Massacres and The State of Things

Here's what concerns me most about the Virgina Tech shootings. (I hasten to call it a massacre. It was no more a massacre than the Boston Massacre. I try to avoid hyperbole in all forms).

In Iraq, more than 33 innocent people have been killed in car bombings or sectarian violence and it we've become so desensitized to it that no one thinks twice. Any time any human life is lost is tragic and ought to grab our attention. Yet, we are so insulated (we think) in this country that it takes a random act of violence to snag our attention.

What concerns me even more is how we judge chaos by mere body count alone. Had this been 1 or 2 people killed rather than 33, then it would be a one day story, not a three or four day story. If 1 American soldiers dies in Iraq, we scarcely bat an eyelash. If ten die, then it's somehow newsworthy.

Some talking heads have taken this tragedy to begin talking about gun control again. My own feelings are deeply ambivalent. I doubt the effectiveness of true gun control. It has worked, to some degree in some countries, but ours is a country where people metaphorically laminate the Second Amendment and stick it in their wallets, displaying it in front of strangers like pictures of their children. Violence, particularly gun violence, is so endemic to our society that I doubt anyone would willingly trade in his or her shotgun .

What we ought to question is why we are so violent a society. What we ought to question is what we can really do to ensure that our lives are not taken by the act of madmen. What we ought to question is what about our society causes people to break down into lunatics.