We will have a mass shooting in America and people will get online and express their very true anguish, and people express their anger and their righteousness, and this formidable undeniable moral narratives [sic] about how children should not be dying in the U.S. like this — and then nothing happens.But there's nothing formidable about the "moral narratives" that "children should not be dying in the U.S. like this." It's "undeniable," but that's because everyone already agrees with the obvious truth that mass murder is bad. It's obtuse to speak of "moral clarity" about something that's isn't the slightest bit susceptible to unclarity.
And so the gun control debate is just a continual reminder to me: An opinion doesn't necessarily translate to action. Moral clarity, these days, it means a lot less than I would like it to mean. ...
What Tolentino is unclear about is the distinction between problems and solutions. Indeed, she is expressing this unclarity with anger and righteousness. It's a dangerous bait and switch. There is clarity and energy about the problem — mass murder is evil — and Tolentino (and others) attempt to appropriate that feeling and transfer it into action to adopt a particular solution. But there is still unclarity about the solution, and you can't dispel unclarity by mixing it with clarity. You can only trick people into thinking what was unclear became clear.
Here, quick, drink this glass of pond water. I just ran some tap water into it.
And you wonder why people don't act. I think they don't act because they've got the experience and presence of mind to see where the clarity is and where it isn't.
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130 comments:
There's children in there.
After the Punch cartoon, bag held open before two pigs
Maurice: Don't go in there, Alphonse! It's a poke!
Alphonse: But Maurice, there's garbage in there!
Women are a lot clearer than men.
Good analysis. Other versions:
(1) Don’t just stand there, do something!
(2) Never let a good crisis go to waste.
I'm suspicious of righteousness.
Well done, Althouse.
Reading the comments on this one should be interesting.
And by interesting I mean predictable.
Righteousness is the foundation on which the worst atrocities are stacked.
Stacked like chord wood.
But with dead bodies.
One of the significant admonition sin most religious traditions is to forgo pride.
Pride and righteousness go hand in hand.
I think there has been more discussion about how we treat the mentally ill and less about guns this time around.
Clarity is about what others have to do.
Morality is about what you have to do.
We will have a mass Abortions in America and people will get online and express their very true anguish, and people express their anger and their righteousness, and this formidable undeniable moral narratives [sic] about how children should not be dying in the U.S. like this — and then nothing happens.
fify!
Political clarity is good.
May the righteous indignation of God crush out the proud and the unholy. - Erik Satie
During the recent season of The Bachelorette, Hannah talked frequently about clarity, especially in her conversations with Luke and Jed. The special word of that season was clarity.
Hannah finally found clarity with Jed and gave him her final rose. Soon afterwards, however, she found out that he had a girlfriend, so she dumped him.
Now she might get back together with Tyler. Maybe she ultimately will find her clarity with him.
Birkel said...
Righteousness is the foundation on which the worst atrocities are stacked.
Stacked like chord wood. But with dead bodies.
as They Say; the path to hell,is paved with good intentions
"Do something!" = "Do something I've wanted all along in order to advance my political agenda, never mind that it won't solve the problem at hand."
What gilbar said!!! When you have a society who is devaluing the sanctity of life so blazenly...people become immune to death.
I can only view the passion with which some people predictably react to events in the news as a manifestation of religious fervor. There must be deep satisfaction in echoing the common pieties. Guns are one instrument of mass murder. But absent guns there remain many means of committing mass murder. Acceptance of that fact requires examination of the mind that perpetrates the killing. And there are no easy answers there. People, like animals, sometimes go bad. It’s easier to blame guns than deal with that reality.
and then nothing happens.
Fund raising happens.
“ Here drink this pond water, I just put tap water in there...”
This is why grandma is the best.
There’s some iced tea on the table, she put beer in there.
I despise alcohol to date.
Morality is at times like masturbation, one sided or at least bias.
Masturbation is not morality, but it’s safe sex.
Condoms for guns ?
That may confuse an adult to want to shoot me.
Safe gun practice, safe sex, safe morality.
Home plate !
And if we were to act, what would we do?
Outlaw crazy?
Moral clarity, these days, it means a lot less than I would like it to mean.
The left has put a lot of effort into getting people to see things “clearly”. They’ve built a huge machine to present the world in a particular way and to socially reward people for promoting their vision.
What they don’t have are workable solutions to the problems by which they define themselves.
Their only mechanism to deal with this, unsurprisingly, is to say the people who notice this lack moral clarity.
Elizabeth Warren: “I don’t understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really can’t do and shouldn’t fight for. I don’t get it.”
Madmen should not have guns. Drunks should not have cars. But it happens. There seems to be less politicization about drunk driving though. We've pretty much reached consensus that Prohibition was not the solution to drunk driving...I'm not so sure that these highly charged discussions about gun control don't make the issue a magnet for the crazies. The attempt to find a solution is part of the problem.
and then nothing happens.
Because better than nothing is a high standard.
Condoms for guns ?
they Do work pretty good at keeping dirt out of the barrel!
We didn't have these mass shootings before high fructose corn syrup took over from sugar. Which one is perfectly clear?
More laws won’t stop these killings. The killers are criminals. By definition, criminals don’t obey the law,
Scott Adams (podcast yesterday) said anyone who says a single cause “x” is responsible for mass shootings is either lying or stupid.
That sounds correct to me.
People want to rush in with solutions without fully understanding the problems. This is like a team of first responders running to a large accident scene and treating everyone for the exact same injury without asking a single question.
It’s much easier to believe our problems stem from deplorable people who lack moral clarity, than from a complex system of freedoms and trade-offs that make it difficult to improve further without real interventions or the overthrow of society’s fundamental principles.
"We've pretty much reached consensus that Prohibition was not the solution to drunk driving."
We just got MADD enough to raise the drinking age to 21, which encourages binge drinking among the 18-21 set, especially at colleges.
Sometimes, we only reach half-crazy.
Tyler was seen doing the Slut Walk of Shame from Hannah's home so he's got that going for him.
THEOLDMAN
Now he oughta dump her.
There's a famous scene in 1984 where O'Brien helps Winston achieve moral clarity.
Just waiting for the 'next steps' that will be proclaimed in the name of the 'common good'.
We'll have photo ops with smiling, yet serious looking politicians, some using these moments mere hours later in their campaign ads.
We'll have harrumphing that Pres. Trump cannot be given any credit for anything other than recruiting thousands of new Aryan Nation troops. Trump cannot, and must not be shown to be helping in anyway, whatsoever.
All Dem politicians will scurry away from him today in El Paso, and make sure the cameras are there to show and hear them as they scurry (All politicians can scurry. It's what they do best.)
Whatever the next steps are, they won't address this reality: We've become a sick nation. A sick society. Harrumph all you want. Then go outside in any US city and give a look. Photo-ops should help.
Moral clarity and $4 will get you a cup of coffee.
Today on Morning Joe, Mika was all upset because Ivanka maybe got some things wrong about last weekend’s murders in Chicago. Seven killed and over 40 shot (I think). They were not killed in one place and some of the killings took place in or near a park and not a schoolyard like Ivanka wrote.
In the clip, the mayor of Chicago is really mad that Ivanka didn’t get this exactly right. So six dead is acceptable? Murder in the parks is okay?
Dems are now rationalizing murders in Chicago and defending rats in Baltimore. Perfect.
I look to Morning Joe for my moral clarity.
Using morality and children in an argument for doing something, anything, is just an acknowledgement that your solution isn't workable. Personally speaking I am completely open to solutions to prevent mass shootings, but I have yet to hear of one that will work.
William said...We've pretty much reached consensus that Prohibition was not the solution to drunk driving.
Have we, though? The legal limit is pretty low, to the point where we need technology ot determine whether a person is impaired. And yet it keeps getting lowered. DUI laws are an attempt to institute prohibition by other means.
Steve Sailer totes up the bodies produced by the other side.
I didn't want to do this, so thanks to Sailer for doing the dirty job.
Lots of people who say stuff like Tolentino appear to genuinely believe (a) it is possible to take away practically all the guns, never mind the failure of the war on drugs, and (b) if we take away the guns, the killing will stop, never mind the alternative means. The people with the power to form and drive public narratives, however, know full well that both of those propositions are false. Their goal is not to stop the killing.
Stalin had moral clarity.
"We will have a mass shooting in America and people will get online and express their very true anguish, and people express their anger and their righteousness, and this formidable undeniable moral narratives [sic] about how children should not be dying in the U.S. like this — and then nothing happens."
I have now done something - I have waved my imaginary magic wand. So all of you lefties screaming, "Do something!" can now relax and straighten out your panties, because "something" has been done.
And no, my "something" won't have any effect at stopping mass murderers, but then neither will closing the so-called gunshow loophole.
This issue, like abortion, climate, health, military, etc, is like a Spy vs Spy comic. I am certain buwaya puti would credit the BuilderBurgers for keeping the masses in cheque.
Young men going on killing sprees for no purpose, but of that, only they can hear.
Gee I wonder why young men get to that point? There is a reason. I have heard of research that draws a corollary between these young men, and lack of fathers.
The government incentive of single parent households has consequences.
The mass murder events ignore the fact that cities under Democrat control, suffer from murders of at least this many people every single weekend. Those murders go unsolved, but it is clear most are at the hands of young men that grew up running feral, without their father to rear them.
Jefferson had moral clarity. See how weak that anchor is?
"Do work pretty good at keeping dirt out of the barrel!"
That's the intended purpose of condoms, after all.
Ah children are being murdered! But pay no attention to the million or so murdered every year by abortion. We are totally ok with that!
iowan2: Exactly. Men need to step up their game and not be so pussy-whipped into that "Doctor" Helen Smith male victimology. I agree, it's these weak incel types being created by fathers shirking their duty.
Back during the early stages of the policing revival that safened cities like New York, there was a harrumphing and blabbering discussion about the 'root causes of crime.' One of the heroes of that age clarified things when he said 'The root cause of crime is criminals.' Just as the root cause of murder is murderers. Attack the cause, not the tools, and you find clarity as well as safety. Pay attention to any political charlatan at your great risk - they rarely solve any real problem, and it's unlikely they have anything useful to offer. "Disarm the law-abiding" is not a solution to anything, but it is a goal in itself.
"Take away the guns." I would like someone who favors gun confiscation to tell us how that's going to work, in some detail. How you're going to go door to door in a nation of a hundred million households, and search for guns. Where you're going to start. What you will do with the occupants while their home is being tossed. And so forth.
Screaming online and holding CNN townhalls makes one feel like they've done something. They haven't though. They keep using the same tactics to try and persuade half the country to agree with them and then repeat. The tactics don't work. Get new tactics.
For those who think that taking guns away from people is the answer, I say, please start with Chicago, then Baltimore, then St Louis...
Evil is a conundrum for atheists.
In Washington, you are considered to be driving impaired at 0.08% blood alcohol. DUI laws are generally about generating revenue for law enforcement, and secondarily about promoting public safety. Laws designed to be broken.
How many people die because of smoking? Shouldn't we ban cigarettes/tobacco? Too bad that the tax revenue that a lot of municipalities need would dry up, so, I guess very few people care about actually saying lives.
Moral certainty is not the same as moral clarity.
Tolentino seems to think if she doesn't get the outcome she wants it proves we need to change how we decide.
Say for the sake of argument that I do not possess a firearm, but that's a negative that I can't prove. Maybe I should buy one to give to the confiscators when they come around, so they don't feel the need to dig up my yard looking for one.
Get new tactics.
Consider the possibility your policies are unworkable and people recognize they suck. People reject policy that sucks. We have enough policies that suck.
"Evil is a conundrum for atheists."
The hell it is.
so they don't feel the need to dig up my yard looking for one.
Who's buried in your yard, I wonder.
Good analysis. Other versions:
(1) Don’t just stand there, do something!
There is a popular ICU medicine quip that goes "Don't just do something, Stand there."
With the Dayton shooter, Antifa has its first mass murderer. No wonder CNN is avoiding his stuff.
I agree mental health is more discussed this time. We know it's important because The Washington Post is sure it is not a factor.
The Post briefly acknowledges that a study by “the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation” found that a majority of mass shooters have mental illness. However, it seems to dismiss this study (and certainly dismisses it via the story’s headline) by saying that it was “based in part on looser definitions and retroactive assessments.”
But any meaningful study has to be based on retroactive assessments. As noted, some shooters won’t have been assessed (or reliably assessed) before the fact.
Good thing we have WaPoo to deny reality.
children should not be dying in the U.S. like this
The death rates for kids of all ages have been cut in half since 1980. That's a big difference, so I guess some people have been doing something useful.
"Do something. For God's sake, DO SOMETHING."
"Okay, what should we do that actually helps solve the problem?"
"I don't know, but w have to DO SOMETHING."
Yesterday, Mike DeWine, Ohio's governor (R) proposed red flag laws and background checks for all transfers of firearms. He was asked if that would have stopped the Dayton shooter. He admitted it would not have and all but said it doesn't matter as we have to DO SOMETHING.
I do not trust what the Charlatans are selling. Never have, never will.
@ John Borell
He's not saying we have to do something to solve the problem. He's saying we have to do something to save his job.
These young men have a purpose and are effective at accomplishing it. They are nobodies. Forgotten doesn't apply, no one ever paid attention to them enough to forget them. They kill some people and they are somebody. For 72 hours, no piddling 15 minutes, their utterances are disseminated and pored over as if they were a sage. They cause fights and arguments, discussions and pontifications in their name.
They are somebody. Someone important, their acts are monumental, political careers are made and lost as a result. Vast numbers of people are moved to act, to speak.
Watching this weekend made me realize how important these people are. If they use the right phrases they are instantly famous. Political movements depend on them, yearn for them.
Next week, next month someone will do it again. To be famous, important. To exist.
I’m partial to the drop of shit in the barrel of cabernet version.
The left always looks to Europe for what the right thing to do is. Europe doesn’t glamorize the violence.
I have heard of research that draws a corollary between these young men [who go on killing sprees], and lack of fathers.
I hear that a lot, but it isn't true for the two recent incidents and I don't think it's true in general.
++
"Patrick [Crusis]’s actions were apparently influenced and informed by people we do not know, and from ideas and beliefs we do not accept or condone,” the family said in a statement issued by their lawyer Tuesday. "He was raised in a family that taught love, kindness, respect, and tolerance—rejecting all forms of racism, prejudice, hatred, and violence.”
The statement came from Mr. Crusius’ parents, who divorced in 2011 according to court documents, as well as his older brother, twin sister and maternal grandparents." He was living with his grandparents in order to attend community college.
++
The parents of Dayton gunman Connor Betts broke their silence in a statement Tuesday night, sending prayers to the victims [including his sister] and their families, but offering no clues into a possible motive for their son’s mass shooting that left nine dead." He was also in a community college.
++
So they both had fairly normal families, so I blame community colleges.
Yesterday I read this 2015 piece by Tom Nichols:
https://thefederalist.com/2015/07/09/the-revenge-of-the-lost-boys/
It makes the case that modern life is producing many narcissistic young men who are having trouble transitioning from adolescence to adulthood and that some of these manifest their confusion by creating heroic roles for themselves in terribly antisocial ways. Snowden, McVeigh, John Walker Lindh, Bowe Bergdahl and Britain's "Jihadi John" are a few of the people who took "the revenge of the narcissistic loser."
With this framing, choosing to kill for Antifa or for White Supremacy is a distinction without a difference. None of these people exist within normal politics, so we shouldn't blame one side or another for creating an opening for a crazy "heroic" act. Calling this mental illness also seems beside the point. This is not something voices in their heads tell them to do, or actions taken to put an end to the mind-control rays. It is something more unsettling.
for HOW LONG? will we continue to tolerate these ' community colleges' raising MURDERERS ??
r. He admitted it would not have and all but said it doesn't matter as we have to DO SOMETHING.
WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! let's BAN 'community colleges'
for HOW LONG? will we continue to tolerate these ' community colleges' raising MURDERERS ??
A friend who has tons of guns also has two kids in community college and one of the kids is a bit off - should I call the authorities?
Pro Tip: You can't spell "COMMUNISM" without "COMMUNITY COLLEGE" and "S & M".
"I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture
On SOMEBODIES Part; and, We're Just the guys to Do IT!
Two-eyed Jack nails the problem, or at least the nature of the inquiry we must make if we want to do something more than congratulate ourselves for being “against” mass murder (speaking of narcissism).
This is not something voices in their heads tell them to do, or actions taken to put an end to the mind-control rays. It is something more unsettling.
Most schizophrenics are peaceful, shuffling along muttering to themselves. Paranoid schizophrenia is a problem.
Criminals tend to be sociopaths. It is probably genetic, especially those who murder or become"career criminals."
I agree about "the people who took "the revenge of the narcissistic loser." but those that strike out are probably on the sociopath end of the scale. By adulthood, 50% of behavior is genetic. Stephen Pinker suggested this with his twin studies and Plomin links it to dna.
Motte: Mass murder and/or murder of children is bad!
Bailey: Repressive or sweeping initiative X is what should be done, immediately!
When anyone points out a problem or defect with your proposed initiative simply retreat to the motte and shout "you must not care about murdered kids!"
Well done, Althouse. Spot on.
What Tolentino is unclear about is the distinction between problems and solutions. Indeed, she is expressing this unclarity with anger and righteousness. It's a dangerous bait and switch. There is clarity and energy about the problem...and Tolentino (and others) attempt to appropriate that feeling and transfer it into action to adopt a particular solution.
This describes any topic earnestly babbled about on NPR. I would add only that most of the time there is no clarity about what the problem is, either, let alone the solution.
"You can only trick people into thinking what was unclear became clear."
Getting dangerously close to deciphering the prog code. Except that you can't only "trick" people. You can force them. And if that doesn't clarify their thinking, you can take the next step, one hundred million times.
"I think they don't act because they've got the experience and presence of mind to see where the clarity is and where it isn't."
Again, getting dangerously close to exposing the prog conundrum: many people won't voluntarily accept the brave new world, become the New Soviet man, remove their own false consciousness--so if mere propaganda fails, tougher measures are in order.
"What Tolentino is unclear about is the distinction between problems and solutions."
Good God, spot on.
But solutions require thought and work and people like Tolentino don't do that.
The Democrats don't really want a solution to gun violence. Democrat issues like gun violence, health care, poverty and racism are permanent political issues that serve their campaign interests. Gun control is most useful to the Democrats as a club with which to bludgeon Republicans. They want solutions that sound good but don't actually do anything. Most of all, Democrats want to avoid discussions that seek to honestly identify root causes which can potentially embarrass them. For example, a search for root causes of mass murder would likely ask the question "why is there widespread gun violence in Chicago every weekend with mass murder level deaths?"
Michael K said "Paranoid Schizophrenia is a problem."
My father was a Psychology professor and a paranoid schizophrenic burned out a floor of the Psych building because he thought the faculty was controlling his mind with their oscilloscopes in the animal lab. This is what you expect from paranoid schizophrenics. Danger, even murder, but not mass murder.
The point about guns is quite fundamental. It is a political, constitutional matter.
Not as a textual thing either. It goes to the purpose of permitting the people to arm themselves, which gets to the license to revolt, the ultimate sanction against an unpopular polity. It underlies the nature of the American state, and American culture. Do you, personally, have license to spit in your masters eye?
Everything else is secondary or worse. The arguments about personal defense and more or less crime and "hunting" and etc. are distractions.
For some problems, the "solution" is worse than the problem itself.
Life will always have some degree of nastiness and brutishness. It gets better over time, but to expect perfection is a sign of emotional immaturity.
Right, buwaya. A disarmed populace is always at the mercy of the state.
If "they" come for my guns, "they" are going to get shot.
Period. End of story.
I am dead serious about this. I've lived a full life and I'm ready. This is my line in the sand, the hill I'm willing to die on.
And I know I'm not alone.
This is what you expect from paranoid schizophrenics. Danger, even murder, but not mass murder.
Yes but don't get between a paranoid schiz and the door. These mass killers seem to be mostly sociopaths.
A disarmed populace is always at the mercy of the state.
As Hong Kong is learning. I wonder if China is stable enough for another Tiananmen square?
We may find out soon.
Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) had something to say about this:
People today are trying to hang on to the dignity of man, but they do not know how to, because they have lost the truth that man is made in the image of God. . . . We are watching our culture put into effect the fact that when you tell men long enough that they are machines, it soon begins to show in their actions. You see it in their whole culture— in the theater of cruelty, and the violence in the streets, and the death of man in art and life.
60 kids were shot in Chicago in 2018. No one is galloping around on their high horse about that. Every singe one of them was shot with a “semi automatic” weapon.
Roughcoat sounds like a Peoples Templist whom has just purchased a one-way ticket to Guyana
BTW, Roughcoat: I'm currently reading The Face of Battle which you recommended. Great read! Thank you!
We have 12,000 homicides every year. We have illegals coming here and killing people. Where's the "Moral Clarity" about that? The hysteria over these mass shootings is media driven and Fake. Its more manufactured outrage serving a left-wing political purpose.
Has a single one of these mass killers NOT been on some sort of mental illness drug or under some sort of psychiatric treatment?
That seems to be the common attribute.
"A pro-choice culture tends to cheapen the value of human life throughout that culture." Would a pro-choice believer concede this point? Why or why not?
"If "they" come for my guns, "they" are going to get shot."
*They* are not going to shoot you. *They* will tell everyone to turn in their guns. And later if your commie neighbor snitches on you, or they find out you do have a gun, they will ratchet up the economic and social pressure. Or they'll arrest you when you least suspect it. And if they ever do come for your guns, *They* will come in the dead of night with a SWAT team and night vision snipers.
But hopefully you can take someone with you.
Every weekend in Chicago is a slow motion mass shooting with 45 to 55 people shot, and 4 to 6 dead. The 32 or so dead in Dayton and El Paso (the number may increase depending upon outcomes for those still in hospital)? That's less than one month's body count in Baltimore this year (just passed 200 dead).
And yet those yelling for gun control or "do something"--whatever their particular nostrum is--say nothing about the largely black "genocide" going on in our inner cities.
Pardon me if I don't get wound up about this latest round of yelling.
Liberal/Left-wing "morality" is a flexible, ever changing concept. The only consistent "Moral" they have is "Does it gain more power for the Left?"
But hopefully you can take someone with you.
'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.
Has a single one of these mass killers NOT been on some sort of mental illness drug or under some sort of psychiatric treatment?
Unaware of any that have been. The Aurora CO killer was seeing one. Several should have been.
Another Blogger hiccup.
Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) had something to say about this:
"This" being the fact that the death rate for children was reduced by half in the last 40 years?
children should not be dying in the U.S. like this
Children should be dying anywhere for any reason. They should not die from gun violence, they should not die in wars, they should not die in car accidents, they should not die of cancer, they should not die from dog attacks or bear attacks or shark attacks, they should not die from allergic reactions, they should not die from drowning in bathtubs. The large majority of us are on board with the "children should not die" thesis. Of course, children do die and no matter how we try they will continue to die from all sorts of various things. The only comfort we have is that children die a lot less frequently than a century ago or even a decade ago.
As to moral clarity, when the "children should not die" people come to me with something that might actually do something useful with a cure that is not worse than the disease, I will be glad to listen. Instead it is all the same old bad faith gestures for solutions wrapped up in "for the children," when the plans are simply rehashes of various political goals, most of which have nothing do with the said children and have been opportunistically dragged out to take advantage of tragedy. It seems that the "for the children" people who we get to experience in these moments are bad people.
I think they don't act because they've got the experience and presence of mind to see where the clarity is and where it isn't.
People who claim clarity where there is none reveal don't know understand what actual clarity is which renders all their assertions suspect.
Was declaration of a low risk target an incentive to commit mass abortion?
That said, muddled, indeed, not limited to selective-child. It's a Pro-Choice, Pro-Choice, Pro-Choice, Pro-Choice country.
why dont the ProgLibDems lead by example, and turn in all their guns NOW.
Starting with the loudest-- politicians and celebs
...and no cheating! that means your security detail also.
@buwaya, exactly correct. Of course the holdings in the Heller and McDonald (personal right to possess, enforceable against states) were sound, but it was disapppointing that the holdings rested on self-defense principles.
"A pro-choice culture tends to cheapen the value of human life throughout that culture."
A Pro-Choice quasi-religious/moral philosophy, selective, opportunistic, not limited to selective-child. Ah, but if you weigh the diverse, compelling interests, and the dearth of female and male choice(s) and progressive maturity, then there can be no other conclusion about its establishment (i.e. normalization/promotion). It's a PC country.
If 40-50 people were shot in Chicago last weekend (I'm just going by what an earlier poster wrote) how many shooters were involved?
How many additional people were "shot at" but not wounded or killed?
There are a whole lot of people shooting other people in Chicago, and other cities. Lots.
Meanwhile, two or three shooters horrifyingly cranked it up to 11 and we are pouring over their social media accounts and blaming computer games.
I wonder what would be revealed by an inspection of social media and media preferences the 50+ Chicago shooters
IF I were completely off my rocker and IF I wanted to make a point about how banning and confiscating all guns couldn't stop mass murders, I could take some schedule 80 PVC, an air compressor...
Actually, there's a whole bunch of nasty things I could do, which could kill a bunch of people fast. Recently in Japan it was plain old ordinary gasoline. Probably not even 10 gallons. We're talking really inexpensive deaths.
We live in a high trust society. Generally, people with the actual knowledge to be disrupters aren't. That the events of El Paso and Dayton are rare enough to be front page news across the nation tells us that. How many people were murdered in Chicago last week? Were their names and pictures in your local paper? Chances of inner city violence affecting someone elsewhere are nil, so no one cares. That's their problem. Something like El Paaso, Dayton, or the Garlic Festival, that's different. It affects people totally and completely randomly.
Threat evaluation is a part of everyday life. In public I veer away from anyone in obviously islamic garb. Or dressed bulky in hot weather. But I don't avoid obviously Amish or Mennonites or Hasidic Jews. The odds of the latter three groups suffering sudden detonation are essentially zero.
"I think they don't act because they've got the experience and presence of mind to see where the clarity is and where it isn't."
I see. So the NRA has nothing to do with it? Or is that something that doesn't interest you?
Althouse at her very best here.
1. California has strong gun control. Doesn't stop crazies.
2. How many NRA members have perpetrated mass shootings?
How many NRA members have perpetrated mass shootings?
Exactly, PM. I doubt there has even been one instance. Had there been, it would have been headlined, for sure.
You try to ban guns, you will end up with El Paso every day of the year for decades to come.
Howard, you may airily dismiss Roughcoat's words if you like, but he is absolutely right- he wouldn't be alone. Believe me, you don't want sane and rational people planning ways to kill people like yourself. If there is a bright side to this weekend's mass shootings, it is this- those killers are one and done- neither will kill again unless it is inside a prison. That is the result of their obvious mental illness- they were unable to come up with a plan to kill 20+ people and get away with it in order to do it again and again. A mentally competent people can make such a plans- we see it the world over in countries fighting civil wars. That is what gun-banners in the US seem intent on starting here.
And if they ever do come for your guns, *They* will come in the dead of night with a SWAT team and night vision snipers.
So in other words, "it will be a slam dunk!"
Kevin said...
And if they ever do come for your guns, *They* will come in the dead of night with a SWAT team and night vision snipers.
So in other words, "it will be a slam dunk!"
And afterwards, they and their families will have to live in a guarded walled compound, and anytime any vehicle leaves it will be tracked.
And since the SWAT guys are some of the biggest private gun enthusiasts themselves, I wouldn't be too cock sure about which team they'd play for ...
If you don't want children to be slain, don't become a statist. Those guys have killed billions (including many kids) in the past 100 years alone. See "Democide."
If you tough talking hombres are serious, you would be building low power HF CW rigs. Comms are important, but none of you are interested or capable to do the non John Wayne works to prepare the battlespace Galactica. Instead you phantisize about going out in a blaze of gory
Michael K said...
"I agree about "the people who took "the revenge of the narcissistic loser." but those that strike out are probably on the sociopath end of the scale. By adulthood, 50% of behavior is genetic."
The reality is that for most of human history, being extremely violent has been a really good evolutionary strategy for young males. For those who can't effectively direct their violence at other young males, there is still rape. Read the Old Testament.
So, yeah, if you have a Y chromosome, it was previously owned by some really bad motherfuckers. You've got it in you. Doesn't mean you have to let it out, but some are going to. Surprisingly few, actually. It has been argued that several centuries of wide application of the death penalty to European populations may have made a difference. Certainly, something like that is what it would take.
I wonder how many of these young men are on antidepressants or other psychotropic drugs which can affect teens and young adults very badly. It makes them numb to emotions and often suicidal. The warnings are right on the insert.
And authorities seem to think that worshiping Satan is no big deal but it shows the warped condition of one's mind, not to mention one's soul.
I wouldn't be too cock sure about which team they'd play for ...
I know which side the SWAT guys what train me are on...
hmmm. Cafe pic like a Claritin ad
quotes from "Fresh Air"
and a 'moral clarity' post.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSuB4t3q_dA
No, you are not alone. Whomever they send to confiscate my guns, they'd better not want back.
THEOLDMAN
#CivilWarII
Howard said...
If you tough talking hombres are serious, you would be building low power HF CW rigs.
So in other words the only one you are afraid of here is rhhardin. Fair. Agreed.
( If "they" come for my guns, "they" are going to get shot.
Period. End of story.
I am dead serious about this. I've lived a full life and I'm ready. This is my line in the sand, the hill I'm willing to die on.
And I know I'm not alone. )
If you are the owner of the gun or guns. Why worry.
The point is to get the guns away from those that are not supposed to have them.
That is were the issue is.
Not gun owners and authorities.
Morality has an obligation as a preventive measure.
Archiving and teaching future generations.
By locking people up, medicating them, humiliating them, etc.
There may be some disagreement and I’m not being sarcastic.
A human body, mind and spirit can withstand a lot but if treated like horse manure and not harvested then morality called upon the help of hollywood to show thorough examples on what to do if a zombie apocalypse should happen, but never will.
Draw that with you kids or grandkids, I don’t want to assume your age.
Media is very complex.
If you know something like the back of your hand, modern technology is for the front as well.
With too much information available, a lot that was not allowed years ago, not widely spread so fast.
The speed of the tech industry is in nano-seconds. Faster than any human can pull a trigger.
But in investigations it is used backwards to capture frame by frame to the point of incident.
We want life and liberty, we want it too. Who are we ?
That is better for Madhouse not Althouse or Bauhaus, though that art era drives me bonkers.
My 2 nickels worth.
It's obvious only to underdeveloped minds that the solution is to take rights away from perfectly innocent non-participants in these events, particularly while ignoring the rampant creation of vengeance-addled losers by a women-controlled forced education system that routinely uses psychiatrists to drug boys and abusing people that complain about their uninvited new neighbors.
It's rich that the corrupted members of the corrupted governments of Los Estados Unidos de Mexico wag fingers at people in the United States for not protecting sufficiently those that had to exit Mexico to find some semblance of stability, unless it is their aim to send so many of her people north. But why would they want that? Maybe something U.S. President James K. Polk et alia accomplished? Hmm.
unless it is their aim to send so many of her people north.
Of course it is. Mexico's Cash Cow.
"Mexicans sent home $26.1 billion from January to November 2017", from the article in CNN Business News.
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