Is every shooting now a false flag?

[Windy Wilson]

Not literally, but in the minds that need minding...
Do a search for Isla Vista Conspiracy, or some variation (I don't want to promote any particular wacko).
Looking around on Youtube for some information on the composer of "Powerhouse", the famous work/assembly line theme used in Bugs Bunny Cartoons, I noticed that 4 or 5 down the list were a couple of Isla Vista conspiracy videos, pointing out how dramatically the accused recited his manifesto on Youtube, pointing out the discrepancy of the position of a bicycle, the identity of people cleaning up the blood in the liquor store, and the "strangeness" of two women who were (to the video-poster) "purported witnesses". Also, a (very) little further checking revealed the accusation that the parents of one of the stabbing victims was really an actor playing a part.

I noticed the same thing after the Sandy Hook murders. When did this belief that everything is manufactured for public consumption become so widespread? I understand that Communism's founding myth is the conspiracy against the proletariat, and both "1984" and "Fahrenheit 451" mentioned "news" stories that were made out of whole cloth, as the saying goes, but when did this jump into (or so close to) the mainstream?

My frothingmouthed sister-in-law is outraged that someone somewhere in one of the Carolinas believes that dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time, but this seems to be a much more dangerous belief.

And yes, I know there's the 9-11 truther industry out there, and the incredible, never ending, ever growing Kennedy Assassination Industry, but this concept has gone too far. Even the recent cop-killing in Las Vegas is a false flag conspiracy.

[Rod]

Honestly, I think it's because Americans have too much time on their hands, have watched too many tv shows and movies about government conspiracies, and are too poorly educated and informed to understand things.

My favorite is still the chemtrail theorists. Contrails have been behind airplanes since they got to high enough altitudes. To have a conspiracy, you'd have to involve the plane designer, the manufacturer, the pilots, the crew, the FAA, the federal government, and the guy who has to fill the chemtrail tanks. But NOTHING you say will convince them they're wrong.

[randy]

My favorite question to conspiracy theorists, especially the ones that accuse the .gov of murder either retail (JFK) or wholesale (9/11, Sandyhook, etc) is, if the .gov is capable and willing to kill people to implement their scheme and to cover up any traces, and are so good at it nobody is willing to talk if they're alive, how come you're still breathing?

[Aesop]

1) The phenomenon isn't new.
The fact that insanity can now be broadcast worldwide instantaneously at the speed of electrons and pixels is new, both for them, and licensed commercial media.
2) Something like 20% of the population of the United States is currently taking heavy-duty anti-depressants and/or multiple other seriously psychoactive drugs.
20%.
The side effects of any of which can be worse than the syndrome they're prescribed to treat, and the interactions between any given two of which have never, ever been scientifically studied nor established by any pharmaceutical company or research institute in existence.
3) They also typically cold turkey off their meds when they think they're better, not to mention every time whatever public or private insurance they carry adds, drops, or changes the meds covered. Which is about the worst way to stop taking psych meds, since they take several weeks to reach effectiveness, and linger for days to weeks after they're stopped. And coincidentally, people of varying degrees of less than mentally healthy aren't the best historians or self-care managers, frequently augmenting Rx medication regimens with alcohol, cannabis, and other amateur-marketed recreational pharmaceuticals, both serially and simultaneously. Which has somewhat less than optimal results as well.
4) Used to be you'd institutionalize your really crazy relatives, or at least lock them in the basement. Then we made TV movies about them, and then we started putting them on daytime talk shows. Now they're on a pillowcase full of meds, and other than that weird light in their eyes and the flat affect, no one can tell they're really nucking futs (except for that one family, but with the payout and the non-disclosure agreement, they moved far away and they aren't talking about "the incident"). And they walk among us. Equipped with WiFi, a webcam, and an absolute conviction that both The Voices and the TV are talking directly to them.

Things add up, and what you're noticing, as well as the shootings themselves, are the concentrated distillate of a specific set of precursors and causes.
Which still generally add up to a handful of multiple/mass shootings per year, on the order of 3-12 per annum.

Couple that to a population, unlike Lake Wobegone, where statistically 50% of the population is on the backside of the intelligence and reasoning bell curve, and you get what we've got.

[Netpackrat]

One major problem with the "liberal false flag" theory of mass shootings, is that the majority of them have been demonstrably, provably the work of leftists. And as discussed previously here, while there are a few on the other side who are evil enough to try something like that, it would be nearly impossible to keep it a secret for this long. It does often seem suspicious though, particularly the timing in some instances.

[Aglifter]

I don't know that 20% are on meds. Maybe 20% have been on them at one time or another.

[Aesop]

I do.
I triage them every day.
The number of people who accurately report that they're on psych meds, amidst seeking treatment for everything from cut fingers and sore throats to heart attacks, and including their children, is eye-popping until you realize how widespread it is.

[dfwmtx]

I think some of the 'false flag' cries stem from the fact that those saying it don't want the shooters associated with their cause.

[Aesop]

Too late.
After Hitler, Stalin, Fidel, Mao, and Pol Pot, that ship has pretty much sailed.

[Windy Wilson]

As Larry Elder is fond of saying, 8% of the American population believes Elvis is still alive, and 4% believe if you mail him a letter, he'll get it.

I think there is a bit of selection bias with the number of people on antidepressants, similar to my Mother's perception of the prevalence of Melanoma when she worked for the doctor who specialized in Melanoma surgeries.

I would think there would be a protocol against an insurance company calling for a cold-turkey transition from one med to another. If a doctor wants to take you off the anti-thyroid hormone he gradually reduces the dosage, so why not the same for some drug with even more psychoactive effect?