I think we need to look at environmental factors and the role they have in extremist type behaviour too - social isolation, loneliness, sense of worthlessness, sense of entitlement etc.
The hard part is that they are genuine reasons to also go and see your GP for things like mental health support.
So many of these men that do these things (not especially this one) are looking to get something they think they deserve - recognition, love whatever. That is much harder to address when you think about it.
I appreciate your thoughts, and that of @saladin before you (which I basically agree with).
Certainly your three points are not the same problem, and I agree with you on that. But overall, my view is that they share a cause - being mental illness. Its not the only cause, but its one of the causes.
In in answer to your question - yes. I think that persons who commit murder, at the very least, are almost by definition mentally unbalanced. I think that applies to terrorists and mass shooters as much as it applies to the guy who kills his wife in a rage because she burnt the tuna casserole. All of those incidents have different causes, but despite that, all of them, in my view do also share a common cause which is that the perpetrator is not mentally well.
I think that a significantly greater focus on preventative mental health by governments is long overdue and is the best ābang for buckā preventative measure that could be taken against future attacks. I might be wrong about that but thatās my view. Like @jonovdp, my information from talking to people who work in policing and corrections quite closely is that almost every single person incarcerated for any crime has an underlying mental condition of some sort.
No one loads their car with gas cylinders and/or fuel, unless they are going to the shop for refills? There had to be some planning for him to get it all together and thank goodness, it didnāt work as expected or, what happened could have been much worse.
For mine there are two broad groups of people doing this. Older and Younger (yay generalisation).
Older people i see as fitting in your bucket of mental health issues, from this stabbing, lindt cafe, vegas shooting and the recent pipe bombs. You donāt really see any older people coming from a radicalised point of view. Probably because terrorists āmastermindsā specifically target youths.
Young people are both, some of the mass shootings in the US and the Bourke street driver definitely have mental health issues. But there is another phenomenen of young people being radicalised. They can be well educated and ānormalā. The factors leading to radicalisation are seperate and different to the lone wolf crazy.
the guyās on a āwatch listā, known to police, blah blah blah but still we get this request for more powers every farking time! use the powers youāve already got you farking idiots. stop encroaching on everyone elseās privacy and donāt use this an excuse.
I would argue once again that the Media and the Politicians just reflect what our somewhat sick society wants. It is easy to understand the motives of both groups as they pander to their constitutes to enhance their power. The dear campaign spread regarding Black Gangs as an example, and back in the day it was Asian Gangs or āDagoā Gangs.
That said, if our Leaders, actually showed good leadership and the Media had any principles then our society may be more healthy.
Yeah thatās a fair point you make about younger people. A young person, very impressionable, could conceivably be radicalised more easily. Good point.
Despite the fact that they are may well be well educated and ānormalā, I donāt think that even a young person would actually act on that radicalisation (kill people), unless there was additionally some other mental issue. But you might be right and I might be wrong about that, absolutely
Been going to Pellegrini forever. Love how the menu and some of the staff hasnāt changed in that time. Totally devastated with the senseless passing of Sisto. The word icon is loosely thrown around but you have never met a more, Melbourne iconic figure than him. What an inspiration.
Every time thereās a major incident this happens. Hey, lets create greater and more intrusive powers to prevent the next threat. Hey, lets not even worry about if they would have stopped this current threat, that aināt important.
In this case, any evidence, at all, that this person was using encrypted messaging? Wasnāt he working alone? Why would those powers have stopped the threat then?
I dropped into the memorial at Pelligriniās today and directly opposite an undercover police car pulls over a cab and arrests two passengers.
The cops spent a fair bit of time interviewing the two suspects, taking photos of wads of cash. I also saw them confiscate multiple phones and a couple of times they grabbed items straight out of the cab and into large brown paper bags before they could be seen.
Itās not just motivation to kill, a lot of the young guys can be pressured, blackmailed and or brainwashed. If the pressure is being piled on what way out do they have, if they get cold feet, can they turn to authorities? Hey Iāve planned a terrorist plot but now donāt want to go through with it.
