Sociopathic Society: A People's Sociology of the United States

by Charles Derber

Charles Derber introduces and vividly explains the idea of a sociopathic society and why the idea has become necessary to understand today s world.Sociopathic society is rooted in governments and economies, not psychiatry. The book offers a new sociology of societies organized around antisocial values, which ultimately lead to societal and planetary self-destruction. Most of the sociopathic behaviors are perfectly legal and are perpetrated by governments, financial institutions, and corporate capitalism.Focusing on the United States, Derber connects the dots of Wall Street meltdown, guns and murder, uninhibited greed, the 1% and the 99%, a new crisis of unemployable surplus people, Hurricane Sandy and global warming, cheating scandals, and more including the war on democracy itself.Although the book brings together a breathtaking set of stories of a system run wild, it also offers hope, showing pathways for confronting and avoiding the many ways a society can commit sociocide. FEATURES OF THE BOOK"

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction, Politics, Social Science

320 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

Charles Derber is Professor of Sociology at Boston College and has written 17 books - on politics, economy, capitalism, war, the culture wars, culture and conversation, and social change. He writes for and has been reviewed in the NY Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Truthout, and other leading media. His books are translated into Chinese, Korean, Tamil, German and Polish- and he is a bestseller in South Korea, done extended book tours in German bookstores and blues coffee houses, and has lectured in Italy in June for seven years. Derber is a public intellectual who believes that serious ideas should be written in an accessible and entertaining style.His most recent book is Sociopathic Society: A People's Sociology of the United States. He is also a life-long social justice activist and a terrific public speaker - so contact him and try to lure him to a public talk. Check out his Youtube presentations. He is married and has a beautiful Wheaten Terrier dog named Mojo, who lives up to his name.

Reviews

[Randall Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charles Derber points out that sociopaths act true to our corporate culture and therein lies a deep problem for America. Since our corporations themselves act as sociopaths by construct (for many reasons - see Joel Bakan’s The Corporation), is it any wonder that sociopaths (like Dick Cheney – see Martha Stout’s The Sociopath Next Door) are often becoming respected American leaders and celebrities. It seems more and more people around us don’t seem to care for others or their fate, which leads to Charles pointing at clues that we are becoming a sociopathic society ruled by sociopaths creating benefits or loopholes just for the morally challenged. This is a wonderful book, however I believe Charles’s earlier book Morality Wars is better – in fact it is almost the same subject. It’s hard to imagine a more important topic. While we Americans are trying to peaceably live our lives, other people who we at first don’t see as criminal, are trying to screw up not only our lives, but the lives of those around us. There is something wrong with them, but how to put a finger on it? Perhaps they believe in Charles’s “immoral morality” or perhaps they have a strong sociopathic, narcissistic, borderline, or anti-social component? If this planet is racing toward extinction, towards cutting the last tree down for the last box of Kleenex, then thank the legions of sociopathic plus individuals who freely roam the corridors of power without ever triggering a single security alarm. The press won’t talk about them - as you know few will. That’s the problem. And hence this book.

Pearls Inside:
We only got out of the depression through war and our elites believe we must stay in war mode, morals be damned, for the economy, and so, to continue war, the public must be lied too. By branding American infrastructure as socialism, corporations can shirk their duty to sustaining it to help America survive. When a conservative tells you that welfare is wrong and only creates dependency, tell him you know because everyone knows that capitalism is state welfare for corporations, and look how dependent and immoral they have become. ☺ Then tell him to drive without using a government paid for road. I love Charles’s notion of looking at the American people being the real checks and balances in our government – don’t see it as the three branches alone balancing things. Unions are under attack – the real reason? Unions and governments are national, only corporations are international and can threaten movement of capital instantly in the race to the bottom led by sociopaths and those who place profit above a living planet. Buy this book and read it. There are so many important comments that I don’t want to hand them all to you. Until the 20’s most Americans made most of their stuff by themselves, great for everyone but where is the profit for business? Corporations and Edward Bernays stepped in et voila, catalogs appeared with advertisements making people feel insecure and behind the times about continuing the handmade stuff seen as less the perfect. Freedom suddenly became only the freedom to consume and few noticed. Consuming replaced citizenship, and now days try to get any friend to a rally whatever the cause and you will see the inertia that has claimed the nation that was once of and by and for the people.

Noam Chomsky loves and Howard Zinn loved the work of Charles Derber. Charles has written a lot of great books too, so get a copy of one and read it.

The future of this country and the planet is for me the most important topic. Mankind has never been threatened before like this with the four harbingers of doom joining together – Increasing Inequality, Climate Change, Peak Oil, and Resource Depletion. Now is a pretty good time to read about where we are headed since it is clear that corporations intend to continue as usual until the entire system collapses. Ah, the price of not externalizing costs as you go along. –Sigh-

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.*

In the conclusion of this book, Charles Derber notes that he often warns his college classes that they may require a "large dose of Prozac" by the semester's end. After reading this, I can see why. Derber's explanation of American society - indeed, global society - and its sociopaths habits left me in despair, disillusion, and seriously depressed with the state of the world today.

That being said, this book was absolutely brilliant. Traditionally, "sociopath" - practicing behaviors that benefit exclusively the self while causing harm to the greater community - is a label applied to individual, but Derber expertly explains how this tendencies are actually practiced in society as a whole. From our views on gun control to our economic policies to the unwillingness to fully invest in green practices, Derber breaks down how the very system of current capitalism is hurtling us down a road that will eventually lead to destruction.

Derber's book rang to true to me because all of his explanations were directly applied to the things I, as a recent college graduate, worry about: underemployment, the fact rapidly advancing technology is rendering jobs obsolete the growing gap between the rich and poor, the fact politicians are controlled by corporations. He fully examines, not just present America, but the country's entire history, breaking down the different "regimes" and wars that got us to our current viewpoint and analyzing why society has allowed such practices to continue. This book not only explains our currently position but is able to lay out, step by step, how we got here - crucial to understand the situation and what to do about it.

My favorite chapter was Derber's exploration of sociopath tendencies in individual conversations. He notes practices in which individuals, time and time again, turn the conversation to their own pursuits and interests, making everything about themselves and doing it in a way that has come to be socially accepted. Reading it was like a light bulb going off - I was suddenly able to articulate why some acquaintances seem so selfish even when they're friendly and helpful, and even note this behavior in my own life. Derber points out the behaviors in each of us that contribute to this larger problem of sociopath structures.

One flaw: Derber sets out his thesis in the first chapter and then proceeds to offer up example after example, but it sometimes borders on merely a rant on these various issues, as he often fails to explain why said examples prove the idea that society is sociopathic. As a reader, I didn't struggle to make the connections for myself, but it would have been nice to keep the larger thesis tied together. At points, I did get a little weary with the anti-capitalism rants without anything bringing them back to the larger idea.

Although depressing, Derber does wrap up the book with ways individuals can work to change society and examples of why we have reason to be hopeful.

Four and a half stars. Read this to shake up your worldview, and then tell all your friends to read as well.

[Betsy Hover · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from Goodreads Giveaways!

An excellent, eye-opener, this book is about the current status of our social and political affairs in the United States. The author, Charles Derber, connects the dots of Wall Street meltdown, Guns/Murder, a new crisis of Unemployable, Global warming, and the War on Democracy.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

strong point is acknowledging the issues with decentralized internet oriented 'politics' earlier than many in the US