Monday, April 6, 2009

what is the matter with people?

I ask that every time I hear of or witness some act of meanness or stupidity or thoughtlessness or selfishness or senseless violence or cruelty, well, the list just goes on, doesn’t it?  I don’t mean the minor daily little jealousies we indulge in. The latest thing that caused those words to spill from my lips is the three episodes of mass murder in three days.  Some guy goes nuts and guns down everyone in sight.  Three guys in three days.  The news media is all atwitter wondering what could have caused this.  Do you think it’s the economy, do you think he was desperate? He had just lost his job/his house/his wife (pick one or more), could that have been it?


They are asking the wrong questions, as if what made them snap explains their actions.  They should be asking, what would bring a person to do THAT, to walk into a room, armed to the teeth, and just start killing people. Desperation seems an awfully shallow excuse.  What is wrong with people, that they have the ability to do something like that.   Where in themselves do they find that?  Is that what being at the top of the food chain means, that we must, by our position, be our own predator?  Even so, I cannot ever imagine that being something I would do for any reason, no matter how many guns I had at my disposal, short of saving my life or the lives of my loved ones.  And even that is a stretch. 


I have always felt that things were not worse than they were when I was growing up, that kids were less safe.  There was not more child abuse, there was not more adultery, there was not more pedophilia, there were not more serial killers, or kidnappings or any of the things that parents use as an excuse to keep their children in sight.  The ratios were probably about the same, it was just that no one talked about it then and now, due to the technology, you hear of every instance.  I roamed the woods at will and, in my time, all us kids basically left the house in the morning and got home in time for dinner.  


I’m having to give up that notion.  This new thing of mass murder, having a stranger walk in and just start blowing people away, that’s definitely different.  I think what they need to be trying to figure out is not what set this guy off, but why he reacted the way he did once he was set off.  And if this one thing is different, there has to have been an avalanche of change .  You just don’t get from then to now in one step.

5 comments:

  1. I decided after the Virginia Tech killing that I would no longer read anything about the perpetrator. And I haven't! I could care less about them. Most wanted infamy. Well, they aren't going to get it from me! I couldn't tell you any of their names, anything about why they did it, or anything about them. I will read all about the victims, but never the perp. They get none of my energy!

    Thanks for letting me vent on this subject - and thanks for visiting my blog!

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  2. I've missed the news so I know of one who killed his 5 kids and then himself. Sadly self indulgent. Obviously distraught over his wife's infidelity, what happened to seeing a counselor or trying to work out problems...rather then killing the kids. Sure his ego was hurt but sadly it seems that is more important than his love. Crushing disappointment isn't an excuse to kill I don't get what's wrong with these people either.

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  3. Thanks for the comments. I don't get very many yet. I hope you will be a regular reader, Lover of Life. I enjoy your blog.

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  4. i was saddened by this news,seen it here,i could not see why this has to happen.innocent people died only for nothing. Well we could not really tell exactly what came into their mind why they do this horrible thing.

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.