later in the day I came up with this:
its hard to say what should and should not of been done. Apparently closing the school was the correct choice this time, and its sad that didn't happen, however would the shooter just have left with the other students leaving, only to come back when classes start again and do what he did in the class room?
I think its still too early to say what should or should not have happened because not all the facts are really present yet. I mean something that comes to mind for me is not the question of why the school was not closed down after the first shooting, but why was there not enough security patrolling the campus after the first shooting to prevent the second?
It seems to me that if someone where shot on campus, they should call in everyone they can to patrol and at least look for anything suspicious. However, for all I know they did that and the shooter still got past them.
I was talking it over with my girlfriend earlier today, and she asked me if I thought that society was in a decline as violent crimes like this become more and more of a problem. All I could really do was deny that crime like this really was on the rise and question her sources for her accusation, because honestly I don't know, I haven't seen any numbers or data on it so I just don't know if that IS true. But then again I also think of other tragedies that my generation is going to be remembered with and i'm looking for SOMETHING in our recent history to be proud of to counter balance it, and drawing a blank. I don't know, maybe i'm just rambling at this point, but I needed to get that off my chest. I apologize if i'm getting off track or anything, I'm mainly just wondering if anyone else feels the same way.
I had posted that on a forum for one of my favorite web comics, "Least I could do" under the thread they had created. For the moment I feel most of it is still true for how I feel, maybe with the exception of how there is nothing truly great in America's recent history that could really counterbalance the tragedies that have recently befallen our country. I mean, we have done some pretty amazing things, and every day are getting closer to curing some of the worlds most problematic diseases. I think that in my lifetime we could see a relatively good treatment for most Cancer and even AIDS on the market, and if we actually take the lessons learned from the war in Iraq to heart, possibly a decline in war....possibly.
Something I don't really mention is the issue of gun-control that is a mandatory discussion topic after a shooting of this nature. A somewhat popular opinion that I've seen circulating is that VT was a gun-free zone, thus had it not been that way, some of the students might of had guns on them and been able to fight back once the Norris hall shootings started. While that is true, I still don't think that "because someone might go nuts, everyone should be armed to the teeth so they can possibly stop it" is the solution to our problems.
The reason I say this is just that I think a lot more encounters would escalate a lot quicker if people carried guns on them on a regular basis. The thing about killing someone with a gun is that it kind of makes it less personal and a little easier to do, which is why our gun violence is a lot higher then people being stabbed to death or through other means. Also think of the accidental shootings that take place, you can't accidentally stab someone, you could accidentally mace/tazer someone I suppose, but those are at least non-lethal. I think that's a much better compromise, then to just give people lethal weapons and expect people to handle them with the caution and respect they require.
edit: I guess another thing thats on my mind, is that I want to be afraid. I mean, really Texas State and Virgina Tech are simmilar in general population and status. I don't think either are really BIG schools or anything and the class sizes are about the same. The thing is though, theres no point in being scared about it because that won't get me anywhere, it'd be like being afraid of driving because theres always that risk of getting in a crash. Theres nothing you can really do about it but just keep on going and living the way you always have. I'm sure this feeling will go away with some time but its still a little unsetteling for the moment.
This kind of reminds me of a film we recently watched in my Culture through Film class, entitled "The Gods must be Crazy" which has the general message of : the more convenient we make our lives, the more complex they inevitably become.
2 comments:
A couple reactions, just for the sake of discussion:
As far as limiting gun control because of shooting... I think it raises an interesting question: is the problem that people are dying, or that people are becoming fucked up? Me, I'd say that the people dying are a symptom of people becoming fucked up, so limiting the methods for killing won't solve the problem. On the whole I think that attempts to stop tragedy will inevitably lead to more tragedy. Sorta like Oedipus Rex. I guess that's why I'm not in charge of making policy, though.
In a practical way, I can see the advantage of developing pain-tech and outlawing lethal-tech. It seems like that wouldn't necessarily stem crime though. I think with pain-tech like mace and stun guns as relatively undeveloped as they are though, compared to guns, it's still unfair to outlaw guns. Guns are an equalizer: they make the rape victim as strong as rapist. This isn't necessarily true with pain-tech. The real point of this paragraph is that I like the phrase pain-tech.
I think I've heard of The Gods Must Be Crazy- was it good?
I agree that nomatter what you do people will always go bat-shit and hurt people, so thats what the REAL problem is. But theres no real way to stop that either. Limmiting the method of killing won't stop the killing, but surly it would decrease the death count and overall damadge done.
simply I think we should make it hard for us to kill eachother, but easy to disable one another because yes there always will be that one guy who wants to do as much harm as possible. Liqure stores will still be robbbed, but the store clerk would be, at worst, stabbed which at least gives him a fighting chance.
The Gods Must Be Crazy was hilarious, 5 stars if you ask me. It took me by suprise because it starts off like a documentory, but its just a strait up comedy.
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