Predators require protectors to flourish

Anne Manne said that.  “Predators require protectors to flourish.”  A certain niece has said the same sort of thing about a very famous uncle of hers: “Too many people have enabled him.”  Very simply put, predators and narcissists require protectors and enablers to flourish.  They insist on flourishing.  They demand support.  They root out those who will consent to their demands.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” said Edmund Burke.  Good men?  Hardly a good man does that, even if they seem ‘good’ by letting evil walk.  Good man or accessory-after-the-fact?  There is so much in the Edmund Burke quote that speaks the truth about a fashion of life that gets many people down.  It is as sure as there is light in a day.  Manipulators will have their way!

Behind every predator that gets away with it, is a protector that the predator has groomed for the task of protection.  Behind every narcissist is the enabler (or enablers, plural, especially in the case of clever narcissists), and how sad it is that at times it’s the victim of the narcissist’s cruelty, who, by their inability to hold them to account, continues to pay the price.  Just as sad as it is to see, it is maddening to watch.  Yet, just as much, there are people who watch on, knowing it’s criminal, and yet they turn a blind eye when they could defend.

Evil will always have its way unless it finds a match, and by a match I mean something that will either stand effectively against it, or it’s a witness who will gather a clinical weight of evidence for the trial.  Therein lies the threat of a cost, or of the temerity to face the tyrant with a smile.  It is a risky business.  Resistance doesn’t always pay, and that’s part of the allure of keeping the peace, yet there’s a resistance that works a long game, and that’s a surer hope for success.

The fact is, most of the time with predators and narcissists nobody wins.  Everyone is a loser for the games they play with people’s lives.

Does this have a happy ending?  Only if, by our empathy, discernment, wisdom and courage, we protect our own against the protectors and enablers of predators and narcissists.  That’s the only way.  Save people from exposure to this human virulence.

Photo by Ray Hennessy on Unsplash