How widespread is sadism among the ruling classes?

Question

By "sadism" I don't mean dressing up in latex/leather/chains/etc and playing strange little games with some other consenting adult in the privacy of one's own boudoir. I mean sadism in the psychopathological sense - truly enjoying causing and/or witnessing the suffering of others. And I am not implying by any means that *everyone* in the ruling classes is sadistic - there are clearly compassionate people within those ranks. But there have been certain things going on for which the easiest explanation is the existence of what we might call a "sadistocracy"... After all, wouldn't a psychopathological sadist *try* to get as much power as possible, in order to inflict pain on the greatest number of people possible, even entire nations? I'm also not suggesting that there aren't other sadists operating under other guises in other cultures, there clearly are. But here, we might have unwittingly elected some of them to office...

Answer 1

Why do you ask a question if you already have formulated your answer?

I'd say it was kind of sadistic of you to draw me in with a question, only to have me snared into reading your flights of ideas....

G.E.T. RN
Registered Nurse (retired)

Answer 2

I'm sure this is a very widespread phenomenon, but to ask for a qwantifiable answer is impossible to answer, I would guess for any of us. I don't think it's just the ruling classes - I just think it's a different kind of abuse. Where the blue-collar classes may find sadism in more of a deliberate, sexual outlet, the white collar classes may manifest sadisitic impulses in ways related to money and power instead of sexual domination and power.

I feel like it's a deepy rooted psychological problem stemming from the way one was rasied and treated in the home and in the elementary school. Bullying has a much greater cost on society than anyone realizes (Columbine for example).

Answer 3

I believe that the "ruling class's" sadistic-like nature is more reflective of its desire to acquire things, and along with this intense greed comes their obvious neglect, to varying degrees, of humanity. As a result, the well-to-do in managerial positions/ownership positions, ect. will cut corners when it comes to the welfare of others, especially their own employees. And some feign making "charitable contributions" to large charitable groups; however, in reality this is nothing more than a subconscious ploy to satisfy the "fame" portion of their personality profile. The rich often tend to think of people as commodities. This is why capitalism is flawed (as is its "yang" cousin, communism), as we can understand how the U.S. economic model will ultimately fail in due time, because of people with misguided direction and misplaced ambitions. What's worse, many people in today's pop culture television audience are drawn to foolish greedy men who proudly proclaim on national television "You're Fired." What kind of example is this of love and humanity? What makes this display of ill behavior any different than that of an animal?

But what is amazing, though, is that we are all capable of attaining this level of greed, and money frequently corrupts the priest, the police officer, the C.E.O., the co-worker, the politician, and the grunt worker on the factory floor. We are fallable when money enters the equation, as morals are far easier to overlook than a car payment, a fine piece of jewelry, or a whatever our heart desires for the moment.

In my opinion, this is why Jesus Christ said: "Those who are last in this life will be first in the kingdom of God, and those who are first will be last."

Answer 4

Overall, the percentages of people that are of this particular leaning are no greater for people of means than they are for people that are outright poor-- people are people and when it comes down to the numbers --an individual that has money and power may be of somewhat more position to affect the well being of more individuals with their behavior than someone who is of limited means--- but this does not mean that there are more of these people IN positions of wealth and or power than there are in the lower social classes !!

An individual that brutalizes his own family and others around him, even if he is a person of limited social position is no less a sadistic person than someone who wields vast authority and causes great pain to hundreds if not thousands of people !!
And, simply because a person has position and or wealth does not make them automatically more suceptible to a malady of this nature simply because they HAVE wealth and or power !!

This is another view that -- simply put-- goes to the heart of the "us and them" syndrome that seperates people and causes people to have distinct distrust of one another over trite things such as who has what and how they're viewed by people who don't even know them !!
People with less means simply have a smaller circle of influence !! But, if YOU happen to be the one caught within THAT circle of influence-- it is just as devestating as being within the grip of someone with great power and position of like mind !!

Answer 5

If you expand your view about sadism to include absolute indifference, it is extremely prevalent. Most of those in the ruling class consider the rest of us as an after thought.

Answer 6

Sadism among the ruling classes is just below the level of "inbreeding" eg-britains royal family,americas bush family.
Psychopathological sadism ?.
I will take it that you are talking about george w bush sending "kids" to murder old people,the sick & children in iraq under the guise of them being terrorists hiding WMD's in their body orifices while he has threesomes with cheney & john howard (aussie Prime Minister).

Answer 7

I'm not sure I follow you totally, but I do agree that people in authority often seem to enjoy pushing people around.

Answer 8

More than what u'll ever know.