They’re still searching for a motive to the attack last I checked in the news. But I’ve got a theory.
One of the reasons for school shootings was thought to be infamy. Nobodies who wanted to be known for something could do something terrible and inevitably end up in the news. But school shootings are just about universally reviled, so much so that some people pretend they didn’t happen to cope with the horrible reality of our time. At least that’s what I tell myself.
With the Brian Thompson story, people were applauding — some of them — some people were happy. It was a long time coming in the words of some. To them, a system that legally kills thousands had a shot fired at it.
And again, with this stabbing, you’ve actually got people cheering the attacker. They see special treatment of the wealthy as a slap in the face to things like equality under the law.
We’ve now entered a period in history where people are realizing you can stab your boss, get a little fame and a fan club, and the state will feed and shelter you so you can escape the 9 to 5 grind. It doesn’t quite have the same evil tone as shooting kids — despite killing of kids being a lower priority problem for the United States of America and law enforcement than the killing of a CEO.
I’m somewhat kidding of course. But also just a little serious. I think we’re going to see a lot more of these attacks until the U.S. starts to bend pro-labor. People are snapping because the economic conditions created by legal action and inaction are squeezing them, or for the empathetic, others around them. What do you do when you feel you are under attack? Fight or flight, and a lot of us have nowhere to run from burnout.
Take it from someone that knows, it’s hard to snap violently when all your basic needs are taken care of and you feel you have something to live for. It takes a relatively broken person to seek violence for the “thrill” of it from my observation of the world. But humans are all pretty much capable of turning the empathy off and turning to violence if the mood calls for it. It’s the job of policymakers to create conditions that don’t inspire that mood.
You can’t tsk, tsk, tsk away the human condition. You can only create conditions where only the most depraved do the kinds of things we’ve been reading about recently, and only the most deranged cheer them on.
Do I know the motive? No. My guess is as good as anyone else’s.
But I’ve predicted things a time or two, and my prediction here stands. We need a pro-labor bend to stifle the wave of violence we are likely to see.
It’s been said that people encourage the use of proper channels because they own the proper channels and are sure proper channels won’t work. Given the federal court’s recent attack on overtime pay and the Ohio Supreme Court’s refusal to allow a straightforward negligence case to trial, even I’m starting to buy into that rhetoric.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like we’ll get a pro-people bend in government any time soon. The incoming administration has a goal to dismantle the FDIC, putting all of our savings at risk. Imagine a world where our savings aren’t backed by the United States government — just another stress point for a population that’s already overworked and underpaid. Now you’ll have to worry about whether your bank will belly flop into bankruptcy too! May it never come to pass.
I’m one of the most privileged people out there. You know what I want for this country? I want everybody to have what I have. The privileged people above me? They want what little you got.
Oh, and if it should come to light that the attack was due to mental illness…
Another three cheers for universal healthcare.
Republicans, whose sole agenda is chaos and suffering are entirely responsible for these events.
We saw children being slaughtered en masse, Republicans loosened gun restrictions.
We saw Republicans block, or try to block the most iniquitous healthcare reforms and did what they could to take it away from whomever they could. They used our corporate overlords to achieve that goal.
Republicans normalized violence against those they disagree with. It’s part of their platform now.
It’s hilarious to see Scarlett O’Hara-type pearl clutching when a conservative tech bro uses their own formula to to lash out.
There is literally no problem we face as a society that could not be mitigated without Republican obstruction. They want us dead.
It’s always been weird for me. A lot of my local republicans seem like sane, regular people who would, given the chance, do the right thing and help people. And in fact my State Senator Andrew Lanza does hold Narcan trainings and breast cancer screenings and things of that nature.
But then I look at the Republican Party on the federal level and I am so repulsed by it. The things they have done to maintain power and sell out the country to the wealthiest interests bother me deeply.
And yet many in America can’t or won’t see it. They trust that things will be okay. And the truth is that without ranked choice voting or something like that, I fear things will never be truly okay. Our system is polarized, and the two sides in power do their best to keep new factions down. The whole thing is a mess.
But yes I’ve seen the pearl clutching after years of stochastic terrorism on the right. I no longer fear what people might say about me for admitting that.