Way back in 2001 I tried to think about the causes of two school shootings in my hometown of San Diego (as well as the phenomenon overall) and this is what came out: Here There Be Monsters.
Rough attempt at grasping why these events happen, but might be worth revisiting and rewriting, especially since we already have absurd attempts to manipulate the public's fears for profits and politics: "Louie Gohmert: Aurora Shootings Result Of 'Ongoing Attacks On Judeo-Christian Beliefs'."
Just as bad and manipulative are claims by President Obama that violent attacks like these are "senseless" and simply "evil" as a means of avoiding any systemic exploration of root causes: "Batman US cinema shooting: 12 dead in Colorado."
Almost always we can carefully investigate and map out the root causes of these violent events. Dismissing them as the actions of "monsters" or as simply incomprehensible "evil" is an attempt to divert people from thinking about the causes (especially broader social forces/structures).
Meanwhile, the mainstream media amplifies the event in such a way that it causes the public to develop a hysterical fear that they will be gunned down by random mass murderers. At the same time, the corporate media continues to de-emphasize the daily pain, suffering and deaths (here and abroad) that are directly caused by our (American) economic, political, military, social, etc... policies.
Why do people freak out in regards to the relatively small amounts of people killed/suffering as a result of isolated people like Holmes, but continue to blithely ignore the massive amounts of people being abused/exploited/harmed/tortured/killed daily?
People claim it is senseless, or "evil" incarnate, or terror(ism), or an attack on Judeo-Christianity, or evidence that we should arm everyone to the teeth, in order to distract us from the real causes of violently-explosive, mass murders.
Just as simplistic and manipulative as Louie Gohmert's claim, is the clamor that this is evidence that we need to loosen gun control laws and allow everyone to arm themselves to the teeth. It is quite obvious that "gun control" (and ammo restrictions) is not operative in the USA: James Holmes, Aurora Shooting Suspect, Purchased 6,000 Rounds Of Ammunition Online
Another attempt to ignore the possible root causes of these type of violent outbursts is the claim that these people are simply "insane," when in reality, many of them are described as being completely "normal": James Holmes, Aurora Shooter, Described As 'Smart Kid,' Quiet Loner By Classmates
While I think most people can understand director Chris Nolan being upset about the shooting during his film, am I the only person that finds it strange that he claims a mall cinema as an "innocent and hopeful place"?
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