Moderators in all Society

Heh heh heh. I just read an old issue of Time magazine that was published right after the Columbine "tragedy." Apparently the four main causes of the incident were The Matrix, Doom, Marilyn Manson, and Rammstein.

Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.

I can see where Manson's so called "music" may make somone who hears it want to kill themselves, but not unload on clasmates.
As far as I know, neither of those kids spoke German, so they probably had no idea what the Rammstein lyrics actually meant. Jesus, I've had two and a half years of German class and I've got no clue. As far as Doom goes, I personally think of it more as a catharsis than a videogame. I'd rather kill a cyberdemon than something that's actually alive, you know? The Matrix. Okay, I can see where this might have had an effect. I watch it a lot, and I can see how somone could identify with Neo and the rebels in general. But they would have to be seriously messed up, to the point where people would notice and have them get help.

You want to know why I think these kids went nuts with
sawed-off shotguns and frappucino-bottle bombs? Give me a minute, and I'll tell you. This world, and American society in particular, are really, seriously fucked up. Look who we elect to public offices!The man holding the most power in this nation (or so they say) has trouble prononcing 'nuclear' for christ's sake! Look at the way we treat each other! No one has any respect for anyone else unless they work their ass off to earn it! We are all guilty! You, me, our parents, our friends, all of us.

But there are always a few malcontents who respect everyone until given reason not to. These are the people who gravitate freely between cliques and never seem to have any enemies. But they have the hardest time of any of us. At some point they look around at the way people act all the time, and know, "This is bullshit! Complete, utter bullshit!," while the rest of us blindly accept it as 'society.' And when they look around and realize this, they become what I call mediators. They begin to try to fix the situation. Some have moderate success, and continue to change things for the better. Others fail and simply give up, and become like the rest of us.

You know why a kid will knife a fellow student because he accidentally scuffed a new pair of white shoes? You know why everybody is fighting, killing, suing, and generally screwing everybody else?

You know why two kids shoot up their high school?

I'll tell you what I think: we are running out of mediators.

Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

(This started off as a rant about the bullshit "videogames cause violence" theory, but I went off on a totally unrelated tangent. I bet that happens a lot in this blog as time goes by. Maybe you'll get my original entry tomorrow.)