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THE HUNDREDTH MONKEY
Posted by: Darrell Castle
March 01, 2010
Topic: Bankruptcy
The hundredth monkey effect is a legendary, or mythical depending on your point of view, phenomenon in which a learned behavior spreads instantaneously from one in a group, to the whole group, and then to all other groups. It comes from scientific experiments in the 1970's in which monkeys were studied after some were taught to wash sweet potatoes and the learned knowledge spread through that group and even to other groups with which the original group of monkeys apparently had no contact. The theory then is that there is an unknown number and when that number which represents a certain level of behavior within a given population is reached, the behavior will spread throughout the population. I'm going to speculate in this article as to whether that theory has any application to human behavior.
There have been two recent examples of violent behavior which allow us to question whether or not such behavior, or at least attitude, may be starting to become more generally accepted in our society. The first example is Joseph Stack from Austin, Texas. Mr. Stack, after years of fighting the IRS, which he believed to have gratuitously ruined him, flew his private airplane into a building in Austin which housed about 200 IRS employees. Mr. Stack can be separated from those deranged people who randomly shoot others in post offices, schools, and the like by the fact that he left a note outlining his reasons and intentions. From his note we can conclude that he reached a level of frustration with the IRS that can be termed the "I can't take this anymore" level. In his suicide note he stated "Violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer." His conclusion was that nothing short of violence would get the attention of a government that he felt had turned its back on the American people.
Our second example is Terry Hoskins from Moscow, Ohio. Mr. Hoskins owned a home worth $350,000 against which he had a $160,000 mortgage with River Hills Bank, and he owned a carpet business which had been experiencing losses since the recession. He struggled for months to keep up payments on his home but eventually fell behind and the bank started foreclosure proceedings. Reportedly, he was able to find financing to pay off the loan but the bank knew that it could realize more from the foreclosure sale and so it announced that it would proceed with the foreclosure. Mr. Hoskins set fire to his carpet store and leveled his home with a bulldozer. River Hills Bank now owns a pile of rubble sitting in the snow. The bank has yet to comment on what it intends to do. A local TV station took a poll and 79 percent of those responding agreed with what Mr. Hoskins did.
The capacity to inflict violence and even to conduct warfare has changed in our society. A few years ago warfare was only conducted by large standing armies but now everyone is empowered by technology. Most are capable of learning to fly an airplane and buying or renting one. Most are capable of learning to operate a bulldozer and renting one. As our society unravels and people feel more and more powerless to control their lives, an angry inchoate rage creeps into their lives. The type of behavior exhibited by Mr. Stack and Mr. Hoskins is becoming increasingly more common and more predictable. When individuals conclude they have been pushed too far, many will fight back. Could we be nearing the tipping point of major social upheaval? Who will be the hundredth monkey? Time will tell.
Don't let this happen to you. Take steps now to protect yourself and start by getting out of debt.
