We have failed as a society.

[JTG of the PRB]

33 dead. Many more injured. One community shattered. One nation shocked and saddened. No easy answers.

That's all I can grasp from this unimaginable tragedy today. There are very few answers right now, and we probably won't get many more for at least a few days. When I first saw the report on the news this morning, I felt like I was going to throw up. I still feel that way right now.

As I write this, I'm having a very difficult time trying to organize my thoughts. They keep dancing from one thing to another. Those poor kids... I feel so sorry for their friends, their families, the communities affected... Why was the two-hour gap allowed to happen? How can somebody do this to other human beings? Where do we go from here? How can we live with ourselves knowing that we are capable of such things?

Information is hard to come by, but the initial reports are saying that the shooter could have been a Chinese national, a man who entered the country on a student visa in August, 2006. Allegedly, the first victim early this morning was the man's ex-girlfriend, shot in her dorm. This information will more than likely be revised in the coming days and weeks, but this is where the rampage seems to have started. There was a two hour pause while chaos engulfed the dormitory, and then the worst of the tragedy unfolded.

This is the year 2007. We're supposed to be at least somewhat civilized toward one another in this country, and on this planet as a whole. Yet, there are still incidents like this. Something makes us angry, and we almost always take one of two routes: Either we bottle up the rage and the hurt and push it deep into the depths of our minds where it can destroy us from within, or we unleash it on those around us and on ourselves to allow it to destroy us from the outside.

Sometimes, it takes years of self-destruction. Other times, it happens in a two hour period that leaves dozens dead.

In terms of war making, our species cannot be topped. Nobody kills like we do. When it comes to peace and talking our problems out and solving issues through reason, we are a miserable failure. When violence ceases to become a problem and instead becomes a solution to our problems, we have failed.

I feel obligated as a person with some sort of conscience, some sort or heart and soul and desire to see peace, to mention the Bush Administration. September 11, 2001 shocked us, and it saddened us, and it made us angry. Taking out the Taliban to capture Osama bin Laden was the right move, but it was horribly executed. As a result, bin Laden is still alive, and Al Qaeda is still operating in the corners of the world. At the time, I understood attacking the "terrorist regime" in Afghanistan. When Iraq began to surface as another target, it no longer made sense.

We could have talked to Iraq, negotiated with them, communicated with them, and checked our intelligence. Saddam Hussein was a problem, but he could have been solved through peace and communication. Instead, the Bush Administration decided violence was the only way to solve the problem of the tyrannical Saddam. Violence became a solution, and not a problem. At times, it has looked like that would be the course that would be followed with North Korea, and Iran. Violence becomes a solution to a problem, and we have failed.

But this is not about the Bush Administration and its various failures. This is about our failure as a society to raise a generation of sensitive people, willing to use words instead of guns, thought instead of violence, and to create peace instead of suffering. Many times, we are taught not to show our true feelings, lest we be exploited or seen as weak. Conflict resolution becomes a secondary method of solving problems, and not the first step. We bottle up our feelings instead of releasing them in a healthy way that is safe to ourselves and safe to those around us.

We're human beings, for God's sake. We feel things. We're not supposed to bottle up our emotions; we're supposed to share them with the world. If something makes us happy, we should smile. If something makes us angry, we should be angry. If we want to cry, we should just cry. This tragedy has very little to do with being angry, but rather being unable to release emotions in a healthy way.

When I was a sophomore in high school, the Columbine shootings happened barely 40 miles from my school. That was the start of a slow, year-long descent into depression and anger. I had suicidal thoughts at times, and I didn't share my feelings. I was bottling them up, and I was headed for some sort of disaster. Thankfully, I had friends and family members who cared about me enough to help me. We need to be there for one another. We need to support and love and care for one another so something like this doesn't happen.

If we can be a shoulder to cry on, a friend to listen to, somebody to share feelings and thoughts with... Maybe we can save a life. Maybe we can save a thousand lives. Right now, we have the desire to be a society of peaceful, loving, caring individuals... but I'm not positive we have the ability yet. We're too set in our ways, too stubborn, too rooted in tradition and prejudice and history to change quickly. It will take years and years to change, assuming we even CAN change.

All that aside, we have failed. We have failed to allow people like the man who killed 32 people and then himself to express their feelings and show their anger in a healthy, non-violent way. We have failed at creating an effective, mandatory system for the next generation to learn as they grow up so they can solve their problems with words, and not fists, knives, guns, and bombs. We have failed to protect ourselves from these destructive habits, we have failed to protect our friends from these destructive habits, and we have failed to protect our children from these destructive habits.

We will look in the mirror as a society, and we will see failure. We have failed as a society, and we have failed as a civilization.

But more importantly, we have failed as human beings.

[northofdenali]

1. ...

K&R

[az chela]

2. I dont know how old you are but you have the wisdom

of a very old soul!!!!!!!!!
If only everyone could feel like you and express it this would be a much kinder,gentler world.
Thank you for writing this,it is so worth reading every word.

[JTG of the PRB]

4. Thank you.

I've been stewing all day, miserable and heartbroken. I wrote for an hour when I came home from work, and this is the result. I needed to write something, anything... My mind has been floating with terrible visions and memories of the fear and sadness I felt after Columbine.

Thank you for your kind words. I'm glad you thought my (admittedly long) rant was worthwhile.

And I'm 24, by the way.

[emilyg]

very worthwhile

my heart breaks with yours.

[az chela]

8. You are very wise at a such a young age.

You need to be writing,you have a gift of expression and you need to make use of it in this age of so much hate and violence.So many people are devolving on this planet and we are going to self destruct.If enough people could feel like you we might have a chance.
From your sorrow has come a very caring soul

[JTG of the PRB]

11. Thank you again.

I do what I can, and I try to get my voice out there, but sometimes I am one note fighting against an entire symphony of chaos and indifference. I know there are many kindred spirits in the world, people who think at least somewhat like I do. I just hope one of us manages to get some influence some day. Maybe then, we can begin to change the world, one heart at a time.

[az chela]

15. I have a grandson your age and he acts like such a child

You must have been around the wheel of karma many times to be so wise.
I struggle with depression every day since my son died a little over 3 years ago and after reading your posts I actually feel there is still time and hope if we dont screw it all up again.
Thank you for sharing your feelings with us on DU.I feel blessed to have read them.

[JTG of the PRB]

16. I'm glad I could share them.

I'm very sorry for your loss as well. It took me almost a decade, but I've come to view life in shades of gray, not in black or white as I once did. Good things happen in life, but in order to balance the universe the bad things must happen as well. Without the good, there cannot be bad... But without the bad, there cannot be good. We must take them and make them a part of our lives. If we forget our past, we will be doomed to repeat it.

I think many of us in the world are guilty of forgetting our past... We learned some terrible things from Columbine eight years ago, and if we hadn't forgotten some of those lessons, maybe this wouldn't have happened. I don't know. It all seems so painful and senseless right now. Some day, it might make sense.

But not yet.

[merh]

18. Welcome to DU

and thank you for sharing your writing and your feelings with us.

You are an "old soul" and you give me hope, it is good to know that you are part of the generation that will have to try to correct the errors of the madman-n-chief.

:hi:

[JTG of the PRB]

20. Thank you.

I'm glad I came here. I'm finding the community very friendly. Sometimes it's hard to find somebody who thinks like I do about some things, and I'm glad to know there are quite a few here at DU.

My only hope is that other members of my generation can step up and make the world a better place when our time comes to lead the world. We have 15, maybe 20 years before that happens, so I'd say we have quite a lot of work to do.

[merh]

23. LOL, you don't know how many of us felt the same way when we

found DU "Sometimes it's hard to find somebody who thinks like I do about some things." It is a great place to come to when you need to vent or gawk or just learn. We aren't perfect, but there are some great folks posting here and we do try.

[JTG of the PRB]

24. I have, indeed, learned that.

I have vented before, and I have definitely learned. Everybody here is, in their own ways, amazing.

[Richard Steele]

3. Recommended.

[Old and In the Way]

5. Welcome onboard jtg33

Very well said. I don't know if we can draw conclusions on the actions of one deranged individual, but it is a sad commentary on the nature of man when someone can wantonly destroy 32 lives in the process of ending his own.

I wonder how the guy dealt with our society...he was from a radically different culture and I'm curious about how he was treated here. I assume we'll be getting more details on this guy over the coming days.

I hope the families of these students will find peace and grace to deal with this horrible event....

[JTG of the PRB]

7. Thanks.

I know that this man's ideas of life and society might have been different than our own, but I'm speaking in somewhat more general terms here. We can't know what thoughts and feelings this man had, at least not yet... As an American society, however, this sort of thing happens far too often, and the stakes seem to get higher and higher with greater and more senseless tragedies every time.

I find myself extremely ashamed at the horrible things that we, as human beings, are capable of doing to one another.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

6. We have.

I'm thinking of every time I've been too caught up in my own petty concerns to be there - really there - for a family member, friend, or stranger in need. I'm going to work harder to be more present and more conscious.

Thank you. :hug:

[JTG of the PRB]

9. So will I.

I know many of us try our best, and some of us managed to control ourselves... But we are human beings, and we can't be perfect. We are bound to know failure in one form or another during our lives. Sometimes, the failure is insignificant and can be overcome through experience and knowledge.

Sometimes, failure can be so painful, so tragic that it cuts right to our very core and burns at us like fire. Sometimes we need to remember that we are human and that we CAN still feel... but it breaks my heart when something like this tragedy is the force that reminds us of that fact.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

10. One more thing. Gosh, it must have been so hard for you

When the Columbine shooting happened. I can't even imagine what it must be like to have one of your peers commit such an act against other kids in your community. How scary and awful! I bet a lot of kids in your area suffered in a similar way. I'm so sorry and I hope you're all doing okay now.

Makes me think about all the kids in the world who are suffering, through no fault of their own, because of the actions of governments, politicians, and armies. Darfur. Iraq. Afghanistan. Latin America.

Why? Why? Why? :cry:

[JTG of the PRB]

13. It has been hard...

... but it's nowhere near as hard as it was eight years ago. Still, anything I experienced absolutely pales in comparison to what the friends and families of the victims felt. Compared to them, I am just an outsider hoping we can all avoid another nightmare like this one.

[melody]

12. No society passes or fails

There is no one else to grade us but our fellow humans with their own problems. We can only be who and what
we are, in all the good and bad and -- in every society -- there will be good, bad and all things in between.

[JTG of the PRB]

14. I know what you mean...

...but all this seems to be a terrible, nightmarish trend. One school shooting is a tragedy. A second, bigger shooting is even more tragic. When it gets to the point that we have a high-profile school shooting almost every year, that's when it becomes less of an isolated incident and more of a terribly disturbing trend. Something has failed in our society, at the individual level and at the national level, and it has resulted in the senseless deaths of innocent human beings.

[melody]

26. I disagree

This sort of thing happens, in one way or another, in all cultures. There's a lot of
global hatred toward our people that is easy to capitulate to, but the fact of the
matter is, equally heinous things go on in all cultures, but in different ways. The
primate called "human" is alarmingly consistent. And much of what is happening now
(and has happened for forty-plus years) is a result of external social engineering, so
we can't merely point the finger at ourselves.

[JTG of the PRB]

28. Just because this sort of thing happens...

...doesn't mean it should. We should be able to teach our children that violence is not the answer, that conflict resolution and mediation with third parties helps bring things to a peaceful resolution. We need to stop treating violence as a solution or an inevitability, but rather as a serious problem. It's not just the school shootings, or the war. People are beaten or raped or murdered every single day. Violence pervades our society at every level in just about every imaginable way.

We CAN prevent this sort of thing. i don't for one second believe that we are naturally violent creatures. We commit violent acts, but I do not believe them to inherently be in our nature. There are people who commit terrible crimes, but so many of these crimes are preventable at one level of society or another. Whether it's a parent, or a teacher, or a police officer, or the President, society CAN change.

The simple fact that society hasn't changed, despite all our potential and our ability to change and adapt, represents a monumental failure in my eyes.

[ismnotwasm]

35. Amen

And the question that always remains, is how do we prevent these things? I believe we can learn how to prevent them. From school violence to wars to genocide, there are voices being heard, studies being done and inteventions being placed in what nurses call primary prevention. I recently attended a forensic nursing conference (not my field) and out of all the horror what struck me deepest was being in a room room full of men and women striving for the prevention of horrors, not just reaction to them. It gave me hope dispite the many difficult topics presented.

You wrote a beautiful OP, and that gives me hope as well

[melody]

46. Of course it shouldn't ... no one wants this kind of thing to happen

My point is it's a human problem, not an American one. And people have been searching
for solutions to these problems since humans walked upright (and possibly before).

[JTG of the PRB]

49. That's why I included...

...civilization as a whole. We have failed as an American society in some ways, but we have also failed as a human society as well. he have failed to make peace the number one priority, and violence has instead become a solution in the world. When our leaders behave like they've behaved the past six years, we project the idea of violence as a solution to the rest of the world. In that sense, we have failed to lead the world properly and to set a good example. We have failed to make peace the solution and to make war the problem.

We can't change the other cultures of the world, but we need to set a good example. If we continue to teach future generations that violence is a solution to a problem, we will have more of these incidents year after year after year. We're evolved now. We should have the solutions and we should be able to apply them to our society so the rest of the world can follow our lead.

[melody]

60. All these things are relative, but ...

Young folk are supposed to sustain such ideals. Who knows -- maybe the ideals of the young will work this time.
Let's hope so.

[lostnotforgotten]

17. But The Freepers Will Claim That It Was Nothing Compared To 9/11 And 3,000 American Lives

The Freepers will do anything to protect their supposed right to bear arms.

No getting around that fact.

[JTG of the PRB]

19. To those sorts of responses...

... we have to reply with a few questions.

Were those 3000 lives more important than those 32 lives? What makes those lives more important than the others? Who can decide whose life is more important than another life? Isn't every life important, no matter whose it is?

In my mind, those are fair questions.

[tblue]

27. If people thought that way, I mean REALLY thought that way, we wouldn't have war and we

wouldn't have guns. I don't know how many Americans can make that leap and give up their guns and their attachment to violence and vengeance.

[Rocknrule]

58. It is true that 9/11 is in a league all its own

Nothing in our history can compare to the apocalyptic horror that was 9/11. Even so, that doesn't give people a right to diminish these losses. It's like those people who said we shouldn't give tsunami relief aid because they didn't give us billions of dollars after 9/11.

[StrictlyRockers]

21. I agree. We have failed. We need to use every power we have to make things right...if we can.

The world looks to us for guidance...or used to. Now we act like fools and the world thinks "What are we going to do about America?" We are the problem the world faces.

[JTG of the PRB]

22. Agreed.

I don't think we can adequately lead at this point in time. At one point, we were a good world leader. Now... I don't know what we are.

[tblue]

25. Welcome to DU, jtg33. Beautiful and heartwrenching.

I'm so impressed.

[JTG of the PRB]

29. Thank you.

It has been my hope that, as a writer, my words might be able to reach somebody, somewhere, on some level.

If we can each reach one person, and change one mind, and touch one heart, we can change the world.

[az chela]

30. I think we can safely say you touched a lot of people on here

I hope you will put this in a letter to the editor in several newspapers

[JTG of the PRB]

31. I have considered that.

Right now, it's just on the other couple blogs I write. I also sent a link to this thread to my parents. They usually pass stuff like this around to their friends and colleagues, so who knows where it might end up.

[az chela]

34. Well you absolutely have talent and you need to share it

with others.So much sadness and negative things happening all the time..
Humans are very complex and we all have many personalities.Hopefully we can always balance our selves for the good.Sometimes it is very hard as we are always surrounded by so much violence but there are also so many good people
it is just hard to remain positive when things like this happen.If only people could realize that there is good in all of us along with the bad and we have to strive to hold onto the good and not let all the bad things take control.It is hard when there is so much evil on this planet.I believe mother earth will take care of herself and is trying to balance out this planet thru so many aspects that we are unaware of.

[gravity]

32. I disagree

I'm not going to let one person fail the rest of society, who the majority are good caring human beings.

There has always been suffering and destruction since the beginning of mankind. I believe that the good will prevail in society, like it has done many times in the past.

[JTG of the PRB]

33. It's not one person.

This is a pattern of destructive and violent behavior that continues year after year after year. One person did not cause this tragedy; it may have been dozens of people who each played their own part. It happens all over the country; bigotry begets bigotry, hate begets hate, violence begets violence.

If this were an isolated incident, I would agree that society has not failed. But this is far from isolated. When events like these take place almost every year, there is something within our society that has failed, something that must be fixed.

It seems clear that whatever has failed, it hasn't been fixed yet.

[gravity]

38. It happens all over the world

The human race has been the same for thousands of years, and nowhere in the world is immuned from bigotry, hate, and violence. I really don't think things have changed for the worst, given all the wars and atrocities that occurred in the past.

I am optimistic though, and believe the human race is slowly evolving to become more and more civilized, with the occasional setbacks. Every two steps forward, we have to take one back, like the events that occurred today.

Tragedies like this remind us that we still have a long way to go until we fully evolve. We just have to accept that we don't have control over the events that happened in the past, and we need to do the best we can to make the future a better place.

Like I said before, I believe good will prevail in the end.

[The2ndWheel]

41. So what do we need to control in the future?

What will we be when we fully(whatever the hell that means) evolve? Does that mean there is an end point to evolution? If there isn't, should there be one?

[JTG of the PRB]

51. I don't know.

I don't think we'll even fully evolve. Our thoughts and mindsets will evolve as they have over time. We are still evolving, though there are many instances in which it seems like we're doing anything BUT evolving. I hope and pray that we can realize what needs to be done to protect the vulnerable members of our society from future harm.

[JTG of the PRB]

50. I agree.

I, too, think that good will prevail over evil in the end. The question is how long it will take, and what actions we will take to make it happen. Human beings have such potential, such amazing ability to adapt and change. We need to reach the potential and stop destroying lives before they have a chance to make a difference in this world.

[The2ndWheel]

36. I guess that depends on what you think society is for

and what you think it's able to accomplish.

[Jack_DeLeon]

37. How does one incident caused by a crazed foreign national...

indicate that we failed as a society?

Apprently its being reported that this was done by a chinese student here on a visa.

Even if it were were done by some fucked up white kid I dont really think its a sign of our failure as a society.

If anything the war on drugs and all the bad things it has caused is more likely a sign of our failure, the Rodney King riots another. You know things that have a larger more pervasive impact.

[JTG of the PRB]

52. We had a role in this.

This man came to our country, and something changed in him that made this happen. Maybe he was isolated by our culture. Maybe he was shunned by other students. Maybe he was made to feel alone and angry. Despite how much we want to think we're all-inclusive and open to others, we're not. We still hold prejudices in our hearts and minds, in every corner of the country. By allowing these prejudices to survive and propagate, we have allowed people in this society to feel isolated and shunned, and those persons have turned bitter and angry toward those who isolated them. We need look no further than the Columbine shooters to see how that can happen.

The War on Drugs has been a failure, but I don't think that's a failure of society. Drugs are a part of our society, whether we like it or not. i think of the War on Drugs as more of a policy failure. it has been poorly run from day one, and it now seems more like a joke than an actual war.

The Rodney King riots, on the other hand, ARE a failure of society. Bigotry begets bigotry. If those cops didn't have some shred of prejudice in their minds, this beating would never have happened, and the ensuing riots would never have thrown Los Angeles into chaos. But they WERE bigoted, and they DID have those prejudices, and as a result Los Angeles WAS thrown into chaos.

We have failed to learn how to deal with people different than us, whether their skin is a different color, or if they speak a different language, or if they simply come from a different social standing. We have failed to learn how to handle these people and accept them, and as a result we have failed to teach our children how to do so as well. THAT is how we have failed as a society.

[sandnsea]

39. Yes we surely have

Columbine made that crystal clear to me. Just last week, there was a school shooting in the Portland area. The principal was the same principal who was at Thurston in 1998. Can you imagine going through this twice? This stuff didn't happen 50 years ago. Something is horribly wrong and the wrong is with us. The people in this thread who refuse to take responsibility, well I just don't understand them.

You, otoh, I see you are just 24. You certainly didn't fail. The failure is on us, your parents and grandparents. I don't know what went wrong, but I sure wish there would be some national will to take an honest look in the mirror and just get up and be nicer. This hostile culture has just got to end.

[az chela]

40. I think the majority of decent people in this country are frustrated

at what is happening to our country and our planet.bushco and his criminal government and this war for greed and power is not what this country is all
about.Growing up we never even locked our doors.I cant remember one crime in the town in michigan where I lived.Now there are gangs everywhere,drive by shootings,killings ,children molested,women raped.An evil war where we are killing innocent people every day.When will it all end???

[The2ndWheel]

42. America exists because of massive violence

It'll be difficult to end a hostile culture which escaped a hostile culture, which came as a result of another hostile culture, which was the result of another hostile culture, that hostile culture came from another one, etc.

[sandnsea]

43. Canada & Europe did it

:shrug:

[JTG of the PRB]

55. True, BUT...

...not every culture has been as hostile as ours in so many ways. England was a religiously hostile culture when our Puritan ancestors fled for the New World. Political hostility flourished between france, England, and Spain. The Scandinavians, Germanics, and Romans were powerful and truly hostile.

The United States, however, is all three. We are religiously hostile toward other cultures and we are even hostile and ignorant toward those in our own country of different religions. We are politically hostile to other nations, and toward one another. Just read some of the things that are said about Liberals (and, occasionally, about Conservatives as well). We are just downright hostile when it comes to violence, as well. We have a culture of violence in this country, and it is absolutely inexcusable. There have been many hostile societies in the past.

Ours can just be the most hostile sometimes.

[ArmchairMeme]

44. What gets noticed

The M$M quickly grabbed onto their measurement of the value of this situation. It was the greatest. They put on pictures of the previous school shootings (assailants all men) and declared this one the worst because of the number of people who died. The only measurement that matters to them (ratings) is quantity/size matters. To these people there is no value in people doing good in society - it not a headline grabber, it has no value to them.

The biggest, worst, most destructive. I see that this strategy has even taken over the weather forecast. A few rainy days are quickly pronounced as the worst storm the U.S. has seen - destruction will be widespread, flooding and damage to homes expected.

The help we can give to those people who survived and the relatives of these victims is now the most important. It is my hope that the people around them will care for them in ways that they cannot do for themselves during this time. Provide meals, lots of hugs, transportation, regular stuff. I saw this when I was a teenager and my mother was injured. People in her church brought in an evening meal for my Dad and all seven of children on a daily basis for the long time that my Mom was hospitalized. People came in and did laundry and cleaning, etc. Our community cared for us then and I will always remember that and see that as an opportunity to give back in my community.

[THUNDER HANDS]

45. i disagree

we've failed when these type of events become the norm, not the radical departure from it.

[LeftHander]

47. Thanks...and I agree....systemic violence is our problem

Other countries do not experience the level of daily violence we do. We also have the most violent television programming, the easiest access to weapons, a economy that is driven by a war-for-profit machine.

I think as a whole we have failed...accepting that means we can make changes.

All over this nation right now millions are feeling exactly what you and I are feeling.

We can start the road to recovery by:

1. Stop supporting violence in entertainment, and in policy.
2. Stop funding the machines of war.
3. Stop supporting the culture of violence.
4. Stop making and consuming bullets and guns.

We have a choice.

Turn in the weapons. Turn off the TV. Stop supporting the glory of violence in movies and the politicians that choose war over diplomacy.

[marions ghost]

56. yes, it has become an addiction

this culture of violence.

And it won't end until enough of us say no more.

You said it, LeftHander. We have to stop putting up with this.

[MedleyMisty]

48. I'm two years older than you

I was also in high school when Columbine happened.

But I was thousands of miles away, so maybe that made a difference in my reaction. It wasn't the event itself that made me worried about the species. It was the reaction - the draconian new rules. the panic and fear and singling out of anyone who was different, the suspending of students just for wearing a trench coat, the blaming of an entire generation for the actions of two individuals. I remember having to defend those of us who didn't conform to the mainstream from people who thought that any difference meant danger.

I think a lot about why our species is so stupid and cruel and is driving the world to its death. The best answers I have so far are fear, ignorance and ego.

You know how the universe is kind of like a rubber sheet and objects weigh down the sheet and bend it around them? I think of ego and reality like that. The bigger the ego, the more warped your view of reality. And America's got a pretty damn big ego.

We're also probably the most ignorant nation on the planet. I've been reading a site that collects fundie quotes recently. The posters have no idea what science even is. Their arguments against evolution consist of things like how humans and monkeys can't interbreed and how one organism can't live for millions of years so how can it evolve? They have no understanding about anything. I don't think it's a lack of intelligence. It's a lack of education combined with brainwashing.

Ignorance breeds fear. Our media's constant message of fear makes it even worse.

So you've got millions of people who are scared out of their minds, who don't understand anything beyond the pretty flickering colors on TV and even then they don't know the first thing about how the TV works, and who have egos the size of the universe and don't really realize that other people are real and have thoughts and feelings and motivations of their own.

And these millions of people live in the country with the most power to harm the rest of the world.

So that's what I've come up with so far to try to explain humanity in general and our nation in particular.

Also, I'm not sure that it's anything new. Throughout history, humans have carried out horrible violence against other humans. It's just that now we have the tools for violence on a global scale as opposed to having to go and personally bludgeon and stab the tribe closest to us and take the chance of getting bludgeoned and stabbed ourselves.

If you want to explain individual people who go on shooting rampages, I think you have to look at the individual. A lot of people voted for Bush. A lot of people support the war on terror. Only one person pulled the trigger at Virginia Tech.

I imagine that was more a product of neurochemistry gone wrong than anything else. And yeah, if he hadn't had guns he would have had to find something else to do, but if someone had noticed his problems and if he'd been in a hospital it wouldn't have happened either. I have to say I'm more in favor of increasing the quality and availability of mental health care than in making the US even more of a police state.

[JTG of the PRB]

54. I agree 100%.

Fear, ignorance, and ego. It's so simple, and yet that's exactly what causes this sort of thing. The fear of being isolated, the ignorance of other world views and cultures, the ego to believe that your way is right and that ONLY your way is right. I think our nation is one of the guiltiest on the planet and in all of human history at fearing the unknown, allowing ignorance to be our guide, and allowing our ego to blind us to the truth.

[RestoreGore]

53. Very wisely and well said. Thank you n/t

[marions ghost]

57. Agreed

"we have failed at solving problems with words--not fists, knives, guns and bombs."

While we all sit here and pontificate and debate gun control, abnormal psychology, and the responsibilities of the school and community...etc etc etc... the students, parents and educators of universities all over the country can only mourn and cry. When it hits home there are no easy answers, no way to allieviate the pain except by clinging together, praying, eulogizing.

It needs to be admitted, it needs to be said, and it needs to be faced--we have failed miserably as a civilized society. Until we come to terms with that, there will be no changes.

Thank you for this excellent piece, which obviously has come from the heart. You have much credibility, having been so personally affected by Columbine. These acts of random violence are very profoundly devastating to our society. It needs to be said.

[tomreedtoon]

59. Sorry, but "we" haven't failed.

You're young. Every bit of this seems new to you. I'm old. I've seen it many times.

There will always be isolated, upset individuals. It's really easy to fix blame on systems (why did they have guns? Why didn't the school counselors notice his violent writings?) or on individuals (why did the girlfriend turn this guy down, when giving him some sex might have saved everybody?) or on societal causes (video games, "24," hip-hop). But nobody can predict what will set people off.

We as humans like to believe that there is always cause and effect, and that smart people can predict and prevent tragedies. But in the real world, things are way too complex and the possible hints are too subtle.

There are things that did fail. There was no emergency plan at the school, and the administration fell down in taking steps to minimize damage. (Just as you probably learned in grade school, but forgot later on, all teachers are pretentious idiots who hate your guts and know nothing.) But even if teachers were the caring individuals they pretend to be, even they couldn't have reached into this guy's soul and helped ease his agony.

We humans also like to believe that everyone can be saved, that those tempted to the dark side can be brought back to the light, that God forgives all. Sorry, but there are some individuals who can't be saved. There are some bad guys who like being bad and who enjoy hurting people. And there are individual, tragic lives.

I've met a Klansman who enjoyed hurting anyone who got in his way. I've seen people OD because it was "cool." I've seen someone hurt a lot of animals under the delusional belief that she was "rescuing" them. I've seen a skinny, ill kid being made fun of in grade school. And yes, I was one of the people making fun of him; it doesn't excuse my actions that I was a dumb little kid, I did hurt him, and that will be on my soul forever.

So we haven't failed. Failure happens. What matters is what you do after the failure. I can't make up for the evil I did in grade school, but I can sure watch out for my future behavior and try to stop bad things from happening to another innocent.

Somebody once told me, "Don't think about the past, unless you like regret. Don't think about the future, unless you like fear. Think about right now, because that's the only place you can do anything." That's my advice to you.

[marions ghost]

61. you seem to think

that society has no role in addressing the behavior of individuals and the prevention of violence. So if we can isolate this as the random act of one individual, then we can rationalize it away. Until the next time.

"Random acts of violence" are occurring all over this country every day. Someone I knew of was killed recently outside a Best Buy in broad daylight, all for a few bucks and credit cards.

HOW LONG should we put up with this? How long should we be afraid in public places?

The difference between you and me is that I view the loss of this as the loss of a freedom, a right that is every bit as precious as the rights of gun owners and sellers. I do not have the freedom to be in ordinary public places without fear. So this is an isolated incident? Not really.

[JTG of the PRB]

62. I may be young...

...but I have experienced a lot in my 24 years. I don't mean to sound confrontational, but I don't like people discounting my experiences just because I'm young. I've lived in this world for 24 years. I've seen many great things and many terrible things. I have quite a bit of experience with some things. Just because I',m 24 doesn't mean my experiences are less than anybody else's. I'm not naive any more. I know how the world works.

I still contend that society has failed people who make violence a solution and no longer see it as a problem. If there weren't avenues in our society that allowed people to view violence as a solution, we would have far fewer instances such as this one. The kid who did the shooting felt bullied and isolated. This is information that is coming out today. he was "angry at all the rich kids," and he felt like he was taking on the world.

People who are treated like this by our society become twisted, dark, pained individuals and they are prone to snapping in horrible, tragic ways. We saw it with Columbine and countless other instances, and we're seeing it again now. Society failed this young man by raising people who helped to make him feel along, isolated, and bullied.

Sounds like some sort of failure to me.

[tomreedtoon]

64. "Society" is a bland, faceless thing, like fighting smoke.

Remember what society is. Society is simply a concept, a way to classify a whole lot of individual people. There's nobody that "controls" society.

There are institutions that affect this concept called "society," and those can be addressed. I particularly care about media control. The media are owned by people who have manipulated us through fear, and made a lot of people make bad decisions - Bush being one of them. And I'm sure you probably have other institutions in mind.

But talking about a gigantic concept like "society" makes it impossible to change, so you and your desires will always succumb to victimhood. It's terribly easy to be a victim; for years the posts in DU were continuous cries of victimhood, with people complaining they couldn't stop this monster and how we were all screwed.

It took a few people doing things, and it built, and it grew, and things in that line are changing. For society, it will take longer and the changes won't be as immediate as voting Bush out of office. You have to do what you can, and encourage others to do the same.

And at the base of it, you have to do something completely irrational and stupid - but something that you, someone closer to your birth date than I am, may remember. You have to hope and keep hoping and put your hopes into action. That's all that ever changed anything.

[Miss Chybil]

63. The US is not the only country with these problems, believe it, or not.

We have , by far, the most school shootings, but we also have a lot more people than the other countries on this list. Not to say we don't have many things, as a society, to improve on. We most certainly do. I just don't know if there is a utopia out there anywhere to be had. Certainly there are countries with far lower crime rates than ours, obviously. We are a violent people. We are not alone, however, in our shortcomings. Humans (especially teenagers) can be atrocious creatures.

On edit: The more I look at this list. The more depressed I get. We are pretty fucked up, I think. I was trying to be optimistic, or pragmatic. I can't. We're in bad shape...

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html

Feb. 2, 1996
Moses Lake, Wash. Two students and one teacher killed, one other wounded when 14-year-old Barry Loukaitis opened fire on his algebra class.

March 13, 1996
Dunblane, Scotland 16 children and one teacher killed at Dunblane Primary School by Thomas Hamilton, who then killed himself. 10 others wounded in attack.

Feb. 19, 1997
Bethel, Alaska Principal and one student killed, two others wounded by Evan Ramsey, 16.

March 1997
Sanaa, Yemen Eight people (six students and two others) at two schools killed by Mohammad Ahman al-Naziri.

Oct. 1, 1997
Pearl, Miss. Two students killed and seven wounded by Luke Woodham, 16, who was also accused of killing his mother. He and his friends were said to be outcasts who worshiped Satan.

Dec. 1, 1997
West Paducah, Ky. Three students killed, five wounded by Michael Carneal, 14, as they participated in a prayer circle at Heath High School.

Dec. 15, 1997
Stamps, Ark. Two students wounded. Colt Todd, 14, was hiding in the woods when he shot the students as they stood in the parking lot.

March 24, 1998
Jonesboro, Ark. Four students and one teacher killed, ten others wounded outside as Westside Middle School emptied during a false fire alarm. Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, shot at their classmates and teachers from the woods.

April 24, 1998
Edinboro, Pa. One teacher, John Gillette, killed, two students wounded at a dance at James W. Parker Middle School. Andrew Wurst, 14, was charged.

May 19, 1998
Fayetteville, Tenn. One student killed in the parking lot at Lincoln County High School three days before he was to graduate. The victim was dating the ex-girlfriend of his killer, 18-year-old honor student Jacob Davis.

May 21, 1998
Springfield, Ore. Two students killed, 22 others wounded in the cafeteria at Thurston High School by 15-year-old Kip Kinkel. Kinkel had been arrested and released a day earlier for bringing a gun to school. His parents were later found dead at home.

June 15, 1998
Richmond, Va. One teacher and one guidance counselor wounded by a 14-year-old boy in the school hallway.

April 20, 1999
Littleton, Colo. 14 students (including killers) and one teacher killed, 23 others wounded at Columbine High School in the nation's deadliest school shooting. Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, had plotted for a year to kill at least 500 and blow up their school. At the end of their hour-long rampage, they turned their guns on themselves.

April 28, 1999
Taber, Alberta, Canada One student killed, one wounded at W. R. Myers High School in first fatal high school shooting in Canada in 20 years. The suspect, a 14-year-old boy, had dropped out of school after he was severely ostracized by his classmates.

May 20, 1999
Conyers, Ga. Six students injured at Heritage High School by Thomas Solomon, 15, who was reportedly depressed after breaking up with his girlfriend.

Nov. 19, 1999
Deming, N.M. Victor Cordova Jr., 12, shot and killed Araceli Tena, 13, in the lobby of Deming Middle School.

Dec. 6, 1999
Fort Gibson, Okla. Four students wounded as Seth Trickey, 13, opened fire with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun at Fort Gibson Middle School.

Dec. 7, 1999
Veghel, Netherlands One teacher and three students wounded by a 17-year-old student.

Feb. 29, 2000
Mount Morris Township, Mich. Six-year-old Kayla Rolland shot dead at Buell Elementary School near Flint, Mich. The assailant was identified as a six-year-old boy with a .32-caliber handgun.

March 2000
Branneburg, Germany One teacher killed by a 15-year-old student, who then shot himself. The shooter has been in a coma ever since.

March 10, 2000
Savannah, Ga. Two students killed by Darrell Ingram, 19, while leaving a dance sponsored by Beach High School.

May 26, 2000
Lake Worth, Fla. One teacher, Barry Grunow, shot and killed at Lake Worth Middle School by Nate Brazill, 13, with .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol on the last day of classes.

Sept. 26, 2000
New Orleans, La. Two students wounded with the same gun during a fight at Woodson Middle School.

Jan. 17, 2001
Baltimore, Md. One student shot and killed in front of Lake Clifton Eastern High School.

Jan. 18, 2001
Jan, Sweden One student killed by two boys, ages 17 and 19.

March 5, 2001
Santee, Calif. Two killed and 13 wounded by Charles Andrew Williams, 15, firing from a bathroom at Santana High School.

March 7, 2001
Williamsport, Pa. Elizabeth Catherine Bush, 14, wounded student Kimberly Marchese in the cafeteria of Bishop Neumann High School; she was depressed and frequently teased.

March 22, 2001
Granite Hills, Calif. One teacher and three students wounded by Jason Hoffman, 18, at Granite Hills High School. A policeman shot and wounded Hoffman.

March 30, 2001
Gary, Ind. One student killed by Donald R. Burt, Jr., a 17-year-old student who had been expelled from Lew Wallace High School.

Nov. 12, 2001
Caro, Mich. Chris Buschbacher, 17, took two hostages at the Caro Learning Center before killing himself.

Jan. 15, 2002
New York, N.Y. A teenager wounded two students at Martin Luther King Jr. High School.

Feb. 19, 2002
Freising, Germany Two killed in Eching by a man at the factory from which he had been fired; he then traveled to Freising and killed the headmaster of the technical school from which he had been expelled. He also wounded another teacher before killing himself.

April 26, 2002
Erfurt, Germany 13 teachers, two students, and one policeman killed, ten wounded by Robert Steinhaeuser, 19, at the Johann Gutenberg secondary school. Steinhaeuser then killed himself.

April 29, 2002
Vlasenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina One teacher killed, one wounded by Dragoslav Petkovic, 17, who then killed himself.

April 14, 2003
New Orleans, La. One 15-year-old killed, and three students wounded at John McDonogh High School by gunfire from four teenagers (none were students at the school). The motive was gang-related.

April 24, 2003
Red Lion, Pa. James Sheets, 14, killed principal Eugene Segro of Red Lion Area Junior High School before killing himself.

Sept. 24, 2003
Cold Spring, Minn. Two students are killed at Rocori High School by John Jason McLaughlin, 15.

Sept. 28, 2004
Carmen de Patagones, Argentina Three students killed and 6 wounded by a 15-year-old Argentininan student in a town 620 miles south of Buenos Aires.

March 21, 2005
Red Lake, Minn. Jeff Weise, 16, killed grandfather and companion, then arrived at school where he killed a teacher, a security guard, 5 students, and finally himself, leaving a total of 10 dead.

Nov. 8, 2005
Jacksboro, Tenn. One 15-year-old shot and killed an assistant principal at Campbell County High School and seriously wounded two other administrators.

Aug. 24, 2006
Essex, Vt. Christopher Williams, 27, looking for his ex-girlfriend at Essex Elementary School, shot two teachers, killing one and wounding another. Before going to the school, he had killed the ex-girlfriend's mother.

Sept. 13, 2006
Montreal, Canada Kimveer Gill, 25, opened fire with a semiautomatic weapon at Dawson College. Anastasia De Sousa, 18, died and more than a dozen students and faculty were wounded before Gill killed himself.

Sept. 26, 2006
Bailey, Colo. Adult male held six students hostage at Platte Canyon High School and then shot and killed Emily Keyes, 16, and himself.

Sept. 29, 2006
Cazenovia, Wis. A 15-year-old student shot and killed Weston School principal John Klang.

Oct. 3, 2006
Nickel Mines, Pa. 32-year-old Carl Charles Roberts IV entered the one-room West Nickel Mines Amish School and shot 10 schoolgirls, ranging in age from 6 to 13 years old, and then himself. Five of the girls and Roberts died.

Jan. 3, 2007
Tacoma, Wash. Douglas Chanthabouly, 18, shot fellow student Samnang Kok, 17, in the hallway of Henry Foss High School.

April 16, 2007
Blacksburg, Va. A 23-year-old Virginia Tech student, Cho Seung-Hui, killed two in a dorm, then killed 30 more 2 hours later in a classroom building. His suicide brought the death toll to 33, making the shooting rampage the most deadly in U.S. history. Fifteen others were wounded.