I Know Best. Roger L. Simon

      © 2016 by Roger L. Simon

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Encounter Books, 900 Broadway, Suite 601, New York, New York, 10003.

      First American edition published in 2016 by Encounter Books, an activity of Encounter for Culture and Education, Inc., a nonprofit, tax exempt corporation.

      Encounter Books website address: www.encounterbooks.com

      The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).

      FIRST AMERICAN EDITION

      LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

      Names: Simon, Roger L. (Roger Lichtenberg), 1943– author.

      Title: I know best: how moral narcissism is destroying our republic, if it hasn’t already / Roger L. Simon.

      Description: New York: Encounter Books, [2016]

      Identifiers: LCCN 2015028553 | ISBN 9781594038068 (ebook)

      Subjects: LCSH: Political culture—United States. | Political psychology—United States. | United States—Moral conditions. | United States—Politics and government—2009–

      Classification: LCC JK1726 .S56 2016 | DDC 306.20973—dc23

      LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015028553

       Interior page design and composition by: BooksByBruce.com

       There’s nothing so bad for a woman as a man who thinks he’s good.

      —Oscar Hammerstein

      AN ANNOTATED TABLE OF CONTENTS

I

      Why This?

       In which the author explains why he’s bothering—once again—to examine why half of America doesn’t talk to the other half and why neither side changes its opinion about anything almost ever.

II

      What the Least Great Generation Hath Wrought

       Why the author’s generation, those born during and just before World War II, like John Lennon, Gloria Steinem, and imitators like Bill Clinton (not the boomers), are responsible for just about everything that has gone wrong with our culture and are the original, postwar “moral narcissists.”

III

      Qu’est-ce Que C’est “Moral Narcissism”?

       What exactly is this form of narcissism that is destroying—if it hasn’t already destroyed—our families, friendships, workplace atmosphere, and democratic republic?

IV

      Who Was the King of All Moral Narcissists?

       Jeopardy question: “bearded writers.” He wrote his most famous works in the library of the British Museum.

V

      Good versus Bad Narcissism: Henrik Ibsen versus Jonathan Gruber

      Which works better and will last longer—A Doll’s House or Obamacare?

VI

      The Weather

       Grandmother always said, “In polite society, when you don’t know people, just talk about something neutral, like the weather.” That was then, this is now.

VII

      For the Birds

       Rachel Carson and how “environmentalism” came to replace Christianity, Judaism, and even Hare Krishna (well, not so much) as our new religion.

VIII

      Wonderful Copenhagen

       What I discovered to be the true motivations behind the snowbound UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

IX

      Nostalgia for Racism

       How and why moral narcissism helped bring back racism and the disastrous racial violence across America at the very time it was starting to diminish.

      X

      Booker T. Washington Really Did Know Best

       The great African American educator knew long ago that the Sharptons of the world were the real racists.

      XI

      Selfies from Raqqa

       How moral narcissists fight the War on Terror to lose.

      XII

      Islam Denialism

       If you think all religions are equal, you can skip this chapter.

      XIII

      The Moral Narcissist Sleep Room

      Oh, les beaux jours when we were all at the barricades, pulling up the pavement in Paris!

      XIV

      Nostalgia for Marxism

       “I want a revolution where everyone can drink cappuccino at the Café Royal.”—Daniel Cohn-Bendit of the Nanterre Six, during the Paris “events” of May 1968.

      XV

      Luxurious Leftism

       The irresistible rise of the “red bourgeoisie.”

      XVI

      Anatomy of the American Nomemklatura

       And why it’s stronger and more pervasive than even the Soviet original.

      XVII

      The Media Is the (Moral Narcissist’s)