An obscure utopian political ideology few people take seriously is direct democracy, citizens assembling to decide things for themselves rather than electing and paying state representatives to do it for them. There are various forms such as libertarian municipalism proposed by Social Ecologists seeking an ecologically sustainable and egalitarian society, free of domination of both humans and nature. Everyone would take part in making laws in their local communities which would be confederated in a global network. This would normally be in conjunction with maximum local economic self-reliance. This is sometimes considered eco-anarchism or green-anarchism (1, 2) , little more than something harmless and exotic for idealistic bookworms.
Most people would dismiss this as utopian fantasy given the ugly mess that is at least half of human nature and history so far. Until recently I would have agreed, scientists have clearly established all primates have instincts for domination and humans are definitely no exception (3). This instinct for domination is probably the main reason revolutionary attempts to bring about equality have been utterly catastrophic.
Recently however a branch of psychotherapy called mentalizing has been developed that appears to offer a way out of most of not all of the instinctive psychology of domination. Mentalizing therapy has reportedly been effective in treating personality disorders (4) and shows promise in the treatment of Asperger's syndrome (5). Certain personality disorders such as narcissism and psychopathy, account for most of the domineering behavior in society and many people in powerful positions possess these instinct based* disorders ( 6) (called "disorders" because they violate the "prosocial" norms that make civilized society possible, they might be "healthy" in wild animals). Both narcissists and psychopaths tend to view people more as objects to be used or discarded, than beings having thoughts and feelings to be respected (not just other people, they may see themselves in physical terms and insight into their own thoughts and feelings may be weak or non-existent.) Asperger's, sharing this tendency to treat people as objects, though less maliciously, is also implicated in domination. It is believed many CEOs are Asperger's, corporations and their stellar products, such as computers or cars, might even be impossible or much more difficult without this "gift" for assembling people like objects or parts of a machine (there also might not be an environmental crisis or so much servitude in work).
Personality disorders also abound in criminals, who take dominance too far to become alphas in society, making the state, police and prisons absolutely essential in order to deal with them.
Mentalizing is "a focus on mental states in oneself and in others, especially in connection with the explanation of behavior" (7). I find it hard to believe something that sounds so simple could work but apparently this tendency is dysfunctional, weak or absent in people with personality disorders and all of us when we are very emotional. Seeing someone, including oneself, as an object, is contrary to mentalizing. Practitioners of mentalizing are quick to point out it is far from simple or easy in practice to get someone with a personality disorder to metalize and takes months or years of therapy.
Mentalizing therapy is an incubator for mentalizing, as children we learn to mentalize from an adult caregiver mentalizing about us, usually the mother so far in history. People with personality disorders can reportedly learn to mentalize largely in the same way in a well managed therapy group, provided they do not drop out, which is common (8). It is believed mentalizing is mostly a human cultural invention (absent in other animals including other primates) that must be learned (9) unlike the universal instincts for domination and deference.
It has been said that people with personality disorders are immature (10) if this is true mentalization therapy may be a from of "child" rearing of people who were not socialized properly due to abusive, indulgent, laissez fare or negligent upbringings or perhaps excessive instinctive drives.
What if community scale political gatherings could be developed to become supportive, therapeutic incubators for mentalizing in the same way, rather than the brutal arenas for mindless domination political gatherings usually are at present. What if people with domineering tenancies could be "healed" or brought into civilization through such meetings through other members, perhaps including qualified therapists, utilizing the sophisticated techniques of mentalizing therapy. That could be the "price" of political participation and being able to shape your community and society, you be prepared to develop a mature personality.
It is not hard to think of problems with this, small scale experimentation and research would clearly be wise before considering attempts at widespread implementation. We would still need to ask do we really want an egalitarian society, would it really be better overall? It has for instance been suggested a world without personality disorders would be "less stressful but deadly dull" **(10). But this is the first thing I've ever seen that makes equality a realistic possibility in the face of our powerful instincts for dominance and deference*** (11).
At present we are increasingly laissez-fare when it comes to personality, you can have whatever personality you want, no matter how feral. This could be mistaken for greater freedom but people with personality disorders lack genuine self control and their behavior diminishes the choices of those around them.
Perhaps one day our personalities will not be left to chance, we may be able to choose to sculpt them with the same sophistication and high standards we currently reserve for technology. Maybe then we could finally start creating a truly free civilized society.
Note: This argument is based on my non-professional interpretation of mentalizing, I hope I have not overestimated its potential.
References.
1) The Impossible Community. Realizing Communitarian Anarchism. John P Clark. 2013.
2) The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy. Murray Bookchin. 1982.
3) Our Inner Ape. Franz de Waal. 2005.
4) Mentalization-based treatment for personality disorders. A Practical Guide. Anthony Bateman. Peter Fonagy. Oxford. 2016.
5) Mentalization-Based Treatment in Groups for Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Katharina Kramer et al. Frontiers. 2021.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.708557/full.
6) On Narcissism, Evolution and Group Dynamics. Sigmund Karterud. Group Analysis 43(3), pg 301-310
* Ref 6 covers strong similarity between narcissistic personality disorder in humans and alpha male behavior in chimpanzees. Ref 10 says psychopaths are more in touch with their animal instincts.
7) The Mentalizing Guidebook. Janne Oestergaard Hagelquist 2015
8) Avoidant and Narcissistic Personality Disorders. S. Simonsen, S Euler. Handbook of Mentalizing in Mental Health Practice. Second Edition. 2019.
9) Mentalization-based Group Therapy (MBT-G) A theoretical, clinical and research manual. Sigmund Karterud. 2015.
10) Emotional Vampires. Dealing With People Who Drain You Dry. A Bernstein. 2000.
** "In addition to being pains in the neck," (some) "Emotional Vampires" (people with personality disorders) "are artists, heroes and leaders. Because of their immaturity they can do things we can't. The forces of darkness always swirl at the edges of creativity and great deeds. A world without vampires would be less stressful, but deadly dull" (p12).
11) Biosociology of Dominance and Deference. Alan Mazer. 2005.
*** I have not attempted to go into the instinct for deference much in this thesis, without which the instinct for dominance would not get far. I may try to go into that some other time.
