Are they human beings?

Our financial, civic, military and political leaders?

A good case can be made that they're not. Not organically non-human or unable to inter-breed with other humans, simply not `conscious' humans as we are.

There's an increasing awareness of the high percentage of psychotic individuals who are attracted to `power' jobs - seen in hitherto suppressed and rather shocking statistics of abuse in medicine, pedophiles in bureaucracy (& in the judiciary, education business), and murderers and rapists in police, etc. and frauds and bullies in all areas.

The brutal thugs and thieves

See them today around the world - they're conspicuously `in charge', as top police, judges, military & politicos.

Small examples-
Tony Blair - stealing from the UK's working poor - `a legal tax-thief'
G W Bush - i/c cowardly bullies* & waster of braver lives
UK's (& USA's) pervert judges
UK's murderous (& bent) police

Observation seems to show that abusers are simply not `conscious' of how we see them and their actions.
Particularly, they seem not to be aware that they are physically repulsive (i.e. - disgusting) in the eyes of normal humans. ^{ref 1 & ref 2}
[And intellectually disgusting also.]

This leads us to a conclusion that some might regard as metaphysical.
That abusers, high and low - brutal or cowardly, have minds and bodies no sane person would want to inhabit.

I.e - their mental and perhaps physical lives are literally `hell on Earth'.

There is evidence that all the moral religions knew of the genetic results of selfish life-styles - hence their taboos. ^{ref 3}

Even money-lending (for fixed interest) was recognized as having a deforming and degenerating effect on the descendants of the usurers; so for all moral religions usury was a `sin'. ^{ref 4}

Needless to say, money interest has prevailed upon the modern `churches' and their priests to corrupt those doctrines.

Prisoners

And of course, all abusers are prisoners.

If they were ever to try to change - they'd be instantly put out of the way, maybe even assassinated, by those they call `friends' and `colleagues'.