At the risk of incredible cringe, I believe the "American Psycho" author nailed this entire aesthetic decades ago referring to soulless Wall Street yuppie types, but politicians like Pete, et al. are essentially the same personality type.
"...there is an idea of a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there."
And it you expand that quote out it reaches even more truth about those type of people
"It is hard for me to make sense on any given level. Myself is fabricated, an aberration. I am a noncontingent human being. My personality is sketchy and unformed, my heartlessness goes deep and is persistent. My conscience, my pity, my hopes disappeared a long time ago (probably at Harvard) if they ever did exist. There are no more barriers to cross."
Honestly nothing to add. This perfectly encapsulates what I imagine is the constant conscious or subconscious thought process of every person who seeks power* whether it is through capital ownership or management of capital or political power and the ability to rub elbows with and benefit from the capitalists the way people like Pete, JD, etc. do.
*obviously I am referring to a specific type of person who seeks power just for power's sake and not for larger, positive ideological aims. I'm referring to cynical politicians like Vance who claim to be pro-worker while standing against workers at every turn, and any other bullshit they might lie about. Like being anti-war, etc. Same goes for any others. They're all "psychos" in the most general usage of the word as in they are capable of doing the most evil shit on earth all while lying to your face, smiling, and never losing a single night of rest over their decisions. Truly nothing resembling a soul in any of these people.
At the risk of incredible cringe, I believe the "American Psycho" author nailed this entire aesthetic decades ago referring to soulless Wall Street yuppie types, but politicians like Pete, et al. are essentially the same personality type.
"...there is an idea of a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there."
And it you expand that quote out it reaches even more truth about those type of people
"It is hard for me to make sense on any given level. Myself is fabricated, an aberration. I am a noncontingent human being. My personality is sketchy and unformed, my heartlessness goes deep and is persistent. My conscience, my pity, my hopes disappeared a long time ago (probably at Harvard) if they ever did exist. There are no more barriers to cross."
Honestly nothing to add. This perfectly encapsulates what I imagine is the constant conscious or subconscious thought process of every person who seeks power* whether it is through capital ownership or management of capital or political power and the ability to rub elbows with and benefit from the capitalists the way people like Pete, JD, etc. do.
*obviously I am referring to a specific type of person who seeks power just for power's sake and not for larger, positive ideological aims. I'm referring to cynical politicians like Vance who claim to be pro-worker while standing against workers at every turn, and any other bullshit they might lie about. Like being anti-war, etc. Same goes for any others. They're all "psychos" in the most general usage of the word as in they are capable of doing the most evil shit on earth all while lying to your face, smiling, and never losing a single night of rest over their decisions. Truly nothing resembling a soul in any of these people.