppressive systems like slavery do to a person by depriving them of their full potential, all for the sake of pursuing narcissistic power via corrupt, oligarchic, and unjust means. When the family of Tom Joad deserted their land and packed for California, they were destined to meet death, despair, and depression. On the road to California via Route 66, they meet equally desperate people who – like in Dante’s poem – obey the command to abandon all hope. The roaring 1920s dislocated capital and the result could be seen in California where thousands applied for just a few meager-paying available jobs, only to avoid starvation for their children. How could you retain hope, when oligarchs control power via centers of authority and not just marginalize voices that demand justice but also make sure that those voices are silenced?”
“When corruption is entrenched into a narcissistic power structure, realism departs, vision is extinguished and previous glories simply die, whether we are talking about empires or markets,” Phocion added, only to continue, “Frugality, discipline, and cultured thinking are necessary – but not always sufficient – ingredients that mark a virtuous power. The absence of those ingredients leads to hubristic behavior that sooner or later will bring about catastrophe. Don’t you think that the Great Depression of the 1930s that Steinbeck describes, or the Great Financial Crisis that started in 2007, are the result of those absent marks? As a disciple of Plato, I learned to stand by my convictions even if that meant that I stood alone against the whole Athenian assembly.”
“Well said dear Phocion,” Pascal declared, and he continued, “Since the 4th century BCE, scientists had refused the existence of a vacuum claiming that nature abhors a vacuum. However, as I proved in my experiments using a glass tube, nature has no distaste for a void. When corrupt oligarchic and narcissistic power prevails, people’s ability to judge becomes corruptible too and, consequently, they lose the capacity to think and judge, let alone the ability to distinguish causes from symptoms. In their subtlety, they manufactured reasons to go to war or to invent new currencies whether that’s fiat or digital. Given the corrupted structure, they use fancy names that fill the ears but not the minds. The result is that the mistress we are discussing today gets a hold of the geometry of chances and then all bets are off.”
“When I met President Abraham Lincoln in October of 1864, the message of emancipation, abolition of slavery, women’s rights, and above all the voice of liberating truth that shakes up corrupt structures, was echoed loud and clear. A republic and a democracy cannot stand under structures where equals are treated unequally, and when manufactured deceptions lead lemmings to domestic and foreign wars.”
“Dear Isabella, I have the impression that you had also something else in mind when you showed us Poussin’s landscape with Phocion’s wife gathering his ashes,” Pascal stated, only to be presented with another painting by Sojourner Truth.
She explained, “When corrupt narcissistic power structures change, society is emancipated literally and culturally. From the ashes of a humiliating war against Prussia and then civil domestic strife, a movement was born In France that celebrated freedom and the emancipation of artists who defied the Salon’s status quo and gave life to the Impressionist movement that we admire today. Monet, Degas, Renoir, Manet, Pissarro, and Cezanne are well-recognized names today because they had the courage to celebrate their freedom of expression and decided to no longer be bound by arbitrary and biased juries. The beauty of the Impressionist movement is not limited to the character portrayed in those portraits and landscapes, but also to the elevation of female artists like Berthe Morisot, Eva Gonzales, Mary Cassat, and Cecelia Beaux who inspired the likes of Manet. Freedom became the trademark of the Societe Anonym that they established 150 years ago in 1874 to exhibit their work and marked the dawn of a movement that changed history.”
“These are profound statements,” Steinbeck said, to continue, “Resolute leaders are determined to make a difference that counterbalances corrupt narcissistic power structures. Might doesn’t make it right, as Phocion proved to the Second Athenian League. While he was offered warships by them, he declined them and sailed to the rebellious lands. Not only did he masterfully negotiate peaceful settlements but those who had revolted against Athens sailed with him back to Athens with their peace offerings/treasury for the city of Athens.”
“Thank you kindly,” Phocion stated. He continued, “Sometimes you need to let your enemy believe that the win is within grasp and then attack with all your force if diplomacy fails. That’s what happened in the battle of Euboea or in the conflict with Philip II the Macedon near Dardanelles. However, you cannot humiliate your defeated enemy as that would constitute dishonorable and unjust treatment of the downtrodden. Dignity, humility, and resilience are lessons which, when adopted by resolute leaders, pay off handsomely in terms of realism and strategy, and I wish they could also be revisited today as the world is on fire and the markets may be misinterpreting upswing signals.”
“General Phocion, I admire your courageous and realistic stand in the Athenian Assembly when the time came to confront Philip II, the king of Macedonia,” Pascal stated, and he continued, “There is an aversion for realism and the truth when oligarchic corrupt structures run the state, like in the case that you were warning the Athenians to avoid war with Philip II. It’s a matter of power and self-love because the person knows well that it amounts to small or nothing but wants to be great; it wants to be happy and understands that wretchedness prevails; it desires perfection and discovers imperfection everywhere including thyself but refuses to acknowledge reality. That wretched person wants to be the object of admiration, but sooner or later it will realize that it is destined to be the object of contempt. This predicament arouses the most unjust passions as the reality of the truth reveals deficiencies and shortcomings. The deliberate self-delusion precludes emancipation from that narcissistic prison and underwrites chaotic catastrophes when private behavior brings to the public some very bad consequences. For is it not true that we hate both the truth and those who tell it to us, and that we like them to be deceived to our advantage, and want to be esteemed by them as other than what we really are?”
“Dear Blaise, you could not express it in better words,” Phocion stated, to continue, “We live in a state of perpetual self-deception, and who could exclude that the markets participate in those illusions assisted by perpetual money and a debt machine that baptizes liabilities as assets and offers them to an admiring public which in turn cheers of a Nasdaq at 20,000 and why not at 50,000? Before the US obtained the exorbitant privilege of global currency dominance, the British and the Dutch enjoyed that privilege too. However, fiscal deterioration stripped them both of that narcissistic advantage as market spasm converts into brain hemorrhage when interest rates are sustained at levels significantly higher than the rate of growth, especially at a time when the world is on fire. Magic AI wands – let alone cryptos – won’t do the job at a time of a market panic. Collateralization of assets – which would allow credit creation – might not work next time around given the geopolitical environment and the policies pursued even though US debt offerings are over-subscribed with a bid-to-cover ratio over 2.5. At a time when supply chains are distressed due to potential forthcoming tariffs, and given choke points in international shipping and trade, the upending of global politics reminds me of the time when the Athenian Assembly was pushing for a war with Philip II. The devastation of the defeat at Chaeronea in 338 BCE was the natural outcome.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your ever-eavesdropping captain speaking. It has been another fascinating end-of-year conversation. We will be landing in Naples soon. As you prepare for landing, I know that your minds may be preoccupied with ideas about narcissistic and corrupt oligarchic power structures. However allow me to suggest that we cannot lose sight of the undercurrents in the years 1637, 1797, 1857, 1884, 1901, 1907, 1929, 1934, as I am sure that I do not need to remind you of the most recent years like 1974, 1987, 1997, 2008/’09 – and while you are recalling those undercurrents you may want to contemplate any relationship to the years 1648, 1783, 1814, 1919, 1941, 1989.”
Happy New Year!