Calling mass shooters "evil" is just as much of a cop out as saying "he's just crazy". It ignores the real root cause of their behavior, instead hand waving it away as the actions of some nefarious boogeyman, whom we simply cannot comprehend.
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"If opportunities for role fulfilment fall far short of the demand by those capable of filling roles, and having expectations to do so, only violence and disruption of social organization can follow. Individuals born under these circumstances will be so out of touch with reality as to be incapable even of alienation. Their most complex behaviors will become fragmented. Acquisition, creation and utilization of ideas appropriate for life in a post-industrial cultural-conceptual-technological society will have been blocked."
- John B. Calhoun
Everything is going wrong.... Farmers are generally on the verge of ruin. Trade is always bad. The Church is in danger. The House of Lords isn’t worth a dozen years’ purchase. The throne totters.
- Anthony Trollope