I try to keep a skeptical distance from news media -- yet some events stand above the others in terms of the awfulness of their scale and tragic consequences. It's hard to remain immune from the high incidence of reportings, in the news, of mass shootings. These events that have multiplied so much recently that the collective psyche is becoming resigned to them.
The pattern is predictable -- a disaffected, lone perpetrator (usually a young male) with a mental illness or a seething hatred toward some injustice in the world, secretly plots his revenge, easily acquires automatic weapons and then wanders into a school or shopping mall and indiscriminately empties rounds at innocent bystanders (or selected targets). Either he is stopped by his own bullet in the process or commits suicide "by police." This has become an all too familiar cliche story arc lately.
Up here in Canada, we like to remind ourselves that we are removed from the rampant violence of U.S. gun-culture. We point to stringent gun laws and take pains to declare how "horrified" we are by the brutality south of the border. We find reassurance that we are more moderate and restrained than our American cousins. So it's worrying to note that the subculture of gun-loving, anti-government extremism, has crept across the border into boring old Canada. That sobering realization hit home last week with a gunman's rampage in a small city here that resulted in the deaths of three police officers.
Sharing a border with the behemoth to the south has always meant more immediate economic ties that inevitably translate into a cultural influence spilling over. Our historical ambivalence, either towards or away from greater association, reflects our complicated and sometimes uneasy relationship to the U.S.
In this moment of our history, however, the unfiltered deluge of U.S. popular culture and media is pouring in, wave after wave -- at nano-speed -- the internet has brought us many positives but along with that, it has exposed every creepy cyber-nook and cranny and sentiments that belong littered on the walls of bathroom stalls are catapulted to the mainstream. We are subject to an undifferentiated mass influx of excess, exulting in the profane, the self-indulgent, the crass and the shallow.
How can any "border" stand up to this?
So it's now a revelation (but not surprising) that we are seeing
the disturbing rise of anti-government militia "types" who have
bought into the psychosis of their extremist counterparts south of
the border. These "angry" outsiders - infused with libertarian dogma -- feel victimized for what they believe is their struggle to defend their "freedom" from being usurped by governments under the control of shadowy puppetmasters.
This paranoid fantasy finds its appeal among individuals who are suggestible. Take any unstable young man with limited education, fed a steadily venomous bias by right wing media, frustrated by his economic prospects, probably unsuccessful in dating, -- he starts to nurse a grudge against the world, refuses to take responsibility for himself, and, all around him, he feels betrayed by society. As one commentator points out -- alot of the profiles of these mass shooters reveal an "entitlement" complex and a feeling of not having their expectations met of what should be their "due."
Extremist philosophies, in these instances, have an appeal for already isolated and distraught young men and we ignore them at our peril.
the disturbing rise of anti-government militia "types" who have
bought into the psychosis of their extremist counterparts south of
the border. These "angry" outsiders - infused with libertarian dogma -- feel victimized for what they believe is their struggle to defend their "freedom" from being usurped by governments under the control of shadowy puppetmasters.
This paranoid fantasy finds its appeal among individuals who are suggestible. Take any unstable young man with limited education, fed a steadily venomous bias by right wing media, frustrated by his economic prospects, probably unsuccessful in dating, -- he starts to nurse a grudge against the world, refuses to take responsibility for himself, and, all around him, he feels betrayed by society. As one commentator points out -- alot of the profiles of these mass shooters reveal an "entitlement" complex and a feeling of not having their expectations met of what should be their "due."
Extremist philosophies, in these instances, have an appeal for already isolated and distraught young men and we ignore them at our peril.
I have experienced in my past, a similar sense of alienation that these perpetrators have felt. Luckily, I have grown past it and have a child on the way, so it is giving me purpose and cause for joy. But I know what it is like to be aimless, poor, frustrated surrounded by the tantalizing temptations of consumer culture yet unable to partake. I don't have the wherewithal or the personality to knowingly take out my frustrations in such a destructive fashion, but I know what it's like to experience the kind of humiliation some of these individuals have suffered and yet I also know that we are ultimately responsible for our actions.
I have always been over-sensitive to my environment and easily prone to indignation. This can be an unhealthy combination if there is nowhere to release it. I was (am) fortunate that I have had a set of values instilled in me that delineate right from wrong and that I have found my outlet in self-expression -- art and music and increasingly, exercise. I am also fortunate that I can articulate my negative feelings (although some would rather not hear them.)
This is not the case for a lot of these young angry men who, being products of moral relativism, are not held in check by ethical considerations. In fact, just like indoctrinated jihadists, these individuals are able to convince themselves of the righteousness of their grievances and actions by projecting their resentments onto an external group. Unlike jihadists though, these gunmen often act alone. Our culture places a premium on self-reliance and individualism and this winner-take-all ethos breeds solitary onlookers in the shadows desperate for attention.
I have always been over-sensitive to my environment and easily prone to indignation. This can be an unhealthy combination if there is nowhere to release it. I was (am) fortunate that I have had a set of values instilled in me that delineate right from wrong and that I have found my outlet in self-expression -- art and music and increasingly, exercise. I am also fortunate that I can articulate my negative feelings (although some would rather not hear them.)
This is not the case for a lot of these young angry men who, being products of moral relativism, are not held in check by ethical considerations. In fact, just like indoctrinated jihadists, these individuals are able to convince themselves of the righteousness of their grievances and actions by projecting their resentments onto an external group. Unlike jihadists though, these gunmen often act alone. Our culture places a premium on self-reliance and individualism and this winner-take-all ethos breeds solitary onlookers in the shadows desperate for attention.
The ignored loner -- the bullied kid -- these profiles have one thing in common -- they tend not to be the self-confident "jocks" or "bad boys" who are practically worshipped in popular culture. I'm not condoning these embittered outcasts for their cowardly acts, but it's evident that those who have been made to feel that they are "losers" feel much more driven by a resentment to act out in extreme ways. Combine this with the profound sense of inadequacy that derives from economic and sexual powerlessness in a culture that links a man's desirability to women directly to his status. Add the proliferation of first-person shooter video games and Hollywood's love affair with the gun-toting, macho rebel into the mix and you've got the recipe for a walking time bomb. Again, this is not to in any way, justify the actions of rampaging mass murderers, but it is an attempt to underscore the social influences that create this kind of alienation.
I wouldn't want to be a young right now. The economic outlook for recent graduates is not promising and competing for jobs in industries that are in constant flux requires that workers adapt or face unemployment. Companies show very little loyalty nowadays resulting in a grim future for job security. These are some larger systemic pressures but of course, in our attempt to understand the motives behind a massacre of innocent strangers, we can simplify or spin all kinds of theories. It's important to note that there doesn't seem to be a one-size fits all explanation.
Given all of these influences, I can see how the homicidal-maniac-in-the-making would, over time, allow dark fantasies to take root and fester in his psyche to the point where he can rationalize his act as a way of "going out in glory" - or - rather "notoriety."
I wouldn't want to be a young right now. The economic outlook for recent graduates is not promising and competing for jobs in industries that are in constant flux requires that workers adapt or face unemployment. Companies show very little loyalty nowadays resulting in a grim future for job security. These are some larger systemic pressures but of course, in our attempt to understand the motives behind a massacre of innocent strangers, we can simplify or spin all kinds of theories. It's important to note that there doesn't seem to be a one-size fits all explanation.
Given all of these influences, I can see how the homicidal-maniac-in-the-making would, over time, allow dark fantasies to take root and fester in his psyche to the point where he can rationalize his act as a way of "going out in glory" - or - rather "notoriety."
Throw in the easy availability of guns and you've got a lethal combination. The ever present "frontier mentality" still resonates to this day in U.S. culture and even the suburban "loner-types" in 2014 have inherited this dangerously romantic myth.
Is it any wonder why there have been two separate shootings in the last week in which the victims were police? These perpetrators really believe they are at war with society and feel that they can somehow attract more sympathy if their targets are non-civilian. The whole notion that they are killing other human beings doesn't even cross their path. They have become so comfortable with the hatred that they profess that the end -- any end, justifies the means.
What is perhaps more alarming about this whole trend is that we are becoming accustomed to it and shrugging it off in helpless indifference. We are starting to accept the possibility that these random mass shootings will become another danger that we have to live with like getting hit by a car or disease or an earthquake. When we tolerate something as heinous as mass murder as inevitable, we have retreated from our responsibility to engage and handed the perpetrators a hollow victory.
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