Jokela, Finland

A few days ago the world had the bad fortune of having to experience another high-school shoot-out, this time in Jokela Finland.

A few questions immediately come to mind:

1) Why does somebody do this?
2) Is there a trend? If yes, what is it?

The piece of the puzzle that does not fit is the the innocent by-stander. I can somehow understand the mechanism of hate crimes. You hate somebody so much that you want to see that person dead even at the price of your own life. But the targets in the school shoot-outs were not singled out individuals but rather individuals who happened to be in range. The school, however, was singled out and potentially some teacher or headmaster.

Throughout history some people have chosen to end their days prematurely. Plain suicides occur. All sorts of anarchists, martyrs and radicals have been fighting for their causes against their perceived enemies with their life at stake. What is new in the high-school shoot-outs? Columbine and Jokela were advertised in advance. Does it mean that there is a cause worth dying for? If so, I can not think of any other that Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame even if the person would not live to see it. Maybe that is the trend. If this is the trend, take the YouTube trailers seriously.