How low can people go?

[b]In July 1968 four pairs of mice were introduced into the "Utopian universe" (John Calhoun's experimental design). The universe was a 9-foot (2.7 m) square metal pen with 54-inch-high (1.4 m) sides. Each side had four groups of four vertical, wire mesh “tunnels”. The “tunnels” gave access to nesting boxes, food hoppers, and water dispensers. There was no shortage of food or water or nesting material. There were no predators. The only adversity was the limit on space. Initially the population grew rapidly, doubling every 55 days. The population reached 620 by day 315, after which the population growth dropped markedly. The last surviving birth was on day 600. This period between day 315 and day 600 saw a breakdown in social structure and in normal social behavior. Among the aberrations in behavior were the following: expulsion of young before weaning was complete, wounding of young, inability of dominant males to maintain the defense of their territory and females, aggressive behavior of females, passivity of non-dominant males with increased attacks on each other which were not defended against. After day 600 the social breakdown continued and the population declined toward extinction. During this period females ceased to reproduce. Their male counterparts withdrew completely, never engaging in courtship or fighting. They ate, drank, slept, and groomed themselves – all solitary pursuits. Sleek, healthy coats and an absence of scars characterized these males. They were dubbed “the beautiful ones”. The conclusions drawn from this experiment were that when all available space is taken and all social roles filled, competition and the stresses experienced by the individuals will result in a total breakdown in complex social behaviors, ultimately resulting in the demise of the population. Calhoun saw the fate of the population of mice as a metaphor for the potential fate of man.[/b] I believe this is one of the main issues involved in the current violent polarisation of politics, and when added to the astonishing rate of increase in technological complexity, the rapid rise of what German sociologist Beck calls "risk society", where risk is overrated and there is an obsessive search for risk avoidance, and the uncertainties brought about by the rise of terrorism and environmental issues like climate change, we have a population increasingly terrified of the future, with each different ideological block becoming stridently certain that their way is the only way to block disaster. This all allows the sickos free rein to air their insanities, which, of course, simply increases the uncertainties and fears and we end up in a frightening downward spiral. I wish I could find a silver lining, but I can't. Lash

i know what you mean. people have really gone mad this election. i wonder if there was any other time like this in history. people are actually breaking up friendships over this election. i even have some people mad at me because i support obama. i don't understand what is different this time than any other election. what could it be?

Could not agree with you more. It is disgusting. I've spoken to some of this sort and they always shoot back at me with something like: "you said worse about Bush". No, actually I didn't. I've never spoken that way about any US president and I'm convinced that bigotry is behind a lot of the anti Obama sentiment including some which is not so overt your example but is equally disturbing.

I don't wanna pooh-pooh hatred. I got on the backs of the morons who paraded around uncontested with signs that said "Kill Bush," and I've given hell to the people who call it "art" to create an entire movie with the premise of killing Bush. And even though I hit my head against a stone wall, fighting people who called it "free expression" to say those things about a president, I think it's wrong and moronic that idiots are doing that to Obama now. (But I do find it funny that you see a black doll and think "Obama." lol ... Racist much? ) But on a more serious note, to the question of how low people can go: A lot lower than that. We've had politicians assassinated and shot at in attempts. People are killed every single day by murderous scum. We have extortionists and embezzlers. We have rapists and kiddie fiddlers. We being the world, of course, and not just America. I don't do much for getting on the "sign of the times" bandwagon over these sorts of things. I'm not one for thinking it's the decay of society. It was around 30 years ago that a president here was actually shot. That's a far sight worse than a doll; I'd call the doll a massive improvement over that. It's incredibly idiotic, but it's not nearly as low as someone can go.

Sore losers. That is what they are. Good thing their candidate didn't win because I hate to see them get righteous on everybody. Anyway, I'm not American so I don't have to put up with such behavior.

To answer MoonGypsy's question yes if you go back in time and study history, Think of the people during King Henry's Reign he divided the church. Look and study our civil war when brother was pitted against brother because they chose sides. Study WWII everything was about destruction of the Jewish people. Thats just a few. Franseman, we all will see all kinds of hideous emails, pictures etc. Its called freedom of speech. We may not even have that much longer. I served in the military Vietnam era and Desert Storm era. I was a medical specialist in the Army a female WAC (Women's Army Corp) and hate to say, I would rather see something I can shrug off as what you are talking about than the many times I had to vomit in a towel for seeing a soldier so badly burned at Brooke Army Hospital which houses the Burn Center of the World. So seriously there are worse things. Whats even worse? if you served the military, and did your job, trust me you do remember. While a picture or writing might disgust you, we can choose to not look at things like that. I would be mature with your friend and tell them to please not send offensive things like that. if they are your friend they wont. If they are offended you asked this, then maybe they are not the kind of friend you would want to be around. Bless you sweetie. I hope you dont misunderstand what I am trying to say. There is just a lot us vets have seen and really dont discuss, and I guess we wish everything we have seen and had to work through was just a picture or email.

It's a commonplace wherever people incliend to make the big shot in a joky stye especially aimming at the politicians and stars or celebrities. If one who dislikes the big shot, he may just try to draw him ugly, and lovely in the opposite way. Always these guys are not satified to enjoy themselves who just want it publicized, which may offend others in a different opinion. It is free for everyone to keep his own idea or interests and enjoying one's own or just secretly sharing is enough. We need to obey the rules on the internet and try to keep a low profile