I am SO grateful for your insights Dr Lee. Everyone is trying desperately to make sense of the irrational. There is no making sense unless viewed through his mental impairment. I try to spread the word of your work from Canada but alas you need a broader stage. Thank you for your courageous work.
There's really no doubt that Trump is an imbecile of the highest order. His only 'superpower' is inducing mass psychosis in people and capitalizing on their insecurities.
But backers of Trump, the Oligarchs and billionaires, are also imbeciles. A quote from my article.
"Do not presume that richest people in the world, the tech oligarchs or any other type of oligarchs, are really smart people on basis of their accumulated wealth. On many things, they can be as stupid as ordinary man of the street. In fact, they can be more stupid and their stupidity can be much more dangerous because of great influence they have due to their wealth, and also due to super-inflated self confidence in their beliefs."
I also advice people to see the recently released Polish film 'Putin'. It's not a real biography but a symbolic representation of Putin's life - his insecurities & inadequacies that always haunt him, his megalomania, his tormented soul which made his ruthless and in last few years he spiraling out of control towards destruction of his own country.
Our Psychological and Political Pandemic 'It's Even Worse than You Think' DR. BANDY X. LEE
🔸️Mental pathology in a president is a public matter. The more severe the mental pathology the less one will recognize that one is even ill.
🔸️Every other job that deals with life or death has a mental fitness evaluation as a requirement, even before one takes the position.
🔸️When this is not available, the public needs to be educated about the risks as much as possible, especially when they involve conditions that elude detection, manipulate others into collusion, and resist their own management, as mental disorders do.
This essay reminds me that I hate the term AI. Why? Because nothing biologically "intelligent" occurs within it. Nothing motivates it based on the survival-related motives of all living organisms to eat, reproduce, adapt, and survive over the long term. So, the term "Computational Reasoning Tool (CRT)" makes much better sense as a label than AI. Why CRT? Because CRT avoids misleading and confusing people concerning the nature of actual, biological intelligence. "AI" exists only as a sophisticated, psychopathic computational tool, sometimes helpful, sometimes not, but essentially stupid. Indeed, Artificial Psychopathy (AP), occurs as another possibly, more accurate label because "AI" does not have or incorporate any emotion within its reasoning and psychology has long since demonstrated that good, actually intelligent, non-stupid judgment requires and incorporates emotional processes (which largely accounts for the dangerous nature of Donald Trump who, like "AI" and all psychopaths, has few or no emotional responses, unlike more healthy people).
A series of books that really helped me with rationality were written by Dr David Burns-his “Feeling Good” lays out common irrational thoughts, including black/white, should statements, etc. I highly recommend his books for anyone wanting greater self-awareness of irrational thinking.
The only cure for stupidity is to choose not to be stupid. You predicted that his would spread amongst the population, and it has. Some think that resistance will change the paradigm. It will just make the stupid hunker down with more resistance and chaos. This is a spiritual battle when the church joins the government to control the population through dictatorships and laws that is meant to control people but not help them. We are in deep deep trouble. Prayer and action/resistance goes a long way.
While your thinking always extends my mind and elevates my conscience, Dr Lee, there are two points in this essay with which I differ – one in widening the context and the other in disagreement. 🤝
With respect to widening context, you write: “Another question we ask when assessing fitness is: is the person able to make stable decisions, without going back and forth?” ✍️
One should be careful here. Situations are often highly fluid and decisions made remain tentative and open to new information, as per Marcus Aurelius. “Remember that to change thy opinion and to follow him who corrects thy error is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in thy error.” Or Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quip that a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. In the context of Trump, however, one can see his instability exhibited through impulse-driven vacillation. 🤔
Now to the disagreement, you write: “. . . . the Dunning-Kruger effect is working in him [i.e., David Brooks], too: he does not recognize that this is an issue that requires expert knowledge because . . . [O]ur self-destructiveness in not obtaining the right help, no matter the degree of seriousness of the problem—and deeming it mere stupidity—is also part of the irrationality that may be our downfall.” ✍️
Mr Brooks strikes me as a conservative thinker with a wisdom grounded in humility. When I view myself as ‘conservative by nature or temperament’, I like to consider my thinking to be similar to that of Mr Brooks, in kind if not in degree. To me, at least, Mr Brooks is simply calling attention to stupidity in policy-making; he identifies a symptom only.💡
While, I suspect, Mr Brooks would readily agree with you on the question of Trump’s mental and spiritual impairment as the source of much or all of that stupidity, I can not conceive of his seeking to supplant genuine expertise (i.e., yours) on the larger non-political, psychiatric question. He would agree with Edmund Burke in saying, "Rage and frenzy will pull down more in half-an-hour than prudence, deliberation, and foresight can build up in a hundred years." 🙏
Thank you, Dr. Lee, for using your God given intellect, together with your academic and professional qualifications, to write not only about cleverness, but also about stupidity. I'm on my way out, so I will simply opine that I understand the book of Proverbs in the Bible, and other wisdom literature with repetitive, caustic treatments of stupidity, to be an acknowledgment of head injuries and brain tumors in a period when treatments and interventions were minimal. So, in my humble view, the sages kept up this rasping rebuke of crass stupidity from multiple angles and over and over again, conscientiously applying the head injury and brain tumor management then available, while manifestly proclaiming that better treatments and interventions were urgently needed for physical, mental, and psychosocial reasons. G-d bless!
Thank you Dr. Lee. It is unfitness - but the psychological roots are in the drama of the abused family system which we has been revealed to be a world order of oligarchs. There is a boundary dissolution between the US, Russia, and 1930s Germany. Psychically Mr Trump and those he has corrupted through psychological warfare don’t quite know where or when we are. It’s surreal. Compassion needs allies.
Let’s be clear: Trump, Vance, and Musk are the bad guys. The US under their order is the bad guy now in an age when bad boys are popular in the zeitgeist of disruption. The Silicon Valley ethos of “moving fast and breaking things” has broken the federal government, strained or overturned international alliances, disrupted the social contract, and activated us to do something to forge a pathway towards mental health and social well-being.
Dr. Lee. I shudder to consider a millennial ahead when your assessment is the standard by which humanity learns about the prior millennia which had the "answers to the test". Instead, in America those who could use this information to organize, mobilize and defend it's citizenry where either to afraid, arrogant or STUPID (sorry). The media, our representatives, the powerful who have the means to message, instead ignored 'your prescription for survival' leading to the destruction of the planet and its inhabitants. It starts with the understanding of 2 prescriptive words: "pathology" and "unfitness".
I’m dreaming of the day when you analyze the dangerousness of Elon Musk too. He will outlive Trump and he scares me. I read his biography and by 2022 he admitted to likely Asperger’s and bipolar disorder but that is not going to explain his destruction and greed. And what are his real plans?
I was decluttering today and came across a paper by A.H. Maslow, “Politics 3” SRI Project6747, March 1971. Edited by Robert E. Kantor, Ph.D. Educational Policy Research Center Standford Research institute, Menlo Park, California. It’s a compilation of his and others work on his study of good people and
Good organizations? One concept that struck me again was Eupsychian values and Personal Freedom. In my studies of spirituality in business management in 1998 for my master’s degree, I came across this paper and have had it amongst my reference sources. It was like finding an old friend and speaks to many of Dr. Lee’s themes of the issues we face and a proposal for a solution.
In recent column, Paul Krugman tries to delve into reason for Trump's policy towards Canada. There is no rational explanation and reason for Trump's policy towards Canada. Krugman concludes that Trump is driven by hatred towards Canada because Canada is a nice and decent country. I would add that Canada is an exponent of a decent FUNCTIONAL & HEALTHY democracy. This Trump just cannot tolerate.
Here i recall your book on Violence. A psychopath has no life and creativity within him, hence he is driven to destroy all life & creativity in the world. This, we are seeing at a state policy level as Trump's psychopathic traits are reflected in his international policy. You will see that Trump attacking anything and everything which is decent, beautiful, creative, competent and moral.
Sun Tzu’s The Art of War provides timeless strategic wisdom that could be applied to resisting a hostile government takeover. His principles emphasize intelligence, adaptability, indirect engagement, and the importance of securing public support. Here’s how his advice might be applied to a modern resistance strategy:
1. Know Your Enemy and Yourself
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
• Understand the ideology, tactics, and organizational structure of those seeking to take over the government.
• Conduct deep research into their policies, alliances, weaknesses, and points of friction.
• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the resistance, including its resources, public support, and communication channels.
2. Win Without Fighting
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
• Resistance should focus on legal, economic, and social pressure rather than direct confrontation.
• Mobilize mass awareness campaigns to weaken public support for the takeover.
• Use institutions, courts, and existing democratic structures to counter authoritarian moves.
3. Control the Narrative
“All warfare is based on deception.”
• Frame the resistance as the true defender of democratic values and stability.
• Expose corruption, contradictions, and incompetence in the hostile takeover.
• Use social media, journalism, and cultural influencers to control public perception.
4. Divide the Opponent
“When you are strong, appear weak. When you are weak, appear strong.”
• Exploit divisions within the opposition—highlight conflicts between corporate, political, and grassroots factions.
• Build coalitions with defectors, moderates, and those who may sympathize with resistance goals.
• Isolate key figures by creating internal mistrust and fractures.
5. Use Guerrilla Tactics
“Move swift as the wind and closely formed as the wood. Attack like fire and be still as the mountain.”
• Decentralize resistance efforts so there is no single point of failure.
• Use nonviolent protests, work slowdowns, and bureaucratic obstruction to hinder hostile policies.
• Adapt quickly to changing conditions—if one tactic is countered, shift to another.
6. Secure Key Resources
“He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.”
• Control financial, technological, and logistical resources that could be leveraged in a takeover.
• Encourage businesses, unions, and local governments to resist and refuse compliance.
• Develop independent communication networks to counter state-controlled narratives.
7. Avoid Unnecessary Conflict
“To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”
• Do not engage in direct physical conflict unless absolutely necessary.
• Outmaneuver rather than outgun—legal challenges, economic disruption, and civil disobedience are powerful tools.
• Prioritize long-term stability over short-term symbolic victories.
8. Prepare for a Long Struggle
“Do not rely on the enemy not coming, but on our readiness to receive him.”
• Build resilience through sustained organization and training.
• Educate and empower local communities to be self-sufficient and resistant to centralized control.
• Have contingency plans for worst-case scenarios, ensuring survival and continuity of the resistance.
Final Thought
Sun Tzu would likely advise a resistance movement to be patient, methodical, and adaptable—fighting not with brute force but with intelligence, strategy, and the power of the people. Victory comes not just from opposing a takeover but from building a stronger, more united alternative that renders authoritarian control ineffective.
I am SO grateful for your insights Dr Lee. Everyone is trying desperately to make sense of the irrational. There is no making sense unless viewed through his mental impairment. I try to spread the word of your work from Canada but alas you need a broader stage. Thank you for your courageous work.
As a good friend and good man working with me in Baghdad used to say twenty years ago, "¡You can not make this scheiße up! 🤫
There's really no doubt that Trump is an imbecile of the highest order. His only 'superpower' is inducing mass psychosis in people and capitalizing on their insecurities.
But backers of Trump, the Oligarchs and billionaires, are also imbeciles. A quote from my article.
"Do not presume that richest people in the world, the tech oligarchs or any other type of oligarchs, are really smart people on basis of their accumulated wealth. On many things, they can be as stupid as ordinary man of the street. In fact, they can be more stupid and their stupidity can be much more dangerous because of great influence they have due to their wealth, and also due to super-inflated self confidence in their beliefs."
https://takeindiaforward.blogspot.com/2025/02/dont-underestimate-stupid.html
I also advice people to see the recently released Polish film 'Putin'. It's not a real biography but a symbolic representation of Putin's life - his insecurities & inadequacies that always haunt him, his megalomania, his tormented soul which made his ruthless and in last few years he spiraling out of control towards destruction of his own country.
Monsters often breed monsters.
Our Psychological and Political Pandemic 'It's Even Worse than You Think' DR. BANDY X. LEE
🔸️Mental pathology in a president is a public matter. The more severe the mental pathology the less one will recognize that one is even ill.
🔸️Every other job that deals with life or death has a mental fitness evaluation as a requirement, even before one takes the position.
🔸️When this is not available, the public needs to be educated about the risks as much as possible, especially when they involve conditions that elude detection, manipulate others into collusion, and resist their own management, as mental disorders do.
https://open.substack.com/pub/bandyxlee/p/our-psychological-and-political-pandemic?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=280c3q
Bless you, Dr. Lee. Also important to consider is the fact that Trump was not elected, either in 2016 or 2024. https://youtu.be/AWSWqn7UHYM
Lot's of corruption in our ruling classes.
This essay reminds me that I hate the term AI. Why? Because nothing biologically "intelligent" occurs within it. Nothing motivates it based on the survival-related motives of all living organisms to eat, reproduce, adapt, and survive over the long term. So, the term "Computational Reasoning Tool (CRT)" makes much better sense as a label than AI. Why CRT? Because CRT avoids misleading and confusing people concerning the nature of actual, biological intelligence. "AI" exists only as a sophisticated, psychopathic computational tool, sometimes helpful, sometimes not, but essentially stupid. Indeed, Artificial Psychopathy (AP), occurs as another possibly, more accurate label because "AI" does not have or incorporate any emotion within its reasoning and psychology has long since demonstrated that good, actually intelligent, non-stupid judgment requires and incorporates emotional processes (which largely accounts for the dangerous nature of Donald Trump who, like "AI" and all psychopaths, has few or no emotional responses, unlike more healthy people).
A series of books that really helped me with rationality were written by Dr David Burns-his “Feeling Good” lays out common irrational thoughts, including black/white, should statements, etc. I highly recommend his books for anyone wanting greater self-awareness of irrational thinking.
Thanks, Dr Lee!!!
The only cure for stupidity is to choose not to be stupid. You predicted that his would spread amongst the population, and it has. Some think that resistance will change the paradigm. It will just make the stupid hunker down with more resistance and chaos. This is a spiritual battle when the church joins the government to control the population through dictatorships and laws that is meant to control people but not help them. We are in deep deep trouble. Prayer and action/resistance goes a long way.
While your thinking always extends my mind and elevates my conscience, Dr Lee, there are two points in this essay with which I differ – one in widening the context and the other in disagreement. 🤝
With respect to widening context, you write: “Another question we ask when assessing fitness is: is the person able to make stable decisions, without going back and forth?” ✍️
One should be careful here. Situations are often highly fluid and decisions made remain tentative and open to new information, as per Marcus Aurelius. “Remember that to change thy opinion and to follow him who corrects thy error is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in thy error.” Or Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quip that a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. In the context of Trump, however, one can see his instability exhibited through impulse-driven vacillation. 🤔
A very timely vid. by David Brooks: https://youtu.be/QSa52TR9tCA (15mins) 💔
Now to the disagreement, you write: “. . . . the Dunning-Kruger effect is working in him [i.e., David Brooks], too: he does not recognize that this is an issue that requires expert knowledge because . . . [O]ur self-destructiveness in not obtaining the right help, no matter the degree of seriousness of the problem—and deeming it mere stupidity—is also part of the irrationality that may be our downfall.” ✍️
Mr Brooks strikes me as a conservative thinker with a wisdom grounded in humility. When I view myself as ‘conservative by nature or temperament’, I like to consider my thinking to be similar to that of Mr Brooks, in kind if not in degree. To me, at least, Mr Brooks is simply calling attention to stupidity in policy-making; he identifies a symptom only.💡
While, I suspect, Mr Brooks would readily agree with you on the question of Trump’s mental and spiritual impairment as the source of much or all of that stupidity, I can not conceive of his seeking to supplant genuine expertise (i.e., yours) on the larger non-political, psychiatric question. He would agree with Edmund Burke in saying, "Rage and frenzy will pull down more in half-an-hour than prudence, deliberation, and foresight can build up in a hundred years." 🙏
Thank you, Dr. Lee, for using your God given intellect, together with your academic and professional qualifications, to write not only about cleverness, but also about stupidity. I'm on my way out, so I will simply opine that I understand the book of Proverbs in the Bible, and other wisdom literature with repetitive, caustic treatments of stupidity, to be an acknowledgment of head injuries and brain tumors in a period when treatments and interventions were minimal. So, in my humble view, the sages kept up this rasping rebuke of crass stupidity from multiple angles and over and over again, conscientiously applying the head injury and brain tumor management then available, while manifestly proclaiming that better treatments and interventions were urgently needed for physical, mental, and psychosocial reasons. G-d bless!
Thank you Dr. Lee. It is unfitness - but the psychological roots are in the drama of the abused family system which we has been revealed to be a world order of oligarchs. There is a boundary dissolution between the US, Russia, and 1930s Germany. Psychically Mr Trump and those he has corrupted through psychological warfare don’t quite know where or when we are. It’s surreal. Compassion needs allies.
Let’s be clear: Trump, Vance, and Musk are the bad guys. The US under their order is the bad guy now in an age when bad boys are popular in the zeitgeist of disruption. The Silicon Valley ethos of “moving fast and breaking things” has broken the federal government, strained or overturned international alliances, disrupted the social contract, and activated us to do something to forge a pathway towards mental health and social well-being.
Standing with Ukraine, not the bullies https://open.substack.com/pub/sunmoonlight/p/standing-with-ukraine-not-the-bullies?r=97m4w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Dr. Lee. I shudder to consider a millennial ahead when your assessment is the standard by which humanity learns about the prior millennia which had the "answers to the test". Instead, in America those who could use this information to organize, mobilize and defend it's citizenry where either to afraid, arrogant or STUPID (sorry). The media, our representatives, the powerful who have the means to message, instead ignored 'your prescription for survival' leading to the destruction of the planet and its inhabitants. It starts with the understanding of 2 prescriptive words: "pathology" and "unfitness".
It seems that I have under-estimated the power of fear in compromising principles.
I’m dreaming of the day when you analyze the dangerousness of Elon Musk too. He will outlive Trump and he scares me. I read his biography and by 2022 he admitted to likely Asperger’s and bipolar disorder but that is not going to explain his destruction and greed. And what are his real plans?
Thank you for this excellent article.
I was decluttering today and came across a paper by A.H. Maslow, “Politics 3” SRI Project6747, March 1971. Edited by Robert E. Kantor, Ph.D. Educational Policy Research Center Standford Research institute, Menlo Park, California. It’s a compilation of his and others work on his study of good people and
Good organizations? One concept that struck me again was Eupsychian values and Personal Freedom. In my studies of spirituality in business management in 1998 for my master’s degree, I came across this paper and have had it amongst my reference sources. It was like finding an old friend and speaks to many of Dr. Lee’s themes of the issues we face and a proposal for a solution.
In recent column, Paul Krugman tries to delve into reason for Trump's policy towards Canada. There is no rational explanation and reason for Trump's policy towards Canada. Krugman concludes that Trump is driven by hatred towards Canada because Canada is a nice and decent country. I would add that Canada is an exponent of a decent FUNCTIONAL & HEALTHY democracy. This Trump just cannot tolerate.
Here i recall your book on Violence. A psychopath has no life and creativity within him, hence he is driven to destroy all life & creativity in the world. This, we are seeing at a state policy level as Trump's psychopathic traits are reflected in his international policy. You will see that Trump attacking anything and everything which is decent, beautiful, creative, competent and moral.
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/trump-hates-canada-for-its-decency
Sun Tzu’s The Art of War provides timeless strategic wisdom that could be applied to resisting a hostile government takeover. His principles emphasize intelligence, adaptability, indirect engagement, and the importance of securing public support. Here’s how his advice might be applied to a modern resistance strategy:
1. Know Your Enemy and Yourself
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
• Understand the ideology, tactics, and organizational structure of those seeking to take over the government.
• Conduct deep research into their policies, alliances, weaknesses, and points of friction.
• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the resistance, including its resources, public support, and communication channels.
2. Win Without Fighting
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
• Resistance should focus on legal, economic, and social pressure rather than direct confrontation.
• Mobilize mass awareness campaigns to weaken public support for the takeover.
• Use institutions, courts, and existing democratic structures to counter authoritarian moves.
3. Control the Narrative
“All warfare is based on deception.”
• Frame the resistance as the true defender of democratic values and stability.
• Expose corruption, contradictions, and incompetence in the hostile takeover.
• Use social media, journalism, and cultural influencers to control public perception.
4. Divide the Opponent
“When you are strong, appear weak. When you are weak, appear strong.”
• Exploit divisions within the opposition—highlight conflicts between corporate, political, and grassroots factions.
• Build coalitions with defectors, moderates, and those who may sympathize with resistance goals.
• Isolate key figures by creating internal mistrust and fractures.
5. Use Guerrilla Tactics
“Move swift as the wind and closely formed as the wood. Attack like fire and be still as the mountain.”
• Decentralize resistance efforts so there is no single point of failure.
• Use nonviolent protests, work slowdowns, and bureaucratic obstruction to hinder hostile policies.
• Adapt quickly to changing conditions—if one tactic is countered, shift to another.
6. Secure Key Resources
“He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.”
• Control financial, technological, and logistical resources that could be leveraged in a takeover.
• Encourage businesses, unions, and local governments to resist and refuse compliance.
• Develop independent communication networks to counter state-controlled narratives.
7. Avoid Unnecessary Conflict
“To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”
• Do not engage in direct physical conflict unless absolutely necessary.
• Outmaneuver rather than outgun—legal challenges, economic disruption, and civil disobedience are powerful tools.
• Prioritize long-term stability over short-term symbolic victories.
8. Prepare for a Long Struggle
“Do not rely on the enemy not coming, but on our readiness to receive him.”
• Build resilience through sustained organization and training.
• Educate and empower local communities to be self-sufficient and resistant to centralized control.
• Have contingency plans for worst-case scenarios, ensuring survival and continuity of the resistance.
Final Thought
Sun Tzu would likely advise a resistance movement to be patient, methodical, and adaptable—fighting not with brute force but with intelligence, strategy, and the power of the people. Victory comes not just from opposing a takeover but from building a stronger, more united alternative that renders authoritarian control ineffective.