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Lead poisoning is still the prevalent theory, I think. It fucks up brain development in ways that make kids tend to sociopathic personalities.
I’m always glad to hear more people know about lead poisoning. It makes a lot of sense.
Mass terror attacks way the fuck up though
John Wayne Gacy killed 33 people, that we know of, in his entire life. 21 killed in Uvalde alone.
We just streamlined things.
Why kill them serially, while you can kill them in parallel.
Stupid IT joke, sorry.
67 domestic terrorism attacks by right wing groups in the US from 2017-2022.
No... Actually they switched to killing homeless and drug addicts and the police don't actually investigate them.
lot of comments in here talking about how they're just doing their kills some other way: cops, mass shootings, not getting caught (this one is the most braindead). But everyone is ignoring how we've largely eliminated regular lead exposure that used to be the norm. that shit makes you go fucking insane.
I don't like the way policing has turned many first world countries into semi-police states ... being a person of colour (like me) automatically makes you questionable with the law no matter what you're doing. I know from experience.
But after saying all that, mass murderers and killers are probably lesser now because of better policing, mass surveillance, intercommunications, mass data collection, profiling, forensic science and monitoring. It's a lot harder now than in was in the 60s, 70s or 80s for a random stranger to wander from place to place committing murders and not getting caught. It doesn't mean it's not possible ... it's just that in our day in age of technology, it's a lot harder.
In the book Freakonomics they made the argument that the sudden decline in crime in the late 90's appeared to be tied to Roe v. Wade. I wonder if this is similar.
A large percentage of serial killers suffered from childhood abuse and trauma. Kids in the foster system are often abused and traumatized. I can see it.
I thought you were being sarcastic but there is a book called Freakonomics and it does suggest as you said. Check the "Criticism" section for details.
I think the lead poisoning theory is a bit overblown, personally. There’s something to it, but “all the serial killers were just brain damaged” is I think trying to put a very neat little bow around a complex package.
I think a lot of it is simply that it’s harder to get away with murder now. I mean not to make it sound too easy but in 1982 there were a lot of ways to kill someone that basically could not be tracked back to you as long as you weren’t literally seen doing it. People aren’t stupid, they know this, and they change their patterns around it.
Additionally, I’m sure that (potentially as a result of this) we have more spree/mass killings now, and a decent deal of spree killings have a component of sexual frustration to them as many serial killers had.
Most crime has declined dramatically since the 90s. And yet right wing media is scaring the shit out of people, saying there are murderers, rapists, and terrorists behind every bush.
The world is actually becoming more empathetic and safer, but some people want us to be scared because fear keeps them in power. Don’t believe them.
Interestingly the start of the decline is 1988 which also happens to be the year the seminal Stewart Raffill film Mac and Me was released. Coincidence? I wonder.
Reduction in lead exposure plays a huge part.
The lead generation is currently running the country (that I live in). It shows.
I wonder how many of them just got badges.
They have joined the military or private military companies since. they can kill as much as they like with complete impunity, in many wars like Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, Palestine and Gaza, plus it's brown people they are killing so they feel triple the reword, society is fine with that as long as it who they view as the enemy who's the subject of their carnal instincts.
You can't convince me that the image of the horrors committed by the IDF in Gaza and the US military aren't of psychopaths having a blast paid for by their own societies.
Lots of great possibilities listed in article.
I was shocked that 60% of murders are solved. It was not that long ago that the solving rate was near 20%.
Sounds to me like there's a serial serial killer killer on the loose!!
Could it be that not as many potential serial killers are being born? I believe there is a link between criminality and childhood abuse. Less unwanted kids are being born. Less abuse. Less criminals of all kinds, including serial killers.
I think also it's because it's just people are so easily tracked now.
CSI type pop culture television has taught basically everyone on the planet that trace evidence always gets left behind and nobody can hide from DNA. Nowadays through genealogy they don't even need a direct DNA match.
War on drugs shifted police focus from real crimes, to you guessed it, drugs. I bet some serial killers go under the radar due to shitty police work.
"Nah those murders aren't related, let's go do a no knock raid on shitty evidence. Maybe plant some drugs? That always cheers ya up Captain!" - Cops, probably
Besides what they listed in the article, I would add lead exposure.
It's a short read, pretty good.
Not me! Back in the 1980s I had killed 0 people. Now in 2024, I've killed pretty much the same number. No decline at all!