Re: More on Gangs, packs, etc.

[Philidor11@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/17/99 10:01:21 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
sagitta_elegans@yahoo.com writes:

<< Leadership?  Enforcement?  I can't think of any nonhuman examples,
 except insofar as animals bully each other into giving up food or not
 breeding.  This is always to the advantage of the bully and the
 disadvantage of the victim - whether it aids the group is irrelevant. >>

Previously in this thread, there was a mention of matriarchal elephant herds. 
I remember seeing a documentary about stray cats where a tom provided 
leadership by resolving disputes and maintaining the territory for a group of 
females.  I'm also thinking about horses, cows, and sheep.  In fact, there 
have been arguments that in principle minimally violent co-operation (with a 
leader) has survival value.
Though it's better to be higher in the pecking order, the situation for 
followers does not seem inevitably impossible. If my model is the committee, 
yours appears to be competition for grants or promotions.  Those too are 
derived concepts.