Why psychopaths are more successful.

[hardnox]

We live in a laboratory for economic and psychological observation.

The Last Man's Club that farming became selected heavily for those traits.

[hardnox]

A bit of a leap here, but anyway.

I'd gone on the net to satisfy my curiosity about the recent bankroptcy disposition of a very, very large farm operation.

By chance I'd happened to have met the guy before but at the time I was like everybody else- given the timing of his big move I'd assumed that he was golden.  But anyway, my personal take on him was, as we like to say in Indiana, "he's not quite right."

Venturing a bit farther afield, MSB and I had some conversations about the legendary late Eugene Smith from Lebanon, IN, who was on the front page of the WSJ with his 15,000 acres around 1980. After being liquidated he just kept rolling and ran for Congress, ended up owning several thousand acres in SW Indiana.

Eugene was actually a very brilliant fellow but I would venture to say would have racked up pretty good points on the sociopathy scale.

[hardnox]

BTW, it seems like the appointed role for most of us (assumed non-BTOs) have a scripted role to play where we are part of the good rural folk who deserve government support. Even though we only get a small, and declining portion of it, it is apprently good enough for us.

[Milligan Hay - Iowa d:^)]

There is a cure for that.....Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

[NewAgJudge]

You think thats funny ? Its pretty F'n sick.

And btw, str8 people get it too,and more often now.

[Milligan Hay - Iowa d:^)]

"F'n" is how you GET sick! 😞

Happy Trails.

[hardnox]

You're going to have to go sit in the time out corner with Don.

[hardnox]

BTW, it probably is true that there is a higher percentage of socio/psychopathic personalities in certain occupations- like CEOs or surgeons, than in the public at large but the majority of people in those jobs are still more or less normal on that scale.

True of big croppers as well, I'm sure. A lot of is just a high degree of adaptation to a very competitive culture.

But a bad minority can still drive a lot of other people to equally bad behavior.

I'm reminded of the very real question that is discussed here and at other farm boards from time to time " do I talk to the widow at the funeral or wait?" or some variation thereof.

The concensus on that always emerges in that discussion is based in reality. You really shouldn't talk to the widow at the funeral but you can bet somebody will. So you just have to make your best read on the situation.

[BA Deere]

It is hard when you`re in competition with other psychopaths to not take on a mild form of psychopathism yourself  🙂   Those without conscience as far as not caring if one takes down the local coop (hedge-to-arrive)  or the local bank (80`s farm debt write-off) only see "failures" as just a speedbump to wherever it is that they think they`re going.

To this day, when the Wife is doing the stack of bills we have sometimes, I always say "Pay off local people first, in the worse case I don`t want to take down friends....Master Card and Visa...Meh  🙂 "

A while back there were cases of widows selling their farm on the cheap to a Big Wheeler that promised, "sell cheap to me and you can stay in your house as loooooong as you want."  The minute the ink got dried on the sale, either cattle were grazed on her front lawn or the Bigshot would tell her right out "Get out!", then promptly the Bigshot`s kid or hiredman would take up residence in the widows`s home.  That`s a little too high of a cost to me.

[gough whitlam]

Milligan Hay - Iowa d:^) Veteran Advisor
9:02 AM
"F'n" is how you GET sick!

Whoopee. You have finally found something positive in your life.