“Narcissism” is a word that many words are spoken about. Usually by leftists trying to be morally just. “Have you heard of Elon Musk? He’s such a narcissist.” The narcissist said.
We need to consider the possibility that we have rejected this harsh, utilitarian view of a child due to another extreme.
But if we are actually serious about the clinical term known as “narcissism,” then the obvious answer is all Narcissist. Narcissism is what makes every human being. In Bible words, it is simply our natural falling state.
If you can’t admit to yourself that you’re a narcissist, you’re just being denied. It’s natural that we are self-absorbed and can’t even tell from others. We are born sinners. To acknowledge that it is truly the first step to overcome it.
Mini Adult
The bigger problem is that narcissism is the foundation of our culture. why is that? At university, I took a class called “Media and Children.” This explored how art shapes and develops human perceptions, and how that perception is redirected in the way society operates.
Most of the class dealt with the rise of images of Madonna and child during the medieval and early Renaissance periods. Prior to this, child expressions occurred mainly in paintings depicting farmers struggling with fields. These images make little distinction between adults and children. The latter is a simple version of the other workers.
This was more than just an artistic decision. It reflects how children are perceived in society. As a trained worker, a future functional person, or simply as a person who is not fully formed. There was no concept of “childhood” as a sacred and protected stage.
God’s Respect
Madonna and the kids changed this. The image of Mary and Jesus produced deep emotional and almost divine respect for both motherhood and childhood. Over time, this has helped pioneer a more sentimental and introverted culture. More about the utility of the community, more about the sanctity of the individual.
Madonna and the child focused the society inwards from selfless, community rural organizations to individualism. Mother and child dyads began to be considered independent, almost sacred beings.
I built an entire system around this idea. The standardized, step-by-step schooling system actually emerged from this idea. Children were considered innocent enough to be given the knowledge of “forbidden” adults at one time, so they had to spoon in staged waves to prevent the child from becoming corrupted. It was no longer a tool for disciples or economic machinery, and children had to slowly and carefully ease into reality.
Born narcissist
This does not mean that the previous model of throwing children into the field at age 5 was ideal. However, we should consider the possibility that another extreme rejected this harsh, utilitarian view of a child. Children as morally pure and emotionally vulnerable beings, their desires and needs should always be prioritized.
I think this is where narcissism creeps up. As I said before, all humans are born narcissistic. Look at what kind of babies and toddlers. They act on basic instincts. They cry when they are uncomfortable, reach for something that will satisfy them, and have no concept of other people’s needs or feelings. Until parents modify their behavior, teach them the concept of altruism and the consideration of others, and learn that their children are not selfish.
But what happens when culture transforms its natural narcissism into a virtue? When mothers are encouraged to reinforce it rather than fix it? When children are growing up, are they said to be special, sacred and central to everything? You will have a society that responds to emotions before reason. A culture where the self is the most important thing, and discomfort is oppression and challenge is violence.
From the photo
From this perspective, liberalism is not merely a political theory. It is an emotional framework built around the sacredness of Individual. And it argues that the framework finds its roots in the religious and cultural iconography of Madonna and children.
Note who is missing in these “family photos”: Father. In the typical image of a Madonna and a child, Joseph, if present, remains in the background. He is often on the side that is passive and unrelated. He is forever stuck in the old world, still out in the fields, still working, and is part of a feudal model that we probably “evolved.”
The image of the father is erased from the central story, and the erasure eventually leaks into real life. Fathers become secondary. A mother becomes the entire emotional and moral universe of the child. And from there, society is slowly reconstructed around this new sacred dyad: the central mother and child, everything else on the orbit.
Liberal democracy did not only evolve from the rationalism of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. It was prepared much earlier by this cultural change towards the sacrumization of individual mothers and children.
And that doesn’t mean we went from bad to good or good. I simply shifted. From collectivists, from utilitarians (and I say, Monarchy) Models with emotional connections and personal uniqueness around them. The problem is that once you begin to worship individuals (especially those still disciplined, unprocessed and treated), you risk institutionalizing narcissism. And now we are living with the outcome.
