Movie Theater Massacre: Fetishizing Status and Notoriety

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The "Jokers'' Motives? --Were James Holmes recent senseless murders a socially isolated outcropping of evil, or symptoms of a cooler, isolating society which fetishizes status and notoriety?


Our Need to Explain Deludes Us Further --Within days media pundits crafted typical arguments to address the issue;

1. Tougher gun control.
2. Less glorified violence in the media.
3. Better mental health programs.
4. Better security to identify these dangerous individuals before they perpetrate.

Solution: Having and Being a Friend --None of these ideas could have stopped such events, but one may have;

A friend.

Society, Advertisers Promise Status & Friends--As Epicurus and modern Positive Psychologist tell us, the most important factor for obtaining happiness in life is maintaining good, honest friendships.  Advertisers have known this since Epicurus, but having a coke, Lexus, or PhD. won't give me friends. This doesn't stop us from believing it will satisfy this need at a deep level, thus the modern rat race.  (see Status Anxiety)   The extreme path of losing hope for obtaining those things that society promises will fulfill us is perhaps a generalized violence toward society itself.

or, ... Notoriety

Notoriety: The Last, Sad Hope of Obtaining Status

Sincerely,

Lawrence Feriozzi