First we have the guy in Kentucky who shot two people, then the mad bomber of the van who sent bombs to various people on the left of Trump, and currently the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter who's more right than Trump.
I find some solace in the idea these three events are examples of social contagion, of fads. It's similar to the spread of anti-vaccine theories, or the sudden popularity of a set of names for newborns. Somehow we humans are monkey-see, monkey-do (with my apologies to our simian cousins) people. I'm not sure whether we just like to follow the path beaten down by others or also we like to outdo each other.
Where does rhetoric come into play? I'm not sure. Maybe it's similar to a flu or measles epidemic. One condition, necessary but not sufficient, is the existence of an unvaccinated population, a set of people closely connected enough to support the spread of a disease. The other condition is the introduction of a carrier of a virus/bacteria which is infectious.
But the metaphor isn't good enough--there's just two conditions going on. With our recent events there's more conditions: the availability of guns, the availability of bomb technology (knowledge and materials), the existence of people somewhat (or very) nutty, the knowledge that others share the feelings and conceivably can be impressed by deeds, the triggering event, etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment