Further, as to Beast like behavior as a social phenomenon, this goes way back to the beginning of history and surfaces in religious circles (devil worship, black masses, demonic possession), literature (e.g. Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness") and politics (the Nazi movement, Rwanda, Uganda and other instances of genocide). An affinity between lizard brains. Interesting that among the first they go after are the so called "intellectuals" and the beast's greatest enemy resides somewhere in the cerebral cortex. The beast needs the conscious mind since it is itself inarticulate, but it would rather enslave it. This of course is what happens in addiction.
W.