Greed: The Dark Side of The Force

There is something known in psychology circles as the "winner effect." It's one of the most robustly tested phenomena in animal behaviour. John Coates, author of "The House Between Dog and Wolf" says it's simply explained by saying, when an animal has won a fight or a battle for turf it is statistically much more likely to win the next one. It is thought to be because of the thrill of winning causing rising levels of testosterone, which increases lean muscle mass, hemoglobin and your blood's capacity to carry oxygen. Any gorilla beating its chest while standing over its vanquished opponent would tell you if it could that winning is like doping. This in turn makes the animal more confident and makes it take more risks. It's not a stretch of logic to assume the animal EXPECTS to win the next contest. You might even say the animal believes it DESERVES to win the next contest.

As an aside, THIS is why I absolutely HATE the modern NHL trend of careful, defensively responsible, no risk, mistake-free hockey. It just dampens the winner effect when it could be all the players need to win repeatedly. Conversely I heard Gretzky, Messier, Lowe and some of the other members from the winning Oilers clubs of the past talking about the massive talent on the current club that is putting up sadsack numbers every year. They agreed they just need to "get used to winning" and they'll be tough to stop. This is the non-university explanation but it's exactly the same.

Since man is just an animal this has been applied to our behaviour too. Interestingly, it doesn't only apply to physical behaviour. For instance traders on Wall Street are more likely to get "on a roll" after making one good investment and raising their testosterone levels. Gamblers and athletes call it a lucky streak or being in the zone but there might be a more physiological explanation.

However, with great power comes great responsibility. There comes a time in the winner effect when it can go to the head of the animal. It begins to see opponents not so much as competitors but as victims of their unstoppable onslaught. Dare I call it the "killer instinct?" They begin to overextend, become reckless, leave their pack and homes unattended. The winner effect actually becomes their downfall. They lose by winning so frequently.

With the recent spate of psychopathy in the news in Norway and even in Canada with the Luka Rocco Magnotta thing I have noticed some very clear similarities in what people believe the thinking, (or maybe lack of it), behind successful winners and successful killers is. Mass murder has also been robustly studied so it is with great mounds of psychological testing behind it that people have come up with the idea of the "Type T" personality which is applied to serial killers. The T stands for THRILL and it is a bigger part of what drives them than we acknowledge according to Dr. Frank Farley, the psychologist who coined the phrase.

Brain scans in impulsively antisocial people showed a combination of meanness and disinhibition and showed greater activity in parts of the brain related to anticipating and expecting rewards. Elliot Leyton, a professor emeritus at Memorial University and author of the book, "Hunting Humans" says, "They are utterly without compassion. Other people are just things they use for their own pleasure." Frank Farley adds, "In the process of anesthetizing himself, he loses any touch with his OWN humanity." But, he adds, they are utterly charming and you can't see them coming.

How many con-running, cheap tactic, kick in the balls, scumbag, suit-wearing, pearly white-flashing scheisters does this bang on absolutely perfectly describe???

But then again, how many absolutely, (as far as we can guage), NORMAL people does this describe? A consumer credit company called Equifax revealed that there was $400,000,000 of mortgage fraud in Canada last year. Experts say this is only the tip of the iceberg. Most of the swindling involves people lying to obtain mortgages larger than their incomes can support. Risk taking, expecting and believing they DESERVE more than they have earned.

Many people are starting to see that this sense of entitlement starts with coddled toddlers getting what they want and is fostered by a society of instant gratification. And from requisite child GPS-equipped cellphones to flashy cars right up to the giant mansion, easy credit is the enabler.

Canadians now carry $1.53 in debt for every buck they make. Most expect to work till the age of 66 and only 30% believe they will be able to fully retire by then. This according to a poll done by Sun Life Financial.

It's like our culture is trying to perpetuate the winner effect, it's just not telling us that we all can't be winners. How many of those tired old cliches do we poison the minds of innocent young kids with? These kids who will be facing the predetory animilistic serial winners on a roll. I'm talking about, "You can do anything you put your mind to," and all that crap. Well, NO YOU CAN'T! Not in today's world peopled by brain-damaged, antisocial, testosterone junkies that will eat you up sooner than give you a fair deal on anything.

When did we get like this? You know even America, where it is, (probably accurately), believed to be the foremost example of what I'm talking about, has only recently sold its soul to Mammon. The U.S. used to be Sweden! They used to be more egalitarian than anywhere else on the earth! In colonial times Americans were free and better off than people in their mother countries. Even with slaves included in 1774 the American colonies were the most equal in distribution of wealth. Only the absolute elite in Europe had more wealth than their counterparts in the U.S. In 1814 Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter in which he said, "We have no paupers. The wealthy know nothing of what the Europeans call luxury. They have only somewhat more of the comforts and decencies of life than those who furnish them. Can any condition in society be more desirable than this?"

How often do we hear American politicians and diplomats talking, (out their asses), about what the founding fathers wanted for America? THIS is what they wanted and do you know what it is? It's SOCIALISM! Nowadays you can talk an American dog out of its bone by telling him it's socialism. The founding fathers would undoubtedly be ashamed of the inequality in America nowadays and it just perfectly illustrates the point of this post that people who have lost all concern for their fellow man, for honesty, for morality, for normality, but are jonesing for their next thrill of victoriously standing over a financial opponent bested and beating their chests will actually conjure up the name of Thomas Jefferson or one of the REALLY great men in their history if it helps them close another dishonest, unequal, capitalistic, corporate deal.

Do you know what the founding fathers wanted? Do you know where that is NOW? BHUTAN! I am not kidding! Most people in the U.S. statistically believe the country is on the wrong track. Pessimism is the order of the day. The average American has an encyclopedic knowledge of drugs, including the endless amounts of anti-depressants. Unprecedented inequality had lead to lower life satisfaction.

Forty years ago the young king of Bhutan made a wise choice: He said that the kindom of Bhutan should pursue "gross national happiness" rather than gross national product. In Bhutan it has been decreed that "We are unhappy if we are denied our basic material needs but we are also unhappy if our pursuit of higher incomes replaces our focus on family, friends, community, compassion and maintaining internal balance." They vowed to avoid the model Americans provided, who they believed suffered from an increasing range of consumer addictions.

"To be sure we should support economic growth and development but that which promotes environmental sustainability and the values of compassion and honesty that are required for social trust."

I AM MOVING TO BHUTAN! Because I doubt there are too many nations with the balls to do what they are doing, i.e. what is unquestionably RIGHT.