Morgan Freeman supposedly weighed in on who is to blame. True or not, it has sparked a wave of people who "blame" the media for "glorifying the killer." A poll at the end of the article linked above showed that an overwhelming majority of the 1500 plus people (at the time of this writing) indeed blame the media. Very few said it was that some "people are beyond reason."
Neither one of those is truly accurate. But it is proof that the real blame lies deeper. And it lies with all Americans.
I just have to say that although I commend anyone for maintaining the focus on the victims of these senseless events and I am often at odds with my colleagues in the media, I msut - to their defense - say that it is not them who makes these "household names." In fact, I will bet my next print paycheck that there would only be maybe 1 in 100 - hell, 1 in 1000 - who can name the shooters from these past crimes beyond a week or a month after the events. I don't speak the names of the Columbine shooters at my house. I would have to look them up if I were to refer to them in an article. And I bet dollars to doughnuts that as brilliant an actor as Morgan Freeman is, even HE had to look these names up. Its the news. It gets reported. It SHOULD teach us a lesson. But if the lesson it taught Morgan is that kids will want to emulate these sickos, then he got the wrong message. (Although, as stated above, it has come out that maybe Morgan did not say this, it certainly feels like something he would say in light of his recent public statements.)
So, just going to say it. People will get pissed but they can just get over it. Two things about gun control. 1) You pass a law to ban gun ownership and you end up living in a country where there is no protection from a possible dictatorship or military coup. 2) CRIMINALS DON'T OBEY LAWS NOW, so why the hell do you think they would do so with some NEW law?? Okay, one more. 3) There are laws NOW about
what a citizen can own, how they can own it and when they can own it . . . if the law can't uphold THESE laws, what good is passing a new one?
What happens when people kill lots of other people has nothing to do with gun ownership. It has to do with a society that has become lazy. When I was a kid, we knew if we did something wrong our parents would find out because our neighbors would tell them. We knew that actions have consequences. But in America today TOO MANY people don't even know who their neighbors are, they hide behind closed doors and curtains if they hear kids doing bad things outside and there is no belief in actions = consequences anymore. Not where there is no personal responsibility anymore.
Americans are responsible for these tragedies that are happening. If we want them to stop, we have got to make some DRASTIC changes on how we live our lives. Find out who your neighbor is, get involved in your community, ACTUALLY care about the people in your community, stop holding stupid grudges, smile once in a while, be more concerned about the quality of life than the quantity of things in life, hold yourself / your kids / others accountable for their actions and don't make lame excuses for bad behavior, get into the lives of those around you and get the government out of them. Otherwise, sick people will continue to go unnoticed, signs of erratic / irrational behavior will go unchecked and more and more these things will continue to happen.
I'm done now. Yell, scream, rant, rave. Whatever. But deep inside . . . you know I'm right.
Agree or disagree, it matters not to me. What matters is you stop being hypnotized by others and come up with conclusions for yourself by using your own brains. Look at the world around you, dig deep for facts (not speculation, innuendo or what the latest celebrity or politician has to say about it) and formulate your own opinion. Do that and I will have done what I set out to do. Because, after all, this is just me, Thinking Out Loud.
Have a great day.
Charles
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