Today’s Coffee will be prepared hot, but served cold, simply because warmth is impossible in this weather. By the time the Coffee makes its way into your inbox, it will have reached a temperature approaching absolute zero. Those of you reading from your warm, cuddly, down-comforter-equipped beds might ask, “Is it really that cold out?” I retort: “Does it matter?”
There was no Coffee most of this week as I was in a class for a few days. But I hope that you checked out the blog; there was a weekend edition that was quite rousing. Nevertheless, there was plenty to report on this week, and I’ll touch on a few interesting items.
As is typical of this time of year, there is the usual debate about Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays vs. Season’s Greetings vs. Happy Xmas, etc, etc, etc. I’m not sure why anyone cares or why it’s made into such a big deal every year. I mean look, the Holiday Season begins three weeks before Thanksgiving nowadays, so not only do I have to hear about all the fantastical sales that Kauffman’s is having, but I have to hear about atheists, Jews, fundamentalist Christians, regular Christians, Muslims, animists, pagans, Scientologists, Hale-Bopp Cult members, et al complain about someone’s choice of holiday greeting for two months. As a non-believing heathen bound for an eternity in Hell, I will say that I don’t care what phrase you use to great me, so long as you’re not attempting to coerce me into accepting Jesus, Xenu, or some variation of the same.
While it may be the holidays, it’s impossible for everyone to brim over with holiday cheer. For example, take Robert Hawkins, a kid who wanted to die because his life sucked. So he took an SKS (or an AK-47 depending on the source) and went to the local mall and shot a bunch of people. I have a number of problems with this story, none of which are particularly important considering the gravity of the situation. But my biggest concern is our troubled youth. What ever happened to just blowing your brains out in an attic by yourself? I mean, that’s how it used to done in the pre-Columbine days. Life sucks? Take a gun, preferably borrowed from your step-dad, find a nice secluded spot, albeit one easily accessible to the family members whose lives you’d like to ruin, put the barrel of the gun in your mouth, and pull the trigger. Assuming you’ve done it right (and we know you screw everything up), all of your problems will be solved. You’ve hurt no one but your immediate family. But the “Me-Generation” is selfish, so they have to “be famous” and kill a bunch of people and throw into turmoil the lives of dozens.
I wanted to also discuss the recently released National Intelligence Estimate on Iran’s nuclear intentions, but I haven’t the time. A lame edition today, I know. Perhaps another weekend edition…
Word of the Day: Surly (adj): 1. Ill-humored; churlish in manner or mood; sullen and gruff; 2. Menacing or threatening in appearance, as of weather conditions; ominous.
On This Day in History: The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese (1941).
2 comments:
While it is truly terrible that a troubled "soul" took eight lives as well as his own, I find it equally disturbing that people find it easier to a) point their fingers at so called "assault weapons" as the enemy here, rather than a troubled teenager who had no way to deal with his inner demons or aggression issues, b) the lack of any parental or authority figure in this young man's life, really, anyone who might have tried to reach out to the boy to make a difference. Really, how many people saw the signs here and did nothing? Based on just the few articles I have read, here is what I have gathered: he admitted to being depressed, outcast, he used drugs, he had an in depth knowledge of firearms, no personal or family ties and was a loner. This is what FBI profilers might call a prime suspect to be either a serial killer or mass murderer. The woman whom this young man lived with even had a note that indicated his intentions, yet she did nothing. She might have alertedly the police, yet she did nothing. She indicated no pattern of behavior that this had happened before. But later articles indicated she experienced firsthand his handiwork, when they brought in his victims, as she was an emergency room nurse. How nice. Doesn't the Hippocratic Oath say "First Do No Harm"? They probably should pull her license. Getting back to the point, as a society, this "Me-Generation" that Uncle Joe Koba referred to, that is what we on a whole have become. Motivated by greed. By what we have. We are defined by what we have. Defined by what we possess. Or rather, our possessions define us. If we don't have the right cell phone, car/truck, a large enough house or what have you, we feel inadequate. Surely, this young man felt the pressures that society placed upon him. After all, he just lost his job... at McDonalds, no less. And he just broke up with his girlfriend. I don't know about you, but those are life altering event. Surely worth killing innocent people and oneself over, especially during the holiday season! Clearly I am demonstrating absurdity by being absurd. I do not condone unwarranted homicide. But again, if one person, it doesn't matter who, had reached out to him, been a positive force in his life, this whole tragedy may have been averted. Where is Jesus when you need him? Oh wait... I know... he's busy, non-existing. Another thing about the "Me-Generation", they are selfish. I understand that this may be a redundant statement, but hear me out. Clearly they are selfish. But consider this, if it was the goal of a person to "go out with a bang, be famous, yadda, yadda, yadda..." and he's going to do something terrible, why use a gun? Why use an "assault rifle"? Please please please do something original. In the name of all that is holy, stop making gun laws that much more stringent. Everytime some moron does something stupid, like shoot up a mall, some politician screams for tough gun restrictions, as though this would be the answer. Really and truly, a motivated individual would use any means necessary to accomplish his goals. Just look at Iraq and Afghanistan and the resistance the US and Allied forces face on a daily basis when they disarm a populace. A population without firearms is just as dangerous with improvised munitions. It's called guerrilla warfare. This "Me-Generation" needs to think of more than themselves for a change. Stop being such gods-damned pussies. And besides, anybody can pull a trigger. Children can pull a trigger. There are millions of Playstation killers out there. They get younger every year. This one was only 19 years old. A mere child with access to a firearm. Again, not the fault of the firearms industry. It will take the blame yet again. Not the careless adult. But had he the drive and ambition and pride to do something truly unique and original, we might not be forgetting him so quickly, like when Paris Hilton or Britney Spears does something humdrum enough to ooze onto the news feeds.
The Me Generation - Another Perspective
Being cruelly oppressed at work, my coffee turns cold before I can consume.
The author has previously noted a selfish element in these acts of violence that appears aggravated compared to early generations' acts of despair or anger. I would add that, besides being selfish, they are self-centered.
Sounds redundant? Not completely. A sick person may be self-centered but not selfish. Subjectively, they may be incapable of focusing beyond themselves, or more specifically, beyond the pain that dominates every strain of their being. The result is that they are unable to perceive or relate to the realities around them.
I absolutely agree that there is a selfish element to these shootings. The perps want the attention that they believe has been wrongfully denied to them, and don't give a rat's ass that someone else will pay a price for that attention. Worse, this is their precise intention, to spite another person's existence.
However, there may also be a self-centered element involved, where they are unaware in some sense of the results of their actions. I'd bet a twenty that not one of these kids is familiar with serious physical pain. How many of them were allowed to do whatever they pleased, with no guidance or rebuke from their parents? Some early spankings or whippings would have ingrained the reality of physical pain into their very guts.
With the prevalence of indoor self-entertainment, i.e. internet and television, many of these children lack experience associating with their peers. If they had to play with cruel playmates from an early age, and keep returning to it on a daily basis, they would learn to cope, instead of going home and venting to themselves. Eventually, they might even find a tolerable friend or two that would make life less unpleasant for them. Instead, they go home and dabble in their pseudorealities that never remove the pain of real life. At best it masks the pain, at worst it allows them to inflate their problems beyond all proportion.
Real life can be unfair, lonely, and depressing, but by experiencing it in the world - instead of playing it on an electronic medium - the youngster can learn two valuable lessons. One, they're not the only ones. Two, there are consolations in reality that are bigger and more important than either them or their problems. We're pretty small compared to the world around us, in the past, present, and future. By trying to understand some part of this world, rather than remaining trapped within one's self, they can find some relief from their dungeons for a time.
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