In 1979, Christopher Lasch published the epochal The Culture of Narcissism warning of the normalizing of narcissism in our society. Lasch may have understated it. 35 years later, in the Obama era with its parade of endless, often inexplicable, scandals we have a full blown epidemic of what has recently been called Moral Narcissism.
Forget Narcissus and his reflection, Moral Narcissism the almost schizophrenic divide between intentions and results now pervading our culture is the new method for feeling good about yourself. It no longer matters how anything turns out as long as your intentions were good, that you were moral. And, just as importantly, the only determinant of those intentions, the only one who defines that morality, is you.
I Know Best goes beyond Lasch to lay bare how this moral narcissism is behind all those scandals from Obamacare to the Veteran's Administration to the IRS, Benghazi, Bergdahl, Syria and beyond. Everything the Obama administration did and does was about making them feel good about themselves, the results be damned.
And they have as their allies those supreme moral narcissists in the academy, media and Hollywood, ever willing to ratify those good intentions and ignore those same results.
But I Know Best is not just about the Left. Moral Narcissism affects the right as well, even when they don't realize it. It is a true epidemic that must be cured in order to save our democratic republic and our futures.
Do you want to know who is largely responsible for the decline of America in the last half century? And do you want to know why? Roger Simon has written the answer in an original and significant book. He may have even coined a term that will become part of the American lexicon: Moral Narcissism. Few will agree with everything he has written. But so what? He forces you to thinknot just feel. This is precisely what we need.
Dennis Prager, nationally syndicated talk radio host, columnist, and New York Timesbestselling author
Roger L. Simon's riveting I Know Best fires a bullet into the heart of political correctness. In his inimitable style, he exposes the insufferable Moral Narcissism that is tearing our society apart.
David Limbaugh, political commentator and author of The Emmaus Code
The race card players and hustlers don't want a color-blind society, they want a color coordinated one as long as they do the coordinating. Roger's book offers a welcome and needed perspective on the game that hurts the very people these leftists-hustlers claim to care about.
Larry Elder, national talk show host with the Salem Radio Network and author of What's Race Got to Do with It?
Simon perceptively shows how elite self-regard drives today's destructive race politics, among other contemporary pathologies. His fresh analysis of President Barack Obama's response to the Trayvon Martin case was a revelation.
Heather Mac Donald, Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute