Nobody talks about it and I never see it in the media outlets or read about it in articles written by experts in psychology,

but it is a palpable element of our society.  It is the “fear of being left behind”.  It seems to permeate behavior in our purchases, our decisions and our general well being.

This fear of being left behind is very, very primal. In prehistoric days, primitive man could not be left behind or he might be eaten by the greater-in-number predators.  As we huddled in our groups and had to keep on the move, we were regularly hunted by animals for food.  The weakest of the group was sometimes left behind as a tidbit for the predator so the group could escape and save itself.  Safety in numbers was and is still the rule.  The ancient custom of sacrificing something to the gods is a more …