Seriously? Is this kind of thing so frequent now that we've simply become numb to it? Is our reaction to this emerging form of senseless urban violence a quick log of the body count and confirmation that the city where it happened isn't too close to home? Does this represent the new normal?
I hope not. Because if it does, we've all got problems greater than a simple inability to see the latest flick at the local cineplex. Somewhere along the way, we seem to have lost the script, and that saddens me beyond words.
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I'm speechless, (with plenty of reflecting time) after one of those packed rush hours with people already on the edge. You can just feel it before you look at them straight in the eyes. I've always wondered what goes on in some people's heads sometimes with strangers even just on your neighborhood freeway? But for anyone to opening shoot into a crowd of people? Where has that person been and what is going on with them? A meeting of the minds of those around a person like that is so important. Of course I know my mother would remind me, midnight hour and the type of movie it was?????? Either way it's no excuse to take another's life, ever.
Carmi, I hate to tell u, but I think people are numb to this... I think folks love news that sensationalizes no matter how negative it is... I remember when the Lakers won one of their championships and the folks were so thrilled they looted, burned, etc., the area. How whacked is that?
The older I get, I have less confidence in people... They keep getting dumber and dumber.
And one of the victims who died, a sports reporter, was at the shooting in the Eaton Center last month. :/
I'm not sure much has changed -- except the choice of weapons. Really, this could be a scene out of the old west at a county fair. Or it could've been vikings sacking a fishing village on market day. Or we could go farther back in time and conjure up similar images.
We like to think we're all civilized beyond violence now, but we aren't. Not really.
Remember that WWI was called "the war to end all wars." Yeah, right. Like that happened.
I think it's important to recognize the distinction between this kind of "spree killing" and the steady, night-by-night drumbeat of murder in American cities. Spree killers have always existed, as Lisa points out. They will always find a way to kill large numbers of people when they find themselves at the nexus of mental illness and helpless rage. That they are common in America is reflective of American culture - how Americans view themselves. We are raised with the belief that it is better to fight than negotiate - Americans often think of compromise as 'appeasement'. And there is a strong belief in American culture that the best conflict resolution mechanism is violence.
The much more horrific everyday bloodshed in the US is created more from the absurd availability of firearms rather than any human or cultural condition. While we would find it difficult to put an end to spree killers, we could certainly make immediate progress on reducing the availability of lethal weapons in our cities - all it would take is the political will to do so, which is non-existent today.
In this house in Aurora, a mere 15 minutes from the theater where the shooting occured, there is disbelief and a bit longer snuggling time spent with the nearly 5 month old child sheltered by these walls. I am only a guest here this summer, yet I watched first my son-in-law and then my daughter struggle with the "WHY", the horrificness, and the senselessness of the event.
Yes, the atmosphere is one of grief and disbelief. Yet we add our prayers for all affected (which includes the human race). So this house is not numb to the event--even if other parts of the world are numb or fascinated by the sickness of the act.
I hope it isn't the norm either, but sadly it would appear so sometimes. Too many people are worried about the government taking away their guns and cigarettes and care less about little else.
it is not the new normal
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