Back again (and with spell check this time, sorry)…I didn't mean to start a speculation on alternative history (the term is "uchronia"), though there is a whole writing genre based on the idea.
I'm rather hoping to pursue the line of thought about the power of personality as a prime influence. Deckman mentioned knowing a man who he felt had such a negatively intense emanation of power (his "aura" if you will), that he felt repelled, but also fascinated by this individual.
Is it possible that we, as a species, still need to find and follow the "alpha male" as much from a need to believe that strength equals security, even over a more cerebral desire to stand and take responsibility for ones' own moral choices?
Did the times demand a Christ figure 2 millennia ago? Does it now demand an embodiment of evil?
Are we always going to be ruled by emotion over intellect, and will only the Icons change?

(PS-Maybe the next great Icon will be BE a 10 foot hamster!)
(PPS- And -Why did America drop not one, but TWO atomic bombs? I am referring to the emotion over intellect theme.)