Wade Churchill; Have We Been Sucked in by a Narcissist?
By Scarlette McCallum Nakamura
Last week, Hawaii belonged
to Wade Churchill. His essay, which might have been dismissed as the ramblings
of a provocateur, stirred fury in many people.
For those of
us who have lived with one, worked with one, or who co-parent with one, the telltale signs of a narcissist in operation are
abundantly clear; their grandiosity, the frenzy around them, the distortion of information, the convoluted logic, the absence
of substantiation, their dubious background information, their lack of empathy, and especially the unconscionable pathologizing
of the victim.
As with any
person or collective who tries making sense of narcissist, the focus inevitably shifts from discussions about ideology (free
speech) and the plight of victims (the best interest of children), to being all about the narcissist.
Then, we become hyper-vigilant.
We do things like, write lots of letters, print caricatures and upload mp3 files, investigate bogus claims of heritage and
obsess about ways to catch him in the lie. All the while, we believe the substance
of our reaction is of consequence, yet to a character like Wade Churchill, it is the reaction in and of itself (and the subsequent
feeding of his grandiosity) that matters most. The narcissist enjoys all kinds
of attention.
Rather than
being sucked into the vortex of Wade Churchill’s exploitations, perhaps we should practice what psychologists describe
as self soothing; take a deep breath, stretch out, stifle a little yawn, and mutter, “Sure Wade, whatever you say”.
After that, thank
our lucky stars we aren’t raising children with this man.