The Power of US Outrage on the World

New Zealand recently experienced world wide attention from a mass shooting against a Mosque. Details continue to be examined, but after the release of the shooter’s manifesto, there is a point that needs to be recognized by all Americans of any political stripe.

Minutes before the murders, the shooter sent an 87 page manifesto to the New Zealand Prime Minister’s office, and posted it on social media. Regardless of the victims’ faith or their nationality, the world should be saddened and will likely be outraged. This should be the natural outcome of this sort of heinous event. But what of the killer’s motive?

The Motive

Within Brenton Harris Tarrant’s manifesto, under the title Why did you choose to use firearms?,  was a particular paragraph that should give all Americans pause, and initiate a little self reflection. As the given reason for removing the manifesto from online sources is understandable, it is also difficult for readers to truly understand the intentions and possibly do something positive in the wake of an atrocity such as this. (Due to the removals of links and documents, I was unable to link to the source for verification of the following quote, but have retained a screen shot of the paragraph in question.)

“I chose firearms for the affect it would have on social discourse, the extra media coverage they would provide and the affect it could have on the politics of the United States and thereby the political situation of the world. The US is torn into many factions by its second amendment, along state, social, cultural and, most importantly, racial lines.
With enough pressure the left wing within the United States will seek to abolish the second amendment, and the right wing within the US will see this as an attack on their very freedom and liberty.
This attempted abolishment of rights by the left will result in a dramatic polarization of the people in the United States and eventually a fracturing of the US along cultural and racial lines.”

Regardless of the shooter’s political leanings or affiliations; rightwing xenophobe, racist, or left wing conspirator, he has made clear the power he sees in the United State’s current level of political outrage. We might want to disregard his words because of who he is and what he did, but it’s here that self reflection is appropriate.

The Point

To zero in on the crucial point in Tarrant’s remarks, he believes strongly that the political climate of American outrage is at a point that would trigger a race and civil war.   This isn’t the first time someone has attempted to bring about a race war in America to create a global change through mass violence. It was only as far back as the 1960’s, that the United States witnessed the horror of Charles Manson‘s cult. He failed, obviously, but does it say something about the race relations in our time being similar to the turmoil of the 1960’s? Or is Tarrant as much of a delusional sociopath as Manson? Maybe both.

Whether both, or neither, the point remains that this mass murderer felt so strongly about what he saw, that this was the conclusion he drew, and would kill for. So what did he see? With information removed and suppressed, it will be hard to answer the question. However, it would be an easy presumption. The round the clock media stoking fear and vengeance among racial minorities and majorities alike. Social media platforms becoming semi anonymous sounding boards, for all races, to use the safety of the internet to vent rage that will likely never be expressed in real life. The popularity of alt-right groups grown through the global megaphone of the internet. Exposure of minority targeting by United States Police. Social Justice warriors and College campus fury. These are all quickly and easily found when logging on or tuning in.

The Outrage

Anyone willing to step back from the front line of outrage will see that, more often than not, the squeaky wheel gets the grease from mainstream media. It’s noticeable as well, that the squeaky wheel, though louder, is generally a smaller quantity of people than the real world. A smaller wheel, if you will, only louder. The rise of click bait headlines almost completely focused on outrage doesn’t help either. The point that the last few years of this behavior boiling over into a mass murder should tell the world something. The killer wanted a message to reach everyone, to instigate more hatred and more violence. We should hope this isn’t what happens, but we should also hope a message of self reflection should take place. The level of outrage in this country needs to die before more people do.

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