The Political Inquirer

I wrote on this before but let’s address it again and expound on it.

Why do these mass killings of unrelated innocents happen with such regularity these days? It certainly isn’t- no matter what the gun-control advocates claim- due to any easier access to guns today than before. Guns have always been plentiful and accessible in the U.S. And the desire to kill has always been there in some. But why so many recent attacks on masses of strangers?

It’s really simple and very clear in this latest instance; the News Media (and the public) is in the process of GIVING THE KILLER EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED. They give these nobodies the fame they seek. As long as they do and as long as the American public actually partakes of this sick fascination with the dark side of fame, these acts will continue.

I guess it reveals my age when I can recall when values still mattered and that there was a clear and distinct difference between fame (being known for good, or at least neutral accomplishments) and notoriety (being known for bad deeds). In our modern society, celebrity status has lost its moral component. Indeed, notoriety gets far more intense and continuous coverage and interest; this no longer makes celebrity status an amoral proposition, but actually immoral.

The best indication of this? Those ‘celebrities’ that went from good to bad. Consider the amount and depth of coverage for the following:

• O.J. Simpson, the great football player vs. O.J Simpson, the double murderer
• Britney Spears, the singer vs. Britney Spears, the personal train wreck
• Jim Belushi, the actor vs. Jim Belushi, the dead drug addict

Add to this the media that has become all-pervasive in the last 30 years and the excessive value their coverage places on celebrity status. During that same time frame, this new media has presented and even advocated a valueless philosophy of self-centered, short-sighted relativism. The professional basketball player becomes vastly more important and admired than the surgeon. The professional football player complaining about his contract becomes more important than the one who knuckles down and does his absurdly overpaid job. The Hollywood starlet undergoing a divorce measure her coverage in hours; the Nobel-prize-winning scientific researcher measures theirs in seconds.

These factors have bred the climate where people who are depressed and feeling a lack of perceived accomplishment will do whatever it takes to get noticed and gain the elusive fame that we are taught is allthat matters. Even if it costs them their lives. And the easiest way is to do something horribly evil; impressively good acts are not only a lot harder to pull off but- in the modern world- have considerably less value.  Once that decision is made, giving up one’s life for it makes even more twisted sense; one doesn’t have to be around to actually deal with the costs and consequences of one’s actions.

The last factor: the death of personal responsibility in modern American society. Since the 60s, blame has been continually distributed farther and farther from the individual. First, targets were the easy ones of racism, government, corporations and/or ‘society’ in general; anything that is faceless and institutional in nature. It has since expanded to almost anything not clearly understood; environment, genetics, global warming, the administration, This has led some to feel anything and everything is at fault for one’s perceived misery; everyone except themselves. It then makes it insanely logical to go after anything and everything in revenge.

The accumulation of all these facets is what we are seeing at NIU, Virginia Tech and every other cowardly mass shooting in recent times: all of which are done in ‘Gun-Free Zones’ which are rapidly becoming ‘Victim Hunting Preserves’.

The MSM is found of asking ‘Why?’; that, I’ve explained here and they should be able to deduce for themselves. ‘How to stop it?’ should be their question. The final answer comes with the American public to start caring about the values of those they show interest in. However, the MSM has a constant desire to shape society for the ‘better’ (as they see it with extremely liberal eyes). They need to make use of it and come to consensus NOT to cover the attackers in such barbaric acts with anything other than brief descriptions and a single photo. The ink and air time spent on ‘what led so-and-so to this’ and ‘what kind of person was this’ and all the details of the killers lives needs to be redirected. Redirected to pieces on the victims and what their deaths mean to others, with follow-up stories later. The injured should be traced through their recovery; their debilitations and the impact detailed. In short, change the important aspects from the act and the perpetrator to the effect and aftermath. For the MSM to actually reverse their dedication to the self-centered relativism and to bring back fundamental values of good and evil would be just too much to consider asking for.

I am not optimistic that the Media can actually show even enough responsibility to consider redirecting their coverage, so look for more of these to continue. For the colleges, they may wish to take actions to protect themselves. Myself, I’ve taken to availing myself of my Concealed Handgun License more. If I were unfortunate enough to run into one of these situations, I might at least shorten the coverage by reducing the body count.