Under normal circumstances vigilantism is barbaric and flows with the mentality that "might makes right". By normal circumstances I mean when all persons are treated without favor and laws reflect the idea that all people are equal. In this environment one can use truth and logic to come to a fair conclusion between 2 persons or parties.
Or perhaps, from the vigilante's point of view, the mentality is that heinous crimes are being committed and the government or "powers that be" are insufficient to put a stop to these crimes, and the situation is so bad that the value of taking matters into his or her own hands supercedes the negatives wrought by any legal consequences, or the consequences of fighting criminals, such as death.
If the Columbine-type martyrs weren't just a little bit smarter, and a little less selfish they could have been heroes. They finally had enough of the bullshit of society and took it out on the wrong people. They should have been looking at the bigger picture of lower-class suffering as a result of disproportional wealth that spawns most of the evil we see everyday.
I think they took it out on the right people (from their point of view). I bet they never interacted with the CEO of Enron, but rather with the "lower class", or "everyday folks like you and me" like I like to think of them. Maybe these kids were stuck in the bullshit of society, but did the CEO of Enron really have anything to do with that? I think not. It seems much more likely that trauma from a bad family, social ostracization by their peers, neglect, loneliness, and other forms of abuse led to their outbreaks. I could be wrong, but I doubt those kids were mad at Enron's CEO because he spit on them or something.
Do NOT blame the lower class even a little like you just did. The corrupt society built on greed made them that way. It's like yelling at a kid for not knowing his abc's when his school or parents never gave a dam to teach it to him.
The lower class has just as much to do with corruption as the upper class. If no one accepted bribes, looked the other way when something funny was happening, hurt others for spite or accepted corruption, how would the upper class get away with anything? If no one takes their money, they can't buy their way out of it, and justice is blind (judges may not be, but if they didn't accept bribes then it wouldn't matter). It's certainly a shame that some people never had the opportunities that others have, and if someone accepts a bribe to feed his wife and kids they have my greatest sympathy, but there are still plenty of cases where the lower class is to blame, I bet. And as to the corrupt society built on greed? Sure, people are greedy, but our (american) society was founded on the principles of the equality, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Social equality under an unbiased law. Our "greedy society" is certainly a contributing factor, but it's really not the whole picture. We still have our own free will (despite what people in the adjacent topic of said name may claim
) and for the most part, a body to do things with. It's certainly rough to get going, but you can always get a job at mcdonalds.
None.