Brian Trat
Sec A01
Blog #5

In response to "Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence"

     If you examine the history of the United States and keep count of its military engagements, you will understand that this country operates under a constant state of war. Since the late ‘60s, in the aftermath of World War II and during the Vietnam War, one unexpected repercussion is the the social phenomena of the serial killer.

     The desire to kill en-masse is unique to developed societies and is perpetuated by our cultural values. Hamamoto argues that frequent wars allow violence to be seen by society as an acceptable solution to problems, especially political problems. Timothy McVeigh and Charles Whitman, both former military officers, took to bombing and to sniping their victims to send a message. They expressed their discontent with life and the institutions that they deemed responsible through bloodshed. However, such individuals aren’t rare and neither have been their psychopathic tendencies. Often times, the killer is an older white male. Their targets are representative of some trauma that they experienced in their lifetime, and as a result, some war veterans project the chaos and destruction of war onto people of certain ethnicities. Jack Wayne Reeves for example, took to Southeast Asian women as his primary targets after returning from the Vietnam War. 

     Since the end the second World War, the United States has become “an increasingly militarized society”. This year alone, there has been an average of one school sheeting per week. Accessibility to firearms, the proliferation of violent imagery, conflicting expectations of masculinity, and an abysmal mental health care system are all factors that contribute to creating the serial killer.