Another whack job walks into a crowded area and takes out a another dozen or so people. I think the universe looks at us as a species and just shakes its head. We're flawed, and scary. Not sure what gets people to the point that they've lost that much humanity and distanced themselves so far from their soul they could hold a gun against a group of people and watch sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, and babies, die, in a most gruesome and torturous way.
I can't comprehend this shit. The soul is getting a fragile I think. I can't look at headlines and just see a story any more. I see people I could love and cherish. It's only some universal lottery that I wasn't born related and/or formed a friendship with them. Every time I read about THEM, I well up and get lumpy in the throat.
Some call it evil. Some call it a twisted form of faith. Really, the truth of the matter is that it is mental illness and some form of alienation from reality that caused this. Sure, guns were the choice of method and there's a very reasoned argument for the much heavier regulation of firearms in the States. No civilian needs access to military weapons. There's a place for heavier calibre semi-auto's in pest control but there's no reason why someone need mags 30-100 rounds deep in a civilian situation. I can't see the issue with people having personal protection. I wish we did.
The point of this is though, past the headlines and debate on weapons there's people mourning and in some serious pain. Let's not forget about them, and let's not forget about why it REALLY happened. Mental illness.
Saturday 21 July 2012
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I can't comprehend it either. I am not sure though that someone who does something like this is mentally ill, in the strictest sense (and this is without knowing anything about this person).
ReplyDeleteI think there are some faulty mental processes at work, to be sure but I don't know that they fall under the category of someone being mentally ill.
I've seen a lot of cases through work where a person claims mental illness as a factor in their offending. No doubt it is a complication in their life but as a causative factor in why they offend, I don't think it's the primary thing. We're not talking people who are delusional and seeing things that aren't real. These are people who have sat down, rationalised why this needs to happen and then gone out and done it.
I don't believe in evil but I do think that there are certain common elements to people who act out their aggression in this way. Denial, justification, rationalising ... an inability to accept responsibility for themselves and the part they play in how their lives pan out.
But I agree with you that the sad inevitability of one of these things occurring every couple of years is just overwhelming. I worry that as a society, we are fragmenting and it these kinds of things are very symbolic of that.
Very much agree. I guess by mental illness I mean as opposed to what we would consider as normal mental function and ability to control what's in their head. But you're right, and as I'm writing this you're throwing more points at me on TWITTER. lol I can see them popping up.
DeleteVery much appreciate your insight. Cheers.
Thanks for tolerating my stream of consciousness. Ha!
DeleteIt's a complex topic and one I've had lots of cause to ponder. I think that these events are so horrific they engender an immediate emotional and sometimes legislative response which may only go some way towards addressing the problem. It requires more than that but I am not sure that as a society we are really prepared to look at it in any depth. Nor do we have the resources to do so. I think we could if we really wanted to but it is far easier for the authorities to appear like they are doing something rather than looking too closely at the causative factors.
Agree with that too.
DeleteThe parents knew their son has problems despite his "genius"; the fact that they could not get help ... (aka: override their adult son's 'personal rights') from medical or legal authorities is the real and tragic issue. People with mental illnesses continue to do horrific things to unsuspecting and innocent people because their rights are legally deemed more important than anyone else's. They are free to walk among us and act out their sick fantasies because they can do so without intervention.
ReplyDeleteThe police will not get involved until someone is seriously injured or fatally injured: only then will the police take action; they will not make a serious interception until blood is spilled. The reason? They don't want to endanger their own lives until someone else looses theirs. It's a game of kismet. The heroes of the police force vanished from the scene with our childhood - the police force of today is more afraid of their own demise than they are of anyone else's ... including a child's life cut too short.
The medical authorities will not take serious action either because they are more interested in using mental patients as guinea pigs for scientific studies - instead of keeping them out of the general populace, they push pills and shove them back into the public mainstream; turning their eyes and heads away from the possibly of psychotic acts of violence during "mental episodes" should their esteemed patient refuse to adhere to the out-patient/pill regimen. Mental patients are sick ... they are not stupid; mental patients are lethargic, they are not inactive. Mental patients are crafty, they are not as scatter-brained as assumed. This person, along with so many other criminally insane inmates, will live a long and pampered life behind walls in a well guarded prison for the mentally insane instead of losing his life ... as he should, for the lives he took. He will be housed, fed, clothed, and studied by psychologists at inflated costs to taxpayers - and some of those taxpayers will be the families of the murdered victims of this crazed killer. It's an insane concept ... protecting the rights of the insane at the expense of the victims, but it's legal thanks to 'democratic' bleeding hearts whose only compassion is for the victimizer instead of the victims ... democracy died in America when insanity became the norm.
Had the parents of this shooter been able to have him institutionalized against his will, this tragedy would not have occurred. Tragically the personal rights of the mentally ill override moral and ethical rights.
Such is life in America.
Sad.
Tragic.
" The reason? They don't want to endanger their own lives until someone else looses theirs."
ReplyDeleteThat's not true. We all - especially Yanks - bitch and moan about their rights being violated and then you come along and admonish the coppers becuase they didn't stomp all over this bloke's apparent rights. Your neighbour believes you're a threat because you act funny, and you want the police to come and take you away and lock you up? Bet you don't. And endanger their lives? Please, they do that every minute of the day just by wearing the uniform.
hmmm, its not just there either Moko, I'm kinda fkn fed right up with dick heads punching people at about 0400 in morning and then he lands splat on the ground...,brain damage or dead!.
ReplyDeleteOne, give the cops some real fkn power on the issue, 2) Close the fkn pubs and clubs earlier!, 3) JAIL THEM, scare the living fkn christ outta the dumb shits, we've got a couple og generations coming at us, that have NO MANNER and do not give a shit, not all!, but a fkn vast amount. Its gunna get very ugly I fear.
Yeah, it's all a bit fucked up.
ReplyDelete