Another Mass Shooting

[Anastasia Beaverhausen]

Leaked WBC Personal Contact Information | U.S Army W.T.F! Moments

[ZEZOZE]

Originally Posted by lisarea

It's not just Morgan Freeman. Criminal profilers have said this forever. They've said that the only thing the media accomplishes by plastering the news with 24 hour coverage of speculation and public discussion of mass killers is to encourage copycats. They make them into some sort of folk heroes for other whiny disaffected kids.

I don't entirely blame people for being transfixed by events like that and wanting to learn more about it for whatever reason, but I do 100% blame the media for continuing to cover these stories the way they do after having been told flat out that they're causing more killings.

So at least in part, the media is to blame. If the media didn't make mass murderers into celebrities, most of them probably wouldn't bother.

hmm. how did you find out about it?

it certainly is the media...it's all of society that is to blame. american mainstream news is pretty fucking gross, but it's also very popular and has a humungous audience. ever consider that these self-appointed actors are carrying out more and more spectacular crimes to suit the evolving tastes of the audience? nobody is turning off the news. everybody is waiting for next big disaster. these people don't want to be copycats. they don't want to be reruns...

dont' tune in and they won't cover it the way they do. but it's hard to stop, isn't it? there is a perverse comfort in coming together for a group hug to see us through the hurt. i think people are feeling more and more alone. we are constantly marketed to and compartmentalized...and yet we are so much closer than we have ever been. the world is much smaller thanks to technology. i think this is fucking people up and they just snap.

the problem isn't guns. it makes things easier, but if you're nuts enough to murder children, i don't think an axe is out of the question. when people are shot in a robbery or defending their homes...that's a time for talk about gun control. when we live in a society that seems to have everything and the difference is often only a matter of degrees, it would be nice to know what triggers people to go out and do these things. it never seems to be poor people committing these crimes.

as much as michael moore bugs me, he was smart in pairing columbine with the weapons manufacturing that goes on around it. america supplies the world with weapons along with its own arsenal that has been used to kill countless children around the world. i wonder...if they did weeks-long coverage on all the mass killings done in your name around the world, would people tune in?

i lie. i do not wonder. people would not tune in. people would rather tune into their random, artistic-by-comparison murders because it doesn't leave them feeling guilty. in fact, it creates solidarity...an audience. and only the killer is to blame in the end.

[S.Vashti]

Originally Posted by Miisa

"I'm sorry Mr. Fischer, you seem to have the word 'god' confused with 'petty narcissistic fuckwad'."

This. Why anyone would worship something less than themselves makes no sense to me, and I don't see how it can give comfort. Which means that were I able to believe in gods, it wouldn't be his god.

If only I could come up with a persuasive argument that ethical behavior does not arise from god beliefs, I would publish the shit out of it.

As it is, watching people attack others for beliefs and faiths different from their own is just sad.

[Vivisectus]

Originally Posted by Gonzo

The Westboro Baptist Church is planning on protesting the funerals of the children who were victims of the shooting. Classy.

Here's a White House petition to recognize them as a hate group

Wonder what is going to be on the signs. God Hates Toddlers?

[Kashmir]

Originally Posted by Chris Porter

This. Why anyone would worship something less than themselves makes no sense to me, and I don't see how it can give comfort. Which means that were I able to believe in gods, it wouldn't be his god.

They worship because they don't want to burn in hell. It's sort of like why abused women stay with their abusers, or even make excuses for them--see modern Biblical apologetics for the nutcase God of the Old Testament.

[Pyrrho]

The Anarchist Soccer Mom: Thinking the Unthinkable

[The Man]

Here's a potential place to start with gun control:

The 5 Gun Safety Regulations That Even NRA Members Support | ThinkProgress

[AynMisesLibertarian]

Originally Posted by Pyrrho

The Anarchist Soccer Mom: Thinking the Unthinkable

in more than eight years in the anarchocapitalist and libertarian cicle i have never heard of an anarchist or minarchist who opposed guns

oh yeah....She is an anarchist who want public mental healthcare for everyone

dumb bitch

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by Pyrrho

The Anarchist Soccer Mom: Thinking the Unthinkable

One of the commenters said "Adam Lanza may not have been mentally ill".

Yes, he was. People who are emotionally and mentally healthy, and have adequate support and coping strategies, do not murder 20 small children. I don't know what kind of illness he had, but that it existed I don't think can be questioned.

I would go so far as to say that all mass murderers are or were mentally ill.

[AynMisesLibertarian]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

One of the commenters said "Adam Lanza may not be mentally ill".

Yes, he is. People who are emotionally and mentally healthy do not murder 20 small children

yeah because in leftististopia everyone is good at heart and nobody can do evil because he/she choices to be evil

nobody choices nothing in leftisdumbotopia everyone is a "failure of society" or ill/sick

[Ari]

While often ignored more people are starting to talk about the main component in most mass murders, Men. Beyond mental illness it seems to be the one similarity that is so skewed to one side there's no way it can be ignored, unless some of these same men are in power. There seems to be a heavy genetic component to many mental illnesses that impacts XY worse or in a different way than XX. I do wonder if certain violent behavior should be classified separately from other mental illnesses, as there are plenty of non-violent women and men with mental illnesses and some people that get violent at the drop of a hat.

Tragedies like these sadly mask the tragedy that this was a suicide that killed multiple people. We should be looking at what causes a suicide to become outwardly violent to others, but that would mean acknowledging suicide which the media is totally not ready for.

[LadyShea]

I do wonder if certain violent behavior should be classified separately from other mental illnesses

It is hard to get the stigma removed from mental illness in general, when the term is also applicable to those few people who are violent...have you thought of some possible ways it could it be classified separately?

[Vivisectus]

Some actions are so far down the scale of what is morally acceptable that it becomes hard to imagine someone could do it while realizing just how bad an act it is, as a rational choice. When is mass-murder and suicide a rational decision?

[Vivisectus]

By the way AML you are a real prick to make something like this your political hobby-horse

[Ari]

Originally Posted by Vivisectus

When is mass-murder and suicide a rational decision?

They are often a rational decision, just based on internal rationality that may not match the outside world.

[The Man]

Oh, look at this. Isn't America wonderful?

[thedoc]

Is mass murder worse because it is here, and not somewhere else?

[Angakuk]

Objectively, it is not any worse. It is closer to home and that makes it more local and immediate so that it is subjectively worse. When I was a child there was an entire family murdered three houses down the street from where I lived. I played with the youngest child and attended church with the family. That made it worse for me than if it happened to some family across town, or in another city, or another state, or another country. This morning I was talking about the Newtown shooting with a woman at church. Neither of us knew any of the victims. Her response to the shooting was much more visceral than mine. She is both a mother and a teacher. I am neither. Obectively, that doesn't alter any of the facts about the case. Subjectively, it makes a huge difference.

[ZEZOZE]

i'm not a fan of guns, but i've been thinking...

people talk of copycats and there certainly are similarities in school shootings and such, but what would happen in america if guns were suddenly banned or severely restricted? would people stop killing for the cameras? no they wouldn't. the medium is the message and these killings are made for television. it's hard and costly and pretty much impossible to fully cover the carnage of war, but it's not so hard to scramble satellite trucks from a local affiliate and start making a show of things going down at the local theatre or school...

so these crazy fucks...are they going to stop shooting people? i think they'd have to resort to stuff like knives and axes. some would argue that this alone would lessen the body counts at crime scenes, but when every crazy person looking for inspiration among their peers is now armed and inspired, you end up with a lot more of them.

[The Lone Ranger]

Originally Posted by Ari

While often ignored more people are starting to talk about the main component in most mass murders, Men. Beyond mental illness it seems to be the one similarity that is so skewed to one side there's no way it can be ignored, unless some of these same men are in power. There seems to be a heavy genetic component to many mental illnesses that impacts XY worse or in a different way than XX. I do wonder if certain violent behavior should be classified separately from other mental illnesses, as there are plenty of non-violent women and men with mental illnesses and some people that get violent at the drop of a hat.

Tragedies like these sadly mask the tragedy that this was a suicide that killed multiple people. We should be looking at what causes a suicide to become outwardly violent to others, but that would mean acknowledging suicide which the media is totally not ready for.

It's extremely well-documented in various vertebrate species -- including humans -- that there is a positive correlation between blood serum testosterone levels and aggressive behavior. On the other hand, manipulating testosterone levels through topical application has less-predictable effects on behavior than is generally assumed.

[Gonzo]

Originally Posted by ZEZOZE

so these crazy fucks...are they going to stop shooting people? i think they'd have to resort to stuff like knives and axes.

Guns are made for killing; period. Axes are made for cutting down trees. Knives are made for slicing bread.

You can't kill 27 people with an axe or a knife, try to be a little more realistic.

[ZEZOZE]

i think you missed my point. it's about getting to the real root of the problem. ah well.

[Gonzo]

No, no. I appreciate your input, but that comparison is still way off. It's like comparing a bicycle to a car, you know?

[Kashmir]

Originally Posted by Gonzo

Guns are made for killing; period. Axes are made for cutting down trees. Knives are made for slicing bread.

Axes aren't made for killing people? You should read a book about weapons before black powder was invented. Some of the most frightening and twistedly creative weapons invented predate explosives.

It doesn't matter what axes are made for, anyway, but what they can do.

Originally Posted by Gonzo

You can't kill 27 people with an axe or a knife, try to be a little more realistic.

Oh really?

[Gonzo]

Ha ha. Good point.