Guy Chamberlin
Active member
I think it would do everyone well to admit there's a whole stew of problems going on. And one of those problems is sweeping generalizations that assign every problem to either the Left or Right.
It's a mental health issue. But it's not simply the "mentally ill." There's just a lot of free-floating anxiety out there. Millennials are the first generation of Americans expected to die younger and poorer than their parents. There's rampant extinction going on with the planet and the doomsday warnings are within our lifetimes. Racism and xenophobia are increasing worldwide, and far more prevalent than a lot of Americans like me wanted to believe. There's a strain of American patriot defending Nazis and the Confederacy, and America's top-rated news network is serving as their apologists. That's just nuts. People of all political stripes seem to think the U.S. Constitution is being trampled and that our system of checks and balances is being dismantled. People buy into the craziest conspiracy theories, but some of the craziest are suddenly more believable. There is a calculated war on science, academia, and facts in general, so the truth is open to the loudest bidder.
It's unsettling to say the least. What mass shooters have in common isn't mental illness; it's a sense of being powerless in a life without a future. It's not exactly irrational. But they also think they can exact revenge on the people who seem happier/luckier than they are. That's sick. But the sentiment is replicated millions of time every day on the Internet, without guns. Everyone is just way too angry and acting out.
I dunno. Film, TV, and video games seem to have a place in this, but it's not uniquely American. I'm not buying that it's the lack of prayer in public schools, but you gotta think some spirituality and community and belief in a greater good would help.
And while I would never dream that background checks and select weapons bans would solve the violence and anxiety itself, how could it possibly hurt?
It's a mental health issue. But it's not simply the "mentally ill." There's just a lot of free-floating anxiety out there. Millennials are the first generation of Americans expected to die younger and poorer than their parents. There's rampant extinction going on with the planet and the doomsday warnings are within our lifetimes. Racism and xenophobia are increasing worldwide, and far more prevalent than a lot of Americans like me wanted to believe. There's a strain of American patriot defending Nazis and the Confederacy, and America's top-rated news network is serving as their apologists. That's just nuts. People of all political stripes seem to think the U.S. Constitution is being trampled and that our system of checks and balances is being dismantled. People buy into the craziest conspiracy theories, but some of the craziest are suddenly more believable. There is a calculated war on science, academia, and facts in general, so the truth is open to the loudest bidder.
It's unsettling to say the least. What mass shooters have in common isn't mental illness; it's a sense of being powerless in a life without a future. It's not exactly irrational. But they also think they can exact revenge on the people who seem happier/luckier than they are. That's sick. But the sentiment is replicated millions of time every day on the Internet, without guns. Everyone is just way too angry and acting out.
I dunno. Film, TV, and video games seem to have a place in this, but it's not uniquely American. I'm not buying that it's the lack of prayer in public schools, but you gotta think some spirituality and community and belief in a greater good would help.
And while I would never dream that background checks and select weapons bans would solve the violence and anxiety itself, how could it possibly hurt?
