This culture, in general, does not seem to be prone to looking at problems in depth and the politicians, especially those who ride shotgun with gun advocates, (pun intended) seem to know that and pluck the most convenient and seemingly plausible causes out of the air and count on a emotive reaction rather than a reasonable, well-thought out or examined response. And that is despite any research and facts that may pertain to it.
The games and mental illness are a ruse, a red herring. If anything, there is a bonding and tribal environment and even a form of catharsis that can be said to pertain to "violent" online video games.
What we are looking at here is something much, much deeper that the superficial treatment mass shootings are getting. First, there is the problem of too much slaughter-ready weaponry that just has to be addressed.
However, there is also a social crises that plays into this as well and it is not being addressed much. How often do you hear about the problem we have with young males, and particularly white ones, in regards to their perceived place and purpose in the culture? If we want to ignore that, then the conditions themselves are a breeding ground that foments the acquisition of guns and the steps that a follow, in many cases. This is being largely ignored, but interestingly enough some of those young men are getting some preventative attention, good advice and inspiration to channel their energy and testosterone into something meaningful.
The question is why does this culture, if we were to conceive of it as a collective entity, stands on the sidelines and tries to remain transparent while pointing to particulars and individuals while saying, "Not me! Don't look behind the curtain, folks! Not my fault! I had nothing to do with it." What is going on there? Is the reason for this natural or is it induced? Would paying more attention to the gestalt of our country in general be a threat to vested interests?
If we could manage to figure out the dynamics of that, we really could take great strides in shifting from the old "rugged individual" delusion to the fact that a society is comprised of a diverse collection of people who try to function together by way of consensus and that the culture that ensues from that does have culpability for how its members are behaving.
Denial of that is not working well at all and I expect the result of avoiding these factors will exacerbate the symptoms of it we see emerging everyday now.
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