2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Bernie Sanders thrills huge Boston crowd with call to fight racism and reform gun law [View all]Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)I have read studies where sociopaths gravitate to positions of power.
When individuals with a great deal of power make decisions that place the acquisition of money (unneeded and excessive to the point of hoarding behavior) above the well being and even the lives of fellow human beings; one could see such behavior as a clinical lack of empathy. If acquiring excessive amounts of unneeded money, by any means - lying, cheating, stealing, or manipulations of power and the powerful while knowing that in the process others will suffer and die as a result yet feeling no regret or sympathy for those that suffer and die for the sake of amassing such wealth (that is merely hoarded), I would say that is dangerous sociopathic behavior.
That mind frame permeates Wall Street and most corporations. So yes. Each individual responsible would have to be diagnosed individually, but there is a case to be made that mental illness is a large factor in play in the corporate excesses of the 21st century and the politicians that encourage such behavior that is damaging to so many humans without remorse or guilt all to acquire millions more than those people could ever hope to spend let alone need to survive are showing signs of potential sociopathy as well.