I have two thoughts about this. I'm in the middle of a sudden move because I was the victim of a peeping tom, who may have creeped on me for months. The guy thought he was entitled to spy on me late at night because I was a woman. The fact that this guy felt so entitled to having a woman just by virtue of existing is disturbing for that reason.
There's also the fact that his victims included men too, so he was just an angry POS and didn't care who was hurting. He was clearly mentally ill, but there was no easy way for his family to get him help because he was a legal adult. I feel that needs to be fixed.
Of course, another thought is that if he didn't have a gun, there might be 20 injured people, not 7 dead.
Watched some of his videos to try to get the real life Patrick Bateman's point of view.
I'm not condoning what he did, but I can understand where he's coming. A lot of people go to that dark place and they have to make a choice on whether to press on and make things better or give up and end it all for them and/or somebody else. I'm sure there's some people reading this right now who have been there at some point in their lives.
This guy seemed well off (Hollywood connections, had a BMW) and even with those advantages, it didn't do a damn thing for him. To do what you feel you have to and then fail at it. For those that don't understand, you don't know what does to a person. It makes you feel worthless like you want to crawl in a hole and go away. I get the feeling he didn't have any friends to help him and after years of being depressed from countless rejections, he finally snapped.
Like I said before, to see a person like that capable of such madness because there was nobody left that cared about him. Human isn't a single entity. It's part of the heart and it's terrifying to see it on that level.
Or maybe he just didn't FEEL that he did. Mentally ill people experience exactly what they or their illness wants them to experience. My sister had a friend in high school who committed suicide, and nobody saw it coming. He had friends, he was popular, any one of his friends would have done something had he only reached out (especially my sister - she is stubborn and loyal to a fault), but
he still felt alone. Doesn't matter what the actual reality might have been, being alone and pained was his reality.
There are reports that say the shooter's parents tried to get him help - they even called the police when they found his threatening videos. But he's a legal adult so there was nothing more they could do. I feel just as bad for them as for the shooting victims. Maybe they spoiled him financially, but that doesn't mean his lifestyle led to this. I have known plenty of spoiled brats in my time, but none of them would think to "punish" the world by shooting innocent people.
Recognising the fact that a person who commits a crime, is "mentally ill", doesn't mean that he is being absolved of all the consequences of his actions.
He would still be hold into detention for his crime, but his psyche should also be examined deeply from scientists that study human consciousness. We could learn a lot..
I agree.
There is a pattern of mentality that runs through people who do things like this. It's too easy to think, "Well that one guy was just sick" or "We'll just take away guns" or "We'll just arm people to defend themselves" (depending on your viewpoint) and ignore the societal patterns. There is a deadly violence epidemic in this country. If as many people died of MERS as with deadly violence, there would be rampaging against the CDC to do something about it.
The truth is, you have to be mentally ill to premeditate random murders against completely innocent people.
There must be something we can do, for mentally ill adults. It is SO HARD for families to get help for them, because they often don't think they need it, when they really do. And because they are adults, we can't just force them. Just a sad, sad situation.
Obviously the kids in the western world that post self pitying posts and vids, haven't probably heard about children that are dying every day before they reach their teens from cancer, poverty, war, crippled men that don't have limbs etc.
All this BS acting "my life is miserable" "no one loves me" and making it public is a prime example of selfish attitude and ego taking over.
There are plenty of gentle souls out there that are willing to help and stand beside as real friends. I'm sure if those kids gave a try, they would find a person to make them happy. Instead, they are posting their misery in the web, as if the world revolves around them.
The truth is, I believe everyone goes through that as a teenager. I consider myself a pretty even-keeled person, and I'm FAR more comfortable in my own skin at 30 than I was before 22.
It's just that the well-off have more room to worry about it because they don't have to worry about surviving day to day. And of course, the vast majority of us don't want to punish the world for not giving us exactly what we want.
