It seems a little disingenuous to compare a major battle in a local guerrilla war to incidents with a disgruntled/crazy student. The attackers were well-trained militia with no connection to the school, after all, so it's hard to call it a "school shooting".
That said, the point about school violence in Europe is well-made.
I stand corrected. I was expecting to be, but I was hoping there wouldn't be any counter examples in Europe. The Russian massacre wasn't a "school shooting" in any meaning being used here though. It was at a school, and it involved shooting. It wasn't the act of a desperate kid, but a tragic event among many in an ongoing civil war. So that leaves 33 as the worst.
I don't blame, as I wrote. The point to take away from this is that this isn't an anomaly anymore.
Hoping, wishing, or praying it won't happen again won't change the sociocultural context that enables these things to happen. This is the new norm, and I don't like it. I have the power to change myself for the better in how I absorb and transmit culture, and, like a firebreak, I want to slow or halt the spread of the memes that make individuals sick. That we have responsibility for a healthy culture (since we make it) isn't blame, is a ray of hope. We can do something more than just sitting around and hoping that culture will take care of itself. We are culture, and it will
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I remember reading that one in 50 people in the United States is born a dissociative psychopath. This means that their brains have trouble feeling empathy, sympathy and realizing the principles of cause and effect. These people are not all serial killers or rampage killers but all serial killers are dissociative psychopaths. What makes some turn into killers is entirely the person's personal experience. I distinctly recall the account of an adult fetal-alcohol sufferer who had elaborate fantasies of rapes and killings in his head his entire life. He struggled with the help of his therapists to keep the urges under control. Frequently the trick he uses to stay in control is to remember one of his grade school teachers who told him that she believed that he had some good inside him even though he did so many awful things at school.
I just think that you are right and we need to be more mindful of each of our small interactions with people because every contact has potential to shape another person.
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One of those delightful social-commentary comics: http://www.reason.com/news/show/119763.html
and a atheist professor at Virgina Tech writes: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/4/19/18451/0971
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German school shooting 2002 - 18 dead ... Scottish school shooting 1996 - 18 dead ... German school shooting 2006 - 1 dead ... Dutch school shooting 2004 - 1 dead a broader list ( ... )
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That said, the point about school violence in Europe is well-made.
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I don't blame, as I wrote. The point to take away from this is that this isn't an anomaly anymore.
Hoping, wishing, or praying it won't happen again won't change the sociocultural context that enables these things to happen. This is the new norm, and I don't like it. I have the power to change myself for the better in how I absorb and transmit culture, and, like a firebreak, I want to slow or halt the spread of the memes that make individuals sick. That we have responsibility for a healthy culture (since we make it) isn't blame, is a ray of hope. We can do something more than just sitting around and hoping that culture will take care of itself. We are culture, and it will ( ... )
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I just think that you are right and we need to be more mindful of each of our small interactions with people because every contact has potential to shape another person.
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