How did we get here? What has spawned these violent turds who decide to kill random people for no reason? That is not a simple question, nor is there an easy answer.
What follows are my thoughts on the subject, based on my life experiences, both as a recently retired career cop and as a parent. These are not in any particular order, this is not remotely a comprehensive list, and no one aspect is solely responsible. In my opinion, they combine together, along with other factors, and have a cumulative effect.
- Sanctity of Human Life – Sadly, our country has devalued human life to the point that states are passing laws which make abortion legal up to the very second of birth. Hell, some on the left have literally argued for “post birth abortion” to be legal. There is no such thing as “post birth abortion” you idiots, that is called murder. A society that condones the murder of the most innocent of human lives cannot expect members of that society to have any respect for human life.
For the pro-abortion people in the audience, you can try to make whatever argument you want about “a woman’s right to choose” or that it is about “women’s health care” but the fact of the matter, an abortion performed by a doctor is the artificial ending of a human life. There is absolutely no getting around that fact.
- The Left’s War on “Toxic Masculinity” – This is one of the most recent incarnations of the anti-male, angry feminist movement. This is not a new assault, just a new name for it. No matter what you call it, teaching young boys that masculine traits are bad is idiotic. If you constantly tell boys that being masculine is wrong, then their mind is in direct conflict with their biology which is based on thousands of years of evolution. How can you expect boys to grow into well balanced men when they have been told all their lives that being manly is wrong?
Stop fighting biology! There is absolutely nothing wrong with being masculine! Hell, if these suspects were taught how to be men, none of them would have done what they did. A real man does not attack the innocent; a real man does not pick on the helpless.
- Proliferation of Psychotropic Medications – The last 30-40 years has seen an explosion in the use of dangerous psych meds prescribed to treat normal human behaviors in children, such as being a hyper active young boy. These meds are pumped into our kids by the handful, and the immediate side effects are potentially horrendous, not to mention the long term effects that the drugs have on brain development. This is not remotely to say that there are not some people out there who need some of these meds, but in my opinion, far too many are prescribed these drugs for the sake of convenience. It is much easier to handle little Johnny when he is all doped up…
I have a little personal experience in this matter. My middle kid was always a strong headed, hyper kid. This did not sit well with his teachers once he got to kindergarten. Once he got to the first grade, his new teacher was relentless. This woman is an absolutely horrific teacher (some parents have actually removed their children from this school for one school year to avoid her), and she treated my son horribly. She managed to convince us to take our son in to a doctor to be tested for ADHD. We did, and the testing was ridiculous and consisted of practically nothing other than sitting in the office talking to the doctor. The doctor prescribed my son Adderall, at 7 years old, because he had trouble paying attention and sitting still in class. After several months of being on the meds, one day when he came home from school he said he wanted to die. My 7 year old son wanted to die! That was it, right then and there he was taken off the meds, never to see them again. Eventually he learned to control himself, much like we learned to ignore his teacher’s complaints about him being fidgety. Fast forward a couple years, and with better teachers, he not only learned to control himself better, but he excelled academically. Turns out, not only did he have a lot of energy, but he was bored out of his mind because the lessons the teacher was churning out were below his level. A good teacher would have recognized this, and in fact a good teacher at the same school did recognize it. Now, many years later, he is in high school with straight A’s in advanced classes.
- Lack of Human Contact – Going hand in hand with the assault on masculinity and the use of psych meds to treat normal conditions, we have the “don’t let the kids touch each other” mentality in many public schools. This may also be occurring in private schools, but I have no personal experience with that. Many of you may not be aware of this, but in many public elementary and middle schools, the kids are not allowed to touch one another, at all. Like, not even a handshake or a high-5.
This is insane. Human contact is part of being human. It is a normal behavior and a normal desire. Again, the reason for these rules is convenience. It is easier to prevent fights if the kids are not even allowed to touch. You avoid injuries from accidents, such as someone falling while playing tag, if the kids cannot even play tag.
This also applies to kids being home schooled, because while I absolutely understand not wanting to have your children brainwashed by the leftists running the schools, a lack of socialization at young ages can lead to odd behaviors as teens and young adults. I’ve observed this personally, both at work and in my personal life.
If kids are raised and they do not know how to mentally handle normal human physical contact, what are we teaching them? That the desire to touch someone is wrong? Again, we are trying to fight biology, and it has negative consequences.
- Participation Trophy Generation – The whole participation trophy mentality is idiotic. In many youth sports, they have stopped keeping score. Schools have removed letter grades and replaced them with numbers because letter grades are “too harsh.” I can’t count the number of speeches I’ve heard adults give to kids telling them “you are all winners.” No, no you are not! Some of you are going to lose. Kids need to learn how to deal with not only losing, but also how to be a good winner.
Losing, or being taught how to accept a loss, teaches grace and humility. If you go your entire childhood being told how special you are and that you are a winner, imagine what that does to your self-worth when you suddenly realize you are in fact NOT special, or at least no more special than anyone else.
In life, there is only one winner, whether it is an individual or a team. Raising our kids is supposed to prepare them for life. Telling them lies their entire childhood is hardly preparing them for reality.
- No Personal Responsibility or Accountability – This part touches so many of these other factors, it is almost a constant, but it is a very important aspect on its own. From a very early age, our kids are being taught nothing is their fault.
Can’t sit still? It’s not your fault, you have a disease. Here, take this pill.
Can’t control your temper? It’s not your fault; it is the “toxic masculinity” coming out.
You lost the soccer game? It’s not your fault. The ref made some bad calls, the coach screwed up, your teammates made mistakes, you name it.
And hell, why should it be any different for our kids? Half of society, the liberal half, is saying the same thing constantly about many behaviors, up to and including criminal activity.
It’s not your fault you chose to sell drugs and ended up in prison, it’s the “institutional racism” that is pervasive in the criminal justice system.
You should not have to sit in prison even though you committed what you knew was a felony when you did it. You should be released early, and not be able to have your parole violated, and should be able to vote even if you are still in prison, and you should be able to serve on criminal juries…
The political left is all about lack of accountability for one’s actions. You can see it in all of their policies. You should be able to kill your baby because no one should have to suffer a lifetime for a mistake in the heat of the moment. No one should be separated from their children just because they chose to violate well known laws and tried to illegally enter another country. No one should have their right to vote taken away just because, as an adult, they made such poor life decisions that they ended up in prison.
- Media Sensationlization – Anyone who follows my social media has heard me harp on this, but I am going to say it yet again. The sensationalism by both the mainstream media and on social media of the suspects in these mass shootings is a motivating factor in many of the shootings that follow. The perpetrators know that the public will learn their name, their history, and whatever they claim was their “reason” for committing their heinous acts.
We are our own worst enemies! The media is making these worthless turds into celebrities, and they are doing it because the public eats it up. Until we stop consuming the information, until the cost to produce it outweighs the income derived from publishing it, the media will not change their ways. Until the public decides our collective safety outweighs their morbid desire to know about the suspect, nothing is likely to change.
Final Thoughts – Why should we expect anything different from our young men when they have been told all their life that nothing is their fault, they are a winner no matter what, that being masculine is bad, we are pumping them full of psych meds that have horrific side effects, and they will be famous, whether or not they live or die? Hell, I’m honestly surprised we don’t have more incidents than we do when you look at what we as a society are doing to the young men in this country.
You may notice I did not mention anything about gun laws or gun control. That is because gun laws are far stricter now than they have been in almost any time during the history of this country, except for the ten years when the federal Assault Weapon Ban was in place. The reason that federal law was allowed to sunset is because it was shown to have no effect on gun deaths.
Sixty-five years ago, anyone could walk into a hardware or sporting goods store, anywhere in the US, buy a gun with cash and walk out the door. Trucks in high school parking lots had guns in the gun racks in the rear windows so the student could go hunting after school. Schools taught firearm safety and some schools had actual gun ranges on campus. The guns the left has chosen to call “assault weapons” were in fact readily available to anyone who could afford one. The AR-15 was available to the public in the early 1960’s. The AK-47 is called that because it was accepted into service in 1947. Both the M-14 and the FAL date from the mid 1950’s. The Thompson sub-machine gun used to be available to anyone that wanted it and could be purchased at the hardware store.
YET, despite the ready access to guns, including full-auto guns, we did not see the level of violence that we see today.
That is because here in America, we don’t have a gun problem, we have a people problem. Until ALL of us are willing to admit that and actually address the problem instead of a symptom, we will never find a cure.
If you follow my Facebook page, you might have seen a story I posted on July 30, 2019. A quick summary for those who missed it, my wife and I received a tax refund check from IRS in the mail out of the blue. It was for $22, 625.92! This was odd because we actually owed last year and were due a refund, and especially not one for that amount. After several hours of phone calls, it was determined that the check was in error (no, really???) and I was instructed to mail the check to the IRS and include a letter telling them that they screwed up.
It is hard for me to fathom this much ineptitude, but clearly it is possible. The IRS is a wreck, and that is without even considering how they were weaponized against conservatives under the previous presidential administration.