I'd say the more clear correlation is social media. Not only can weak-minded people be pulled down various conspiracy rabbit holes that allow them to rationalize their actions, it's also never been easier to become "famous". Given that these shooters are almost always social outcasts craving extreme levels of attention/validation, social media lubricates their fantasies on both ends of the process. Plus the copycat factor from other mass shooters.
That said there's no doubt there's in my mind economic conditions contribute. The paths to middle class prosperity in the US are fewer and further between than they used to be. That deprives many of even the aspiration of a better life, leading to nihilism, which can be witnessed in many contexts outside mass shootings (what media is popular, sentiment polls, etc).
I also wonder if our Architecture itself contributes. A lot of bedroom community suburbs seem designed to create social isolation. They're just collections of crash pads for long commutes with no communal gathering places.
Recessions, inflation, social media, and loss of communal gatherings also are present in other countries, where mass shootings are rare. In fact, almost all proposed causes of mass shootings fall apart when you consider that the "cause" is also present in other countries that don't have USA's mass-shooting problem. Almost all, but not quite all...
That was designed as a fundamentally subversive set of lessons. I doubt we even have the will to make an accurately subversive movie version of Diamond Age (look at what happened to Altered Carbon), much less create that sort of "book".
I wish this was explored more deeply. I used to think that social media was just another facet of the old media, but I am slowly changing my mind on this. There is a vast difference between how FB, Linkedin or other social media operates and interacts with its audience when compared to print, radio or TV.
Look at HN. We discuss various events the same way ( process-wise anyway ) as people on FB discuss stuff. It is very interactive and we did not seem to develop appropriate firewall rules for social media yet ( as in, just because TV shows a guy running on water, doesn't mean its possible ). For some reason, we take informal social media utterance with more gravity than official White House statement.
That said there's no doubt there's in my mind economic conditions contribute. The paths to middle class prosperity in the US are fewer and further between than they used to be. That deprives many of even the aspiration of a better life, leading to nihilism, which can be witnessed in many contexts outside mass shootings (what media is popular, sentiment polls, etc).
I also wonder if our Architecture itself contributes. A lot of bedroom community suburbs seem designed to create social isolation. They're just collections of crash pads for long commutes with no communal gathering places.