2008 Woodie Awards
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Progressive Paulitics...Mind of a Killer, Mindset of a Nation
By Paul Perry on 4/19/07
Given the weight of the tragedy at Virginia Tech that is upon us, as well as the fact that this will be my final article for this newspaper, I am at a loss for words. All of the talking heads, the pundits and the commentators have left me without much to say because they are talking all of our heads off dissecting this situation. We've spent the past few days and will spend the next few weeks discussing how lonely and deranged Cho Seung-Hui apparently was, how security officials might have been able to respond faster and how the warning signs for tragedies like this should have been more apparent. We will parse, catalogue and indict the feelings of a troubled dead man whose true sentiments we'll never really know. We will honor those who gave their lives to protect other students and those who continue to provide comfort to the victims. We will think twice about the nature of campus security and counseling services at our colleges. All of this, rightfully so.
But what is missing in all of this is discussion about the overarching themes that we should be gleaning from this horror. It's been said that, "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." I'd submit that given how rigidly we cling to our guns and therefore inherent violence in our culture, we live in a profoundly sick society. Public opinion, depending on the issue, can often be the worst opinion. The public would have never voted to abolish slavery, give women the right to vote, sign the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. And now the public (that's us), will not vote to get rid of the guns.
Much like the issue of the death penalty, our country has the most backwards laws regarding gun control when compared to our fellow industrialized democracies. And the folks who perished at Columbine, the Amish school in Lancaster, Pa., Virginia Tech and in our cities are paying the price. We should be startled by the fact that nearly three times the number of those murdered in Blacksburg on Monday have been slaughtered by gun violence in this country's most violent city this year: Philadelphia.
But what is missing in all of this is discussion about the overarching themes that we should be gleaning from this horror. It's been said that, "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." I'd submit that given how rigidly we cling to our guns and therefore inherent violence in our culture, we live in a profoundly sick society. Public opinion, depending on the issue, can often be the worst opinion. The public would have never voted to abolish slavery, give women the right to vote, sign the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. And now the public (that's us), will not vote to get rid of the guns.
Much like the issue of the death penalty, our country has the most backwards laws regarding gun control when compared to our fellow industrialized democracies. And the folks who perished at Columbine, the Amish school in Lancaster, Pa., Virginia Tech and in our cities are paying the price. We should be startled by the fact that nearly three times the number of those murdered in Blacksburg on Monday have been slaughtered by gun violence in this country's most violent city this year: Philadelphia.
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