He is an odd character the bully, a difficult one to work out sometimes. When combined with bumptiousness, lack of education, near illiteracy and an over inflated ego the puzzle deepens.
What drives this self important, self anointed titan? Underneath the overconfident exterior there lies all manner of vulnerability. He is a figure to be pitied perhaps rather than derided.
As ever it must, presumably, be a joint product of nature and nurture which combines to produce such a preposterous figure. The endless name dropping is a sign of insecurity, an effort to boost an inflated but at the same time empty and needy ego.
While things are going his way the bully may seem jovial and congenial; cross him, deny him what he wants to take from you and a petulant, foolish child emerges.
There is nothing wrong in being not very bright. We are all born with certain characteristics and intelligence or its lack is simply one of those. The bully will attempt to hide his achilles heal with bravado. He can not and will not bow to reasoned argument – he will have his way, it is his right. He will baffle with meaningless words anyone who stands in the way of his desires.
Or rather he will try. When it comes to a dispute with an adult bully you need a psychologist on your side not a lawyer or accountant. Because it does not matter to the bully what a contract says; the law is not relevant to the bully. What matters to the bully is his will, his way. And he will pay his advisors to spout his nonsense for him even if thereby making clowns of them too.
It becomes therefore a battle of will. In the playground a thump on the nose will usually ensure the bully never bothers you again and regrettably in adult life the bully has to be treated in the same fashion.
As an adult you will hopefully have eschewed physical violence. Hopefully it no longer forms a part of your world view, if it ever did.
As an adult you must still wave an iron fist in the face of the schoolyard thug, but that fist must be a metaphorical one. The bully has cajoled and cowed countless others who have stood in his path: shopkeepers, garage owners, restaurant proprietors, estate agents and credit card employees to name but a few. He may attempt harm to their business and livelihood if such mere mortals dare to offer him opposition. He may even succeed in a few cases.
So you wave a metaphorical mailed fist in his face and eventually he realises that your life, your business and your property will be stoutly defended. He is forced to move on to his next victim.
Weltanschauung 