There’s an old saying that if you’re not a leftist before the age of 30 then you have no heart, and if you’re not a conservative after the age of 30 then you have no brain. But are leftists really big-hearted? Does the worldview of leftism really make it rational for the leftist to sacrifice their own interests in order to produce good results for other people? Or is there something else going on?

A new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Current Psychology was reported in the New York Post:

Left-wing extremism is linked to toxic, psychopathic tendencies and narcissism, according to a new study published to the peer-reviewed journal Current Psychology.

“Based on existing research, we expected individuals with higher levels of left-wing authoritarianism to also report higher levels of narcissism,” the authors wrote.

As result of the new data, study authors Ann Krispenz and Alex Bertrams have coined a new term for such psychological behavior: the “dark-ego-vehicle principle.”

“According to this principle, individuals with dark personalities — such as high narcissistic and psychopathic traits — are attracted to certain forms of political and social activism which they can use as a vehicle to satisfy their own ego-focused needs instead of actually aiming at social justice and equality,” they told PsyPost.

Advocating for left-wing activism isn’t being done to get results – it’s just being done for personal gain:

“In particular, certain forms of activism might provide them with opportunities for positive self-presentation and displays of moral superiority, to gain social status, to dominate others, and to engage in social conflicts and aggression to satisfy their need for thrill seeking.”

[…]Beyond using any means necessary, people of privileged backgrounds who are aligned with LWA often use their narcissism to make activism solely about themselves instead of achieving social equality for struggling groups.

[…]“As grandiose narcissists typically desire fame, distinction, elevated social status and high social importance, they can be assumed to strive for influential positions that involve social visibility and outreach as well as access to financial and other resources.”

Leftists aren’t trying to comply with an objective standard of morality that exists independent of their own desires. For leftists, morality is just a set of social conventions. They shout their allegiance to social conventions, and advocate for trendy causes with Instagram posts, Facebook shares, and bumper stickers. That’s why the BLM leaders only gave 33% of the donations they collected to charities to advance BLM goals. The rest they kept in order to buy things like million-dollar mansions and other luxuries. They say one thing to make people like them, then they do something else. And their actions are for their benefit, not any victim group. This is the morality of atheism. Do what’s best for you, but paint a picture of yourself as virtuous so people think you’re not self-centered.

One issue where the left is hypocritical is on gun ownership vs gun banning. The same leftists who advocate for gun bans often have private security or bodyguards. They want to tell you how they oppose gun violence, but they want armed people to protect them. Their families need to be protected by guns, just not your family.

Leftists are also hypocritical about race. If you’re a black person and you blame your problems on white people, they love you. But if you’re a black person, and you think that people succeed or fail based on hard work and good decisions, then they hate you. There is no racial hatred like the racial hatred that a white leftist has against black conservatives.

Remember when Democrats were all rushing around warning people to wear masks and stay inside? But they we found out that all the biggest mouths on the left were going to parties and baseball games and hair salons in private, breaking their own rules. The same things happens on climate change. The people who talk the loudest about it are the same ones flying around on private jets.

Democrat politicians are always talking about making the rich “pay their fair share”, but if you look at their rates of charitable giving, it’s lower than the average American. Sometimes much lower. Again, the talk says one thing, but the actions say something else. Because their goal is to be evil, but paint a picture of themselves as good.

I think it’s important for people to understand that loud advocacy for left-wing policies can often be a sign of mental illness. People who want to produce good results are not typically in front of cameras shouting out their virtue. But you’ll have to look far and wide to find a leftist who achieves a good result for someone else at their own expense.