Capitalist Anomie And Capitalism By Edmund Kemper

People today think of Crime, suicide, violence in terms of the individual. American society atomizes individuals by the “pick yourself up by the bootstraps” logic. People are left to fend for themselves in a society that constantly puts them up against complex problems that require the help of the community. The people that don’t fit into society, the so-called “burnouts”, are thrown to the wayside all because their community doesn’t care about them. The Capitalist ethic creates a sense of normlessness that not only results in suicide but like Durkheim posited anomie also could play a part in social deviance and crime.
The culture surrounding modernity focuses on prioritizing people in terms of use value. The economic system of Capitalism
Specifically, the sense of norming that has been created by the Capitalist ethic has lead certain groups of people to feel a sense of normlessness known as anomie. A disconnect between people and Capitalism could lead to deviancy in serial killers. For example, serial killers like Edmund Kemper may very well have been formed by their community around them. Edmund Kemper did not feel like he fit into society and could add use value to society. Perhaps part of the reason Ed Kemper disregarded social norms was that the norms created had affected his psyche. In the sense that the norms created excluded him from participating in a normal way of life. This general example can be applied to broader examples of crime and other behaviors that go against the norms of society like suicide. Obviously, there are cases in which crime may be committed because people believe that they are doing something morally right. This could be anything from stealing bread to feed a family to a murderer using a twisted system of morality to justify their killings, think of the Joker from Batman. But, in many cases where criminal behavior seems unexplainable and acts done seem unthinkable, they could result from a sense of anomie that results from Capitalism creating in and out groups. The outgroups are not only excluded, but many times ostracized and used as scapegoats to justify the mission of the Capitalist ruling