This Batman shooting has me thinking about loners, and how they cope with their dislike of society.
It used to be, people that truly disliked society could melt into "the west" and find a place where they could be left alone. Elijah Reavis is one such example from the 19th century, that decided he just didn't want anything to do with most of the world any more than he was compelled to. He left his wife and daughter in CA forever, and disappeared into Arizona's superstition mountains. Once in a while he'd show up in town, trading produce from his gardens for whatever he needed. But mostly he liked being left alone. He's got about a quarter of the Superstition wilderness named after him in one way or another. The Apache even left him alone, because he was reportedly a fantastic rifleman and his .45/70 was something to be feared in his hands.
Reavis is a classic example of a hermit.
Perhaps a bit of a sociopath to him as well... American Heritage dictionary defines a sociopath as:
Someone whose social behavior is extremely abnormal. Sociopaths are interested only in their personal needs and desires, without concern for the effects of their behavior on others.
sociopath. (n.d.). The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Retrieved July 24, 2012, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sociopathIn regards to abandoning his family, and his relationships with his fellow man, sure: he's a sociopath.
And there's any number of people like that in early American history. They go west. A few become criminals, but most just seek to live how they think they should.
This Batman shooter... he wasn't a hermit. Sure, he's a sociopath. But that gives sociopaths a bad name. This guy is a nihilist. Someone that believes in the absence of value in society, people and even himself. A destructive dislike and disrespect of boundaries, rules, or rights that transcends his own natural rights and comes into direct conflict with the safety of society. A murderer that intends murder for the sake of destroying social fabric.
Even the Unabomber wasn't a nihilist. He had a manifesto, some sort of system of belief that could be negotiated with and come to terms with, if one so chose.
Bin Laden isn't a nihilist. He wants Sharia Law around the world and the Caliphate to never have the sun set upon it, and he's willing to kill any infidels to get the job done. It's a system I disagree with and will fight to the end, but I can wrap my head around it and understand it if I choose.
Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, Genghis Khan, Atilla... not nihilists.
Jack the Ripper... not a nihilist.
Even Dexter (from TV) is not a nihilist.
The Columbine shooters, was there ever a motive or intended targets with them?
Not sure about the Giffords shooter, if we can consider that an act of nihilism or some sort of confused attempted political assassination.
The VA Tech guy, did we ever get a motive from him? What did he spout out about on his video tape that he made after the shootings before getting caught?
There must be "something" that these guys are searching for. Isolation, freedom, escape from something.
Is it the lack of a "west?"
Or is broke, broke; and just in need of lead injection and less speculation?
