Media At It Again

Weekend Edition by HumanFission

I'm sick and tired of the media. They latch on to the most gruesome thing they can find, then hash and rehash it across the nation as much as they can, underscoring the "horrific nature" and "terrible tragedy" of the event.

Seriously; what good does this do?

None, except for their ratings, which is the point I suppose. All they are doing is playing to the carnal nature of humans to see something horrible. Sure, what they are saying about the act itself is true…it was horrific, it was tragic, but 90% of the people saying that feel nothing of the sort. They watch and give attention for one reason: to satisfy their primal curiosity about death.

Of course these same people will look at you in shock if you mention that to them and say things like "How can you say such things, it's a horrible tragedy!" or "You're a bad person, how can you not feel for those people after such a horrific event."

Maybe I AM a bad person. But I'm not a part of that event. I'm not tied to it in any way; I am an outsider looking in to see something that is an abstract situation. I've never been affected in that way, I can't relate to what is happening there. I don't feel bad about it nor do I feel happy about it. For me to say things like "horrible tragedy" and "Horrific act of violence" would carry about as much weight as saying "blue sky" or "wet water". Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is either lying to themselves or to you, or maybe both.

The media preys on this for ratings. Let me say that again so it sinks in. Not for the humane aspect, not to personify the pain these families and friends are sure to feel, there is no executive producer anywhere right now saying "I want this to be a message, I want it to make an impression to the world so everyone else can see what kind of pain this causes." No…they are saying "how can we focus on this to keep people's attention. How can we boost our ratings? Who can we get an exclusive with that will reveal something no one else has seen, that will shock the nation into watching US?" Ratings. That's all it's about to them, and by focusing on that, and by pushing through half-truths and flawed information as fast as they can they serve only to create this false sense of guilt, not grief, not understanding.

And then the finger-pointing starts. Because with all of this attention, misdirected as it is, there HAS to be a cause, something that can be blamed. Because we can't accept that maybe, just MAYBE, this person was unstable all on his own. That he actively CHOSE to do what he did…no, that can't be possible in our society, so we look for something or someone to blame. Let's blame whoever sold him the gun, let's blame video games, let's blame his parents, and let's blame the people around him. But for God's sake, don't dare step up and say "Hey…maybe we should blame the guy that DID it?" Because the backlash from facing what we as humans are capable of would somehow prevent us from hiding from it. Pushing that out into the open that an individual is responsible for their own actions, no, that goes against everything we've come to rely on in our society.

The only thing this has really done is prove, yet again, how the human race's attention is still commanded not by news of enlightenment, but by self-destruction and death. Beneath our facade of civilization and high society, we still bow to our darker side, and odds are, we always will.

Gun Control or Lack Thereof

Well, it's official, I can't bring up a single news website or turn the TV on without being inundated by people wanting to take away the freedoms of Americans again. Do you people seriously have nothing better to do? I'm going to break this down quick because this shouldn't even be a discussion for Americans, much less a debate.

Argument #1: No guns = less murders.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. The failure of this fuzzy logic should be obvious. If they are willing to commit murder(which is illegal), they will most certainly be willing to obtain guns from an underground market. And before you even think we could stop that, just look how well we've done at preventing drugs from circulating in our country. All a gun ban would do is take guns away from law abiding citizens.

Argument #2: If we can't do no guns, how about less guns = less murders.

Wrong again. Limiting guns to those that take have to jump through hoops of rigorous training courses, gun permits, carry licenses, etc is still only going to effect the law abiding citizens. The people that kill, will pay no mind to such trivial requirements.

Argument #3: Then we're screwed, because if everyone had a gun, it would be mayhem.

Strike three. Your out. There are many documented cases that indicate otherwise. I'll link you to Kennesaw, GA for a good representation of a city. To see what a country was like with every citizen armed, take a look at Switzerland.

If you read both articles I linked to, and you let your emotions subside for even a split second, you will see that logically it's in our interested for as many people as possible to be armed. If the government wants to encourage gun training courses by making them free etc... I am sure there are plenty of law abiding citizens that would make use of them.

However, the great thing that Kennesaw and Switzerland show us, is that once everyone is armed, there is hardly ever a need for someone armed to need to use their weapon. Criminals are sometimes crazy, but more often than not they are quite smart instead of stupid. So with that in mind pick which one of these scenarios is more likely.

1. Armed man walks into a room knowing that he is the only person armed because it would be against the law for anyone else to have a gun.

2. Armed man walks into a room knowing full well that at least half of the people in there are possibly armed, and probably a third of them with some training background.

Anyone that answers scenario #2 is more likely needs to seek counseling, and soon.


Argument #4: The fall back argument of there will be more accidents.

While statistically possible, aren't as likely as you'd first think. Since the guns don't usually have to be used to keep the crime rate lower, instead it's the knowledge that your victim might not be defenseless. Accidents also come with the side effect of having no where near the fatality rate or social trauma of murder.

Violence Sparks More Violence.

What is it about horrific violent acts that suddenly spark thousands of wanna be trouble makers? It has been only a few days since the VT shooting, and I have heard about more bomb threats at colleges and high schools around the U.S. this week than in the last couple of years combined. And maybe the rate hasn't really gone up, it could be it's just receiving more attention right now, but I somehow doubt that since even smaller schools in Oklahoma have had scares this week that would almost have been unthinkable over the past few years.

But beyond the bomb threats are the people that have made threats to mimic the VT tragedy at other locations. Who in their right mind would say something that stupid? The only answer I can come up with is no one. So before they have a chance to do something the news will abuse for months, put a white coat on them and lock em up now while we still can.

And it's one thing to say that the kid could have been emotionally traumatized at the hands of some other students at VT, but it's completely out of line for someone to say that they could understand why he did it. There are people gathering emotional scars all over this country right now, but it will never be understandable for them to go on killing sprees for it.

America no longer appreciates the value of life. There are many factors that could be blamed for this. To me though, having the media keeping not just death in the spotlight, but showing and describing some of the most grusome deaths (beheadings, torture, watching people bleed to death) on a regular basis has done more to desensitize me than any other form of influence could ever begin to. It's time to start rallying for support, it's time media was reminded that just because they have the freedom to show what they want, doesn't mean that their moral standards should allow them too.

Finding Blame for the Bad

The tragedy that befell Virginia Tech on Monday will not be forgotten anytime soon. But it has been only 48 hours since the event, and I've already had to listen to 36 hours of finger pointing. Why must America always look for a scapegoat? We already have someone to blame for this heinous act, why must we find a something as well?

Neither guns or video games cause shootings. Not a single time ever has anyone that doesn't have some sort of emotional trauma picked up either and decided that a mass killing spree would be a good idea.

Let me get this out of the way because apparently Americans are confused. The United States of America is not a Utopia. It's not suppose to be. It is a country founded on diversity and has grown through adversity. It is a county that everyone's rights to freedoms are meant to be maintained despite the hardships we might encounter. And in no place will you find in any of this countries great documents that we are a Utopian society free of crime, murder, or any other heinous acts.

So with a population of over 298 million in a country built around the differences of many cultures, how is it that Americans are so taken by surprise when something of this nature happens. The bad news, there is no way to prevent it.

If our country only had ancestors of identical beliefs and we lived under a dictatorship forbidding anyone to have individual thoughts that might stray from those beliefs, then and only then the chance for such events might shrink. Yes there are several of these countries in the world, some have less violence, some have more. But that's not possible for us. We as a country have embraced our widespread roots. It makes us a country with more character. And under no circumstances are we going to hand over our freedom to a dictator.

Hardships are the price of freedom. Americans need to realize that there is no country where these kinds of acts aren't present. Japan is the closest thing I've heard about, and it is one of those non free thinking countries referred to above. Instead of looking for something to blame, instead look for ways for more people to feel socially accepted in this country. Unfortunatly, until laws are in place that require people to speak English in this country, making everyone feel welcome will be a hard battle to win. Past that we need to learn to deal with the bad so that we can accept the good.

Victims at Virginia Tech

I will not be posting a rant today. Instead I am reserving my page today in memory of the victims of the deadly shooting at Virginia Tech yesterday.

My prayers go out to all the family and friends of the victims and to every student there that has suffered emotional trauma.

Getting America Back On Track

I don't think I'm the only one out here that has problems with the situation America has got itself into. In fact, I've seen alot of other people with similar views expressing themselves lately. Well, I've always been an advocate of "If you don't like, fix it" and started wondering how I could progress beyond just words.

How much use would a website get if it was designed to poll it's members on the problems they see as most important in their state, and what they think are the highest priority topics for America as a nation. Then took the highest polled topic for each state and the nation each month, and created a petition that would be forwarded to the appropriate politicians.

I can't find anything similar to my idea all on one site, but that doesn't mean that it isn't already out there. Since I'm not sure and it would be a ton of work to setup, I thought I'd try to get a poll dugg so I could get some feedback.

If you want to help get America back on track, please help by digging this and answering my poll. Thanks.

Would you use a website that allowed you to vote on the top issues in America and each state, and then created petitions and submitted them for those top issues? Yes No One Exists. Post address in comments. view results