Christopher Rufo examines the modern Zeitgeist with respect to the murder of that healthcare company executive in Manhattan, summarizing it as “left-wing nihilism”. (It’s a long read, but a very good one. Moreover, the topic deserves more than bullet points and bumper sticker aphorisms, so I urge you all to go over there.)
The only issue I have is his description of the condition as “nihilism”. It isn’t; it’s anarchism.
And once you realize that, then the parallels between the late 19th century in both Europe and the United States will become immediately apparent. (For those who want to see that for themselves, I urge you — and not for the first time — to read Barbara Tuchman’s The Proud Tower for an outstanding analysis of the anarchist movement of that period.)
Simply put, then, the growth of anarchic movements in the West was and is a manifestation of desperate social frustration by young people, and the assassination of politicians, public figures and (back then) royalty was, if you like, simply an inchoate and largely-indiscriminate striking out against authority. The reasons could be any of a number — hatred of the ruling class, hatred of big business, hatred of the police/army and so on — and just anyone in authority could be a target, whether “justified” or not.
The trap we need to avoid is that of accommodation and empathy towards such anarchists. Those all very well in dealing with small children, but when adults strike out with such viciousness and violence against society’s laws, they should be treated no differently from rabid animals, and destroyed. (Small wonder that the Manhattan murderer is going to face federal charges as well as state charges; New York state set aside the death penalty, you see, but the federal government hasn’t.)
And if they executed Timothy McVeigh for his murderous action, this little bastard Mangione deserves no less.