"US shoppers killed in gun rampage "

[Ruben]

You and Detrath have proven my point. Shooters are symptoms of a cultureless civilization with no tribal unison.

I couldn't agree with you more.

[Ruben]

The two extremes are passivity and violence resulting from the apathy or frustration caused by "progressive" society. Most people will not come to this conclusion or they deny it. They continue in their passivity while society continues self-destructing. They don't want to be challenged to a level that forces them to question the system that provides them with a convenient, but hollow life and seek alternatives like a productive form of government. Then they have the nerve to ask what's wrong with our society as if it's a metaphorical question with no answers. If you live in an unhealthy society, you're going to have to deal with the consequences. You're focusing on the shooting itself. I'm speaking broadly.

Again your points are well taken and I agree with you in a very broad sense.  I see more of what you were trying to say in  your previous post.  Joseph Campbell touches on these points in many of his books.  My posting was more directed at the ones who give a subtle nod of approval to these actions, as if it was a kind of heroic, nihilist "thing" wiping out total strangers.   We know nothing of these lives that were lost.

[ASBO]

Joseph Campbell touches on these points in many of his books.  My posting was more directed at the ones who give a subtle nod of approval to these actions, as if it was a kind of heroic, nihilist "thing" wiping out total strangers.

Joseph Campbell is the man. He joins Herman Hesse and Carl Jung as one of my favorite symbol analysts.

However, I don't see why we're moralizing either way. Most of these shooters have no ideology, but they're like any other symptom of the decline. A few, like Pekka-Eric Auvinen, did have an ideology and did make a protest act out of their shootings, much like black metallers did burning down churches.

Is it counterproductive? If it's all that happens, maybe... but it's not.

[Ruben]

Apathy

My apathy isn't with our problematic society.  "So what" means I don't obsess too much on how much more useful I think I am then these people.  I also don't feel a need to inflict violence on them.  

[Ruben]

 The rest of your post was the usual anti ANUS rant.

Yes it was.  

I am not anti ANUS however.  This forum has opened my eyes in many ways.      

[Ruben]

Joseph Campbell is the man. He joins Herman Hesse and Carl Jung as one of my favorite symbol analysts.

However, I don't see why we're moralizing either way. Most of these shooters have no ideology, but they're like any other symptom of the decline. A few, like Pekka-Eric Auvinen, did have an ideology and did make a protest act out of their shootings, much like black metallers did burning down churches.

Is it counterproductive? If it's all that happens, maybe... but it's not.

Steppenwolf is a must read.  I imagine many people on these forums have enough Haller in them to appreciate it.

Yes i see more of it being a symptom then anything else.

[ASBO]

Steppenwolf is a must read.  I imagine many people on these forums have enough Haller in them to appreciate it.

True! Siddhartha and Damien are also inspirational.

For Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols.

From Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy and Brave New World.

From Ferdinand Celine, Journey to the End of the Night is essential!

From T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland and The Hollow Men.

From Houllebecq, Atomized and The Possibility of an Island.

From Tom Wolfe, Hooking Up, Bonfire of the Vanities, A Man in Full and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

But these are just background... to understanding what people are talking about here... it's easier and more fun than the philosophy reading for many.

[chrstphrbnntt]

From Ferdinand Celine, Journey to the End of the Night is essential!

Death on the Installment Plan is every bit as good as Journey to the End of Night; I'd also recommend Camus' The Plague and The Stranger, Sartre's Nausea and the obvious Candide by Voltaire. I was never deeply into literature until recently, but have always had a love for these French authors.

[Ruben]

True! Siddhartha and Damien are also inspirational.

For Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols.

From Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy and Brave New World.

From Ferdinand Celine, Journey to the End of the Night is essential!

From T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland and The Hollow Men.

From Houllebecq, Atomized and The Possibility of an Island.

From Tom Wolfe, Hooking Up, Bonfire of the Vanities, A Man in Full and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

But these are just background... to understanding what people are talking about here... it's easier and more fun than the philosophy reading for many.

Thanks for the list.  Celine is next on my list!

[FIAT]

symbol analysts

Cf. Images and Symbols, Symbol & Archetype, and above all, Symbols of Sacred Science.

Metal is all about symbolism, which is really nothing other than the art of communication.