Description
This book takes on what is fast becoming the central psychological question of our time : What is the cause behind the staggering rise of mass murders in America? Beginning with a historical view of the phenomenon, the author slowly narrows his focus to examining the pressures of modern society, the inadequacy of a large percentage of the population to deal effectively with these pressures, the normalizing of violence through video games and popular films and something he calls the “fame entitlement” which when combined with the other factors enable mass murder to appear to be a viable option for those with even a slight form of mentally illness.
In America, since 2017, mass murder has become a “fight back fantasy” that frequently occurs as a possible last result for many who struggle to cope with each new day, finding themselves sinking further and further into the quagmire of modern economics with not only no way out, but no way to even express their problem. So frustrating is this process which the author call the Squeeze that the sufferer eventually loses all hope of recovery and begins focusing primarily on a way not to go down without a whimper. The need for what he or she sees as “righteous recognition” becomes the driving force of the individual until he or she perceives a way to publically shout their pain in a voice that cannot be ignored. The greater the pressurized pain, the greater the release, the more public the event and the more suffering it must release.
The wheeling and dealing of the politically and economically powerful have left a great number of people feeling overwhelmingly helpless. Some are watching their futures, their dreams fade and die, some are seeing loved ones die, some are seeing their very selves taken a part piece by piece. And no one is listening to their utterances on the bus, their angry moments at the office or their tearful pleas from the barstool. No one care and no one is doing anything about it.
Sooner or later, they decide they must be the one whose shout restores the sensibility to their world. And the more they think about it, the more it not only makes sense, but seems like the only viable option. And pretty soon it no longer matters how many people hear the shout, how few can grasp its full meaning, but only that someone does it or at least attempts to do it. And eventually they realize that they are the someone who must give forth the shout. They are the only some-one who has the means and the opportunity to sound the warning. And that is such a grand thing to be chosen for, it matter very little that they will most certainly die in the attempt. It’s not about getting people to understand, people will never take the time to understand. It’s about getting their attention, making them look, making them see in such a way that they will know something is very wrong with the world. And perhaps then someone will look into fixing it.
The wheeling and dealing of the politically and economically powerful have left a great number of people feeling overwhelmingly helpless. Some are watching their futures, their dreams fade and die, some are seeing loved ones die, some are seeing their very selves taken a part piece by piece. And no one is listening to their utterances on the bus, their angry moments at the office or their tearful pleas from the barstool. No one care and no one is doing anything about it.
Sooner or later, they decide they must be the one whose shout restores the sensibility to their world. And the more they think about it, the more it not only makes sense, but seems like the only viable option. And pretty soon it no longer matters how many people hear the shout, how few can grasp its full meaning, but only that someone does it or at least attempts to do it. And eventually they realize that they are the someone who must give forth the shout. They are the only some-one who has the means and the opportunity to sound the warning. And that is such a grand thing to be chosen for, it matter very little that they will most certainly die in the attempt. It’s not about getting people to understand, people will never take the time to understand. It’s about getting their attention, making them look, making them see in such a way that they will know something is very wrong with the world. And perhaps then someone will look into fixing it.
