OLIGARCHS UNMASKED: THE WOUND BEHIND THE THRONE
By Janet Kira Lessin and Dr. Sasha Alex Lessin, with Minerva
They walk in suits, fly in private jets, and hold the fate of millions in their hands. But behind the golden curtains of boardrooms and palaces lie wounds—raw, festering, and hidden from public view. Today’s oligarchs may appear invincible, but many are ruled not by wisdom but by unhealed childhood trauma, unchecked addiction, and ancestral hunger for domination. The result? A planet on the brink, held hostage by the psychology of the wounded rich.
The Common Denominator: Emotional Damage Disguised as Power
Take Donald Trump, whose niece, Mary Trump, a clinical psychologist, has spoken openly about the emotional abuse, neglect, and pressure to win at all costs that shaped his psyche. Her analysis shows a deeply wounded man unable to regulate emotion, obsessed with control, and terrified of weakness.
Is he alone? Far from it. Our recent chart compared 30 global figures of immense influence across traits like addiction, early trauma, narcissistic patterns, and destructive impact. From Hitler to Stalin, Musk to Putin, patterns emerge:
- Alcoholism and substance abuse are common
- Childhoods filled with neglect, violence, or control
- Obsession with legacy, empire, and immortality
These are not merely personal pathologies—they are public dangers. The inner trauma of a king can become the suffering of entire nations.
The Modern Empire Builders: Tech, Oil, and Beyond
Elon Musk, for example, reportedly suffered intense bullying in his youth. Today, he rules multiple industries, has erratic sleep and social patterns, and swings between innovation and chaos. His bid to colonize Mars, implant chips in human brains, and control digital communication evokes echoes of Marduk, not Prometheus.
Dick Cheney, master of the Iraq war machine, once struggled with alcohol and has been described as cold and calculating. Like many oligarchs, his legacy is built on power-through-fear, secrecy, and control, not empathy or justice.
These are not outliers. They are archetypes.
Greed as a Symptom, Not a Sin
In psychological terms, compulsive hoarding is classified as a mental illness. When applied to money, land, or control, why should it be seen any differently? Greed is not strength. It’s a survival reflex trapped in a feedback loop—more is never enough, because the wound is never healed.
Unchecked, this wound metastasizes. It breeds authoritarianism. It sacrifices the planet to maintain an illusion. It silences dissent through digital manipulation and economic terror.
Breaking the Spell: Consciousness Is Contagious
Yet something is shifting. As whistleblowers, investigative journalists, and awakened citizens shine light on the psychology of power, the invincibility cloak begins to shred. We are starting to see the king’s nakedness.
Healing requires recognition. Recognition requires courage. Courage demands we name the pattern: wounded rulers replicating dominator trauma on a planetary scale.
But we also see signs of change—oligarchs who turned. We’ll explore them next.
Facebook intro: What if the world’s most powerful people were just the most wounded? This deep dive into the psychology of oligarchs exposes the trauma behind tyranny.
X (Twitter) intro: Greed isn’t power. It’s a wound. Our latest article explores the trauma behind today’s oligarchs—Trump, Musk, Putin, and beyond. #Oligarchy #PowerAndTrauma #PoliticalPsychology
Tags: oligarchs, authoritarianism, political psychology, childhood trauma, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, addiction and power, greed, hoarding, narcissism, Mary Trump, Dick Cheney, sociopolitical trauma, planetary healing
References:
- Mary Trump, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man
- Naomi Klein, Doppelganger
- Bandy X. Lee, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump
- Gabor Maté, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts and The Myth of Normal
- Reports on oligarch addiction/psychological profiles via Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and The Guardian
- Sasha Lessin, Ph.D., private research notes on oligarch archetypes and Sumerian echoes
