The recent rash of mass shootings has left the nation stunned but, sadly, not speechless. The usual media and political suspects are saying the usual things, using the bodies of the innocent as a sickening ideological soapbox.
We're not going to do that here. These gruesome murders are not about, nor caused by, politics. Rather, they are the unavoidable and perhaps unstoppable product of a deeply diseased culture. A culture which has become the perfect growth medium for psychopathy.
"Loners" are no longer alone when in their online worlds. They can communicate without actual human contact. They can find reinforcement for their darkest and most twisted thoughts and fantasies. They can give the worst demons of their psyches an artificial, external life in cyberspace - free to express hatred and anger anonymously and without consequence. And on the Internet, madness can hide in plain sight.
After all, who's going to notice or care about garden variety insanity in a world which routinely describes everyone as murderous: baby killers on one side, Earth-destroying Nazis on the other. The stakes are absolute, the "other" is the enemy, and words are just words...until they become actions.
The social mechanisms which formerly prevented these massacres have crumbled. The bonds of family, friendship, and faith. A shared sense of community. Optimism about the future. Moral certainty and personal responsibility.
Instead, we now live in a crowded world of communal loners, all staring at their phones instead of the world and people around them. Politicians and media figures preach an unsubtle and dangerously divisive message of absolutes: you are either on this side or that, either all good or all evil. There is no middle ground - only calls for action. Calls that the wrong people are hearing.
We live in a culture in which too many feel they have no meaning or importance, but believe that one spectacular act of madness can give them the instant celebrity which defines success in a sick society. And so they kill to feel alive. To experience an illusion of power at the expense of the powerless. And even knowing the likelihood that they will be killed during their heinous act, they believe they will live eternally in the electronic ether, washed in the blood of the sacrificed.
Gun control can not and will not change any of this. The phenomena of mass shootings is, in fact, unstoppable absent a wholesale change in our culture, our way of life, and our society's unhealthy obsession with an inhuman and inhumane electronic world.
The good news is that the vast majority of people still retain values strong enough to keep them morally centered in our crumbling culture. The bad news is that unless those values can regain cultural dominance, and unless we can replace combativeness and angry confrontation with honest conversation, mass murder will continue to be our inescapable new normal.
Excellent post! Sharing everywhere I can...
ReplyDeleteAn excellent essay, Stilt!You, along with most folks I know, regret the loss of family values.
ReplyDeleteTrump says Mass shootings are a "...mental health..." problem, but I believe, as you do, that they are a result of the erosion of America's Norman Rockwell family values.
Very well said STilt.
ReplyDeleteHeartful.
I am also repeating with your name mentioned.
You spread it wide, without pointing.
More please.
Pete B.
====
You summed it up quite well, Stilton. The continuing loss of values by the left have left most of us speechless.
ReplyDeleteSpot on and eloquent.
ReplyDeleteVery good Doc ........ Over 300 million Americans found enough sanity to hang on to the other day - two did not ........
ReplyDeleteOutstanding summary and great insight as to what is causing this violence. I have shared your thoughts with most all of my email list (and including your authorship). A shame those politicians who blame guns for the problem can't wake up to the fact that the gun is just a tool, a means of carrying out the fantasies in the minds of the violent. Thanks for the keen observation and post.
ReplyDeleteEd
Its, self centered, a-hole punks, who like these who are the reason the rest of us cannot have nice things.
ReplyDeleteAnd as said before, there were probably flags that should have put both sickos on someone's radar screen.
The system needs to be fixed first. Evil doesn't care how many gun laws are in place. Evil just doesn't care.
Over the past several decades our young people have grown up in a society devoid of any meaningful discipline at home or school. The worst they get is a 'time-out' or small curtailment of privileges. They grew up in a world where no one has to qualify for anything as everyone gets to play and everyone gets a trophy (just for participation). They grew up where grading on a curve was normal and a 'quiet room' and 'hand-holding' was always there to calm fears, disappointments and hurt feelings.
ReplyDeleteThey grew up with parents, teachers, coaches, etc. that didn't want to shake the boat. They grew up with social media testing and weighing everything that everybody does, with social media showing them what they are missing and what fun they are not having. They grew up in a world where everyone can see what the 'haves' possess and what the 'have-nots' don't. They grew up in a society that condones substance abuse and treats every hurt feeling or bad day with prescription drugs.
Then, at a point in time they try to make it on their own and run into the reality of life and it's trials. They find that the outside world wants production and results and could care less if they are having a bad day or lost their cell phone. They find that oversleeping is not an excuse for being late, and that pay, advancement or even keeping their job depends on their performance. They find that job performance reviews actually grade them on what they do. They find that survival is of the fittest and the days of free stuff are over. In summary, they find that they had no idea of what the real world was like or how to cope with it.
Someone needs to be responsible for their despair and inability to perform. The result is a huge number of suicides, especially in the military where the cruel world reality really comes on fast, and in substance abuse to dim the shock of real life. Then we have the young folks who cast blame for their despair on others and strike out by mass shootings - often feeling important again for a fleeting moment before being just another suicide by cop.
The CA, OH and TX shooters were 19,21 & 24. They had just begun to see what the real world held for them and were not able to face it or meet it’s demands.
Parenting started going downhill in the 1960's. It was passed on to teachers and coaches who joined the parents in not wanting to 'shake the boat'. It's been going downhill for about 3 generations now and even if things were to change today (to pre 1950 values and morals), it would take over 80 years to correct the problem.
Folks are just going to have to accept that what we have now is the new normal and that this normal will only get worse without some type of intervention…and I don’t see that coming until…....
Blame will be cast in all directions and new laws will be called for but nothing will help until society faces what it has itself created.
Excellent comment! Very nicely put. The truth.
DeleteAll I can add to this excellent piece of writing is AMEN.
ReplyDeleteWell said Brother Stilt.
ReplyDeleteThis is an intelligent and perceptive piece of work.
ReplyDelete@JRMD and Stilt: "Amen" seems like a hideously inadequate response, but I really have little to add.
ReplyDeleteWe can but give thanks that such atrocities are so rare as to be worthy of note.
A most succinct analysis Stilt. I have watched our society degenerate due to a myriad of reasons which you have covered. As a baby boomer, I think our generation is the last one not polluted and obsessed by/with social media.
ReplyDeleteThis is now the new normal.
Very well said. Thank you.
ReplyDeletee
Very well written and on point. I would only add one factor; the emasculation of our culture and media. Almost every commercial and TV show for many years now will contrast the incompetent, silly, and stupid male with the heroic, intelligent, and capable female. The 95 pound twenty something pretty young woman who takes down, punches, or otherwise wrestles the large aggressive male criminal to the floor and places him in handcuffs, regularly and predictably occurs on every TV show and most movies. The male heroes of our youth are gone, leaving young men with no strong male role model who champions the cherished values of yesteryear.
ReplyDeleteThank you, once again.
ReplyDeleteWell-said Stilt, and kudos to JRMD for his summary; Dan Fowler, too. I was born before WWII, and was fortunate to have parents who steered me in the right direction. Unfortunately, there are far too many who have not shared my luck, and since the culture has apparently gone downhill so far and so quickly during the last few decades, I can only deduce that it is the fault of the ever-forgiving, ever-pandering liberal establishment that always finds a cure-all (OUR money) to erase any chance at showing personal responsibility.
ReplyDeleteI and those in my age group can only shake our heads at the absence of logic and responsibility shown by politicians, university professors, the Hollywood Elite, and---especially---the so-called mainstream media fools who insist on driving with their hands on the rear-view mirror. Unless we do a "180," our country will continue its slide into morphing into another Europe which has doomed itself into becoming another Islamic caliphate.
If you kick God out of the culture, Satan is more than happy to fill the Spiritual Void.
ReplyDeleteAs for me and my house, we will serve The Lord. No amount of worldly success can compensate for failure in the home.
@JohnF- Thank you. This one was painful to write.
ReplyDelete@Unknown- There are many different factors, but I do believe it's the loss of traditional values and institutions that is the greatest problem. The mass shooters are the small tip of a very frightening iceberg.
@Pete B- Finger pointing and trying to pin the blame on specific politicians or parties isn't a solution, it's part of the problem.
@MiamiSean- The loss of values is real and obvious (as is the damage done), but it's mostly noticed by those of us who have been around long enough to have a basis of comparison. These 20 year olds have no idea what this country was like a few decades ago, when there was social interaction instead of social media. God knows that things weren't perfect in the past...but they were better for identifiable reasons. In the "manifesto" from the El Paso shooter, he says that people simply aren't willing to change their ways. I pray that he's wrong.
@Anonymous- Thank you.
@REM1875- The numbers are still on our side, for which I'm grateful.
@Ed- I was gratified (but not cheered) to see that the Wall Street Journal has an editorial today which very much echoes what I wrote here today. And I'm not surprised that politicians are trying to find easy targets of blame. It's what they do, and it makes things worse.
@Fish Out of Water- One place to start is to include the records of juveniles who have "acted out" in the databases used for background screenings when purchasing guns. Currently, the red flags raised in the teen years remain hidden until it's too late. There's an Obama-era policy in place in many schools which actually prevents the schools from reporting violent acts to the police. That needs to change immediately.
@JRMD- You're right on every point, and have expressed the problem perfectly.
@Anonymous- Thank you.
@james daily- I hope more start saying the same things that I did.
@exnorthender- I don't make any special claims about intelligence, but I have eyes and they're open.
@M. Mitchell Marmel- I do give thanks that these massacres are rare...but I don't like how they're trending. Meanwhile on social media, I'm seeing liberals of all stripes (including news organizations) reporting that we've now had 249 "mass shootings" in the United States just this year. That's statistical horse shit, and it doesn't cheer me that this preposterous figure is being spread all over the Internet. But here's the thing: messages that are short and sensational (249 mass shootings!) are much more likely to go viral than a ponderous but sincere editorial like mine. "Provacative" is in, "thought provoking" is not.
@John- We baby boomers have a special, and painful, perspective on this societal decline and the instrumental ways in which technology is changing our culture and very humanity.
@Anonymous- You're welcome, and thank you for allowing me to be serious when necessary.
Amen!
ReplyDeleteI join in with everyone else on your most excellent post to date.
ReplyDeletePerhaps a quote from Ken Burns that I found in my fathers belongings would be appropriate:
ReplyDelete"The great arrogance of the present is to forget the intelligence of the past."
We who are old enough to understand need no explanation, and for those too young to understand sadly no explanation is sufficient.
Ain't it the truth.
ReplyDeleteI am sharing as well but in an effort to get people to read it I'm not attrib'ing. I hope you don't mind. It needs to be read not written off because of your other posts that some might not get the humor. I find so many left leaning people have no sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate thanks for expressing this so damn well.
Thank you, Stilton. Thoughtful, direct. As a baby boomer, I too have seen the decline through the years. One of my jobs as a grandfather is to teach my grands about the history of our country and the places where we have left the good path. My only hope for the future is reflective, thoughtful, and smart young people. I love this country and it's potential if it is not corrupted by the new left-wing gargoyles. God, please protect us.
ReplyDelete@Dan Fowler- I completely agree that the emasculation of males is a very significant part of the problem. We now live in a culture which believes that all masculinity is toxic masculinity. That's wrong and destructive.
ReplyDelete@Susan Fineman- You're very welcome.
@Alfonso Bedoya- Very well put.
@Igor- I'm not personally religious, but I absolutely agree on the importance of church and solid spiritual beliefs in taming humanity's demons.
@Anonymous- The word "Amen" puts me in mind of humility and supplication...which is, I think, the moment we're in.
@sorella- Thank you.
@American Cowboy- True sentiments, but so sad. The erasure of history makes this a rudderless ship.
@sergio- I wish it wasn't.
@merlin1246- You're right that the media and Lefties are being very dishonest. They're currently screaming about 249 "mass shootings" this year, but I'm sure the vast majority of those are in places like Chicago, with anything over one victim (not necessarily a fatality) being counted as a "mass shooting." But where is the outcry from the Left to end the carnage in Chicago and other kill zones? There is none, because they don't actually care about "those" victims.
@Jon- I don't need my name attached (and understand that people might take it more seriously if they don't know the source), and I deeply appreciate you sharing the commentary.
@Sortahwitte- You're doing what must be done with your grandkids, and I only wish more would do the same. Those kids are going to be the nation's hope when the rest of us are gone.
ReplyDeleteGreat insight, a terrific piece with some terrific comments. Not being a good writer, I appreciate when I can share something to hopefully help the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Stilt and the other commentators.
To say the least you hit the nail on the head. The deterioration of the nations psychic over the last 40+ year with religion, respect and responsibility (the 3 R's taught at home) being basically removed by the left from out county has caused our current situation.
ReplyDeleteAs a young man I was able to purchase a firearm at one of the local stores at the age of 15. At that time mass shootings were confined to the government. What has changed is the removal of the three R's.
@JRMD Absolutely brilliant post.
ReplyDelete"These gruesome murders are not about, nor caused by, politics. Rather, they are the unavoidable and perhaps unstoppable product of a deeply diseased culture. A culture which has become the perfect growth medium for psychopathy."
ReplyDeleteAmen. Likewise to your comments about how the deranged loners can now find communities to indulge their dysfunction. It's a side-effect of the Internet that nobody saw coming.
And also you are right-on about a world that makes people feel frustrated and powerless. It's one of the grand ironies of this age that in a world with unprecedented billions of people, individuals are more lonely than ever.
But unfortunately, I believe it's even worse than all that. This is the inevitable result of a society that has become bereft of having any soul. For the vast majority of these incidents, the protagonists have replaced meaningful purpose in life with peak narcissism. For more and more people, they are the centers of their own universe, and feelings instead of intellect are the only motivator.
Mental illness is nothing new. But what is new is a popular culture that not only fails to resist narcissism, but actually encourages and sells it as a virtue. At least in previous generations, the even the mentally ill still had a sense of morality. But for a long time now, it has been somewhere between politically incorrect to literally illegal to resist the insanity.
Think I'm nuts? Then try this: Go on Twitter and proclaim that there are only two genders and see what happens to your account.
People who will this week will demand that we seize guns and federalize mental health will also continue to argue that pre-pubescent children who decide that they're not their born sex should be given unquestionably damaging and irreversible medical intervention to try to make it so.
That's right. If my 10-year-old were to decide that he was Superman and I allowed him to jump off the roof of our house, people would think I'm nuts and law enforcement would lock me up as a negligent parent. But if my 10-year-old decides that he is a she, then these same people will proclaim that I'm a negligent parent for not indulging the insanity.
So until we can stand up to that level of insanity, I don't see how we can address "mental health" in other contexts.
And then there's the racism. No, not the alleged racism of these most recent mass murderers. I'm talking about the people who will argue that this is finally the reason to annul the 2nd Amendment while continuing to ignore the regular carnage that takes place elsewhere that is no longer considered an outrage because white people aren't involved.
@JRMD & @Dan Fowler, right on. Back in the '80s, I recall social scientists arguing that The Brady Bunch was dangerous for kids because and and all problems confronting kids were resolved in 24 minutes! But how can grown kids possibly cope when they find out that reality is nothing like the ideas sold by today's social and mass media? Add to the insanity that today's supposed "authority figures" actually indulge the insanity instead of making any attempt what so ever to put the brakes on it.
ReplyDeleteThere are no longer any adults.
As has been said by so many, a very good piece. There is one aspect of all of this that I think was in a sense referred to, but it needs to be said explicitly. The "grievance industry" which tells us that we should never be offended, and if we are, we have the right to strike back violently, is a contributing factor in this madness.
ReplyDeleteJohn: There are no longer any Liberal adults.
ReplyDeleteHomicide is and has been illegal for centuries (unless done by the state). It boggles the mind that basically every week, gun free cities such as Balt, NY, Det, Chicago have as many murders as one mass murder. This isn't news and it is mostly blacks killing blacks which seems also not to be news. It is only news when the victims are grouped into one group. That's beyond stupid. If the cities will not take care of their own problems of violence, who will? Unless the cities do not consider violence a problem.
22,000+ gun laws on the books and not a one of them will stop any gun crime where the perpetrator wants to do violence with a firearm.
Agree..This is an excellent essay & I'm sharing with my email list.
ReplyDeleteHere’s an interesting video. Media Hype Questionable Gun Control Study
ReplyDeleteThose people are among us, created out of our society. Born of mothers saturated with drugs, themselves poisoning their bodies and curtailing psychological development by imbibing drugs before the age of 10. Encouraged in their depravity by like minded associations on social media. Social media contains a black hole that sucks these people down, not only these people but a young generation that buries their attention in it ignoring all positive social interaction with the world around them.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't the online search engines and media companies that track you, watches your searches, watch your shopping habits, your political ideology, and flood your online activity with targeted ads also keep an eye on the dark activity of misguided individuals. At some point there should be a threshold where it becomes obvious that this individual is going off the rails and the police should be notified. At that point the police need the authority to perform a thorough search, investigation, and evaluation of the individual. At the very least a person at this point needs serious counseling if not incarceration.
@KanB, that is terrifying. First off, just as often as not, the authorities already know who most of the criminals are. They either don't care or are prevented from taking any action against these people because it's legally or politically problematic.
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding that, the solution you suggest would almost exclusively only be used to enforce political conformity. Just watch CNN for a few minutes to see why. Did you support Trump in any way? You are the real problem!
The problem with events such as this last weekend isn't just the abhorrent behavior of these soul-less and morality-free individuals. It's that their actions will be used as the justification for the totalitarianism that the 2nd Amendment exists to prevent.
Variations in what is defined as a "mass killing"
ReplyDeleteMother Jones
(see Follman, Aronsen, and Pan, 2017)
Three fatal injuries
(excluding shooter)*
Public Indiscriminate
(excludes crimes of armed robbery, gang violence, or domestic violence)
Gun Violence Archive
(undated-a)
Four fatal or nonfatal injuries
(excluding shooter)
Mass Shooting Tracker
(undated)
Four fatal or nonfatal injuries
(including shooter)
Mass Shootings in America database
(Stanford Geospatial Center, undated)
Three fatal or nonfatal injuries
(excluding shooter)
Not identifiably related to gangs, drugs, or organized crime
Supplementary Homicide Reports (FBI)
(see Puzzanchera, Chamberlin, and Kang, 2017)
The FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports do not define mass shooting but do provide information on the number of victims, and the reports have been used by researchers in conjunction with news reports or other data sources.
We have Jordan B Peterson articulating to the young against the post- modernist age. Please pray for the recovery of his wife, and for him.
ReplyDeleteGreat observations and thoughts on our electronically driven cultural current. I'm also sharing this all around.
ReplyDeleteI found this via Bayou Renaissance Man. This is a great commentary. I think you put all ten shots in the bull's eye.
ReplyDeleteGood job.
Excellent post!. An insane world. A sane response
ReplyDeleteWhile all the Democraps are rushing to blame Trump, it turns out both shooters were Democrats. For the El Paso shooter, he had a profile on mylife.com that said Democrat before the shooting, but was changed several times after the shooting, one stating he was a Republican, then adding NRA supporter, and later adding anti-Semitic comments.
ReplyDeletehttps://trulytimes.com/leftists-change-shooter-patrick-crusiuss-mylife-page-after-saturday-shooting-from-democrat-to-republican.html
The Dayton shooter was apparently a raging socialist, Fauxcashontas supporter.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/dayton-shooter-reportedly-supported-gun-control-elizabeth-warren-and-socialism
That story above includes a line that we'll never see or hear from the mainstream media.
"Betts' reported beliefs are different than those tied to the mass shooter who attacked a Walmart in El Paso hours before. In a manifesto that was linked to him, he wrote that he wanted to stop the "Hispanic invasion of Texas," but also adds his bigoted beliefs "predate Trump and his campaign.""
Note the last 5 words.
In conclusion, "all Trump's fault." Oy!
For whatever it is worth, I posted on two separate sites that the latest tragedies were only a symptom not the problem (I left it to those with half a brain to figure out what the 'problem' was) and: I come here and someone with a whole brain (among other posters here) do know what the problem is! The solution may not be available any more but it is good to know that there are others out 'there' that can think things trough and know of what they talk about .......... thank you all .....
ReplyDeleteWorker
Everyone needs to read this.
ReplyDeleteCC
Stilton, as one who has been an avid reader of your blog, and of course JO, for many years, this is the most vivid, insightful and important post of yours that I have read.
ReplyDeleteAs others have said, Amen.
Once there was a time when a raging nutcase could be institutionalized without too much trouble. That system was easy to abuse but abuse was not widespread. Raging feminazi Kate Millett (who was rightly institutionalized because she was bats#!tcrazy) managed to find an attorney (or the ACLU supplied one...) who got her released. Then the attorneys made it nearly impossible to institutionalize the truly nutso, and look where we are now. Yes, I blame Kate Millett and the rest of the insane left. These people whine about the guns and crime, but they never Do anything about crime. They really don't care about crime because they know the criminals won't take up arms against abuse of power by bad government. All the laws they propose are actually aimed at the people in this country who might be inclined to take up arms against the government.
ReplyDeleteThere are (or so I've read) over 300 million firearms in this country. How many individual firearms are used in shootings every year? Not too many more than 300, I'd think. That means that for every fiream used in a shooting, a million AREN'T. So where does the problem actually lie? Not with the law-abiding gun owner, that's for sure!
Excellent as always.
ReplyDeleteWe live in a culture in which we're not supposed to talk about the fact that 150 illegal immigrants per hour invade our country. To paraphrase the Joker, the El Paso shooter isn't mad, he's just ahead of the curve.
ReplyDeleteNotice that the Gilroy garlic festival shooting became a non-event when they found out the shooter was Iranian?
Once again, notice that unless the protagonist is a straight white male, preferably with documented conservative ties, the whole event goes down the memory hole.
ReplyDeleteThat's one reason why more people can be shot in Chicago on a typical summer weekend and it's more business as usual than news. No calls for going house-to-house to search for and seize weapons there. Nope. Kamala and her ilk are more interested in my house. People like me are a bigger problem for Progressivism than actual, known criminals.
Yesterday I found out that I had met the sister of the Dayton shooter. At the time, I thought she was a delightful young woman. Less than two months later, she was shot and killed by her own brother. I can't imagine what her parents are going through.
Mr. Jarlsberg:
ReplyDelete"Unintended Consequences" is one of the most trenchant and spot-on pieces I've read in these highly partisan times. To say that I wasn't moved would be an understatement. I would like to share your beautifully written piece with my congressional representatives, local newspapers and other media. But will absolutely not do so without your permission. Please be assured that you will receive full acknowledgement if you allow me this privilege.
Marshall Gordon
mmgordon137@gmail.com
These dems would pass the hat at their mother's funeral. They send out their begging letters the same or next day of any tragedy, it never fails. Absolutely no sense of decency, trying to raise money off the corpses of victims. Unconscionably and morally corrupt to the bone. We are lucky we no longer put pennies over the eyes of the dead to pay the boatman or they would steal those also.
ReplyDelete@Prarie Lion- Thank you. I'm not sure I'm a good writer, but I think it's obvious when I feel strongly about a subject.
ReplyDelete@skeet9801- Those three R's strike me as being awfully important. I don't know how to popularize them again, but if we can't we'll go the way of the Roman empire (and many others). And soon.
@John the Econ- Great points, one and all. And yes, it's funny (and not in a good way) to think about an uproar to do something about "mental health" when insanity is not only being ratified but demanded by the Left.
@Joe Perez- I absolutely agree that the "grievance industry" is a significant part of the problem. The rule now seems to be that if someone offends you, they're a Nazi. And Nazis, by definition, can and should be handled violently if not killed outright.
@james daily- It sickens me that politicians and the media don't give a flying fart about dead bodies if it's the result of black on black violence. There's a meme going around (and I can't vouch for its accuracy) showing the photos of all the perpetrators of "mass shootings" this year (mass shootings being defined as 4 or more people wounded or killed). The pictures show that maybe 10% of the mass shooters are white...yet here we are, with the media screaming about an epidemic of mass shootings perpetrated by white nationalist terrorists (who may or may not support Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and AOC). It's ridiculous and offensive.
@Unknown- Thanks for sharing. And feel free to do it without attribution in case you think people would be distracted by wondering who or what "Stilton Jarlsberg" is.
@Joseph ET- Wait, what?! The media reporting questionable data with no compelling substantiation?! I'm shocked - shocked!
@KanB- I agree generally with what you're saying, but I don't know how such a system of monitoring could be instituted without serious damage to innocent citizens. Based on my posts right here, which are always truthful, usually funny, and documented to best of my ability, many on the Left would happily label me as a Nazi who should be put away for the good of society. If and when they regain power in Washington, I don't want them to have that ability.
On the other hand, I'm not against a system that would monitor public communications for obvious keywords suggesting that somewhat is genuinely a physical threat to others. But again, it's a very slippery slope.
@John the Econ- Yep. And you said it better than I did.
@merlin1246- To read the memes on the Left, you'd think there have been 249 occasions this year in which a psychopath took out about 50 victims. Frighteningly, it seems like a lot of liberals believe this and pass the lie along without ever wondering why they haven't heard about all of these other massacres. Idiots.
@Tmay- Jordan Peterson is delivering the message that young Americans most need to hear. I hope he can be heard by more people, and I certainly hope that his wife will recover from her medical challenges.
@JacktheToad- Thanks for the shares. Not for my ego, but because I want this message to get circulated.
@Mad Jack- I appreciate the share from Bayou Renaissance Man, and additionally appreciate your comments. Thanks!
@Doctor Deadhead- That's what bothers me: I'm hearing a lot of insane responses to this insane situation. While it may not be immediately and viscerally satisfying, we MUST dial back the rhetoric and find ways of actually communicating if we're going to make progress on this issue. But I'm not hearing a lot of voices on the Left echoing that thought.
@Jason Anyone- With the Left blaming Trump (and calling him a racist and terrorist), it's very hard for me to bite my tongue about the fact that these recent shooters clearly identified with Left wing politicians. I think it would be counterproductive to go down that road...but sadly, those on the Left don't seem to care.
@Worker- I'm not sure that it takes much insight to see what's gone wrong, but it is necessary for people to have an ability to compare how things were with how things are. We oldsters can see it and feel it. The damage is palpable. But who will listen, especially at a time when anyone my age (and perhaps yours) is assumed to be some kind of a non-woke troglodyte steeped in racism and misogyny without even knowing it. Perhaps some decades from now, today's youth will finally "get it" and realize what we were warning against. By which time, it will probably be too late.
ReplyDelete@CC- Thank you. I hope a lot of people will.
@TrickyRicky- Thanks for the kind words. I'm always comfortable cracking wise and having fun here, but that's not the case when it's time to get serious. That makes for difficult writing and more than a little soul-searching. And I make no pretensions of wisdom, but try my best to articulate something like common sense.
@JustaJeepGuy- I'm going to mangle the meme, but I've seen one that says "If gun owners were the monsters they're accused of being, there wouldn't be any accusers left." And it's true - the VAST majority of gun owners get up to no mischief at all. They're good and solid people without an evil thought in their heads. And as far as I know, there's never been a member of the NRA who's committed a mass shooting. The Left is selling a lie, and too many are buying it.
@Crazy world- Thank you.
@McChuck- These shooters are the smallest tip of a huge iceberg. Looking for political scapegoats takes our eyes off the real danger. And yes, the media deserves condemnation for hiding any part of these stories that doesn't serve their false narrative.
@John the Econ- I'm stopped in my tracks by the fact that you actually met this unfortunate young woman. We owe it to her, and all the victims, to start treating these issues with greater seriousness. So many lives are at stake...
@Marshall Gordon- Feel free to share the piece with anyone you like, with or without attribution, and know that I appreciate it. In an age of memes and Tweets, it's a lot of words and a lot to think about. But I hope people will. If any media outlet would want to contact me, I can always be reached at the less-than-auspicious email address: Stilton(at)Cutcheese(dot)com.
@james daily- "Absolutely no sense of decency" is exactly right. I'm having to watch the news in very measured doses to keep these people from giving me apoplexy. And I'm actually not exaggerating about that.
Agree and well done. Where are the positive solutions? Will I reach a stage where I will carry a concealed weapon whenever I leave my home?
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