What’s a good fence for? A good fence makes for good neighbours. Both sides stay happy. If the neighbours don’t get along all that well the fence keeps them apart. If one or both neighbours have destructive animals on their side, the other is protected from them.
A good neighbour is someone who smiles at you over the back fence, but doesn’t climb over it – Arthur Baer
It seems no one explained this to Vladimir Putin. Unfortunately the Ukraine didn’t seem to have a strong enough “fence” to keep Vlad’s killer hounds from coming in uninvited. Some have characterized Putin as a Sociopath (formerly called Pyschopath). I have no way to examine Putin and am not qualified to do so, but here is the definition of what a sociopath is. I leave it up to you to decide if you feel he is or is not a sociopath.
Sociopath Defined
A sociopath is someone who actually has a diagnosable mental health condition. That mental health condition is called antisocial personality disorder or ASPD. Antisocial personality disorder or ASPD is a diagnosable mental health disorder characterized by a group of criteria listed in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders or DSM. The DSM lists a variety of mental health disorders and provides the diagnostic criteria that medical and mental health professionals use to diagnose conditions. While you might think of sociopathy as “very rare” or “scary,” antisocial personality disorder actually affects about 3.6% of the United States population, and it is diagnosed more frequently in men than it is in women, with about 3% of adult men and 1% of adult women receiving a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. There is no cure for the condition, but there is treatment available that can help people with antisocial personality disorder. The tricky component of treating antisocial personality disorder or ASPD tends to be that not everyone with antisocial personality disorder or ASPD wants help or believes that there is a problem. That said, if someone does, counseling or therapy can be very beneficial.
What Are The Traits Of A Sociopath?
What are considered sociopathic signs or sociopathic traits? Here are some of the potential signs and traits of a person with antisocial personality disorder:
- A lack of empathy for others
- Little to no genuine remorse
- The manipulation of other people
- Lying and deceit
- A sense of superiority over others
- Little to no regard for right or wrong
- The belief that rules do not apply to them
- Getting into legal trouble or a little regard for the law
- A lack of responsibility or engaging in irresponsible behaviors
- Aggression or hostility
- The exploitation of other people
- Substance use
Fences are reminders of what a failed species we humans are.
I like the idea that in rural England, hikers have access to many private lands (“right to roam”) through small gates that the owners themselves install. It doesn’t mean that you can use the land to your whim, just that you don’t have to end or detour a lovely walk around a particular landscape. Hasn’t seemed a problem there since they’ve had the custom for ages… won’t see it anytime soon on this side of the Atlantic- or in Russia.
So true Stan. Walking on someone else’s property in the US is generally a death sentence.