You have all heard the story by now, Joseph Andrew Stack, 53-year-old software engineer, flew a small airplane into the Echelon Building in Austin Texas. Stack targeted this building because it housed IRS offices. Stack, in a six-page manifesto, stated he was furious at the IRS and did this evil act as some sort of revenge. Stack had published his manifesto and set fire to his home just before going on his crazy mission.
Acts like this are becoming far too common as of late, crazy people venting their rage and frustrations on the public at large. Sometimes it takes the form of a shooting like Amy Bishop did or sometimes it is an act like Stark’s. Whatever the means are the intent is always the same; take out as many innocent people as possible.
Unfortunately, too many of us are willing to look at the same excuses, conservative talk radio, gun control, government oppression, bullying, etc. I think those reasons actually hide something deeper. I think there is something deeper, something in our culture that makes these kinds of mass killings the answer to these crazy people.
Over the years there has been a coursing of our culture. You see it everyday here in cyberspace on the comment boards. You see it when people lash out with attacks rather than have a simple debate or discussion. You see it when it becomes OK to joke about the disabled. You see it in the countless YouTube videos where young people savage each other and record it with pride. You see it in our rabid consumption of violent movies.
For the sane and the stable, we can easily put this coarseness in perspective or resist falling into the trap of doing so ourselves, but what about the unstable amongst us? How are they to cope with the coarseness of society? Is this what drives them to these acts? I am not sure, but I think it is time we start exploring that avenue, rather than the old ones.
Via: Memeorandum
Via: Fox News
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