I have a great morbid fear

[Jenny Red Eye]

That the population of the United States (and NOT a microcosm of that population, which is DU) is being slowly but surely desensitized to police murders (notice that I did not refer to them as police "shootings&quot .

My acquaintances in real life are hardly talking about the most recent incident in South Carolina.

Michael Brown? All they talked about were the riots.

When something happens everyday, eventually it just becomes an everyday thing.

I am also uneasy about what the defense in the SC case will pull out of their ass.

This is the stuff that nightmares are made of.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right. Thomas

A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right. Thomas Paine

[logosoco]

2. I think you may have a point.

The things i read on my Twitter feed don't seem to be the things people are talking about in real life.

It also seems to me, with all of the shooting of mentally ill people that the cops are sending a message "don't call us when you can't physically deal with a family member."

It is easy to forget that not all folks are like the folks here on DU. Too bad. The world would certainly be a better place if they were!

[leveymg]

3. Look at what is called "entertainment" - mass murder, mayhem, torture - and that's just kid's games.

We're not just desensitized to violence, many of us have been programmed to get a jolt of pleasure from the suffering of others. "It's a kick, man."

We live in a world of nightmarish virtual realities, and the distinction is increasingly lost on many of us.

[bvf]

4. Sad but true.

But I think it's been with us forever.

The fiery destruction of whole cities as described in so-called "holy" books, to professional wrestling, to kids playing "cowboys and Indians" when I was young, to present-day on-line war games.

It may take another millennium or two, but I'm hoping we'll get beyond it.

[byronius]

5. I must differ on your point.

I read a recent study concerning this exact meme, and it turns out that people who regularly play the most brutal and nihilistic of all video games as well as the consumers of the most violent films turn out to be the exact opposite of your stereotype. Apparently those who are drawn to such scenarios are subconsciously more horrified by actual violence than the general population. In fact, gamers and film consumers of these genres tend to be enlightened, liberal, and violence-averse; they're actually drawn to the genre by their aversion, and become more averse to violence in real life the more they play.

The most devoted gamer I know, a young man who regularly plays every one of what one might call the 'worst' games, is in real life quite the sensitive and kind cat-loving techno-hippie.

So -- just consider the possibility that most egregious violence is committed not by gamers or consumers of post-apocalyptic culture, but by people who prefer the real thing, not the ersatz substitute. The Columbine killer's fascination with Marilyn Manson and Rammstein was an anomaly, not the trend.

Consider that both Manson and Rammstein are entirely composed of progressive, sensitive, vegan, non-violent artists; then consider that the music factually associated with violence in the US is none other than Country-Western.

Life is often more complex and surprising than simple connect-the-dots offers.

[pocoloco]

7. What is the basis of your remark denigrating County & Western music?

Inquiring minds would like to know.

[byronius]

10. It was mentioned in the study.

But I have not the time to retrieve it. I suppose my own childhood growing up in a Texas family made me not question the supposition -- I associate C&W with the sounds of crying women, children, breaking glass, and shouting males.

But I do apologize for backing away from the question -- it was part of the article contrasting the public perception of violent video games and rap music versus the actual statistics.

[byronius]

14. I thought I should let you know --

I love Waylon & Willie, Patsy Klein, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Hank Snow, and every High Lonesome bluegrass band you can name. Flatt & Scruggs are effing AWESOME.

And I apologize again for seeming to denigrate C&W. I was just quoting, I swear.

[Cleita]

6. I hate to bring up Nazis, but that's what they did to the German people to desensitize them

about their neighbors disappearing and factory owners taking concentration camp prisoners for slave labor etc.. The Nazis had effectively convinced the Germans that the Jews were criminal bankers and merchants who were after their money and what was rightfully theirs so it was easier for them to turn a blind eye to the abuses around them. The Bushes did the same to desensitize us to the Abu Ghraib and other torture abuses committed under their administration because of 9/11.

[KamaAina]

8. Godwin's Law! Godwin's Law! Godwin's Law!

[Cleita]

11. Ffff Godwin and the unicorn he rode in on.

[KamaAina]

9. Possibly the best fiftieth post in DU history.

Welcome!

[bvar22]

12. After time, it becomes the New Normal, like:

*Perpetual War on Terror

*Watch what you say

*the Surveillance/Police State

*The Patriot Act

*the elimination (or economic enslavement) of the Working Class

*"Free" Trade

*Extreme (Obscene) Military Budgets

*Corrupt Politicians pandering to the 1% (both Parties)

*The Privilege of the 1%

*Poor People don't count

*Perpetual high unemployment (keep them fighting for their low paying jobs)

*You don't have the right to know what your government is doing


All this, and much more, have become the New Normal.

[qwlauren35]

13. Becoming Desensitized? No, it's been this way for a LOOOONG time.

Please remember southern lynch mobs, KKK burning, the assassination of MLK, the execution of Medgar Evers for registering voters. Black men (and women) have been getting murdered ever since the end of the Civil War and most of the American people have turned a blind eye to it. Even now, whites in America dismiss nearly every case as "but he was a criminal" as though that somehow justifies everything.

Watch Slater walk because Scott owed back child support. He had a record. He was a criminal. (and oh, by the way, he was black.)

There is a reason why #blacklivesmatter exists. It's to call attention to the fact that to many people, black lives don't matter that much. And as a result, when we get killed, "there must have been a reason".