Thank you for your response, happyme. I'm glad to hear your story about your kids and spanking, as I had a similar upbringing and growth pattern with my daughter. I spanked her hand up until she was two, then after learning more I got rid of all of that. You're right about the might makes right being present in the spanking method.
When it comes to "it didn't turn me into a raging bull", I don't think the spanking helped you be a peaceful person, I think that you became a peaceful person despite being spanked. The love parents have for their kids can dominate a lot of the negatives that spanking brings and there certainly appears to be a correlation between intensity and frequency of corporal punishment and anti-social behavior.

Thank you for your comments!