Once again, we are trying to figure it all out

[struggle4progress]

This time, a young quiet kid, from a broken home, with a drug problem and a history of run-ins with police, has shot and killed nine people. What could possibly have gone wrong here?

By now, of course, we all have lots of experience figuring out stuff like this, because it happens surprisingly often. So there are many interpretations floating around

It certainly could be just an accident: almost any of us could reload a gun five times without even thinking about it

And then there's that pastor who for some reason didn't want guns in his church: it's hard to fuss at him about that right now, since he's dead, but wouldn't we all really be safer if more people carried concealed weapons? Anyway, being nice just doesn't always work

Meanwhile, the shooter's comment during Bible study (you’re taking over our country and you have to go) could suggest a rising hostility against Christians

It's a big mystery, and maybe we'll never solve it. In any case, let's please try to maintain a sense of what is important, so we don't starting blaming guns or the confederate flag

[Cryptoad]

1. Dont forget the part about how a 9th grade drop out,,,

Last edited Mon Jun 22, 2015, 08:59 AM - Edit history (1)

writes a Manifesto like a College Graduate .....but nobody else is involved !

[CBGLuthier]

2. Yes, because only dumb people quit school.

I am a ninth grade dropout. I have not written my manifesto yet, but I think I am quite capable of writing intelligently despite my never having gone to a fucking prom.

[Human101948]

5. You missed the best thing about the prom...

the fucking!

[Cryptoad]

7. You are a abnormally

[struggle4progress]

9. I quit high school before I graduated

[alarimer]

6. Likely plagiarized

No need for conspiracies when there is an easier explanation.

[HereSince1628]

4. IMO we don't have it figured out very well, often seeing it as simpler than it is.

The pool of mass-murders in the US is actually relatively small, and descriptors of it and potential correlates to it are diverse. Despite television fiction, it's hard to get a very tight statistical profile of mass murderers. A lot of what passes for profiling is really application of understanding from outside of mass-murder. Drug use makes people dangerous therefore consider drug use contributes to mass-murder. Institutionalized mentally ill have elevated rates of violence, therefore consider mental illness contributes to mass-murder, etc.

It's hard to get information that does much more than make people, including police, panicky. That invites a decision-making context which warrants errs on the side of extreme, and possibly prejudiced caution based on "common knowledge" that may be common but isn't really knowledge and isn't applied only as warranted. Fear isn't just a fictional mind-killer in a sci-fi book, its also huge motivator for split-second elevated risk detection, prejudiced thinking and violent reaction.

There is bias in how we deal with what we do know. We want simple rules to note and judge danger so we construct generalities around the most obvious bits of truth...

You can't have multiple people killed by gunfire without a firearm present...therefore it -is- about guns.
You can't have multiple people killed by gunfire without a person pulling the trigger...therefore it -is- about monsters among us.
You can't have multiple people killed in a race based attack without it being about racism.

Yet, we are unhappy when the descriptors look like us. Even without economic motivations we frequently push back against factors which link our identity to that of the murderer because their potential to be used in constructed generalities threatens us, and because we often actually do represent exceptions to the generalities...

'I'm a white man, I don't kill people, therefore it's not about white men.'
'I'm a gun owner, I don't kill people, therefore it's not about guns.'
'I'm a child of divorce, I don't kill people, therefore it's not about divorce.'
'I'm taking ssri's, I don't kill people, therefore it's not about ssri's.'

And because of the relative rareness of mass-murders each of the above has statistical support...if you are open to arguments about commoness being an important factor in risk assessment. Even with substance abuse, where rates of violence are elevated, the great majority of users aren't murderers let along mass murderers.

Where there seems to be a handle to grab onto the generalities and do prevention there is often resistance based on a claim of rights.

It's about guns...but Supreme Court interpretations of 2nd Amendment guarantee access to them...
It's about racists and counter culture, including 'gun-culture'...but there should be freedom of assembly and free-speech... and recognition of heritage.
It's about the mentally ill... but can only be about a fraction of people who seek help... and psychiatric records must be protected from fishing expeditions or coercing false dx's to protect clinician liability...
It's about psychoactive medication...but people have a right to treatment and pharmaceutical records should be private...
It's about parenting...but the nanny state shouldn't criminalize parenting, and the state has a questionable record on raising kids.

Understanding mass murder actually really seems anything but simple.

[Mojorabbit]

10. Great post. nt

[d_legendary1]

8. Yeah ya can't blame our society or guns. He decided to become a criminal!!!

Everyone knows that no matter how hard you have it in life ya gots 'ta pull yerself with ya bootstraps or something and become rich by yer own two hands! Guns are for protection but this guys decided to use them to kill people, hence instantly becoming a criminal. And you're right these pastors need to start packing heat so them criminals won't get a jump on them during prayers, sermons, or worship.

After all, we decide what we want to become, not some goofball in Congress who thinks tax cuts help society more than social programs!

(I'll add this just in case some hardass thinks I'm serious)