| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 1:10:27 PM | | It all began with Charles Whitman in Texas. Over 40 years ago it was unheard of that a person would be driven to a degree of insanity that would enable them to commit mass murder. This past decade, the rate of mass murders have increased to an alarming rate. From schools to workplaces to even military bases, more and more individuals seem to have gone over the edge. Two questions arise: what motivates them to commit such atrocities and why are they happening more frequently? | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 1:17:32 PM | | iam not saying this is the whole reason, but its the old question, do u want to b famous or imfamous? the media coverage has something to do with it, iam not saying its the medias fault in anyway, but i think the coverage has alot to do with it.just to make my point clear, take peta do u think they would use the tattics they use if they wherent going to get media coverage out of it, my guess is no.again iam not blaming the media, iam just saying that people are crazy and some people want to b remembered for stuff they do. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 1:18:11 PM | | mental illness, not being able to get over hurt and anger, people being raised to beleive they can do no wrong and never being punished for their actions...People who are uninsured so therefore cannot seek help for their depression/mental problems, and they take it out on innocent people.. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 1:27:04 PM | mental illness, not being able to get over hurt and anger, people being raised to beleive they can do no wrong and never being punished for their actions...People who are uninsured so therefore cannot seek help for their depression/mental problems, and they take it out on innocent people..
This shooting at Fort Hood had nothing to do with that. A friend of mine in the airforce OD'ed on some pills once and Uncle Sugar payed $12K in counseling/therapy in-patient bills for her, and it honestly helped. She was a changed person.
It's stress (usually). Why do you think obeisity and heart-disease have risen so much?
Stress.
Look at society in the 50's. You got your GED or highschool diploma, you went to work for GM, or whatever business your dad owned, or whatever. You stayed in that field until you died or retired.
Now a GED is a joke, an AS degree is a smirk, a BA is a grudging nod, and an MA will get you somewhere sortof.
We stay in school until our late 20's now days. In your late 20's in the 50's, you were already in a senior position, or working towards it.
Things are a lot more complex, a lot more knowledge is required to function, and it is taxing us mentally and that leads to physical taxing from over-eating, etc. etc. to cope. Lots of things are going down-hill and the only reason it isn't showing up in life-expectancy is because medical technology is giving the false impression that we are healthier because we can be strung along a little longer before shuffling off our mortal coils.
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The other day one of my patient's husband's was in the room. (awkward wording, sorry). Anyways, out of nowhere, he looked up at me and said "Next month will be our 68th anniversary." I smiled and congradulated him. For the next 20 minutes I encouraged him to tell me whatever he would talk of. It was so interesting to listen to a man born in the late-teens tell me about life in my town 50 years ago. Take-home points:
-People don't trust each other now.
-Back then, communities banded togather, now, next-door neighbors don't know each other.
-Things are a lot more complicated now.
What surpised me, was that he said "over-all, it is better now."
I agree, yes it is better, but we can't take advantage of that "better" because he have lost ourselves in the process of creating it. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 1:31:37 PM | Well put, JWG86. You pretty much summed up my thoughts.
The hustle and bustle.
Materialism on the rise.
Sometimes we just need to exhale and forgot about the damn rat race. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 1:32:35 PM | | ^^ i gues is would depend out what u consider " mental illness" i mean killing people is crazy but that doesnt make them "menatlly ill". most killers try to get away with the crime, therefore they know what they are doing is wrong, i dont see that as mental illness, if somebody is hell bent on killing, i dont think them having insurance is going to stop that.i do understand the fact that some people slip thru the cracks, but then again people with insurance slip thru them same cracks.but i really think you are on to something when u say "people being raised to beleive they can do no wrong and never being punished for their actions...". | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 1:33:54 PM |
why are they happening more frequently?
I don't know about more frequently but greatly improved access to large magazine, semi-automatic weapons is sure upping the body count. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 1:36:59 PM | | I disagree. From what the elders say, it was even more accessible to obtain a firearm than it is today. You didn't have, if hardly, any red tape to go through before purchasing a gun. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 1:38:04 PM |
but i really think you are on to something when u say "people being raised to beleive they can do no wrong and never being punished for their actions...".
I know it. Trust me, I have seen a LOT of people lately who have been raised to beleive they can do no wrong. Usually they are the product of some overprotective mother who thinks their child hangs the moon and the stars and raises them to beleive nothing they do is wrong and never punish them for anything they do wrong as a child..
My son is the center of my world, and he is the only child I plan on having. Although I would like to beleive he can do no wrong, I do know that down the line he will do bad things and will punish him accordingly...unlike a lot (but not all) mothers of only children.
I'm not saying everyone who kills is mentally ill. There are some who aren't. But I can think of a few examples offhand (Scott Peterson, for one) who murder that are truly mentally ill and even rationalize their killings and truly beleive it was the best thing to do. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 1:40:54 PM |
I don't know about more frequently but greatly improved access to large magazine, semi-automatic weapons is sure upping the body count.
Fail.
They were much more accessible in the 80's, along with machine-guns, etc. An M16 machine-gun in the 80's was a $800 item. Now it is a $16,000-$25,000 item. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 1:48:15 PM | | While I agree with jwq86 to some extent that stress (and possibly fanaticism) is probably the major player in the Ft. Hood incident, I disagree with his assessment of how much effort and money the military puts into mental health issues among the armed forces. Sure, they're beginning to recognize the adverse affect of multiple deployments of our troops, but historically they have a crappy record of adequately addressing mental health concerns. There are veterans of the current conflict (and previous conflicts) who are homeless due to PTSD and not receiving proper treatment. For every report of success with one particular soldier/vet, the are 100s of reports of failures. But mental health treatment seems to be a crap shoot anyway. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 1:50:38 PM | I don't know about more frequently but greatly improved access to large magazine, semi-automatic weapons is sure upping the body count.
its not the gun that kill people its the person holding the gun that kills people, look at j. damher or ted bundy they killed alot of people with a gun or tim mcveigh he didnt use a gun.i do think there should be more oversight on semis, but the fcat is most of the semis that are on the street arent legal anyway. someone lese said this" blaming the gun for killing people is like me blaming my pencil for misspelled words" i think we should blame the person and not the weapon, its not the gun that wakes up in the moring and says , i think iam going to kill people today. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 2:02:17 PM |
Materialism on the rise.
The rise of the consumer society based upon the lie that amassing trinkets on easy credit will make you happy.
Sometimes we just need to exhale and forgot about the damn rat race.
All of us need to do this and simplify our lives. When I first got divorced I made it my business to get rid of all debt.
I just have a credit card with a $1,000 limit which I use infrequently (I travel often with my work and you can't check into a hotel unless you have a card for incidentals), I own my own car, I don't buy things I can't afford to pay for in cash and I do things with my kids that cost little money (I give them my TIME).
I joined a website over here called FreeCycle, where people advertise things they no longer need, I've gotten rid of a couple of things and picked up a television, DVD player and a large tent, for nothing. I live modestly and could care less what the neighbours have.
When the Worldwide economic crisis struck I had no debt and still don't.
The Rat Race is an artificial thing we buy into on the promise our lives will improve, but our lives don't improve, we just continue on in increasing desperation. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 2:09:50 PM | | Not to mention that we have a bigger population than we did 40 or 50 years ago. *shrug* That helps a bit. More people = more chances for someone to have something wrong with them. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 3:36:01 PM | Two questions arise: what motivates them to commit such atrocities and why are they happening more frequently? And a third question: Why do they happen primarily in the US?
.... greatly improved access to large magazine, semi-automatic weapons is sure upping the body count.
You didn't have, if hardly, any red tape to go through before purchasing a gun. There is a huge difference, ghost panther, between a 'gun' and a 'large magazine, semi-automatic weapon.' | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 3:41:08 PM | | ^^ good question, i think i have the answer because in other countries its the goverments killing people in the streets, are u saying this doesnt happen in other countries, do u watch other countries news stations? so i guess this doesnt happen in africa or the middle east? well maybe we should all move to mexico, think we will all be safe there?or how about any where else in latin america. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 3:45:44 PM | do u watch other countries news stations LOL I live in another country and I travel frequently. I regularly watch other countries international news stations, including those in Europe, Africa, Rusia, and the Middle East. Some countries have dictatorships and the government perpetuates violence upon the populace; however, there are no other countries in the world in which individuals go on killing sprees to kill other innocent civilians to the extent it happens in the US. You ask me if I watch the news from other countries, yet your post clearly indicates you have little direct knowledge of what is going on in most other countries around the world, especially from their point of view as opposed to the pov of the American media.
In Mexico or Columbia, for example, you are referring to violence related to the drug cartels. To parallel this to the type of violence being discussed in this thead would be falacious: it is not a comparable situation. In a place like Somalia, for example, the street violence is, again,not a comparable situation. Perhaps we could compare the violence in other modern, first world, Western coutries. Such countries do not have these events of killing sprees to anywhere near the extent they exist in the US.
msg 19: You are comparing apples and oranges. You are comparing poltical civil strife, terrorism, and the like, to a situation that is completely different.
msg 21: Again, you are comparing apples and oranges. This thread topic is about a specific type of violent event, not murder rates in general. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 3:53:09 PM | | just so we are clear, u r telling me this doesnt happen in africa or the middle east? ok what did the people in the town market do to get blown up by suicide bombers? thats happens alot does it not? how about the people that get killed when they blow up a hotel, are they not innocent civilians? i travel alot( in my country) just beacuse i go to michigan doesnt mean i know about the violence in detriot. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 3:56:14 PM | She wasn't saying it doesn't happen at all in other countries. She was saying it doesn't happen"to the extent it happens in the US" which is true. When's the last time u heard about a crazed gunmen going on a shooting spree in another country? It's not like u have to watch that country's news to see it-I am quite sure if it happened, it would be reported on some form of U.S news in just about every state.
You obviously can't read to well or else have trouble comprehending things. Maybe that's why you violated the rules for this site and posted pictures that are not headshots on your profile.. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 4:05:43 PM | ^^ well here are the numbers, i guess u are right it doesnt happen any where else
TOP TEN COUNTRIES FOR HOMICIDE, COUNTRY PER 100,000
(1) Columbia 84.4
(2) El Salvador 50.2
(3) Puerto Rico 41.8
(4) Brazil 32.5
(5) Albania 28.2
(6) Venezuela 25.0
(7) Russian Federation 18.0
(8) Ecuador 15.9
(9) Mexico 15.3
(10) Panama 14.4
odd i dont see america on that list, well i guess thats because i dont follow the rules on this site.i dont deny that fact that we have a problem with violence in this country, we do, i know that. but what iam saying it does happen every where else in the world. i mean god forbid i put pics of my tatts on here,lol. but to answer ur ? at the gunmen, again does blowing up a towns market count? i just heard a story about that the other day. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 4:12:59 PM | It all began with Charles Whitman in Texas. Over 40 years ago it was unheard of that a person would be driven to a degree of insanity that would enable them to commit mass murder.
...There is often the (false) impression in the media that mass murder more or less began with the Charles Whitman incident, but this is simply not the case. They have been occuring probably for longer than we have recorded history available to us. It is simply that the media has become more sophisticated and adept at reporting it (See above table). Here, I will briefly outline the phenomenon of Homicide-Suicide, and then discuss Mass Murde...
http://wwwedgeeffect.blogspot.com/2009/04/mass-murder.html
This past decade, the rate of mass murders have increased to an alarming rate.
So what would be a non alarming rate of increase?
From schools to workplaces to even military bases, more and more individuals seem to have gone over the edge.
See the problem is, mass murderers are not recyclable, so you need new ones to keep them going.
Two questions arise:
what motivates them to commit such atrocities
It is not so much what motivates them that makes them different, but what they are capable of doing.
and why are they happening more frequently?
Please provide some data to back up our claim that they are happening more frequently, because I would say they are no more or less frequent, they are just random occurrences by crazy and motivated individuals. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 4:42:42 PM | | The population of the US has roughly doubled in the past 60 years. TV programming has adopted sensationalism. But mostly what has fostered individual style rampages was when they invented dryer sheets to control static cling. Before that happened, people's clothing could naturally and safely discharge the transient electrical charges that resulted from moving about. Ever since, unless the person is somehow grounded, their brainwaves are polluted by stray electrons. In most people it manifests as harmless ideas, mild hallucinations and nocturnal emissions. In a select few, unfortunately, their brain's polarity is reversed, leading to dangerously backwards thinking. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 5:43:32 PM |
i gues is would depend out what u consider " mental illness" i mean killing people is crazy but that doesnt make them "menatlly ill".
Have to agree with this thought (if not the spelling of it). Killing people makes one murderous, not crazy.
As for why, it's too many people crammed in too small a space. Houses are built five feet apart, or one floor on top of a other for 30 stories. Even rats will turn on each other when there are too many of them in one area.
mostly what has fostered individual style rampages was when they invented dryer sheets to control static cling.
Excellent theory. I always thought that "Snuggle" fabric softener bear was transmitting homicidal images through the TV into my brain, so you could really be on to something. | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 5:49:57 PM |
it's too many people crammed in too small a space. Houses are built five feet apart, or one floor on top of a other for 30 stories. Even rats will turn on each other when there are too many of them in one area. In pretty much all European countries people live very closely together, far more so than in the US, yet you do no see similar type of incidents to any comparable extent. So, I don't believe it has to do with 'too many people crammed in too small a space.' | |
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| Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 5:51:06 PM | ^^^Fine, then you don't agree. So what's YOUR answer then?
I see you don't address the Snuggle fabric softener bear issue. Does that mean you do agree with that theory? | |
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