HELL BENT (with dramatic illustrations) A Jeremiad on Human Nature and the Sixth Extinction

Hell Bent (with dramatic illustrations) reveals how the very biology that led to our common Ancestor coming down from the trees on to the top of the food chain, is the very biology that will send our civilization spiraling toward extinction within the next century or two.

The civilization we know today is the direct descendant of Chimps who were male dominated and used aggression as their default method of control. Their basic instincts centered on self, family and tribe preservation. Later, biologic structures which emphasized our emotional and reasoning capacities were enslaved by our primitive, Hunter/Gatherer instincts. What put those humans at the top of the food chain then became extremely destructive to those living in what we would deem "civilization". "It became necessary to destroy the village to save it" is an iconic statement of our 20/21 century predicament. Hell Bent (with dramatic illustrations) explores this dilemma and the resulting dire predictions, offering solutions and supporting its arguments with dramatic illustrations.

Roger Strauss received his undergraduate degree from Harvard in 1957 and his Law Degree in 1960. He switched careers before he began and got his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1967. The next 45 years were mostly spent administrating Community Mental Health Centers. In the early 2000s he started play writing and helped form the Vermont Playwrights Circle. Then he wrote this essay on Human Nature and illustrated it with his plays. Why? Perhaps because he was a child in World War II, an adolescent for Korea, a young adult for Viet Nam, middle aged for the Balkan wars and Iraq I, a Geezer for Iraq II, Afganistan, and now Ukraine. No wonder the poor old guy's so Gloomy!!!