Mass shootings fueled by political extremism, bullying and isolation
People, already volatile, subjected to years of isolation, have lost meaning ful contact with society. Some lack social graces and compassion. They are preoccupied with their grievances, and they are susceptible to extremists and provocateurs on the internet, falling prey to radicalization as a way of belonging to some group.
Another day, another mass shooting in the United States, and I am angered by authorities at their microphones saying that resilient communities will bounce back and recover despite the bloodshed. No, communities don’t recover that easily. Their wounds will be deep, they will be fearful, and in their memories, the brutality of the mass murder events they faced will be etched for a long time (“Bystanders become heroes amid a plague of recent shootings,” Jan. 25).
No mall, no festival or celebration, no school or outside gathering seems to be exempt from being the targets of mass shooters. California has strict gun laws, and yet gunman managed to kill 19 people and wound 14 others in three incidents there just last week.
On one of the TV news programs I watched recently, the host asked a pundit why these mass shooting events keep recurring in America in states with strict gun laws and in states without them. The pundit replied that a lack of good community policing and a salubrious relationship between the police and community members is one important cause of the violence.
I think there are many other reasons why these events keep recurring. We live in a society full of bullies. We have political bullies and bullies in every walk of life. Social media has made anonymous verbal bullying easier and in the name of freedom of speech, social media owners and entrepreneurs are allowing the bullying to go on uncensored. As a result, we are building pods of disgruntled and disaffected citizens, angry at society for not helping or protecting them from the relentless bullying. Some of the bullied are arming themselves to the teeth, often off the internet, and sallying forth for revenge.
Of course, violence is not a solution, but bullying should be recognized as a major problem in the U.S. Political leaders should tone down their rhetoric in Congress and on social media to set a decent example for their staff and for the entire country. We have U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican, who has said that if she had been in charge of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, she would have run it better by being armed and the attackers would have won. She later called her remarks sarcastic, but I see no sarcasm in her vile rhetoric, though it probably earned the congresswoman accolades among her followers and donations from like-minded thinkers.
I remember when former President Donald Trump endorsed and encouraged violence at his rallies. One of his ideas to stop immigrants at the southern border, reportedly, was to shoot them in their legs to slow them down. Trump never condemned the Charlottesville white nationalist marchers, blaming all sides for the racist violence that unfolded there, and in Long Island while speaking to law enforcement he encouraged cops to rough up the people they were arresting.
Recently in New Mexico, Solomon Peña, a Trump enthusiast and an ex-felon who ran as a Republican for that state’s legislature, after he lost with just 26% of the total vote, decided to deny he lost and took to harassing the Democratic candidates who won. He paid people to shoot into the homes of Democratic Party members, one of them being his opponent to whom he lost and he also took part in the shootings.
The pandemic has not helped. People, already volatile, subjected to years of isolation, have lost meaningful contact with society. Some lack social graces and compassion. They are preoccupied with their grievances, and they are susceptible to extremists and provocateurs on the internet, falling prey to radicalization as a way of belonging to some group and getting trapped in fanaticism of one type or another. Their reality is virtual reality, video games they play hours on end, or chat rooms where their contacts are not people they know personally or people who are vested in their well being.
They are disconnected from their neighbors, their own families and their colleagues in their workplaces and schools, their judgment impaired from addictions or from rage.
More importantly, the American government and wealthy American corporations have not invested in American families and American communities enough. From women’s rights and labor rights to the health, education, welfare and life span of its citizens, America is failing Americans.
The homelessness where I live in Bel Air, a relatively small town, is growing and is appalling. Parents are too busy working long hours at home or in the office to know what is troubling their children.
Many don’t even seem to know their children have ordered and amassed weapons in their very homes. Others leave loaded, licensed or unlicensed weapons at home with easy access to their toddlers and teens.
We have blamed lax gun laws, poor policing, disempowerment and low pay for law enforcement, inadequate funds for schools and teachers, excoriated mental health, addictions, drug gangs and even migrants for the violence. But we do not blame the partiality for violence and the enjoyment of violence as a spectator sport in every walk of American life. We do not blame our politics where consensus building takes a back seat to political rivalries and one-upmanship. Among some political circles, there is casual talk of a second civil war looming and we have the Republican Party that wants to answer gun violence with more gun violence by arming teachers and even students.
When “dog eat dog” is the social and political ethos expect chaos.