By Selwyn Duke
It sure didn’t take long. Aside from predictably using the July 4 Highland Park shooting as a vehicle through which to push anti-gun laws, the mainstream media have also rushed to portray perpetrator Robert Crimo III as “right wing.” A local Chicago news channel claimed he had ties to a “far-right overseas group” while the Daily Mail called him a “Trump-supporting youngster” based on pictures he shared on the Web. In response, other media have pushed back, stating that leftist passions are reflected in a majority of Crimo’s relevant postings, one of which includes his pronouncement “I am a liberal.”
Yet while the latter perspective seems more accurate, are both “sides” missing the deeper point? As to this, question: If you’re a confused young fellow bereft of firm principles living in, let’s say, a land with a Marxist spirit, what perspective will convenience likely compel you to embrace? More on that later.
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I'm surprised you compared Crimo to Paddock rather than the now numerous mass shooters in their late teens to early 20s. Although in the sense of hating that which represents typical working class or middle class America, they are similar. Weirdness on the internet seems to be the common bond between all the young male mass shooters, however. More than a few of them also acquired guns at the earliest age possible despite obvious signs they were extremely unstable. Paddock seemed to me that maybe he was an actual terrorist though there hasn't been much evidence to support that theory.
I'd say in general that the rest are young males who have mental problems exacerbated by the somewhat unhealthy environment on the internet. I'd like to believe that there were evil people lurking on the internet to brainwash those with weak wills. Instead, the realty seems to be that the internet provides a venue for a sick mind to publish or broadcast its warped ideas. Some of these guys also manifest with near savant abilities: producing thousand-page manifestos when most of us might struggle with a five-paragraph essay or employing complex symbolism that most couldn't understand let alone utilize. I suspect these are psychotic traits as have manifested with serial killers in past generations. The newly released Hinckley comes to mind as I type. He certainly thinks his thoughts! Two questions need answering: Are more young males psychotic than in past generations? Is the Internet accelerating their mental decline? Another perhaps more pressing matter is if the antipsychotic drugs many of these young males take are actually worsening their mental health.
Despite assertions these mass killings are extremely rare events, I eagerly read an article about what to do if you find yourself in a crowd of people under attack. The school shootings are horrific but this second assault on a parade in roughly six months along with the recent grocery store shooting makes the threat more ubiquitous. While your ideas about the cause being increasing nihilism essentially are intriguing, I believe such people have always been with us; The internet just brings us together with more of all types of people: good and bad, sane and crazy.
Posted by: tj | July 07, 2022 at 12:05 AM