THE SCOPE OF MODERN HOSTILITY
The Oct, ’83 issue of Psychology Today (page 14) reports the results of a poll of more than 650 readers. The question, as posed in their July issue, was: “If you could secretly push a button and thereby eliminate any person with no repercussions to yourself, would you press that button?” Sixty percent said yes — 69% of the men and 56% of the women. When asked if they had anyone specific in mind it showed that public figures were particularly vulnerable to the ire of the respondents. First place was Ronald Reagan, second was the Ayatollah Khomeini. Women tended to select bosses, ex-husbands, men who had victimized them sexually and former partners of current lovers. “Many people extended the button’s power to include entire groups. Violent criminals, rapists and murderers were targeted for group greasing because ‘You should have the freedom to feel safe,’ as one 38-year-old woman put it. One 29-year-old man posed an intriguing question: “If…
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