The Wall Street Journal‘s Brian Carney sat down with Theodore Dalrymple (Anthony Daniels) looking for insights about Oslo shooter Anders Behring Breivik.
Dr. Dalrymple argues that the welfare state, Europe’s form of civic religion, deprives its citizens even of the “struggle for existence” as a possible purpose in life. One alternative, then, is “transcendent political purpose—and that’s where what [Breivik's] done comes in.” Such a political purpose doesn’t lead inexorably to fanaticism, violence and murder. “But my guess,” Dr. Dalrymple offers, “is that this man, who was extremely ambitious, didn’t have the talent” to realize his ambitions, whether in politics or other fields. “So while he’s intelligent he didn’t have that ability or that determination to mark himself out in a way that might be more—constructive, shall we say.”
Dalrymple has appeared frequently at Hans Hoppe’s Property and Freedom Society conferences. His talk this year was entitled “The Mirage of ‘Equal Opportunity.’”
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It seems that people like the shooter often suffer from an exaggerated sense of self-esteem.
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