We need a word for people who refuse to see outside themselves.

A word for people who refuse to feel empathy or humility.

People who voluntarily embrace cruelty towards those who don't deserve it, and take pleasure in their unwanted pain.

People who voluntarily see the world as nothing more than a win/lose binary, with more points awarded for the more pain one inflicts upon the innocent.

People who refuse to admit they're wrong about anything.

People who refuse to take any personal responsibility, and go to ridiculous lengths to paint their personal failings as everyone else's fault.

People who not only allow injustice, but openly and voluntarily profit off it.

People who, on a basic, fundamental level, refuse to acknowledge that those walking piles of flesh and clothing in the outside world are called "other people," and those other people deserve just as much respect that they demand themselves.

We need a word for people like that.

Because only by identifying such behavior easily can we hope to stigmatize it.

And only by stigmatizing it, can we hope to discourage and reduce it.

Preferably the word should be simple and elegant, something that rolls of the tongue.

A two-syllable word would be ideal. Like "boomer" or "karen." Those seemed to work.

So, what should it be?

I know, I know, the obvious joke here is to just say "Trump supporters." But that's a little too glib, and besides, it doesn't cover enough ground. Trust me, there's plenty of leftists and centrists like that too.

And on a similar note, "deplorables" will never do. That already backfired on us. Honestly, I think it sounds a little too rock-and-roll. Like a motorcycle gang.

This word needs to be thoroughly UNFLATTERING. We can't risk it being co-opted. It must sound ugly.

There's a couple of words that ALMOST work, but aren't quite there yet.

Like, "sociopath."

Yeah, it FEELS like it says everything you need to know, but it comes with a big problem.

Sociopathy is a very real personality disorder, and it's just not fair to automatically stigmatize people based on a clinical diagnosis they can't control. Many actual sociopaths are legitimately self-aware and trying with all their might to Be Better. That should be encouraged.

There's a reason I qualified everything in the first four tweets of this thread with "refuse" or "voluntarily." We don't want to go after sociopaths who are trying to be better. We want to go after sociopaths (and sociopath-lookalikes) who actively AREN'T.

Another word that ALMOST works? "Asshole."

Problem is, that one's too general. We all have assholes, and we all ARE assholes from time to time. We all spew shit here and there. Have to, just to get it out of our system. It's the human condition.

The word needs to combine the concept of sociopathy with the indifferent acceptance of such. It needs to describe those who, rather than suppress the worst aspects of sociopathy, open them up for the world to endure.

Like an asshole, spewing shit.

Friends, I humbly propose that the word should be a portmanteau of "sociopath" and "asshole."

Pathhole.

When someone's being a pathhole, call them out as such.

"ok pathhole."

"found the pathhole."

"you do you, pathhole."

If it catches on, who knows, this just might be stupid enough to work.

What do y'all think?

#Pathhole