I Know You Are But what Am I

I Know You Are But what Am I? It's a child's game. It is much like Tic-tac-toe in that the game is played to a draw when Player 1 and Payer 2 are equally matched. Only when one Player is more anal retentive does he "win" by default. This is why the better move is to not play.

There is a poem and song lyric titled "The Drunk Driver Always Has the Right of Way." Sometimes even when you are right you must yield and let the impaired one have his way. This principle also applies in the game of habitual lying. The master liar states his lie. Everyone knows he is lying. He knows he is lying but he doesn't care because the war of attrition is afoot. The people who hear the lies point them out and refute the message being put forth. The liar lies some more. The refutation continues. Eventually, the refutation efforts wane due to sheer exhaustion. Besides, the level of repetition of the lies leads some people to believe them. That phenomenon exacerbates the futility of trying to outmaneuver the liar. He has an unlimited supply of false and misleading statements to use.

The childhood game goes like this. "You are a crybaby." The response is "I know you are but what am I?" This exchange goes on until the Player 1 gives up because Player 2 will never acquiesce. His is a world where he is the king, the master, the mogul who cannot be "one-upped." Eventually, everyone will leave him alone and criticized him behind his back. He becomes like the grumpy old demented grandpa who cannot be reasoned with only accommodated. The cognitive deficit becomes so severe that eventually he must be moved to supervises housing where he can rant and fuss to his heart's content and the staff placates him with "there, there we mustn't get the other residents all riled up.

The problem comes when the impaired one is the head of the household. He still has control of the checkbook and the other finances. Wresting control from him involves a legal battle royale, especially when he still has supporting associates who have something to gain by his absurd behavior.  

The conflict may very well result in the fall of the house. Maddness is highly destructive to everyone who contacts it. It is exceptionally destructive when an entire nation is the household. Eventually the mad one dies or otherwise reaches a state where he cannot function any longer and he fades away leaving a trail of devastation in his wake.