Bigger questions about the school shooting

[operalover21]

The horrific tragedy raises larger questions than just gun control. Guns -- or weapons of any kind -- don't motivate people to kill school children. There is something else. Is it mental illness? Is it our culture? Is it something larger in society?

 

I do think that our society -- over the course of my lifetime -- has become coarser and coarser. Does that contribute to all this violence? We live in a world in which reality TV is the most popular and people watch and revel in the problems and miseries of others. We live in a world in which Aussie DJs making a prank call to a seriously ill woman is considered "funny" by many, leads to a suicide, and many proclaim that okay? We live in a world in which we make political ads accusing our opponent of killing someone or wanting to push grandma over a cliff or any number of other false charges and we say "that's just politics" and move on.

 

Look at one of the most critically acclaimed movies of the year -- Django Unchained -- in which black and white people use the "n" word with abandon and casually talk about "killing all the white/black people." Does this add anything to our culture?

 

There's a lot of marginal people out there, they are easily influenced by our culture. Let's take a look at bigger picture things and ask ourselves if we -- as a society -- are contributing to conditions which make these events possible.

 

That's not as easy as just screaming "gun control" from the top of your lungs but it makes more sense. And I say this as someone who has never owned a gun, would never own a gun, and doesn't, frankly, understand why anyone would own a gun. But that's not the issue.

[+ not2rowdy]

...There is something else. Is it mental illness? Is it our culture? Is it something larger in society?...

 

I do think that our society -- over the course of my lifetime -- has become coarser and coarser. Does that contribute to all this violence?…

 

I would argue that our culture glorifies violence on the one hand - yet waffles at holding individuals accountable on the other.

 

The "computer" culture has really only been in existence for about 30 years (remember the Apple "1984" Superbowl ad?). Thirty years - one generation. And what has that generation been exposed to?

 

Violent media

 

Whether we're talking about 24/7 news - which is always immediately on scene to "report" all aspects of suffering.

 

Or, ever increasingly computer enhanced movies and television - that literally numb you with "shock and awe" both visually and aurally.

 

Or, video games that glorify violence and mayhem. We teach our children how to kill and destroy. And in their subconscious mind they are a "winner". But it's not real.

 

That is what our culture has now given an entire generation.

 

But woe unto the parent that disciplines a bratty kid in public.

I am NOT advocating child abuse.

But an inability to differentiate between child abuse - and a disciplinary slap on the ass - is, arguably, reflective of a society that waffles at holding individual's accountable.

 

There was a time when television offered not only entertainment but also taught young viewers morals. Remember shows like The Waltons, Gunsmoke and Father Knows Best?

 

...And I say this as someone who has never owned a gun, would never own a gun, and doesn't, frankly, understand why anyone would own a gun. But that's not the issue.

 

And I say this as someone who does own a gun, have every intention of continuing to own a gun, and have strong feelings as to why others should own a gun. But's that's not the issue.