FootprintsintheWind.com

At once it is larger and smaller than we thought, this epidemic of violence.

People who immediately talk of gun control are right to do so. So are people who talk of gun rights. These are part but not the central issue.

One piece of violence is access to the means. Another is how we choose to open and restrict access to gatherings of people who might be targets. Another is motive—what drives people to these acts? We must think together about these questions and all the things naturally entangled in it.

Intertwined are larger and smaller issues. Public policy and how we each think in our daily lives. One smaller aspect is how we relate with other humans. Do we connect or do we cocoon? Are others people or things? For instance what are video games teaching us, child and adult? There are some which show that if someone or something gets in your way, you blast it out of existence. This is not to disparage video games but to point out our attitudes. Attitudes are in the air as well as individual. We would not legislate violence out of the video game industry, perhaps, but we could require the companies to fund public education about the dangers of video game violence. We can teach conflict resolution in our schools. Does the drug culture encourage violence in our culture generally?

Is it all intertwined? This will take efforts by government, schools, business, and you, efforts great and small.

Vigilance and speaking out are small things that take great effort of will.

:- Doug.