(02-15-2018, 08:14 PM)jagibelieve Wrote:

(02-15-2018, 01:49 PM)B2hibry Wrote: While the fix is a difficult one, the root causes keep rearing their ugly head. We have a new American culture that is much different than decades past. We've gone from knowing our neighbors, interacting/bettering our neighborhoods, getting involved and stopping situations deemed outside social norms, and living lives disconnected from reality, yet constantly connected through technology. In short, Americans are selfish. Get back to family, neighboring, and correcting public wrongs. People are brave as hell online, yet cower in the face of conflict/correction for the better. This psycho dude was throwing up big ol' flashing signs, yet nobody lifted a finger to call it out. We can't ignore glarring signs and just pretend it will go away and not eventually empact us. Be a snitch, rat, or whatever term you want to use. Call it like you see it and start being an involved citizen.

I happen to think that the part in bold is one of the major causes of this issue.  Just look around.  Go to a restaurant, a bar, the smoking area at your place of employment, etc.  Heck look at people in cars.  Nobody is interacting with one another face-to-face anymore.  Everyone has their heads buried in their phones and/or tablets.  This very website message board is accessed by mobile devices far more than desktop computers.  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. are the means of communication in today's society.

Me personally, I took the day off from work tomorrow and am going to spend a 4 day weekend (Monday is a holiday) pretty much disconnected out on my property.  I have friends coming out to help with some of the land clearing work as well as some outdoor recreation.

I'm not saying that technology and social media is totally to blame for tragedies like this (I happen to be a tech geek myself), but I do think that it is a contributing factor.

80% of what I talk about is nonesense.. the other 25% is made up statistics...