The Ecology of Freedom -
The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy by Murray Bookchin
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Monday, 21 May 2018
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norok said @ 4:45pm GMT on 21st May
It goes further back than social media. I was coming up through middle and high school in the 90s when these actually starting becoming a thing. I was in High School when Columbine happened. Everything changed.
The nerds like me and my friends that played Magic: The Gathering amongst ourselves during lunch instead of sportsball became acutely aware that we were being watched more closely that we would not be the next to "snap." None of us had violence in our hearts but there was a good friend of mine that did have a boiling anger inside him. I recognized it and he was even joked about openly, on top of other things, that he might be "our" school shooter. In the final years he was able to turn his anger into art and then dropped out of school.
These shootings, then as now, happened in cycles. There was a clear copycat element to it. The infamy, that their name and their anger would be given a voice by the media was what I believe drove many of them over that edge.
The question back then was the same as it is now, "Why?" To most everyone it was a tossaway rhetorical question. But those that didn't "fit in" knew the answer. The pressure to conformity is tremendous and brutal at times. I think it's the same for both males and females. Males just have a much more narrow outlet.
In the regard that these are all male shooters it's clear that it is a problem in masculinity. Not "toxic masculinity," as calling it such is asinine and counter productive to understanding the problem in an effort to solve it. It's not "lack of prayer in schools" either. It's the much more important overarching cultural element of a rite of passage; an acknowledgement of the value of becoming a man and the responsibilities entailed.
I am very fond of the mentorships in inner cities focused on at-risk youth with absent fathers, criminal families, etc. to try to break the cycle. Normally I'm not a fan of handing over these duties to the government but I see no other way. We have to teach young men how to be men.
TL;DR. The media giving them fame, a lack of healthy masculinity in our culture.
norok said @ 4:49pm GMT on 21st May
It goes further back than social media. I was coming up through middle and high school in the 90s when these actually starting becoming a thing. I was in High School when Columbine happened. Everything changed.
The nerds like me and my friends that played Magic: The Gathering amongst ourselves during lunch instead of sportsball became acutely aware that we were being watched more closely that we would not be the next to "snap." None of us had violence in our hearts but there was a good friend of mine that did have a boiling anger inside him. I recognized it and he was even joked about openly, on top of other things, that he might be "our" school shooter. In the final years he was able to turn his anger into art and then dropped out of school.
These shootings, then as now, happened in cycles. There was a clear copycat element to it. The infamy, that their name and their anger would be given a voice by the media was what I believe drove many of them over that edge.
The question back then was the same as it is now, "Why?" To most everyone it was a tossaway rhetorical question. But those that didn't "fit in" knew the answer. The pressure to conformity is tremendous and brutal at times. I think it's the same for both males and females. Males just have a much more narrow outlet.
In the regard that these are all male shooters it's clear that it is a problem in masculinity. Not "toxic masculinity," as calling it such is asinine and counter productive to understanding the problem in an effort to solve it. It's not "lack of prayer in schools" either. It's the much more important overarching cultural element of a rite of passage; an acknowledgement of the value of becoming a man and the responsibilities entailed.
I am very fond of the mentorships in inner cities focused on at-risk youth with absent fathers, criminal families, etc. to try to break the cycle. Normally I'm not a fan of handing over these duties to the government but I see no other way. In yogi's example of Switzerland one thing to note is their compulsory military service. I'm not a fan of that either but when drawing the comparison it has to be considered. We have to teach young men how to be men within our culture somehow... and we're not doing it.
TL;DR. The media giving them fame, a lack of healthy masculinity in our culture.
<-- Entry / Current Comment
norok said @ 4:45pm GMT on 21st May [Score:1]
It goes further back than social media. I was coming up through middle and high school in the 90s when these actually starting becoming a thing. I was in High School when Columbine happened. Everything changed.
The nerds like me and my friends that played Magic: The Gathering amongst ourselves during lunch instead of sportsball became acutely aware that we were being watched more closely that we would not be the next to "snap." None of us had violence in our hearts but there was a good friend of mine that did have a boiling anger inside him. I recognized it and he was even joked about openly, on top of other things, that he might be "our" school shooter. In the final years he was able to turn his anger into art and then dropped out of school.
These shootings, then as now, happened in cycles. There was a clear copycat element to it. The infamy, that their name and their anger would be given a voice by the media was what I believe drove many of them over that edge.
The question back then was the same as it is now, "Why?" To most everyone it was a tossaway rhetorical question. But those that didn't "fit in" knew the answer. The pressure to conformity is tremendous and brutal at times. I think it's the same for both males and females. Males just have a much more narrow outlet.
In the regard that these are all male shooters it's clear that it is a problem in masculinity. Not "toxic masculinity," as calling it such is asinine and counter productive to understanding the problem in an effort to solve it. It's not "lack of prayer in schools" either. It's the much more important overarching cultural element of a rite of passage; an acknowledgement of the value of becoming a man and the responsibilities entailed.
I am very fond of the mentorships in inner cities focused on at-risk youth with absent fathers, criminal families, etc. to try to break the cycle. Normally I'm not a fan of handing over these duties to the government but I see no other way. In yogi's example of Switzerland one thing to note is their compulsory military service. I'm not a fan of that either but when drawing the comparison it has to be considered. We have to teach young men how to be men within our culture somehow... and we're not doing it.
TL;DR. The media giving them fame, a lack of healthy masculinity in our culture.
What are we doing to cause these kids to snap in a way/frequency that we never saw as kids.
Please see comment for my whole ramble, had to cut it down for size limits
What say you SE'ers? Is it the guns, is it something else, is it a combination? What is your thought on the core of the issue?