I'm thinking of the HG Wells novel The Time Machine, in which a man travels hundreds of thousands of years into the future. The world has attained an even, pastoral existence without any direction or purpose. At first it seems as if all problems, all wars, strife, hunger and crime have been removed from society. As the man becomes more familiar with the future earth, he sees that mankind has progressed into two distinctly different species; the Eloi, who live a carefree, idyllic life, and the Morlocks who live underground and keep the world running through their labor and painful lives.
The Eloi are fed, clothed and have all their needs taken care of by the Morlocks who work underground and live miserable lives. All that troubles the Eloi is the fear of being kidnapped, taken underground and eaten by the Morlocks who prey on them for food.

Wells, along with George Orwell, has an uncanny understanding of human nature that resembles the present day. Much of what they've written about shadows today's problems.

One thing that has been nagging at me for some time, and does so increasingly whenever there is an act of horrible violence that people seems to latch onto with a ghoulish fascination, is today's similarity to Wells' futuristic world. The great majority of people seem to go about their lives unconcerned with what is occurring around them. Prescription mood-altering drugs are now more preferable to facing the reality around them.
Then there are others who are pushed and trod upon their entire lives. Aware of their place in life, they seem to resign themselves to it but grow incensed at their treatment, at the seeming nonchalance with which others address them. Their burdens are the runoff of everyone, which they take until they break. Many do and find suicide, alcoholism or drug abuse as their only option. Even in death these people are looked down upon and disregarded. They are the detritus of society.
When someone chooses another route and takes others with them it is seen as a freak occurence, a horrible coincidence with no explanation. As the weeks pass the despair shrinks only to be revived when the next inevitable act takes place worse than the last.

-Humans are cruel to each other, sometimes for their own gain, often for no reason at all.
-The mentally ill are considered "broken" or "weak" and are often left to fend for themselves.
-So concerned are we with the actions of mediocre celebrities, our favorite tv shows and impressing those around us that we ignore what happens beyond our small sphere of influence.

All these things, and dozens more, would make acts such as this week's shooting inevitable. What shocks me is not that it happened but that each time it happens there is a renewed camraderie, some attempt to connect us to the incident and a collective gasp and condemnation of the crime.
What eludes me is the shock that comes with it happening. All the ingredients in today's world seems to point towards such incidents happening more. Why are we expected to come together to feel for those that were murdered rather than try to fix the problems that created such an epidemic in the first place?
It is an epidemic- that is what happens when so many shootings take place in such a short amount of time. All of them, those given widespread coverage and those unreported, are systemic of a larger problem yet no one seems to find any connection.

It isn't guns, nor is it our worship of them, but our lack of empathy for those around us, which only makes the manufactured shows of emotion only more transparent. Most people don't give a thought to anyone but those in their own lives, if they even go that far. It's become a chore to even hold the door open for someone behind you. Compound that with the countless shows of aggression, inconsideration, bravado and superiority that most experience everyday and you're bound to have more than a few people that have nothing left but wanting to hurt those- anyone- around them.

Banning music won't help. I speak from experience when I say that for some it's all that's keeping them sane.
Banning weapons won't help. They'll always be there.
Political manuevers or religious opportunists will never have the right answer.

It's about respect for yourself and others. Take your head out of your ass and stop to help someone that falls down. Don't push ahead of someone, you're not going anywhere that important.
Keep yourself closed off, make others feel as if they are nothing but animals and that's what they will become.