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The mass shooter is imperialistic in their demand for the dominance of space-time. They research other mass shootings and targets to create a simulation, e.g., using the Columbine school shooting as a model. The virtual world is the “real” audience for their final [suicidal] act. YouTube says, “Broadcast Yourself” and that is what the mass shooter does: a performance of exhibitionistic violence/suicide intended for online virality.
In the movie Top Gun, Pete Mitchell (played by Tom Cruise) decided he would Never Settle for second place. He would be the Best of the Best. Maverick would always be himself. Meaning his persona, Maverick, who was competitive, arrogant, and manipulative. In the U.S. celebrity culture, self-centeredness and selfishness are virtues. The aerial dogfighting of Top Gun is the perfect metaphor for Social Darwinism: the strong achieve through violence and the weak perish.
The mass shooter is the ultimate Maverick, but they do not follow “kill or be killed”, because in the mass shooter’s case it is killed and be killed. The mass shooter is the loser of neoliberalism. Their bound energy (agitation) is a mobilizing passion to be a winner (for the moment). The mass shooter gains situational power from a gun (Top Gun) to enforce a relationship with Others. Therefore, the mass shooter uses violence to inflict a fascist relationship (forced unity) to relieve their despair. The agitation ends in violence (murder, incapacitation/suicide). The act is imperial in its magnificence (as a spectacle), but now the media is numb to the event.
There are approximately 2 mass shootings (4 or more people shot) per day in the U.S. (despair). We escape into the virtual world where we are exploited by Big Tech (craving by design). We are Mindless (passive) and Joyless (split from the body): a state of simple consciousness where we are increasingly dependent. We track the self and make it into an Empire of the Self. In this recording, Andrew is lecturing in Mankato, Minnesota on February 8th, 2023, for an annual alternative education conference. Andrew’s lecture was titled, “Mass Shootings & Simulation.”
Visit MankatoTherapist.com for more information and to contact Andrew Archer.