The things the guy posted and said in his videos I've seen parroted in many spaces, which kind of freaks me out to be perfectly honest. I don't think even close to 1% of those people will do something but the idea that someone can actually take those toxic ideas into the real world and reek havoc on people because of them just depresses me to no end.
His video and posts remind me a lot of Red Pill stuff on reddit. It's tough, though, because this guy was legitimately deranged and clearly had severe mental health issues. I think a lot of that is being lost in the rush to pile on MRA, RP, euphoric fedora types. I felt legitimately sad for everyone involved--the shooter, his family, the victims--after watching the video because it's a dude who was clearly mentally unstable and suffering from severe paranoia (among a laundry list of other issues) that never got help. Someone needed to see this before hand and step in. Someone in his family, someone in his friend circle...anyone. There's no reason for this to have happened. Wish the mental health support apparatus in America was more up to the task...but people are slipping through every day.
I feel what you're saying though. There's not a lot separating what this guy was writing and what RP types are writing every day. Barely anything at all, really. It's scary to think that underneath all the vitriol being spewed at women across places like that are people who can act those words out. For the most part I usually brush it off as frustrated dudes spending too much time rationalizing their failures to themselves, but this has put a sinister veneer over it that's never going away. And I can't help but feel concerned that more of these people are suffering from legitimate mental health issues as well. Kind of puts a damper on reading their shit for kicks.
Really just wish it hadn't happened. Super bummed. Know a lot of people currently at UCSB or recently graduated...it's just a sad, shitty day right now.
