Recent horrors in which young people take out
their frustrations through violence against unknown others underline the importance
of what Victor Frankl called Man’s Search for Meaning. Offered a future reduced
in the mainstream to making, selling and buying consumer goods, many of them worthless, and a race for the
jobs so required it should come as no surprise if some pursue seemingly more “meaningful”
vocations, including religious apotheosis. Is it farfetched to believe that economic
lives grounded on serious social benefuts might reduce somewhat a sense of emptiness in
contrast to which religious fundamentalism seems both more important and
responsible. A social economy, with jobs
built on values could do something to alleviate the growing sense of
meaninglessness engendered by consumer lives. And yes, there is more to mass shootings than the bad jobs of perpetrators, but no-one should ignore the effect of perceived meaninglessness on the its subjects.
