One of the less attractive traits of humanity is how fast the pack mentality takes over when a little malice is introduced.
Trolls are the electronic version of the dog pack.
Only an alpha dog will move in and risk getting hurt when it attacks a prey, but any old coward in the pack will sneak in and bite once the quarry is down, or on the run.
You see it all the time among teens, because they're not quite grown up but they've lost most of their innocence. In order to be a part of some crowd, they'll join in to find their place in the pecking order if another teen becomes the target of exclusion or ridicule. It can escalate into actual physical violence, but the psychological damage can be enough to change lives.
Most religions teach some variation of compassion for the downtrodden, but compassion is the first to go among the low in self-esteem, the greedy, the narcissistic and the downright mean-spirited.
A man I respect passed along an email prior to the election that I passed along in turn. It made the point that regardless of the names of those running for particular offices, the real candidates are followers on one of two philosophies: Adam Smith, who said government has a duty to help the less fortunate, or Ayn Rand, who proselytized that only the strong and ruthless should survive. Smith saw a Higher Being as work in us; Rand sneered at the idea of Godliness.
Selfless or selfish. Close, but souls apart in definition.
I remain convinced that the public conscience will swing back to some degree of moderation between those two extremes -- but that presupposes that we are, collectively, more like Smith and less like Rand, who did not even acknowledge any virtue in collectiveness, which includes, I suppose, elections.
