CROSSING THE LINE

The short distance from normalcy to insanity...

We’ve crossed a line and there may be no going back.

The line marks the intersection of free speech and the promotion of hatred and violence. Yea, I’d like to take the luddite approach and blame it on that wondrous Al Gore invention we call the internet. But that would be like blaming the hammer someone used to bludgeon his latest murder victim.

Years ago, I read an article about rats being held in confinement and how things started out just fine but went downhill fast. It was John Calhoun’s Universe 25 Experiment: create a mouse haven with a few mice, lots of food, water and plenty of space, then slowly increase the population, but keep the living space the same.

Calhoun was a researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health who had long experimented with rodent behavior. His Universe 25 Experiment became a textbook example of how to turn utopia into dystopia. If this sounds a bit familiar, hang on.

Calhoun began with just four mice. Everything was fine for a while. But as he increased the number of mice in the confined space, he posited it was inevitable that something had to give. And it did. As population density began to peak, the mice turned on each other, becoming increasingly violent. They developed abnormal sexual behaviors and began neglecting or even attacking their own young.

More chaos. Newborn mice were unable to form normal social bonds or engage in courtship, mating and pup-rearing. Rather than interact with one another, the males became compulsive self-groomers. Females no longer became pregnant. One science historian commented that the mice had essentially become “trapped in an infantile state of development.” This continued even when the mice were removed from the environment and introduced to “normal” mice.

Sound familiar? Is our current version of a confined space the internet?

When our nation was embryonic it took weeks to get a letter from America to England. No Internet. No cell phones. No telegraph. Your missive sailed by ship. The distance was great. The wait for a response, long. You could put your feet up and relax. People operated at a slower, more peaceful pace.

Today your message can traverse the circumference of the globe in an instant, which has the effect of making us all, in essence, elbow-rubbing neighbors, whether we like it or not.

The benefits of the internet are many. I could not conduct a nationwide business without it. But here is one of its biggest detractions. Just as it has proved a boon by allowing good ideas to be shared and cultivated into great ideas, so too has it provided a fertile petri dish for the spread of everything disgusting and vile. Cheaters and criminals lurk in every corner. There seems to be a belief that because you can operate anonymously online, there are no laws to be obeyed, no social norms to be observed and morality need not be considered.

Today nearly every perpetrator of mass violence is found to have left a trail of clues on the internet, usually on social media posts and in chatrooms. This has been true of mass murderers as well as (supposedly) lone gunmen intent on assassinating the president. Whether it becomes true in the case of a Minnesota man apprehended for allegedly killing a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband, then shooting and wounding another state lawmaker and his wife, is yet to be seen. But don’t be surprised.

The internet is an aggregator, a force multiplier. Gather a group of people and talk them into something. Easier to do it online than in person. (Why try to convince people one-on-one when you can convince many of them all at once?)

It’s not a new phenomenon. It’s been used for centuries. Captivate a crowd with great, persuasive speakers expounding lofty and desirable ideas. John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan. And before them, Cicero, Socrates, Abraham Lincoln, Patrick Henry. Jesus of Nazareth.

Great speakers all, working for the good, moving audiences to great and honorable actions.

Others, of course, have sought to move their audiences in less-than-honorable, negative directions. Our nation has fought wars over them.

In essence, what the internet has done that is not good is to shrink our world and allow the nutcases to interact, with each other and among us. Aggression is common and contagious. Online it is not physical aggression, it is verbal under the auspices of free speech protected by the 1st Amendment. Regardless, it is dangerous. The mice become unstable, their behavior abnormal. Ultimately, they destroy their social structure and themselves.

What to do?

Some states have enacted red flag laws (also known as Extreme Risk Protection Orders or ERPO laws) that authorize courts to issue temporary orders preventing the purchase or possession of firearms.

There are understandable arguments supporting red flag laws, that they might prevent a tragedy. But there are also good arguments against red flag laws, usually including a lack of due process involving crimes not committed, and citing a lack of evidence that the laws prevent violence.

Could AI help? Possibly, but probably not. One of the complaints following mass violence is that the signs were there, usually on social media but often elsewhere, and no one paid attention. Parents, other family members, police should have predicted the unthinkable by the perpetrator. AI may pose a way to scour the population for aberrant behavior that might be predictive. But then what? Now we have a plethora of “shady characters,” but what do we do with them? One of the many advantages of living in a free country is that you are not detained for potential, future crimes that you “might” commit. And that’s not even mentioning the challenges that could be brought to a particular AI Bot’s training. Exactly what was it taught to look for and what were the beliefs of the people who trained it? Sounds like a defense lawyer’s wet dream.

We can’t stifle speech without stifling our 1st Amendment. And we either have freedom of speech (and religion, and assembly and the press) or we don’t. We can’t punish behavior that hasn’t happened yet. What we need is a return to basics.

If I was Dictator for a Day I would mandate faith, family, a strong work ethic and pride in country. (Of course, I am not a dictator. That would be anathema to our nation’s founding principles. It’s also not in the budget.)

When you have a strong belief system grounded in Judeo-Christian principles you have sound, logical reasons to be a good person and knowledge of how to avoid much temptation.

A strong family structure, preferably with both parents present, strengthens confidence and provides examples of what is right and wrong. Hint: children don’t learn what they hear, they learn what they see.

I would put an outright ban on cell phones for any person under the age of 16 and ban social media for anyone under 18. I would put the onus on both parents but especially on the digital platforms. Social media companies know all your habits and demographic markers, so don’t tell me they can’t spot a user who is under a certain age, or harboring malice. They certainly spotted enough Trump supporters.

I would insist all able-bodied Americans work. This includes stay-at-home moms (or dads) who do the hardest work, anyway. When you are productive you are happy. I’ve heard work often comes with a paycheck, so you won’t have to tip over the local Stop & Rob Convenience Store to make the rent.

You should be proud of your country, especially this one. If you aren’t, you need to do some serious soul searching and consider a life somewhere else. Seriously. I understand Rosie O’Donnell may be looking for a social media assistant. Or someone to trim the clover.

I’m sure there are readers who will suggest I go back to the days of horse and buggy, and as quickly as possible. To that I say, no, the country is currently mired in enough horse manure.

However, I have long believed dense urban areas are problematic and that many issues would be resolved if we spread the population evenly across the entire nation. Of course, then most of us would be living in rural or semi-rural areas of our great nation. And the problem is?

From a connectivity standpoint I would not mind a return to hard-wired, Bakelite phones. If you must have an electronic social connection, just sign up for a party line. Otherwise sit your rear on the front porch of evenings and get to know your neighbors.

No one wants to live like the mice in John Calhoun’s Universe 25 Experiment. As the prescient Lily Tomlin opined, “Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat.”

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