Take, for example, Alex Jones. Clearly he is a nut job (or, at least plays one on TV). He has an audience he plays to, and they have a like-minded conspirator to lead them. Until the age of mass media, and heavy weaponry, he'd be the crank on the corner, relatively harmless and looked upon with some pity until institutionalized.
Instead, he has a platform, and the big "story" is whether Megyn Kelly interviewing him is "appropriate" since it exposes more people to his toxic mind. The problem, of course, is the existence and elevation of Donald Trump, who is of like mind and temperament. If someone so deranged can be so "successful," what does that say about us?
Lone nutjobs like Hodgkinson are inevitable in a society as large as ours. Not much can be learned from his behavior - but much can be done to limit the damage. Unfortunately, Ma has shown that the wrong lessons are eagerly sought by some, and the wrong, yet predictable, paths followed. That is a pattern we should, instead, be at pains to resist. It leads to madness.
