Once again, the CNN, MSNBC, Fox ABC, CBS, NBC and a bunch of other news channels riveted us--at least me--last week with coverage of the manhunt for the Boston marathon bombers. I didn't like the sensationalizing of murderers who killed three and injured over a hundred at the Boston Marathon. I didn't like the sensationalizing of Newtown either after the killing of innocent children and adults. But one thing is true--I watched it intensely because these networks do it well. They, indeed keep us riveted to our seat.
I watched it like I watch a movie or a special two-hour television show. We have over-the-top television coverage that makes everything a horrible and grotesque traffic accident that we can't help but look at. It's awful, it didn't happen to us but we just have to watch it.
Basically, Watertown, Mass. became an all-day reality show on Friday, with drama in the morning, a mystery during the day and a happy ending on prime time Friday night. The President was excellent in his role of the nation's leader who showed the world what happens if you try domestic terrorism in the United States during the 21st Century. You get alot of television coverage, but you also get caught and killed. In this case, the 19 year-old kid influenced by his older brother's delusional thinking will now have a life in prison. He's already been tried and convicted by a jury of his televisiion watchers.
We don't know the details yet of a 19-year old who committed evil and contributed to the murder of three young people and injuries to more than a hundred. The killer at Newtown killed himself. The Aurora, Colorado theater shooter is in trial and the Virginia Tech shooter who killed 32 killed himself. Here's one common theme about all of these killers. They're all mentally ill. But most mentally ill young people are not going to commit violent acts. Most mentally ill people who suffer from bipolar illness, depression, schizophrenia, generalized anxiety, paranoia and panic disorder do not kill other people. So, there's something more than just mental illness. There is evil that exists in this world. Clearly, when someone is directly responsible for another person's death, it's evil.
We currently combat mental illness through much-improving medication and therapy. How do we combat evil within individuals? Well, first, we live in a bankrupt world with a relatively few rich and powerful people telling everyone else how we're going to handle the crash of a global economy. How do you think these people will handle it? Probably by helping themselves first and worrying about anyone else later. Therefore, the rich get richer and the poor either get poorer or try to keep their head above water. When there's an economic upheaval and the rich keep getting richer, the future becomes bleak for the poor and middle-class. It makes people vulnerable to evil influences, like committing terrorist activities by well-funded groups--religious and political.
In Boston, two young Americanized young men may have been influenced by a well-funded Muslim group in jihad with the United States. Or, it could have been a statement of universal brotherhood, like the Weather Underground, a group of young people building bombs in their basements for political purposes back in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were a violent counterculture. But, young people in a depressed economy with a dim future want to blame the establishment. They can't accept their lot-in-life that they won't be the over-achieving success that their family always thought they'd be. Instead, they're unsettled losers, as the uncle to the bombing brothers said last week.
But, all future unsettled "losers" shouldn't feel bad. The game's been rigged so it's difficult to say you'll be a huge success unless you know someone who likes you and wants you to be a huge success. If you don't know anyone in powerful political positions, you're outta luck. Even "unsettled losers" don't necessarily kill people. Do people without jobs feel stressed out, depressed, self-hatred? It's very possible. Are people without jobs scared for themselves and their family? I would think so. Can they count on their Congress to make the best decisions for them and their country? Not really--see gun control vote on background checks and a budget sequester.
So, mentally ill, suicidal young men decide they're going to kill themselves with the evil legacy of bringing others with them--see Virginia Tech and Newtown, Connecticut. Both incidents had about a week of news coverage from the site of the crime. We all remember it. Why decide on evil?
A young, mentally ill man shoots up a movie theater of people in Aurora, Colorado, when he discovers life was not all it's cracked up to be. Another incident with a week of coverage and dubious fame he may never have had anyway. But why choose evil?
And two mentally ill young brothers, perhaps vulnerable and susceptible to a good payday, were accepted by a religious group's ideologies and maybe enough money to give them that paycheck. After all, money is always a big motivation for all of us...isn't it? But why choose evil?
Finally, 54 Senators are bullied by a large and powerful special interest group to vote against a watered down bill for background checks prior to buying a gun. Most of the people in the country agree to this legislation because of Virginia Tech, Newtown, Connecticut and Aurora, Colorado. The special interest group helps support reelection campaigns by giving money. Why choose evil?
Maybe money is the root of all evils. And, maybe feelings of a bleak future, a meaningless existence or a fear of failure make humanity more inclined to sell their souls.
And maybe, it's not about guns, mental illness, domestic or foreign terrorists or 15-minutes of fame. Maybe it's simply a fight in this world against good and evil and, for that, we need to define good and evil. Murdering innocent people and injuring innocent people under the name of political and religious ideologies is evil. Justice, fairness and helping others in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness is a good thing.
It's time to break out the moral compass here in the United States and watch a new reality show. We need to examine good and evil within our society. Just examine it. There's no need for action. And, in the end, justice can and should only be defined by the essence of brave and good natured people. Nature will determine justice. Throw the political and religious ideologies out the window. Forget about the money...it's mostly fake, printed, paper money anyway The world is bankrupt.
Ignore the pundits and the numerous opinions about why meaningless events happen each day and why the U.S. Congress is broken. This is simply a battle between good and evil.
Choose good. Expose evil. And vote for the good people who vote with their heads and hearts--not with their wallets.
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