I blame many, if not most of these American shootings not on the guns, but on the predictable "cycle of violence" against the nuclear family and against boys and men in particular.
Any idiot couple can have sex and create a baby, but it takes a little more effort for the parents to get married, stay married and raise a child together. Feminism has "taught" women that having lots of partners, having babies without getting married, without staying married, having "the boyfriend" around will make them happy. Women are not happy, and as a consequence, their sons (and daughters obviously) are not happy either. And "Mom's boyfriend" tends to be the most dangerous person to have around children. Duh.
By the way, I am not advocating that anyone in an abusive relationship stays in one. I am advocating for nuclear families. Some marriages cannot and should not be 'saved'. I'm talking about the cultural phenomenons here.
So even before reading anything specific about this particular shooter, I told Kathy Draidlebaum that I already know about him. Here's what I wrote to her on e-mail early this morning:
"I haven't read too much about him but who needs to? I'm sure broken home, single mom, "adhd" dx, put on Ritalin, could not get a date never mind get laid, godless, secular, video games.."
Then I saw this.
So I am going to focus on this.
"Under almost all of the plausible scenarios in which a life such as this plays out, the rest of his countrymen would never have heard of him. He would have lived his life as tens of millions do, privately, with the travails and rewards of work, family and friendship. And the rest of us—and perhaps he himself—would never have known that a heroic heart was quietly beating inside him, awaiting only the occasion to reveal itself."
"What can we say about Mintz’s impulse to turn back and run toward the gunman in an effort to save others? From the point of view of self-preservation, it makes no more sense than the 9/11 firefighters running into rather than away from the burning Twin Towers. Those heroic firefighters at least had their comrades to encourage them to accept supreme adversity. Mintz had no one but himself."
"This is the heart of modern heroism. In its most extreme form, it is a supreme act of generosity—risking and perhaps losing your life for the sake of others, often strangers. Some people, like firefighters and first responders, actively train for the moment when they have to put it all on the line. Others, such as Mintz, have had military training or pursue activities (cage-fighting, say) that demand physical prowess and courage."
"But the impulse to charge a gunman is hardly common, and the unwillingness to do so is only human, as we know from many others that day in Oregon. We honor Chris Mintz’s heroism not only for its own sake but in the hope that other people who seem to be living perfectly ordinary lives will turn out to be as extraordinary as he was at a time of maximum peril."
"This is the heart of modern heroism. In its most extreme form, it is a supreme act of generosity—risking and perhaps losing your life for the sake of others, often strangers. Some people, like firefighters and first responders, actively train for the moment when they have to put it all on the line. Others, such as Mintz, have had military training or pursue activities (cage-fighting, say) that demand physical prowess and courage."
"But the impulse to charge a gunman is hardly common, and the unwillingness to do so is only human, as we know from many others that day in Oregon. We honor Chris Mintz’s heroism not only for its own sake but in the hope that other people who seem to be living perfectly ordinary lives will turn out to be as extraordinary as he was at a time of maximum peril."
