(02-15-2018, 03:02 PM)Caldrac Wrote:

(02-15-2018, 02:28 PM)wrong_box Wrote: Guns have been in American homes for over 200 years but mass shootings have only been a problem for a decade or so...Guns are not the root of the problem, the ability to access a weapon is not the problem, lack of regulation isnt the problem, so I ask again, what is the root of the problem? Even 50 years ago the ability was present to commit mass shootings yet it was not a problem...The answer is much deeper than the what I mentioned

A lot of variables but for me it circles back to poor social environment and poor social conditioning. The Orlando mass shooting was based on hate by all accounts. The Dylann Roof shooting was based on hate. This shooting will more than likely be linked to bullying in high school both physically and mentally which led to his hate and need to kill. 

The only two shootings I don't feel 100% comfortable nor clear on is the Sandy Hook and Las Vegas shootings. A lot of the circumstances, motives and investigations between those two shootings doesn't add up in most cases. But I think 50 years ago the population, demography, social environment and social conditions were a lot less complex but you still had heated issues. 

1968 though you're talking about black and white affairs, Vietnam, the assassination of JFK, etc. Television wasn't the forefront. You had maybe 200 million people in the country compared to the 320-330 million people living in it now. Work was probably more consistent too. 

I think today's social media platforms and the access to so much violence, pornography and random hook ups doesn't help. There's been a tremendous shift in lifestyle. There's more dependency on prescription or over the counter drugs. The identity of what a family used to be and look like has changed. The social constructs and terminologies are just overbearing at times. 

The world has always been a [BLEEP] up place in spurts. Don't get me wrong. Times were tougher at times back then and so forth and each generation tried to approve upon the hardships of the previous one but I now think we're entering this really, really weird age of technology and industries that really begin to devalue and dehumanize all of us. Everyone is locked in 24/7 to their news feeds, their multiple social networking accounts. I experience it here at work now with work emails clearly coming in after hours but it's like an unspoken thing now where you're expected to be available 24/7. Taking work home with you. 

It's never enough. The average person now is way too wired in this country. And the generations to come will be just as bad. The conditions we're now living in are fascinating because for all the good we think it's doing there is definitely something there in the underbelly [BLEEP] us all up. Eventually everything ends. It's cyclical. At least that's what I hope.

I think you have hit on something here.  The advent of the internet and sites where you can go to confirm your own biases and beliefs.  Call it an echo chamber where anyone that confronts your beliefs is accosted by the masses.  We have become a society where we no longer have to be confronted with opposition as we can label them, dismiss them and then pat ourselves on the back for agreeing with each other.  

I go to several sites that lean slightly left to extremely left because I want to be challenged.  There is no growth with always agreeing with everyone you know and talk to.  Sadly it seems I am in a vast minority on this thought process.

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