I have been watching the coverage of this horror since the very beginning,

[usonian]

24. There's a pattern to all this.

Short version is that chaos means weak government, and that means little or no regulation of oligarchs. Period.

Slightly longer: In recent times, three groups, oligarchs/tycoons, evangelical bullshitters, and the customary politicians have felt declining influence (of the persuasion variety) and have ganged up to gain secular/political power (of the brute force variety) riding the horse of racism, the oldest "vehicle" for gaining power in history. This gets their "base" and then again there are the usual lies like "trickle down economics" ( I call that golden showers) and other nationalistic crap.

For more details, read this great series on DKos
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2021/8/6/2044226/-America-2021-The-Good-the-Bad-the-Ugly
“Democracy in Crisis: We’ve Been Headed Here for Decades.” Part 1of 8
Read all 8 to get the pattern in detail.

For a look into the crooked minds of the perpetrators, read
The Psychology of Genocide by Steven K. Baum. (2008)
He groups people into three categories: Perpetrators, Bystanders, and Rescuers.
How Frickin appropriate is that TODAY?

And, to get an idea how the "cult" behaves, read
When Society Becomes an Addict by Anne Wilson Schaef,
because cult behavior shares lots of patterns with addiction.
When you read the list, you will recognize lots of folks in the Wacko Party.

And those are my recommendations. I can't possibly summarize other than what's at the top.

I finally read through this post by Brooklynite, and the amazing article it references (at Politico)
https://democraticunderground.com/100216737897
'There's This Really Consistent Pathway': How Society Can Stop Mass Shooters Before They Act
ABSOLUTELY worth a read.

That's the summary. The longer article is at Politico.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/05/27/stopping-mass-shooters-q-a-00035762
Mass shooters overwhelmingly fit a certain profile, say Jillian Peterson and James Densley, which means it’s possible to ID and treat them before they commit violence.

And I have said my peace!