Or perhaps his crack-up at no longer being able to keep up at the university, or inability to remain rational, or failure to find a job or place in society, or whatever combination of ingredients it was would have manifested itself in some other way. Perhaps, turning his anger inward, in suicide. Unable to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, he decided to take arms against his sea of troubles, and shoot down innocent bystanders.
But there are some clear, true lessons from this and hundreds of other such incidents big and small.
First, there is something wrong in every person. This is far larger in some than others. People are not perfectible and all too many are not even functional. That is never going to change.
Second, when the traditional ideals of individual responsibility, family cohesion, and ethical behavior break down a society is in very serious trouble. And if that problem isn’t addressed, there’s really nothing worth talking about at all.
On the other hand, reportedly four of the twelve people killed were men who sacrificed their own lives to protect dates or girlfriends. Any society that can still produce such heroism is far from lost.
But, third, the dominant forces in Western civilization today don’t even think those issues are worth addressing. So what kind of future can one possibly expect?