Kamikaze: A Dark Psychology Tactic to Be Aware Of
The following chapter is from EPIC: 101 Short Stories, Essays, and Insights to Improve Communication Skills
Kamikaze is defined in a few different ways.
One definition is:
“An intentional suicide mission of crashing into the enemy target.”
Another definition is:
“A person who behaves in a destructive manner.”
Both definitions are not too different from one another.
But for the sake of this talk, I’m going to be focusing on the latter definition.
Kamikaze is a dangerous social move.
It’s often done by someone who has nothing to lose.
Which is why it’s smart to not burn bridges for no reason.
And why it’s smart to not talk down on someone below you.
All this sounds great in theory.
But is there an example?
Sure.
I don’t talk about popular culture much.
However, there have been a series of events recently that plugs in beautifully with the Kamikaze move.
Quick disclaimer.
This talk deals with a topic in the world of sports.
But you don’t have to be a sports fan. Just stay aware of the names I use.
Around 2008ish, Los Angeles Lakers struck a mega deal to land Pau Gasol.
A star who guaranteed the Lakers a playoff run.
Guess who was traded?
‘Who?’
A man named Kwame Brown.
Kwame up until that point was viewed as one of the biggest busts in NBA history.
His name was tied with more infamy because the most renowned basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan, drafted him.
After Kwame was traded, a sports reporter named Stephen A Smith went on a tirade insulting Kwame.
Talking about why the city of Los Angeles should be celebrating his departure.
And mercilessly bashed Kwame.
That clip ended up going viral.
Ultimately, the tirade destroyed Kwame Brown’s public perception.
Kwame was silent for years after that.
Years later, players, sports analysts, and fans continued to throw dirt on Kwame’s name.
They called him every name in the book.
Kwame was silent.
‘Why wasn’t he defending himself?’
Around 2008, players didn’t have access to media like they do nowadays.
Back then, what ESPN said was law.
And Stephen a Smith was the brand ambassador.
After years of being silent.
Tides shifted.
As of late, Kwame Brown has been firing back at his critics.
Notable media members who have been disrespecting him are now getting a response.
One of the members who got the brunt of his tirade was…
Can you guess?
‘Stephen a Smith?’
You are correct.
Seeing Kwame go on these long live streams looks like a man who has nothing to lose.
A man who had his public perception destroyed and a less-than-stellar NBA career to show for it.
What does he have to lose?
At one moment, Kwame looks unhinged.
Dropping a ton of curse words, riding in a truck talking to a camera, bringing up players exes, and calling his attackers every name in the book.
At the next moment, Kwame looks like a comedian.
‘Comedian?’
Yes, a comedian.
I see him as funny.
Not the idiotic kind of funny acting like a clown.
I actually think he is very well thought out.
His humor has been working as of late.
His YouTube channel yesterday morning had 20,000 subscribers.
And he ended the day with 40,000 subscribers.
The way he labels someone, makes it stick.
He called Stephen a Smith a turtle without the shell.
This is funny to me.
But what’s funnier is the imagery he used.
He called one of his attackers, Matt Barnes, Becky with the Good Hair.
Which is a slang phrase taking away all of Matt Barnes’s street cred.
He called another attacker, Stephen Jackson, a fake activist.
A guy who wants to fist fight one day and march in protests the next.
Making Stephen Jackson look like a confused man.
All these attacks seem like jokes at first.
But I believe it’s a great lesson on psychology.
Kwame is funny.
But he is funny with intent.
‘Where do you think his humor came from?’
I think his humor came from pain.
By being the butt of all jokes, it’s wise to learn to tell jokes.
Ask plenty of professional fighters WHY they became street fighters…
They will say, ‘I got tired of getting bullied.’
Ask plenty of comedians WHY they became a comedian….
They will say, ‘I got picked on. Didn’t have much going on for me. But no one could do a better yo momma joke than me.’
A lot of comedians are born through pain and by being a laughingstock at one point or another.
2008 Kwame Brown was the laughingstock of the NBA.
It’s all fun and games looking at it as a consumer of the media.
But it’s different when you are viewing it from his life.
I don’t know much about his personal life.
However, I think he has kids, parents, and friends who are well aware of what a laughingstock he used to be.
He was silent for many years.
I think being such a joke created a ‘no fucks given’ attitude.
It’s impossible for a comedian to be optimal funny without a ‘no fucks given’ attitude.
Otherwise, they are too politically correct.
Along with Kwame’s rants, there are sudden flashes of deep truths that are keeping people coming back to watch his channel.
He talks about the selective narratives that the mainstream media plays.
How they turn one against another.
How people of power strategically hire people to keep an agenda going.
At first glance, he seems to be losing it.
But for me, I think Kwame is having his Kamikaze moment.
Other than the Kamikaze moment, the other communication lesson to learn from all of this is the power of new media.
A power many people take for granted.
Kwame insulting a media behemoth like Stephen a Smith would have been seen as blasphemy a couple of years back.
But a strategic use of media technology can allow a node to topple the network.
If Kwame can work on his humor, and expand his content material, I can see him having a renaissance in his career.
It may be a large turnaround from being the ‘biggest NBA draft bust of all time’ to an ‘athlete turned entertainer.’
Or maybe I’m completely wrong.
Maybe the buzz dies down within a few days and all else is back to normal.
That’s definitely a possibility.
A few lessons in all of this:
- You never know when someone can snap & pull a kamikaze.
- Never underestimate the power of humor.
- Never underestimate the power of new media.
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