Real

To some extent reality--for everybody--is a conspiracy against us and how we might prefer things to be. As we grow up, we learn to accommodate ourselves to what exists. But someone born super-rich may not have to deal with all of the usual encounters with reality. Even with a toxic personality he can rent a string of gorgeous, gold-digging wives. He can buy a medical doctor, develop imaginary bone spurs and avoid military service. 

President  Spanky can say on tape, "I played down the virus on purpose. I didn't want to start a panic." And the next day he can say, "I didn't play down the virus. I played it up." And anyone who objects to this obvious lying has "drunk the Kool-Ade." 

To Spanky and his supporters, reality is a conspiracy against them, led by "the deep state." Lying is a defense against reality. The more Spanky lies, the better certain people like him. He's their superhero whose special power is lying.  

Spanky lies about race, women, medicine and science. He's undaunted by facts. He tries to project an alternate reality, one that shifts instantly to meet his mood. This, Fitzgerald might have said, makes Spanky careless about what happens to others. Others are tertiary. In Spanky's novel, he is the only developed character.