Elliot Rodger's Loneliness

There exists so much social distance in our lives today that the fear of rejection within young adults and adolescents alike have risen to the point where they would rather kill than be rejected – as is the case with two news reports I was exposed to today.

The first, a young man stabbed to death a fellow classmate who refused to go to the prom with him. That state of refusal is understandable, that emotional impact t could have because for one thing, that young man would have built up so much courage to ask a girl to accompany him to the prom, a place where all are judged for their attire and for their accompaniment. To have all that courage built up, and to have it all come crashing down at a speed of rapidity had a dramatic effect, resulting in the loss of an innocent life who was found dying on a staircase.

The second, a young man ploughed through cyclists and shot at random college attendees before shooting himself, due to the fact that he was a twenty-two year old virgin who never acquired enough attention or acceptance from peers, that he felt the need to kill them, to ‘make them suffer, just as they made [him] suffer’. Six innocent lives later, the seventh not included because it was his own, Elliot Rodger definitely has made more than half the world's population suffer - women.

This just goes to show how messed up our society is, how messed up the thoughts we are drilling into the minds of our young ones are. In most of Elliot's twenty-two uploaded videos on his YouTube channel, he speaks of loneliness, of hatred and of sexual desire, three recurring themes which hinted the results of his killing spree. It bothers me significantly how his parents warned authorities and they simply spoke to him and found out that he was a really nice boy. Of course he would he, which crazed sex-obsessed person with killing on their mind would give themselves up before they do some damage? Certainly not Elliot.

A week ago, he posted a video titled 'Being lonely on Spring Break sucks', then 'Why do girls hate me so much?', 'Life is so unfair because girls dont want me', 'Balcony Vlog, reminiscing about childhood', 'My reaction to seeing a young couple at the beach, Envy', and finally, 'Elliot Rodger, Lonely vlog, life is so unfair'. His video of 'retribution' was taken down from his channel, and re-uploaded by many others. What one witnesses is the build-up of the subconscious, cruelly crafted by our society.

There are many people out there with a burning hatred for all of humanity simply from the affect of one person on their mentalities. I would know, because I am one of them. I can thus relate to Elliot in the sense of loneliness, of sexual desire and depravity, and for being overlooked despite there being nothing wrong with me - however, there is a large difference between myself and him in that I do not, nor do I wish to ever, act on my hatred of humans, nor do I hate all of humanity on a large scale due to a few humans. Yes, I hate the situation and not the person, and nor do I expect people to perform in the way that I would like them to. Killing thousands, millions, billions of women would not have brought women closer to Elliot, and that was his dire mistake. 

It is not okay to assume women are objects. It is not okay to assume that because you are a 'gentleman', that all women that you choose should swoon over you. It is not okay to assume that every obsession you hold against someone is requited and that if it is not you must abolish them from existence. Elliot thought that he could claim ownership over 'beautiful women', that he could walk into a sorority house like a child walks into a pet-store and choose any girl to leave with in the same way that child would choose a particular fish. Life does not work like that, and people who believe that it should, should seek medical help immediately.

What is more important, though, in the wake of these events, is that we should change our society. We should teach not only our little girls to avoid being raped and not to avoid talking to strangers, but our little boys to not be those horrible strangers and to not obsess over little girls who say no - because no means itself and nothing else. Women are conscious beings. They are conscious of their desires and not only the desires of the snakes protruding from the pants of desperate strangers. Their choices in men or women alike should not alter the way others feel about them. Every woman has agency over the abyss existing in between their thighs. 

Loneliness is not an excuse for inflicting pain. Exclusion is not an excuse for inflicting pain. Sexual desire is not an excuse for inflicting pain. In fact, no form of reasoning that came out of Elliot's mouth in his videos or in his manifesto had made his murderous decision righteous. The fate of one should belong in the hands of their maker and nobody else. Left out? Find other people. Feeling like you need some sexual assistance? There are a lot of people who choose to make money in that way, I am sure you can afford it. But what Elliot should not have been able to afford was the right to guns, and the right to the taking of lives. #YesAllWomen