Sadism

 There is apparently this quote by Ovid which maintains that no pleasure is great unless it involves someone else's pain. Perfect definition of sadism it is. Sadistic people cannot be happy unless and until someone else is harassed, bothered, ill-treated, and, mind you, this ill treatment is absolutely conscious.

How to counter it? One should never ever be masochistic. Masochism is taking pleasure in one's harassment. It is the other side of the sadism coin. There is this psychological typology that talks of people who are silently aggressive. In other words, their behaviour is apparently meek, but just underneath the veneer, they are passive-aggressive, the worst form of the sadistic taxonomy.

How to counter sadism?  I feel the best response is to be found in "1984" by George Orwell.  O'Brien, that subtlest of the villains, almost Iago-like, defines sadism indirectly. It is the best image of power. It is an eternal boot trying to crush a face, a human face underneath. 

Therein lies the panacea to counter sadism in my opinion.When one can see, can feel that boot approaching your face  to  squash it, to squish it to pulp, remove yourself , your face from there. Even if you manage to budge an inch, the knee, the boot bearing the foot would hurt itself badly, and would ten times think before harassing you.

Indeed, it is no use being a martyr to a crook. A Hitler would not understand or listen to a Gandhi. No use offering poems and/or flowers to a barrel of a gun. It would the best to just remove yourself away from others' power politics victimising you!

Pratima@It is indeed important to be just and nice to one's own self, too!