To the editor:

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Yes, the world has been, and still is, full of dangerous animals. Millions of years ago ferocious dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus Rex roamed the land while dangerous sea creatures such as the Pliosaurs searched the oceans for prey. The demise of many of these animals occurred around 65 million years ago.

This opening niche led to the rise of other types of animals that gradually evolved to the present assemblage that roam the planet today. So now we have tens of thousands of dangerous species of animals that include poisonous insects and arachnids, to venomous snakes, to all the predatory reptiles and mammals.

But by far the most dangerous mammal in the world is the human male.

Homo Sapiens existed as hunter-gatherers until the rise of agriculture. Farming led to the establishment of small villages and towns and this led to an increase in population that required more social restrictions. Enter the strongman chief who, with the assistance of his cohorts, now controlled the population by the subtle threat of force. The corruption of power led to wars with other settled communities; the villages grew to cities and the cities combined into states, but the warfare continued intermittently to the present time.

Human males were responsible for wars in ancient times and throughout the Dark and Middle Ages. Civil wars, genocides, world wars and other present-day hostilities in Africa, the Middle East, and around the world were precipitated by human males. Millions of people have suffered and died as a consequence.

Religious wars and oppression in times past, and continuing today, is the product of self-righteous human males immersed in the irrationality of religious certainty. The suppression of women’s rights, honor killings, and female genital mutilations are justified by human male maniacs. The vast majority of secular crimes are caused by human males.

People might shrug and say that this is just the product of irrepressible social evolution. But there is something we can do: we could avoid electing sociopathic narcissistic bullies to public office and we could reduce the influence of the puerile gun culture that permeates our society. We also need to elect more women in positions of leadership. Women tend to be peacemakers and are more nurturing by their very nature. Through the election of more women we may get a concomitant decrease in violence throughout the world.

David M. Keranen

Bakersfield, Calif.