The collaborative, flexible, amorphously-hierarchical American economy is shutting out ordinary men who were once the nation’s breadwinners in living-wage labor and manufacturing jobs… Because status success is more vital to the male psychology, males are falling over the edge in increasing numbers…. The collapsing number of male jobs in the increasingly female-centric economy just adds to the already harsher impact of OverSuccess on males…. It’s a tiny fraction of males that become stressed for whatever reason and engage in acts of extreme violence. If you look through individual psychology of mass shooters over the past 10-20 years, you can see that in the profile. Often it’s a person who has been subjected to extreme stress in the form of social rejection, job loss and associated mental health issues.
Today’s study in Weapons Grade Stoopid is former Republican U.S. Senator Jim Rubens, who, despite having no clue or expertise in the subject, knows EXACTLY why mass shootings are on the rise in America. Just days after the massacre at the Washington Navy Yard, Rubens evidently forgot the “better to be thought a fool than to offer your troglodytic opinions in a public forum and remove all doubt” rule.
It stands to reason that most of us have opinions we think explain the increase in mass shootings. Most of us are savvy enough to keep our thoughts to ourselves (I’m not, of course, which explains this rant) or at least recognize when doing so would mean making a fool of ourselves. Rubens by all appearances lacks such a filter, but the good news is that the comedic potential contained within his remarks are virtually limitless.
So let me see if I have this straight: American men are increasingly snapping and shooting people in large numbers because of the “feminizing” of the workplace? Gender equity and equality of opportunity are to blame for the growing numbers of mass shooting incidents? Perhaps it’s a good thing that Rubens is no longer in the Senate; the math certainly wouldn’t be in his favor. When you blame half the population for incidences of mass murder committed by the other half, you can’t reasonably expect to garner the support of the distaff portion of the populace.
Having evidently decided that the mixture of mental illness and the (far too) easy availability of guns couldn’t POSSIBLY be behind the increase in mass murder, Rubens defaults to the GOP’s war on women. You know, if women would just remember their place, if they’d only find a way to be satisfied with home and hearth, men could resume their rightful place as breadwinners. That would reduce the pressure that men feel in an increasingly competitive labor market. Instead, women insist on flooding the workplace, leaving men feeling emasculated and frustrated.
You see; it’s SO much easier when you break things down scientifically, eh?
Thanks, ladies; I certainly hope that you’re going to be able to find a way to live with the knowledge of the tragedies you’re ultimately responsible for.
