How We All Miss the Point
'They are distractions from what is right in front of you and me and the victims of tomorrow’s shooting: people who need help. And while we’re all fighting over whose pet cause is more right and more true and more noble, there’s likely another young man out there, maybe suicidally depressed, maybe paranoid and delusional, maybe a psychopath, and he’s researching guns and bombs and mapping out schools and recording videos and thinking every day about the anger and hate he feels for this world.
And no one is paying attention to him."
I agree with Manson's take on this terrible issue.
And no one is paying attention to him."
I agree with Manson's take on this terrible issue.
Personal anecdote:
(actually, I suspect I've shared some or all of this long ago...)
My eldest brother is 10.5 years older than me. He always looked very much like me; at times it was like looking at a mirror into the future.
He also was a sado-masochist for whom there was no such thing as "truth" or "falsehood".
For khalling's sake, I won't go into the details of some of his actions. Just take my word for what he was.
All my life growing up, I feared turning into him. It never happened. Quite the opposite. I became so... empathetic to life that, at one point, I wouldn't even kill insects (they have such tiny little lives as it is...)... my conscience wouldn't let me lie; if I tried, I would betray myself or outright confess. I mean even white lies like the kind used to spare feelings... The memory of being chastised by my 3rd grade teacher for "vandalizing" a bulletin board next to my seat still brings a blush of shame to my face, 40+ years later.
In spite of my fears, my personality was completely unique and pretty much the opposite of his.
I think there was one experience which caused this divergence. If so, I owe my current character to a long-deceased dachshund named Pompey.
I was, perhaps 4 or 5. Pompey wasn't your typical hotdog; he was huge for a dachshund. I used to chase him around, trying to get his attention. I tried brushing his teeth when I smelled his bad breath. I would pull his tail, kick him in the side... for the life of me I have no idea why I was sadistic to that poor animal. God forgive me.
One day, I pulled his tail or otherwise tormented him, and he bit me. He didn't leave a mark, but he did make the mistake of doing it in front of my father.
Now, I know I've expressed elsewhere what a good man my father was; but this dog dared bite his little boy. He beat that poor dog on the spot, and the dog just stared at me the whole time.
I knew... I *KNEW* it was my fault; that he was suffering because of the evil inside of me. (maybe this is what made me a Christian decades later...)
There was no conscious revelation; from that day forward, on an emotional level, I carried the shame of that with me, and it changed me into the person I am today. If not for that incident, I might well have turned out as evil as my eldest brother.
so the short comment is, I think AR is right to a point. The slate isn't entirely blank, but it can be erased and rewritten at early stages of development... imo.
so·ci·o·path
[soh-see-uh-path, soh-shee-] noun Psychiatry.
a person with a psychopathic personality whose
behavior is antisocial, often criminal, and who
lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social
conscience.
================
as an objectivist, I am selectively social, carry
a heartfelt sense of moral responsibility plus
social conscience, and pay very close attention
to acts considered criminal by the society
in which I live. I tend to avoid these acts.
this does not smell like I'm ready to commit. -- j
During basic, they had a guy who never bathed, never kept his kit up, etc.
The platoon got together and gave him a G.I. bath... floor brushes and lye soap... he straightened right up.
Another guy was anti-social, inept... kind of like that character from "Full Metal Jacket" I gather.
Every time they did target practice with 1911 pistols, they had to turn them in to the armory. The pistols were hung on a rack in the armory. Each magazine butt was painted white, so you could see which weapons still had magazines in them. And of course you could easily see when a weapon was missing.
One day a pistol wasn't turned in... they searched all the barracks, and found the pistol in the misfit's footlocker... along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition. He'd smuggled the ammunition one round at a time, in his mouth, it was concluded.
Another poor misfit was "goosey" as hell. If someone goosed him, he'd jump three feet. One day during inspection, someone goosed him just as the sergeant was going past.
The poor s.o.b. reflexively decked the sergeant...
active duty, who was a discipline case -- personal
grooming, late arrival, poor performance -- who
painted his barracks room black. this was the straw
which got us. the First Sergeant got with personnel
and he was gone. some are just bad. rare. -- j
Can you give me a definition of "sociopathic"?
I can find this very dangerous diagnosis being used to commit Objectivists...
nationalization of health insurance -- but a carefully
reasoned mental health care option must arise. the
danger of encroaching on personal freedom must
balance against the danger of violence. some very
bright person will solve this and become filthy rich.
any takers??? -- j
A year before Columbine happened, a Littleton area TV station held a panel discussion on the dangerous effects of then Outcome Based Education, being used in that school. It went in for the psychological manipulation, taught kids they would be reincarnated so what they did was temporary, drove them from going to parents for guidance. A panel of concerned people, like B.K. Eakins spoke to the matter, and said nothing good would come from putting this Clinton driven curriculum into the Columbine system. Our local parents' group viewed a tape of the show a few weeks later.We had seem the ghastly things going on in our own schools under Outcome Based Educations. Our feeling was a joint, "Bad things will come from this" about Columbine. A bit over a year later, we were not at all surprised.
Locally, our students turned on the teachers, threatening to break their legs, throwing things at them - which surprised teachers who felt they would only turn against parents!
When students are exposed to psychotropic drugs, be it taking them or withdrawing from them, are told they will return if they die, and are distanced from parents - bad things happen. When teachers feel they can use Maslow group therapy in the classroom, cause cognitive dissonance, and do group hypnosis on whole classes of grade school children - why would anyone expect any other results?
It was reported at the time that the FBI was also online with the future killers, baiting them.
Yet, what did the media and experts cover, guns!
Maye the students need less of this kind of attention, and more parental and grandparent involvement.
Years ago government made it more difficult to order involuntary committal of mental patients. Perhaps this was a good thing, but when multiple psychiatrists confirm necessity, it might not be a bad thing. At least for a short term for further observation. No one opinion should be sufficient. Perhaps three should be required. That said: If there is one place that more restrictive gun laws may be required (although in the recent case some murders were done with a knife) this may be it. If a person is under psychiatric care like this young man was, then his name should have been added, with approval of several psychiatrists, to a national database that would preclude him from the purchase of firearms.
If we encourage gun ownership among those of sound mind and discourage those who are not, much could be done to limit the carnage of innocents.
Additionally. I concur with what others have said about media contributing to the fame seeking problem and not doing enough to demonize and vilify the evil.
In this case, if you are a parent and know your child has issues, why would you not be involved enough, or be allowed the power, to prevent the acquisition of weapons in order to at least reduce the potential?
Respectfully,
O.A.
Cheers
Sadly, there will always be suicides, but making small inroads to fix that problem does nothing prevent the next massacre.
One had a diagnosis that excluded sociopathy, possibly by mistake or because of her age. I knew better but had no say. She could not be held in foster care, preferring to be hospitalizedinstead, thus costing the tapayers significant sums. Because of liability issues, emergency personnel always acquiesced. Nothing could be done to help or control this client, so finally the court shrugged its shoulders and sent her home.
If private, locked hospitalization had been available without court consent, I believe the family might have chosen this option.
No, I don't know what became of this client--although she may well become a politician someday.
Good people with guns stop bad people with guns. Guns change the calculus of individuals and of governments.
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