"A Taste of Armageddon" was an original "Star Trek" episode — one of many in which Capt. Kirk violated the Prime Directive. Basically, the inhabitants of planets Eminiar VII and Vendikar were at war. To mitigate the destruction, they agree to fight the war as a computer simulation. If you "died" in the simulation, you had to report to a disintegration chamber where you were promptly annihilated. The citizens of both planets sheepishly complied, until Kirk ordered Spock to destroy the simulation computer. Righty-right.
If a lottery ticket arrived in the mail ordering people to show up at a firing squad, there'd be mass revolt. But it amounts to the same damn thing.
Granted, the "Star Trek" episode involved a totalitarian government killing its own people. The American government lets the people kill each other.
Either way, a political system is in place. Random fatality is the price of maintaining that system.
Arguably, the floating lottery of mass shootings is form of totalitarian government as a distributed system. We all live with the knowledge that the sketchy dude (or clean-cut dude) at the next table might be packing —and you never know what triggers might trigger his trigger finger. (The words "Vietnam," "Trump," "Clinton," "9-11," or "Niagra Falls" just might set him off!) Auggh — is he looking this way? Oh god, oh god. Whew. OK. Stay cool, pay the check, go, don't talk too loud, don't make eye contact, avoid public spaces, know your exits, keep your head down and, just to stay on the safe side, stay home and lock your doors. As I've said before, "Charlie Manson is watching you."
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