Mass shootings like the one in Uvalde, Texas, look to me like the American version of running amok. We always find that the shooter had severe psychological problems at the time of the event, and for that reason we should ask about the role our culture and society play in precipitating these tragedies.
My guess: In many ways America has become a society of persecutors. Our taste for witch hunting has always been apparent, only, of late, it has become an indulgence. Under so much pressure, the weak and the frustrated are bound to crack.
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A society of persecutors? Witch hunting?
What are you talking about?
If “running amok” is bound to happen, just how crazy is it that in our country virtually anybody can walk into a store and come out with the means to commit mass slaughter?
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RE: “What are you talking about?”
I’m talking about social/cultural factors that may help to explain mass shootings as a form of running amok.
Further, I do not agree with your assertion that “in our country virtually anybody can walk into a store and come out with the means to commit mass slaughter.”
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“I’m talking about social/cultural factors that may help to explain mass shootings as a form of running amok.”
Yeah, but what are they? Who are the persecutors? Who are they persecuting? Witch hunting?
You can disagree all you want, but it is very easy to get very deadly weapons in our country and very difficult in almost every other advanced democracy. We suffer massive deaths. They don’t.
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RE: “Yeah, but what are they? Who are the persecutors? Who are they persecuting? Witch hunting?”
Here are some examples:
Calling Trump supporters “deplorables” is a form of persecution.
Blaming Putin for inflation is a form of persecution.
Blaming “you people” for problems is a form of persecution.
From these and many more examples I deduce the general principle that we have become a “persecution society.” The seeds for this development have always existed, from The Scarlet Letter to The Crucible.
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An amazing mix of nonsense and self-pity.
I am surprised you did not list blaming anti-vaxxers for thousands of avoidable deaths as a form of persecution.
“You people” know who you are and referring to you people that way is being polite.
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I don’t see any of your examples of persecution in any of your examples. I see someone trying to excuse way too much BS to be taken seriously.
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Perhaps your eyesight is as confused as your grammar.
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My mother always gave me crap about my grammar. Now my daughter, the English teacher, does.
That being said, here is a difference between my grammar usage and your lack of actual examples of persecution.
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“I do not agree with your assertion that “in our country virtually anybody can walk into a store and come out with the means to commit mass slaughter.””
Happy 18th Birthday!!! I will sell you TWO, count ’em TWO, AR-15 long rifles.
Yes, virtually anybody CAN walk into a store and come out with a means to commit mass slaughter. It just happened in West Texas.
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RE: “Yes, virtually anybody CAN walk into a store and come out with a means to commit mass slaughter. It just happened in West Texas.”
Maybe so, but it is a stupid thing to say.
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“Maybe so, but it is a stupid thing to say.”
How so? It is the truth and it is the reason that this maniac was able to act on his homicidal fantasies so easily. It should be DIFFICULT, not easy to acquire such weapons.
Massachusetts, for example, requires gun buyers to be licensed and that involves background checks and training requirements.
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/gun-ownership-in-massachusetts#application-process,-fees,-and-renewals-
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And their incidents of violence using guns (to keep Don from going of on his “there is no such thing as “gun violence” tangent.) went down in the range of 40%. That is pretty significant.
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You’re right. It was stupid of YOU to say that you disagree with the assertion.
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