[Veloce]

(12-14-2012 05:19 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  

It's hard for Americans to come to terms with problems like this because it's in our culture to want quick solutions that work. They want to sign a piece of legislation that will somehow stop such a tragedy from happening again. Truth is nobody really knows what to do about it. You can control guns but that doesn't address the root problem of why someone would even want to do something like this in the first place. Why is our society producing more of these individuals that are like powder kegs waiting to go off? Like some of you suggested, I'm willing to bet the guy was a loner, socially estranged, wasn't getting laid, etc. At the center of this may be increasing social alienation. Fewer people know their neighbors or know anything about them. We're more private our lives. We do more shit by ourselves. Family ties are looser. More broken homes and single moms. Something is causing autism/Aspergers to rise. And of course more and more guys have less access to the sedating effects that sex, marriage and family brings. This stuff is far more difficult to address than signing a piece of gun control legislation. So don't hold your breath for any rapid solutions.

But see, Speakeasy, right there you're starting a dialogue that doesn't happen in this country. At least not in the public media, and that's what bothers me. These events get batted about by the talking heads and at best, we can expect some legislation to get passed regarding gun laws. But that doesn't change the CULTURE.

Why doesn't this conversation happen in the media? I already know the answer to it: it challenges the machine. It's always been in the top interests of the media and powers-that-be to keep the plows moving, tend the fields, etc.

Hell, when 9/11 happened, we were all urged to continue our business and keep shopping. At what point do we look in the mirror as a society, wake up, and initiate some change? Is that too idealistic? How violent do we have to get, how many senseless murders have to happen for people to wake up and start addressing the flaws in the fabric of American society?

I don't know the answers, I don't know what compels someone to load up a gun and kill a bunch of children. But I think the responsible and intelligent thing to do, I think the ONLY thing to do, is find out why this happens. I have a feeling and some theories as to why it happens. You struck a solid chord with the social alienation. Isolation will make anyone go insane, and as we speed forward in this hyper-competitive, hyper-materialistic capitalist society, I only see the issue getting worse.