Benjamin Barnes: Another Needless Horror Story Ending in Violence

I heard about Benjamin Barnes the day the story broke, and although I did not read a news story or watch a segment on television about his killing of a park ranger, I immediately suspected that he is another man who was driven over the edge of sanity. Obviously, mainstream news stories about him depict him as mad, suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or some other hand-wave. Digging for details - especially from articles from the "man-o-sphere" led me to the conclusion that Barnes is the latest example of a man needlessly driven to violence.

It is possible that Barnes suffered from PTSD, and that this played a part in the violence. If PTSD was the primary cause, it was needless that his story ended in violence and death. Barnes was an Iraq War veteran. Soldiers are trained to kill. Reintegration into society is a process for a soldier, or it can be a longer process. Soldiers are trained to react to situations with violence, as per the job. The presence of PTSD can make this reintegration extremely difficult. How does any soldier slip through the cracks in that regard? How is any soldier released from duty back to civilian life without being identified as having PTSD? There are symptoms. This alone could indicate misandry in the form of society and the military discarding soldiers once they have completed service, and not helping them reintegrate into a society that soldiers should immediately return to. 

What struck me even more, though, came when I dug a little deeper. Barnes had been put through custody issues regarding his daughter, and had been accused of domestic violence by his girlfriend. He had also had a troubled past, doing some things he should have done. I'm not attempting to present him as blameless; however, I see the downward spiral his life must have become. Facing a misandrist court system with its exorbitant demands and extortion against men is enough to drive any normal man mad - for a soldier who may or may not have PTSD, I can see how difficult it could become to not simply see red every moment. And we know how the story ended. He killed a park ranger, fled into the forest, and was found dead a day later. And all of this was needless. Not every man who is forced to deal with the misandrist courts will end up like Barnes, although I am certain all men forced into such a situation deal with the same undying rage at a system that hates them. Barnes' scenario was perhaps more severe all in all, but men have snapped who have dealt with less in their lives.

This should be a lesson, although I'm sure the mainstream will forever ignore these details in the background of Barnes' story. This kind of violence is needless, and is completely preventable. Furthermore, there are causes originating from misandry. Ignoring that men who end up doing what Barnes did often had their children taken away and accusations made against them ignores major reasons why a man - a normal working "joe" all the way to a war veteran - may snap and commit violence. The system's blindness to its own misandry guarantees that such violence could happen anytime. 

A man does not kill a park ranger and flee into the forest for no reason, randomly, by accident. I doubt only PTSD would cause it either. But a man whose life is in a downward spiral, and whose downward spiral is helped along by misandry, could do this anytime.