Connecticut Shooting

I’m replacing the open thread because this is something I want to talk about. This shooting in Connecticut has me really frustrated.

First, let me say that I feel incredible sympathy for the families of the victims. This just makes me sick and it’s not something anyone should ever need to experience. I wish this had never happened.

What I want to discuss is my utter frustration with people. This is a tragedy and an outrage and what is the first thing that happens? People go right back to playing politics and trying to avoid responsibility. The left is whining about guns as if this guy wouldn't have found another way to do this -- just as Chinese nutjobs are killing as many kids with knives. Many on the right are talking about punishment, which admittedly was my first thought. But that’s wrong. We need to start looking at who is really to blame here and, frankly, the answers are uncomfortable.

The most obvious fault lies with the killer’s parents... his friends... his teachers... his neighbors... and his employers. They all saw the signs, I know they did. People like this give them off in droves because you don’t just snap one day. These people are hateful, they are creepy, they say and do evil things... and everyone wants to overlook it because they don’t want to get involved or because they don’t want to believe that someone they know could be evil.

This is also the fault of Hollywood for glorifying gun violence and beating people over the head with the idea that violence is the way to solve disputes. This is the fault of the media for making these people famous and turning this thing into an exciting sport. Even now they are playing this game. This is the fault of politicians for spewing hate and telling people that hate and spite are legitimate feelings. Do you really think you can’t run around hating people who are rich or illegal without the idea sinking in that hate is acceptable? And how often have people, especially on the left, accepted violence as an ok practice? This is the fault of people who misuse their religious beliefs to create an us versus them world where we wish ill on those who don’t believe like us. This is the fault of everybody who calls in to sport shows and talks about hurting people, everybody who posts death threats on the net, everybody who spews hate day after day after day.

This is the fault of a society that is genuinely hateful and spiteful and which mixes fantasy and reality, a society of people who are unwilling to take responsibility for their own actions and certainly won't take responsibility to do something when they see something wrong. This is the fault of lawyers who sue anyone who tries to help. This is the fault of juries for enabling them. This is the fault of psychiatrists who do nothing to spot these people. This is the fault of a society that decided in the 1960s to set the crazies free without supervision or control.

But before we cast stones at other people, we need to look at ourselves. How many of us have ignored someone who needed help or who should have been reported? How many of us have encouraged people to hate others?

We are all to blame. And trying to blame inanimate objects like guns or faceless bureaucrats is an excuse, that is all... scapegoats for the things we do wrong every single day. We are to blame... all of us.

This is really depressing.