Re: [Marxism] More on Las Vegas

[DW via Marxism]

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Ken wrote:

"Someone who buys a car that can go 170 mph will naturally be inclined to
try it out.
And someone who buys weapons that can kill large numbers might feel the
impulse to see them in action.
They are, after all, marvels of engineering. In the great majority of cases
the normal inhibition against murderous behaviour will win out.
But will it win out every time?"

Wow...really? Logical fallacy much? A car and a gun. A 170mph car is bought
because one might indeed one to try it out that fast though if you know
anything about cars it has more to do with going from say, 60mpsh to 80mph
is about 2 seconds. It's why I bought a motorcycle...for this very reason.

A gun is bought for a variety reasons and few of them for 'fantasy reasons'
beyond speculating about what to do during the zombie Apocalypse!
And...it's highly unlikely that this mass murder spree in Vegas had a thing
to do due with impulses or lack there off...it had to do at least with
severe emotionally or physiological stress.
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Re: [Marxism] More on Las Vegas

[Ken Hiebert via Marxism]

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There is another motivation that could be joined with the ones mentioned.

Someone who buys a car that can go 170 mph will naturally be inclined to try it 
out.
And someone who buys weapons that can kill large numbers might feel the impulse 
to see them in action.  They are, after all, marvels of engineering.  In the 
great majority of cases the normal inhibition against murderous behaviour will 
win out.
But will it win out every time?
ken h
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[Marxism] More on Las Vegas

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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*The North Star recently published my article
 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).

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