The Media
Some people blame the media hype around these types of
shootings. They will say they are glorifying the shooter and his actions. These
are also they kind of people who will say video games and violent movies are
also influencing people to think this is okay.
Personally I do not subscribe to this point of view, but I
can understand where it comes from. They are not wrong when they say that
violence in video games and movies is more common place. Yet violence in
stories has taken place since stories have been told.
The media will always report on these shooting because
people want to know about them. They want the views and are just giving people
what they want. If the media did not report on this sort of thing, we would be
wondering why they are trying to cover it up.
If it had to do with attention and fame for the shooter, why
would the shooter kill themselves instead of stick around to see their name in
the news and have several interviews as they sit on death row? Instead they
choose to finish their horrific act by killing themselves.
Politics
Usually after a shooting event politicians will come out and
say they are think of or sending prayers to those who are impacted. This is the
correct thing to do even if they mean it or not.
The next thing that will happen is they will try to use this
event in a political way. They will use it to push for more or less gun
control, attack the other party, blame the shooting on the rhetoric of the
other side and argue with each other until the next big event comes along.
They are politicians and will see the world through a
political lens. Any sort of event to them is politics and this is nothing
different.
They feel, as leaders, they have to show they are doing
something. People expect that from them. Even if that something is just a bunch
of talk.
Why?
The big question of why. You will get a million different
answers from a million different people. Video games, the NRA, gun control,
mental health, Republicans, Democrats, capitalism, toxic masculinity, toxic whiteness,
and many more.
I wish I could say my answer to this question was better
than anyone else’s, but ultimately it is just another guess. The only one who
could truly answer this question killed himself.
I would say it has to do with nihilism and the lack of value
in a human life. The idea that none of this matters because we’ll all be dead
in 100 years anyway and in 1000 years we will all be forgotten. Life is
meaningless and pointless and on top of that it is also suffering. Why continue
suffering if life is meaningless, why not take your anger out on life by
killing a bunch of random people and to cap it all off shoot yourself just to
prove how meaningless it all can be.
This idea or philosophy is a dangerous one and one that is
easy to slip into because it frees you from carrying the burden of
responsibility of trying to live a good life. At best it just turns someone
into an immoral pleasure seeker who lives off the hard work of others and
blames everyone else for their problems. At worst you get mass shooters.
We may never have good answers to this question and no one
solution will solve it. Instead it is up to each of us to try to live our lives
as best we can and to teach our children to do the same. To teach the value of
life, even if life means suffering.
My heart goes out to those who are suffering in Las Vegas
right now, to the wounded, to the families who lost loved ones, and to the ones
we lost. My thoughts are with you in this terrible time.
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