People smarter than I are beginning to notice that many mass shooting incidents [i.e. murders] are of a different nature in our social media-driven world than has been the case with those incidents in the past. I've begun tracking some of the commonalities among the perpetrators and have stumbled over an interesting phenomenon. [Note, I hold a degree in philosophy, so I preface everything with "I might be wrong".]
There seem to be three different types of mass shootings/bombings/lethal attacks:
1. Terrorism, of which we are all familiar, that generally results in the death/suicide of the terrorist. [September 11th, etc.]
2. Genuine exercises in explosive, psychotic madness that generally result in the death/suicide of the perpetrator. [Sandy Hook Elementary, etc.]
3. A toxic form of narcissism revealed in an overwhelming desire to manipulate others through mass media; this generally ends when the perpetrator surrenders to authorities. [El Paso, etc.]
It's #3 that has caught my attention, as it is driven by social media attention and the thrill of being able to manipulate mass media into a raging apoplexy.
For example, the shooter at the mosque in New Zealand, another in Norway, and the shooter in El Paso all posted a "manifesto" online shortly before committing their respective atrocities. [There is a medium for these, named 8Chan, that traffics in such.] The manifesto was gibberish, a collection of statements designed to trigger a reaction from the extremes of ideology. The perpetrator then sits back and revels in his sense of power when he can successfully manipulate prominent politicians, media members, and even Hollywood simpletons to go after one another in the tiresome round of blame and shame that forms in the aftermath of the atrocity. This is why it is important for the perpetrator to survive his killings.
Consider how many online media organizations do something similar these days. For example, CNN recently posted on Twitter a link to a story about how "recent research" indicates that people prefer white robots to black robots. Yes, that's right. The story indicated that the "research" suggested that this was an example of racism.
There was a negative reaction online to the accusation of racism, followed by mocking from the CNN reporter about the "fragility" of the white people responding, followed by subsequent reaction to CNN's mocking, ad infinitum.
A story that in previous times would not have even been published, as it is so weakly sourced, is published not to present a form of truth or the report of an event, but to garner negative attention. As the number of "clicks" that an article receives is the basis for ad revenue nowadays, this is probably a pretty successful plan. Outrage becomes currency.
So, in a form of imitation, an 8Chan clown publishes an absurd manifesto in every social medium, commits murder, waits for his words to be discovered by mass media, then sits in his cell and sees his handiwork result in whole portions of our society, if not the world, blaming some other portion in rhetorical chaos. For that type of personality, that of a marginal mediocrity, this must be an enviable high.
We've stumbled across a similar meditation: Is This The Rise Of Joker Terrorism?
And here:
From El Paso to Antifa to LA: America the Insane
Also: Network provider Cloudflare to drop 8chan after El Paso shooting
A text commonly referred to, and perhaps even read, by some of these shooters is The Great Replacement by Renaud Camus. Viewing the book's synopsis will reveal this new, startling world view. It seems mostly to be a reaction to the increasing emphasis on racial tribalization that is exploited by our political class in order for them to shore up their power and access to graft, yet makes common life for normal people to be more difficult.
Given some updated information, I think expecting schizophrenics voluntarily to submit to treatment is puzzle-witted and naive.