Should capitalism be deemed psychopathic and criminalised? A reply to “psychopathy incorporated”

Purpose A recent paper “Psychopathy Incorporated” concludes that capitalism should be criminalised because it is psychopathic. This current paper aims to assess each of the main points made in “Psychopathy Incorporated” relative to what is known about psychopaths in corporate settings and to discuss whether capitalism should be criminalised. Design/methodology/approach From the existing literature on corporate psychopaths, an analysis of each of the main points made in “Psychopathy Incorporated” is undertaken and discussed to establish whether each point is supported by the literature. Findings An analysis of the corporate psychopathy literature supports most of the points raised in “Psychopathy Incorporated”. The literature agrees with the symptoms, but not the proposed remedy. Some of capitalism is now essentially run along psychopathic lines and it can compellingly be argued that this has taken us to a tipping point of environmental destruction. Therefore, there are grounds for agreeing that something needs to change. Nonetheless, and regardless of its feasibility, the conclusion that capitalism should be criminalised is not agreed with. This is because personality exists independently of ideology, and psychopaths tend to get to the top under any ideological or political system. Social implications It may be concluded, therefore, that the problem is not capitalism, it is those psychopathic leaders who have been allowed to appropriate capitalism for their own ends. Populism and other purportedly alternative systems of societal organisation are unwarranted and unable to solve the problem of psychopathic capitalism. Communism led by the psychopathic would be no better than capitalism led by the psychopathic. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first paper to reply to the idea that capitalism is psychopathic and needs replacing.