Read Smarter Roundup #2: Why do we obsess over the murderer’s motive?
It’s been almost a week since the massacre, and the mystery of Steve Paddock’s motive is only becoming more and more fascinating.
Was he Antifa? ISIS? Right-wing? On opiods? Where the hell did he get that money?
The NY Times has been publishing a major piece every day on the subject, and have deemed each one worthy of a push notification. The Washington Post is on the same track. It’s leading every hour of cable news. In the midst of this newsgasm, I had to step back and ask myself:
Why are we all obsessed over the motive?
Does it make any real-world difference if we know the “truth”? Why are we so focused on the ideological or psychological forces behind the destruction rather than the crime itself? I have been exploring this all week with friends, and the four possible answers we’ve come up with:
The optimistic answer: We’re all looking to feel safe. The clarity of knowing why someone committed a horrible act allows us to take concrete actions to prevent it from ever happening again. (If there was a sarcasm font, I would change this paragraph to reflect it…).
The somewhat depressing answer: It’s like listening to Serial or watching a cable news car chase. It’s just another expression of our morbid fascination with the criminal and evil. It’s macabre entertainment, and the mystery of Steven Paddock’s motive is certainly a damn good story.
The depressing answer: It’s just another expression of our tribalism. When it’s a white guy, us brown guys can say “see!” When it’s a brown guy, a white guy can say “see!” When it’s a left-winger, right-wingers can say “see!” and on and on.
The really depressing answer: Following the great Paddock motive mystery allows us to ignore just how heartbreaking this entire situation really is. While we are on the edge of our seats, waiting for the next crack in the case, we can gloss over real families who lost real loved ones. Empathy takes a backseat and the reality show / murder mystery moves to the front.
I have to admit, I’m hooked to the story. How did he get all that artillery in there? Was he scouting out Red Sox games? Will there be a surprise ISIS video? The various angles get better for any storytellers. I can’t help but keep reading.
But writing this post reminded me, before allowing myself that gruesome pleasure, I should first use my reading to remind ourselves of what actually happened. These are the most heartbreaking, uplifting, and informative things I found:
The Los Angeles Times profiled every single victim. The first victim, alphabetically, is a 35 year old mother of three. A freaking mother of three.
This Wesley Lowery piece…man.
Being a surgeon, Heather knew Sonny was dying as she was performing CPR. “He began to bleed from his mouth and I was just screaming for somebody to help me,” she recounted.
I am always in awe thinking of how hospitals manage to operate after crises like this:
and in a reminder when internet sleuthing can be a force for good:
