An interesting take on underlying motivation, and solution, for mass murder attacks…
I’m very much about finding solutions to prevent mass shootings, preferably without the need for new laws. The truth is, new rules and regulations are likely to bring in a whole bunch of new problems. The Law of Unintended Consequences is a thing, after all.
However, over at Open Source Defense, they have a fascinating postabout how other countries have dealt with “rashes” of violent acts not all that dissimilar from the recent spate of mass shootings.
It’s a long post and I can’t even begin to quote all of the relevant bits, but the gist of it is simple.
Contrary to popular belief, the people who commit mass murder aren’t necessarily mentally ill, at least not in the sense of having a diagnosable condition. Some do, but most don’t. So that’s not the common thread.
What is a common thread is that they are almost all frustrated losers. The anguished virgins. The disgruntled husbands who explode and kill the extended family. The racists killing the outgroup that he feels is threatening his ingroup. The religious zealots doing the same. And, for that matter, the impoverished high schooler who kills a classmate after school over some trivial slight, or the husband who kills his wife — both of which, awfully, happen hundreds of times more often than mass shootings.
The shape changes but the mass stays constant: a hopeless loser who feels like he or his group are losing, thinks he spots who’s to blame, and decides he’s going to show everyone that damn it, he’s not the loser that you (and, subconsciously, he) think he is.
The answer, the post suggests, isn’t in new laws but in framing these attackers as another type of loser. The prime example given? ISIS attacks in the United States and Europe.
Read the rest: Cues On Ending Mass Shootings Based On Past Experience
Got something to say?