It's as obvious as the screaming headlines. Really.
This is not the normal topic for this blog, but it does illustrate our ability as a culture to just NOT SEE what is right in front of us.
We're just astonishingly good at it.
Why do crazy people start shooting in schools? It's because of the SCREAMING HEADLINES.
These people are crazy, yes? Mostly they intend to die themselves. But they want to do it in a way that everybody notices.
So, we give them just what they want. ALL the media, from the slimiest to the allegedly most straight laced, are currently in an orgy of micro-analysis. WHAT WAS HIS NAME? Did he cut his toenails on Mondays?
It has nothing to do with whether guns are available or not; they'd use home made explosives, or gasoline, if they weren't.
NOWHERE, as far as I can tell, is there discussion about NOT GIVING THEM the immortality they crave.
The whole idea that "the public has a right to know" is just an astonishing piece of nonsense here.
As long as we keep throwing Immortal Demon parties, new crazies will continue to appear.
How about if we just print the news? Once?
"A psychotic killed several people in Virginia today. Everyone is very sad and quite unhappy about it."
Literally. Nothing else. No names, no life details- no justifications, no deifications. And nothing in the paper tomorrow.
Ok, now you know. Moving on.
In fact, we already control the news that gets out- for purposes of public safety. We don't publish the plans for the troops, so the enemy can be there waiting. This is sensible- and obvious.
It's the same same thing, folks. What continues to puzzle me is -why is NO ONE saying this? Not even the theoretically more intelligent journalist types. No one, so far as I know.
It's absolutely doable. Publish the truth "these guys do this because of the media" - then stop it; by law if common sense doesn't work. It's illegal to publish the name of a rape victim. Nobody screams it's an abridgement of our rights.
It will keep happening- until we stop rewarding the behavior. That simple.
There ARE parallels in the environmental world; we'll get to them. Plain human blindness is a problem.
Greenpa, you are so right about the publicity. The attention this horrific crime is garnering is only fueling a future "Columbiner" or "VTecher". All my thoughts are for the families of the surivors and those lost.
ReplyDeleteForgive me for changing subjects so abruptly, but i would be very interested in knowing where you obtained your solar energy system.
Sigh. yeah, and the first headlines were "Biggest So Far!!" You can hear the psychotics murmuring "hey, I could do better than that..."
ReplyDeleteWashington Post checked in with ALL the experts in town; http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thinktanktown/?hpid=opinionsbox1
One did mention Hollywood; nobody mentioned news media.
Anyway- my solar energy system is kind of a museum of panel development. First panels went up in 1980, or thereabouts; little square 22 watt panels to charge one battery, for lights and a little entertainment. I can't even remember who we bought them from. Same with the next 2 additions to the house system. The most recent stuff, for the greenhouse, we bought from Real Goods, which was a much smaller operation then, and gave us lots of good support and advice.
Ah! I remembered. First panels were purchased from Solarex corporation; directly from the manufacturers. The company is long gone; inhaled by BP Solar. Single-crystal panels of course back then; still working just fine.
ReplyDeleteGreenpa, I totally agree with you. Although I agree that some media coverage helps people mourn, please just do it once, announce that everyone is sad, and move on, because otherwise it makes this type of violence "trendy". We are only going to see an increase in large-scale violence (and home movies sent to TV stations) until the media changes its approach.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Greenpa, for the most part. We'll talk about gun control, or lack thereof, later. For now, I'll say that I think it's a damned shame that the psychotic killers get more recognition than any of the people he killed.
ReplyDeleteYou are spot on. Methinks the media is entirely (and deliberately) missing the point.
ReplyDeleteSome people get it though. Lionel Shriver's "We've Got to Talk About Kevin" was an excellent (fictional) dissection of the mindset of the perpetrators of this kind of horror. And 'making it bigger and better' than the last guy to become a bigger celebrity was a major part of it.