Jenny, I completely agree that this is a power dynamic — that’s why I keep talking about the dominance hierarchy, but that is a patriarchal structure. Pre-patriarchy, people didn’t live that way — as I gave evidence of in the quotes about archeology and hunter-gatherers. This means that among the other elements of stratification in society, gender is one of them. This doesn’t mean that men or masculinity is toxic, but it does mean that a society that requires men to demonstrate their masculinity through violence and domination of others is a central issue. Almost none of these mass shooters are female, or anything other than young white males. That speaks to how the dominance hierarchy is configured and what it takes to advocate for your place in it.

As I said, women participate in dominance behaviors as well, and a society that is structured around dog eat dog rather than empathy, cooperation, opportunities for everyone to pursue self-actualization, etc. harms everyone. I don’t see these young white men as anything other than the product of the society that has failed them miserably by telling them that their fitness is directly related to their brutality.