Kudos to Dave Rubin from “The Rubin Report” for putting together this brief PSA on school shooters (see video above).
Rubin’s main point is we as a society need to stop publicizing the names of mass killers.
“One of the main reasons I’m not covering the shooter’s name is because I don’t want these people to have any more notoriety. I think this is a key thing,” says Rubin.
“This is something that the mainstream media is completely missing and years ago we should have all stopped saying their names,” he argues.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson, who appeared on “The Rubin Report” a few years ago, and who was featured in the clip, spoke about how notoriety, even if it’s of the negative sort, is one of the forces that compel these killers to attack.
“Think about the people who do heinous crimes, like the school shooters, people like that who do these things that are almost inconceivable. A huge part of the drive for that fantasies about notoriety and the emergence from obscurity and anonymity,” observed Peterson.
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“Even though it’s notorious, it’s hatred, the idea is I’d rather be dead and infamous than alive and anonymous,” he added.
We have to agree to never publicize the names of school shooters and other publicity-seeking mass murderers. This is not a gun or even a “mental health” issue. It’s an issue of malevolent narcissists weaponizing mass media. Stop publishing their names and the problem will end.
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) May 26, 2022
Apart from using swift and violent force to take down these determined killers, the best thing we can do as a society to stop the contagion of mass shooters is to give them zero publicity, to not give them the infamy they seek.
This is something the press can do on its own, without the permission of Congress or a new law on the books. This is something that should be at the center of the hearings going on in Washington right now.
“Publicizing the names of these killers is precisely one of the mechanisms that ensure it will continue to happen,” said Dr. Peterson.
It’s time to stop.
The wacko that actually published that he fantasized about eating (consuming) his sister and the Littlest Chicken Hawk.
Could you have picked two more irrelevant people?
Better yet give them all a generic name, something like pencil-dick-asshole and a random 5 digit number to make sure nobody will remember it.
I’ve been considering the option for over 50 years. Public exposure of such people works if it takes away their legitimacy, as in the case of Klansmen in the 1960s for example. There had developed, and has been developing, the attitude that criminals, like Pretty Boy Floyd, Jessie James, et al, were or are doing the job law enforcement should do—consider vigilante groups. They become heroes. Think about how national media figures chose to see Kyle Rittenhouse. as a victim. Sorry, but whatever we say plays into the hands of both sides, today. The “silent treatment” cannot work today because Americans cannot stand silence.
I not so sure that fame has much to do with the majority of shooters, I think they are angry and sick people that family and friends know this about them yet no real measures are available to adequately deal with their illness.
Klebold and Harris went on and on about their infamy
You’re absolutely right they should stop their wackos and they just want publicity to remembered by thank you for realizing this
I’ve been saying this for years. The 2 shooters at Columbine are still talked about today are almost revered. The Vegas shooter, was not married, had not children, had nothing or no one to carry on his name. Well now he does. He will be known forever thanks to the media. The Uvalde shooter, was a loner, was isolated, and high school drop out, yet he is now famous worldwide…thanks to the media. We are not asking the media to stop reporting the shootings, just stop naming and sensationalizing the shooter.