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*The North Star recently published my article <http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=13692> on the mass killing in Las Vegas. For those who are interested, here is an addition I just added:* *Update: addictions and this event* I’ve been thinking a little more about Paddock, the apparent shooter. He’s known to have had an extreme addiction to slot-machine poker gambling, although the capitalist media doesn’t call it an “addiction” out of concession to the gambling industry. He also was an alcoholic. Modern brain science shows that satisfying any addiction (including addiction to behaviors like gambling) stimulates the release of ever increasing amounts of dopamine and strengthens the role of the midbrain at the expense of the pre-frontal cortex. The former, called the “lizard brain” by some, is that part of the brain that just reacts. All animals have that part of the brain. The latter is the part of the brain that is responsible for logical thought, perception of more distant consequences – in short, the part of the brain that distinguishes our species, the human species. It is suspected – although far from confirmed – that Paddock may have been obsessed with his father, the bank robber who was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. So, here’s one theory: That as Paddock’s addiction strengthened, it broke down the inhibitions against satisfying unconscious or even possibly conscious cravings to emulate his father and to become notorious in his own right. Again, this is a theory only, and I recognize that there is no evidence at present that Paddock had this craving. But if he did, this might help explain Paddock’s individual behavior. What it does not explain is why these shootings are ever more common. For that we would have to delve deeper, and that’s where the social analysis above comes in. It would also be interesting to know if the other shooters were drug addicts of some sort or another. If so, then again we have to ask why drug addiction is so rampant in capitalist US society? What must be emphasized is that no view of the individual psychology can explain individual actions if the view is taken to the exclusion of the social conditions. That is doubly so when the individual actions are part of a larger pattern (such as random murders of the sort Paddock and others have committed). -- "No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them." Assata Shakur Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
