
© MaëlickLook at ME!
The word "narcissist" means egotistical, self-focused, and vain. That's today's modern society. Selfies, social media and video challenges -
society is becoming inundated with and defined by the me, myself and I culture. And it can move from harmless egotistical banter on Facebook to acting out violently in a local shopping mall for real or perceived online slights. In other socially and emotionally damaging ways -- beyond the "selfies" shared to vapid, mostly air-headed consumers -- are the extremes that explain the age of the "me first" culture.
In America today men are obsessed with "six pack" abs, movie star faces, and tanned bodies that would make the Greek god Dionysus green with envy. Girls, as young as sixteen years old, are getting breast implants, butt jobs, sculptured nose enhancements and every kind of self-obsessed cosmetic surgery money can buy. Many are dissatisfied with themselves, the way the look, or some body part and bolt straight into the plastic surgeon's waiting arms for cosmetic solace. For this industry its big, big lucrative business.
We're routinely privy to the narcissistic tantrums of adolescents and mature men and women suffering from the Peter Pan Syndrome -- they never grow up. The facts are compelling: Five times as many Americans undergo plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures as ten years ago, and ordinary people hire fake paparazzi to follow them around to make them look famous. High school students physically attack classmates and post YouTube videos of the beatings to get attention. And for the past several years, Americans have been buying McMansions and expensive cars on credit they can't afford.
Ah, history or Greek mythology is certainly our guide on this one. The story goes that there was once a young man named Narcissus who was so vain that he fell in love with his own reflection in the water and died. In some versions of the mythological tale from Ancient Greece, Narcissus was transformed into a flower that today carries the name narcissus, or daffodil.
Today's narcissists come in many different shapes, sizes and forms. We see middle aged, pot-bellied men, guts spilling over size 50+ trousers, acting like adolescent young men trying to seduce young women, some the ages of their teenage daughters. Likewise, we see overweight women sporting rolls of protruding belly fat wearing clothes fit for Niki Minaj and company. In both cases these narcissistic denizens of society appear oblivious to the bemused head shaking from members of the public as they view their grotesque physical characteristics. Or maybe they've made enemies with Mr. Mirror.
Comment: With the state of corruption in the world it's a safe bet that things will get much worse before they have even the slightest chance of improving.