From the foreword :

“ How did Communist ideologues manage to convince the

masses that they undertook their crimes for “the workers,” or “the

people,” or egalitarianism? But even more perplexing, how did the

ideologues convince themselves that their crimes were for the good of the common “man? Łobaczewski explains that totalitarian ideology operate on two levels; the terms of the original ideology are taken at face value by true believers, while the party insiders substitute secondary meanings for the same terms, and normal people are subjected to gaslighting. Only the cognoscenti, the psychopaths, know and understand the secondary meanings. They recognize that actions

purportedly undertaken on behalf of “the workers” translate into the

domination of the party and state on behalf of the psychopaths

themselves. The truth is the opposite of what the party insiders

claim to be the case, and they know it. Political Ponerology thus

explains the origin of “doublespeak,” which Orwell portrays so

well. Coincidentally, Łobaczewski finished Political Ponerology in

1984.”

Excerpt from

Political Ponerology: The Science of Evil, Psychopathy, and the Origins of Totalitarianism

Andrew Lobaczewski