Many may not realize that Michigan’s worst instance of school-related violence happened 99 years ago Monday in a small Clinton County community that will never shake the horror and sadness visited upon them by one disaffected man.
The conditions that man gave for his terrible actions are eerily parallelled nearly 100 years later. The current social and political climate is one of struggle. Inflation and fuel costs plague Michigan citizens. Many feel as if the taxes paid to the state and federal entities are not utilized in a manner that helps the citizenry. Healthcare costs, and access, are out of reach for many people, especially with the rollback of the ACA credits. Michigan citizens, notably farmers, are facing bankruptcies reminiscent of the Great Depression.
The angst, ire, hopelessness, and powerlessness of the situation affect people in many different ways. In recent years, we’ve seen the uptick in mass violence events, especially in schools, wherein a single individual, unable to cope with the pressures of the world around them, engage in large scale violence.
These are usually males that believe they are being held back or denied their rightful place in the social hierarchy. Delusional, of course, and usually sporting a personality disorder if not also suffering from some type of chemical imbalance in a comorbid mental health crisis. They choose a vulnerable population, like a school, and prove to the world that they are important, and matter, and, most of all, are powerful.
We like to think this is a new phenomenon, but history provides a behavioral roadmap. When people believe they are suffering at the mercy of forces outside of the self, and there are mental health issues exacerbating the issue, they can snap.
For example, take the story of Andrew Kehoe.
