Our Awful Innocence
Saturday and the morning sun is glorious on a day when rain is predicted. So much for prediction, our obsession with certainty.
The FBI continues to dig deep, and search far and wide for a reason. There has to be a anchor point for ourselves, something, anything to separate us from one who murdered 58 people, randomly, at impersonal remove behind the hot barrel of an automatic weapon. There must be something……?
Here are some elements of the life of Stephen Paddock that strike me as not untypical of us. In fact I “could be that guy.” Are we not acquainted with individuals who have these elements in common?
1. He owned lots of guns. Twenty three guns were found in the Mandalay hotel room. Nineteen more were found at Paddocks home. On the face of things, he had a gun fetish. My mind flashes back to the scene in the Lord of the Rings movie when Gollum contemplates the One-Ring, “my precious, my precious,” exclaims Gollum. To have a fetish is not uncommon for Americans, especially a gun fetish.
2. Paddock was wealthy. He was a high stakes gambler, and lived a life-style pursuing the adrenaline rush offered in the casinos. Is this not the life-style that is lionized, sought after, sold by the admen 24×7 on all the electronic media—life without financial limits? “That could be me,” our inner id whispers to us. How could we have elected the President that we have? —-Not on account of his intelligence, temperament, or administrative skills. “That could be me,” the images embed our psyche.
3. Paddock was essentially rootless, on the move. He owned multiple properties, but lived in them for short periods of time. A lot of time was spent in casino hotel rooms. The descriptions of his life style impress me as that of a hollow man, with few enduring ties, a life meaningfully intertwined with the lives of others.
That is enough. I say that Stephen Paddock was one of us.
