A simple answer would be - they were Sociopaths.
Just as "What was the cause of America's Civil War" ? Simple answer: Slavery.
The simple answer, like a good lie, will always have some truth to it - enough to disguise the reality.
I believe real answer to all these questions is POWER.
Lincoln and the North wanted to control the South, and resolved do so at any cost. He eliminated the Southern Middle Class. All that remained was a ragtag bunch of former Slaves, and "White Trash".
Hitler, Mao, and Stalin also eliminated people they felt would be an obstacle to their rule. The Jews, the Ukranians, were people of some influence. Not dirt poor. Likely to be problematic in the long run.
As for Mao - I don't know. I suspect he did not kill many of the very poor, but like Hitler and Stalin, murdered more "Middle Class" than dirt poor.
Bring this to the Present Day. Who are Obama and George Soros' Greatest Enemies. Not the dirt poor. Once again, it is the Middle Class, who, at least temporarily, actually possess a strength that could oppose them.
Actually the first answer was more correct. They were sociopaths WHO CRAVE POWER and control.
There is an element of ruthlessness in each of them, each comes from a background/culture which encourages such brutal measures IE: The best way to cow and subjegate people is to be unmercifully cruel.
I think there is a world of difference between Lincoln and the others. He wasn;t a sociopath and he really didn't crave power. Stanton on the other hand..... :glare:
Quote from: Billy's bayonet on December 21, 2015, 06:07:03 PM
Actually the first answer was more correct. They were sociopaths WHO CRAVE POWER and control.
There is an element of ruthlessness in each of them, each comes from a background/culture which encourages such brutal measures IE: The best way to cow and subjegate people is to be unmercifully cruel.
I think there is a world of difference between Lincoln and the others. He wasn;t a sociopath and he really didn't crave power. Stanton on the other hand..... :glare:
They were paranoid sociopaths WHO CRAVE POWER and control. Doesn't this belong in the History forum?
Quote from: Billy's bayonet on December 21, 2015, 06:07:03 PM
Actually the first answer was more correct. They were sociopaths WHO CRAVE POWER and control.
There is an element of ruthlessness in each of them, each comes from a background/culture which encourages such brutal measures IE: The best way to cow and subjegate people is to be unmercifully cruel.
I think there is a world of difference between Lincoln and the others. He wasn;t a sociopath and he really didn't crave power. Stanton on the other hand..... :glare:
Agreed. There are powerful people who still have empathy. But they don't kill people. Sociopaths don't have the capacity for empathy. They have mental illness, hence "sociopathic personality disorder" is considered a serious mental disorder in the psychiatric world. Ted Bundy shared the same illness. No empathy for anyone, and craved a disturbing power over the people he killed. Power on a one-on-one basis, unlike someone such as Hitler who wanted power over the masses, but power all the same.
This is an enormously important topic.
We need to understand it, and STOP IT.
There will ALWAYS be Evil People.
If Evil People are the SOLE CAUSE, evil will continue forever,
Quote from: SalemCat on December 21, 2015, 07:55:54 PM
This is an enormously important topic.
We need to understand it, and STOP IT.
There will ALWAYS be Evil People.
If Evil People are the SOLE CAUSE, evil will continue forever,
A Narcissist, a Psychopath and a Machiavellian Walk into a Bar
The bartender asks, 'who has the darkest personality out of you three?' The Narcissist says 'me', the Psychopath says, 'I don't care' and the Machiavellian says 'it's whoever I want it to be'
Quote from: SalemCat on December 21, 2015, 05:57:36 PM
Hitler, Mao, and Stalin they were sociopathes
Why don't you continue the list? For example Churchill ? http://www.countercurrents.org/polya290911.htm
All were done in the name of SOCIALISM, whether as Chinese communists, Marxist socialists, or German National Socialists (aka Nazis) which makes me shudder direction our nation is heading under guise of liberal, progressive, donkeycrat socialists..!!