Throughout approximately three thousand years of ancient Egyptian\nhistory, roughly one hundred and eighty rulers carried the title\n\u201cPharaoh.\u201d Thus \u201cPharaoh\u201d was not a personal name but a political\nposition\u2014a kind of permanent president, albeit one with a golden crown,\npyramids as national monuments, and forced labour as a development\nprogramme.<\/p>\n
The Qur\u2019an mentions the word \u201cPharaoh\u201d approximately seventy-four\ntimes. This frequency is excessive if merely recounting ancient Egyptian\nhistory, without acknowledging how lengthy that history was\u2014stretching\nacross thirty centuries. Imagine: thirty centuries. The clear\nimplication is that the scripture intended not merely to describe a\nhistorical figure, but to illustrate a pattern of power that transcends\neras.<\/p>\n
Sometimes the Pharaoh appeared wearing a golden crown. Sometimes in\nmilitary uniform. And sometimes\u2014in the modern political world\u2014he appears\nin an expensive suit, at a campaign podium, and under television\nspotlights. In short: the Pharaoh does not always wear a crown. He\nmerely changes his clothes, including metaphorically.<\/p>\n
The Pharaoh is a symbol of power transformed into political\nnarcissism. In the story of Moses recounted in the Qur\u2019an, he is\ndepicted as a ruler incapable of accepting limits. When Moses arrived\nbearing a message of truth, the Pharaoh\u2019s response was not reflection\nbut escalation. Criticism was deemed rebellion. Facts were deemed\nthreats. Power had to be maintained by any means necessary.<\/p>\n
This pattern, it turns out, did not end in antiquity. A writer named\nRichard Diamond attempted to reread the Pharaoh narrative in the context\nof modern politics. Diamond is a former technology executive who now\nwrites about Jewish philosophy, public ethics, and political life.<\/p>\n
In his article in the Times of Israel titled \u201cThis Week, as Pharaoh\nReappears, It\u2019s Worth Naming Trump\u2019s Pathology,\u201d he invites readers to\nsee that the Pharaoh\u2019s leadership pattern can re-emerge in more\ncontemporary forms.<\/p>\n
Diamond is not crafting religious interpretation or cheap political\nallegory. He is simply doing something straightforward: recognising\npsychological patterns of power, particularly what he calls Trump\u2019s\npathology\u2014the psychological illness afflicting US President Donald\nTrump.<\/p>\n
According to his analysis, Trump\u2019s behaviour over many years\ndemonstrates a leadership structure remarkably similar to what\npsychology terms \u201cpathological narcissism.\u201d<\/p>\n
In everyday conversation, narcissism is often dismissed as mere\nexcessive self-confidence. We sometimes use it to describe friends who\nenjoy posting photographs of themselves on social media.<\/p>\n
However, in classical psychological study, narcissism is a\npersonality structure incapable of accepting limits. Social philosopher\nErich Fromm termed its extreme form \u201cmalignant narcissism\u201d\u2014a need always\nto be right, inability to accept authority outside oneself, and a\ntendency to destroy anything obstructing one\u2019s dominance.<\/p>\n
If this pattern of malignant narcissism is used to read Trump\u2019s\nbehaviour, many of his actions appear quite consistent. When he lost the\n2020 election, for instance, he did not accept the result as a political\nfact but as an affront that must be overturned.<\/p>\n
Dozens of courts across various states rejected his legal team\u2019s\nlawsuits, finding no evidence of significant fraud. Yet in the\nnarcissistic leadership pattern, defeat is not a political fact. Trump\nand his team viewed it as a wounded ego requiring retaliation as a\nhealing mechanism.<\/p>\n
Psychologist Heinz Kohut explained such reactions using the term\n\u201cnarcissistic rage.\u201d When a narcissist\u2019s enormous ego is wounded\u2014whether\nby criticism, defeat, or mockery\u2014the response is not introspection but\ncounterattack. Anger becomes a mechanism to restore dominance, which\nTrump has frequently directed at his political opponents.<\/p>\n
This explains why in Trump\u2019s political life, many figures have\nsuddenly become enemies. Critical media is called the \u201cenemy of the\npeople.\u201d Judges making contrary decisions are attacked openly. Even\ngovernment officials attempting to preserve constitutional procedures\nhave often become targets of his assault.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/trump-in-pharaohs-clothing-1773482046", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }