Ahmadinejad-Phenomenon
Ahmdinejad is a product of Islamism, this is a new category of social diseases which has not been discussed in the classic volumes of ideological terminology. Islamism believes in absolute rule of an Islamic state, God’s state, in the Islamic society, or “al-Islam-w’l dawla”.
The fact that Ahmadinejad is son of a blacksmith and was probably brought up in a poor family is his only shield against the hail of facts proving his ideological deviation from his social class. His fanatical right-wing tendencies have nothing to do with his social background. There is no doubt that such a character would join any other far right racist, fascist and sectarian groups when Islamism were not available.
Hitler and Mussolini were also from poor milieus, but by contrast to their social background, unexpectedly turned back on their social origin by becoming devoted capitalist right-wing leaders. Many other examples can be found throughout the history that son of a rich family belong to the left, Fidel Casrto, Che Guevara, Engels, Chu En Lai were typical examples.
Ahmadinejad’s personality disorder is not only due to his family background or his hideous looks, which could, at worst, cause a Complex of Inferiority. Ahmadinejad’s characteristic is another phenomenon, a social characteristic deeply anchored in religiosity. As such, he is firstly an Islamist and, often, liked to it, secondly a lumpen, a German word used by Marx describing a political thug. Both Islamism and lumpanism led to his character formation.
So his definitive personal disorder originally comes from a milieu of both lumpamism and Islamism combined, his psychological traits are less important because are predominated by these two factors. In general, personal disorder comes in every shape and form. No specific class or background seems to generate more psychopaths than others. The psychopaths can be as good looking and clever as the next person with an Ahamadinejad’s looks.
We see similar personality disorder by some other religious seniors of the IRI. For example, Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the IRI, was sociopathic. Despite of many advisors, he never learnt to conform himself to normal norms; his stiff glance, his dumb and mechanical gestures, the lack of his emotional traits in face, the week command of his rhetoric were all symptoms of his personality disorder. Islamic seniors like Khomeini, Rafsanjani, Khatami, Khamenei, Bani sadr, Soroush, Moein… are traditionally right, conservative and retrograde, but in a common sense, they are not considered lumpen, as Ahmadinejad.
What distinguishes Ahmadinejad from them is his ridiculous lumpanism. The lumpanism is his most outstanding characteristic. This is not his only vice, but added to it his Islamism, makes out of him an Islamist lumpen, a phenomenon which can be psychopathically more dangerous.
Ahamadinejad’s Islamism, cannot offer plausible rationalisations to the real problems. This brings him into increasing conflict with the realities. Ahmadinejad’s lumpanism remains the main factor of his rhetoric lapses and odd attitudes.
His constantly deteriorating behaviour can be threatening even for his surrounding and we can witness more and more about the consequences–he would not likely be the next President candidate–. This is the reason that Dr. Nogherekar, an Iranian psychiatrist and writer, classifies his mental disorder as “deteriorating”.
Dr. Noghrekar’s prognoses show that Ahmadinejad is mentally disordered: he suffers from schizophrenia and effective narcissism. However, I believe that Ahmadinejad-phenomenon is a typical problem of collective mangle, namely the lack of rationality due to the long influence of religiosity. The mangle of course creates a number of fanatics who would be similar to Ahmadinejad-phenomenon.
Ahamadinejad sees the imminent emergence of the Twelver Imam, the Mahdi, for whom since more than one thousand years Shiites wait. The Imam is expected to appear to set aright a decadent and wretched world. Ahamadinejad views himself the direct vassal of the Imam, being in permanent contact with him and working closely with him.
What psychopathically more dangerous seems is Ahmadinejad’s belief in his task to accelerate the Imam’s reappearance. According to the Shiite sect of Hojjatyeh, to which Ahmadinejad belongs, the reappearance requires much destruction and bloodshed, so be it. The more ills in the world, the more he and his sect can hasten Imam’s reappearance.
It is clear that Ahmadinejad is an Islamist thug with all typical symptoms of both Islamism and lumpanism combined, but he is inspired from a collective irrationality, he is politically a product of the IRI, and he is a perfect symbol of political Islam.
Ahmadinejad is a true devoted follower of late Ayatollah Khomeini. He knows, like any “sane” followers, what he wants, apart from his lumpanist rhetoric, he does not contradict himself, and he is relatively conscious what other IRI’s seniors would differently say or act in his place.
Join the Conversation
Just to play devils advocate, would it not be fair to say that most ideologically driven leaders in the World, including those in the West, display similar traits. Could it be that it is the position that creates this behavior? Once one wiggles into power, they often think it was ordained or meant to be. Rarely do we see anymore capable, unbiased and able administrators in positions of extreme power.
Omid,
I completely agree….these people tend to have too much testosterone and too few brain cells. Unfortunately that tends to be a good combination for the position. Trust me, my president didn’t get his position for passing any IQ tests…
gary
The phenomenon of psychopathic leader is not limited to Ahamadinejad nor forcibly due to his origin. Dictators and despots like Hitler, Stalin, the Shah, Khomeini, Ghaddafi, and Pol Pot… were not born despotic leaders or sacred imams, but they became, at least for a period, heroes of people, mostly pushed by circumstances.
People, especially to their powerless and politically underdeveloped level, rally around their “heroes”, seeing in them both a reflection of themselves and a promise of a “victory” that would release their needs and frustrations, and avenge their sorry and hopeless fate.
Of course what people do not realise is that their leaders would not always care about people’s fate, but by contrast about their own fanatical ambitions. To such a fanatical leader, people are an echo chamber for his words or cannon fodders for his military ambitions.
In general, any political leader is more or less in a psychological situation to be disposed to different kinds of abnormality, a very typical aspect is narcissism. Öne may finds it with a greater number of political leaders, Clinton, Ghaddafi, Ahmaadinejad are among the candidates.
Psychopathic symptoms are worse and may be found even within democrtatic countries, De Gaulle or a number of western leaders were considered inhibited psychpaths. They could commit crimes if the strongly established institutions allowed them.
In the worst cases they view themselves as above the established norms of behavior, not constrained by the law or the rules of society. Even more so if they believe they are acting as a direct representative of a Higher Power: George Bush claims to be following God’s plan.
To complement the above comments, I would like to share with everyone that occasionally true leaders rise who have only the well-being of their people in mind and never sell their soul to the temptations of power. One such example is Mahatma Gandhi.