Gangs of brutes were no doubt the norm in HOMO SAPIEN " society " a million years ago. Killing "together " a real or imagined foe ( sometimes literally for FOOD ! ) was a daily routine. This atavistic behavior persists because " civilized " CAPITALIST society continues - when there is no longer necessity - to make LIFE for the masses still very much an INDIVIDUAL struggle for existence for lonely isolated individuals or separate, lonely, isolated nuclear families. In this atmosphere many -powerless ALONE - " individuals " cannot rise above the moral and intellectual level of Amazon lizards. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE is above all a SOCIAL product . One interesting book about American society is titled " The Pursuit of Loneliness " by Philip Slater .