Masks

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“You will learn at your expenses that in the long journey of your life you will meet many masks and few faces.”

The above phrase is by the Italian playwriter and novelist Luigi Pirandello, winner of the 1934 Nobel prize for literature in his novel: “One, Nobody and One Hundred Thousand.”

By masks he meant people who disguise their true character, intentions, purposes or ambitions with lies, false pretenses, devious tricks, deceptions and subterfuges of all sorts in order to manipulate, dominate, use, exploit and bully others. While by faces Pirandello meant those who are genuinely open, honest, well-meaning, helpful and transparent. 

The first group, that is the masks, include the psychopaths, sociopaths, narcissists, exploiters, pathological liars, demagogues, megalomaniacs and all the con people of this world. In other words, those shady people who use others with whatever evil mean that they can think of in order to use or abuse others, purposely to achieve their own ends, may be them selfishness, self-interests, greed for money and power, domination, bullying or other devious egocentric reasons. 

Many people have met or had to deal with them at some point in their lives and anybody who has can attest the immense damage, pain, traumas and suffering that such masked, two-faced people can cause to those that they choose as their victims and even ruin their entire lives.  

Often such masked people, do raise to high social jobs, where due to their influence and authority they can satisfy their urge or desire to dominate others. Due to their true character covering masks and manipulative ways of acting in life they can charm their way to the top of high jobs maybe them: politics, commerce, media, entertainment, religions, law and order, marketing or whatever.

An even worse scenario is when such people become heads of a country in which case due to their urge or ambition of total domination and insatiable lust for power, they start catastrophic  wars, or cruel repressions of those who object to their rule that end up with the killing or torturing of millions of people.

One can ask why do such people attain such powerful position?

“Those who start wars are not the ones who risk their lives in the battlefields.”

The reasons are that they are single minded in reaching their ambitions at all costs; they are skilled at manipulating and seducing the masses with hypocritical speeches and lies, they don’t care about people, they are immune to the sufferings of others as their only objective in life is the acquisition of power tp assert their ego and nothing else.

On the other hand, many people are easily seduced by them, as in their minds such tyrants embody power and strength and see them as their ideal leader who they admire to the point of veneration and whose actions and words are unquestionable and beyond reproach.

In history there have been many such sinister leaders worshipped by the masses, most often by the uneducated, gullible people, or those with extremist mindsets or tendencies. People like Adolph Hitler (Germany), Joseph Stalin (Russia), Francisco Franco (Spain), Idi Amin (Uganda), Augusto Pinochet, (Chile), Pol Pot Cambodia), Francois Duvalier (Haiti), Charles Taylor (Liberia), are some from a list of evil dictators that during their rules have instigated and caused the suffering and deaths of millions of people,

Once such evil bent people become dictators with absolute incontestable powers, they keep their position with an iron fist through a reign of terror over their citizens with the support of their brainwashed followers. 

One would think that after so many evil dictators, humanity would have learnt their lesson therefore such dire episodes wouldn’t happen again. Unfortunately, humans are the only animals that step more than twice on the same stone, moreover, unlike elephants, easily forget the past, that is why history keep repeating itself and why nowadays there are still such dictators in the world.

However, while such are extreme cases, unfortunately people with domineering, all controlling, intolerant and often arrogant mindsets can be found in every sector of human society from: workplaces, institutions, organizations, businesses and even families sometimes. This is the main reason why some people dislike their workplace, family or whatever situation there are in.

As the French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre wrote in his one act play: “Hell is other people.” This implies that relationships with twisted people can make one’s life hell or render it very difficult and unpleasant.

So, what can be done to defend from such rogues and avert their bullying.

In the case of bad political leaders, as the ones mentioned above, is to get as much information as possible about them, listening to opposite views with objective critical thinking rather than be mesmerized by their self-important talks, lies and false promises in speeches, remembering that words cost nothing and mean nothing till they become acts.

On personal level trying to see what is hidden behind their words or actions.  

For instance: are their acting, behavior or criticisms in your interest or in their own self-interest.

If so and you can, leave them, because they can only bring negativity, anxiety, self-doubt and problems in your life. 

If you can’t, then act stoically, that is: becoming immune to their unkind words, insults or actions towards you because there is no point of debating with them to make them see that their behavior towards you is wrong and hurtful, as such people are generally stubborn, intolerant and self-opinionated.

Also remember that it’s not always easy to see behind a person’s mask.

Sometimes it can take years and decades to discover the real person behind their fake façade.

In such case the only way to know if a person is genuine or false is in hard times as the proverb teaches: “A friend in need is a friend indeed.”