“Formula for a Killer…and Bullying

What kind of monster would take innocent lives with no remorse? Who could take a gun in their hands and hold it to another, who is tearfully begging and pleading for their life, and pull the trigger with no change in expression and move on to the next victim? Any man.

We like to believe that such behavior is so outside the norm, that they are freaks we have nothing in common with. They are vicious beasts that prey on the pure hearted. Truth be told, this is far from the truth. History tells us a different story. Violence is in our nature. Our feelings of hate, greed, vengfullness, even anxiety are mitigated by love, compassion, honor, empathy, and social acceptance (and don’t forget fear…but lets keep the positives positive). Much of that is learned from the guidance of others and through life experience.

I do believe in the intrinsic goodness of humanity. I have found in my life so many great people who show such selfless compassion for others that I take pause. However, our capacity for good will is equal to our capacity for ill will. For every Mother Theresa there is a Stalin. For every Martin Luther King there is a Hitler. Further, given the right conditions, a good person can do some bad things and vice versa. And where life takes us shapes us into who we are.

That being said, what brings a man to become a monster? There are many underpinnings to what psychologist refers to as antisocial personality disorder. Follow the link if you are interested in reading about it. Some of it is genetic. I truly think that some of us are just born a little “meaner” than others. That can only be part of the picture though.

If you take someone with the predisposition of violence and general lack of empathy for the pain and suffering of others and raise them in a home where there is very little affection and the discipline is more authoritarian, place them in an environment where they feel like an outsider, they are picked on, and the adults in their lives either turn a blind eye, or sometimes even encourage or participate in the social ostrification, then you have a perfect formula for creating a sociopath.

I may blog in more detail some other time about the mind of a sociopath, but for this blog, I wanted to talk about how bullying can play a role in this process and what I think is a problem in today’s schools.

Many of us have been a victim of bullying, and many of us, if we are honest with ourselves, have done a bit of bullying. I don’t mean dotting a smaller kid’s eye and taking his lunch money, though THAT is bullying too. I mean laughing at, and even purposefully rejecting someone with the intent of causing emotional pain. Many of us stopped doing this once we reached adulthood (though I have seen many examples of it in the bloggosphere). But children are still learning lessons in compassion and empathy, and as children, most of us did have our moments. Children do it; it is a fact of life.

Our schools do not do enough to curb and even stop bullying. Schools, teachers, administrators can and should do their part to deal with bullying through rules against such behavior and, most importantly, educating students on being compassionate toward one another.

Most bullying hinges on one “ism” or another, whether it is racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, ableism, heterosexism, or my personal “favorite” and the devil of them all, classism. People are poor, or ugly, or nappy haired, or a fag, or big nosed, or fat, or gimp, or weak. There are so many reasons to hate, to ridicule one another.

I don’t think as much as changed since I was in school as one would hope. I recall the rampant bullying. I was given a wedgy, put in a sleeper hold till I nearly blacked out, and worse of all laughed at by my peers on numerous occasions. On the other hand, I laughed at others, and even pushed a boy into the bushes once in 7th grade. Much of the verbal abuse was done in the presence of teachers. In some instances, I witnessed teachers participating and encouraging the abuse. And don’t kid yourself, it IS abuse.

So why are we surprised when someone like Cho snaps? It is bound to happen. With as much bullying and picking that goes on in schools, there are gonna be people who seek retribution. There will be sociopaths born from the abuse endured by so many.

I am not justifying the behavior of Cho or any who came before him. What he did was terribly wrong. I am simply shedding light on a cruel undercurrent in our society that contributes to cultivating the dementia of these individuals. I am putting forward that bullying is wrong and cruel and needs to be strongly discouraged in schools.”

i wrote:
speaking of hitlar, his birthday was on the 20th. in response to your entry, i definitely believe that there is a heavy societal and community responsibility in preventing these types of behaviors. the behavior is the symptom of the problem. this isnt to forgo any culpability of the individual’s inhumane violence. it is clear that this final externalization of his serious pyschiatric trauma and illness was not the first time he had revealed himself in the public eye as troubled. His disturbing prior writings and behavior were overt (however crude) attempts for attention and help.
a simple parallel is to a child that wants something but his parents remain oblivious. the child will then begin acting out, often misbehaving, in order to achieve his desire. if his caregivers remain oblivious, the child will continue acting out in escalating extremes. this child’s caregivers are his known universe and community. They are responsible to address more than just his basic physical needs. For his overall present and future wellbeing, his psyche must be nurtured just as often.
It is apparent our country is both too apathetic and selfish to act as surrogate “caregivers” to their community. Sadly, it is equally apparent that looking out for the needs of others perpetuates our society’s sustenance. It fortifes its walls and protects those inside. While opportunity passes over somnolent witnesses, our ambivalence slowly ferments into a bitter cup of cultural demise.

NEWSFLASH IN MY NEURONS

What first appeared to me as a great way to incorporate art into the lives of anyone and everyone has just self destructed. A whole new class system borne out of keys. Lots of new ways to discriminate against the less fortunate! Who owns the platinum key, is it an original or a copy? Ninja-esque key thieves on the loose; if they steal your key youll never get into your house or car again unless you can kidnap the artist or you know someone with a counterfeiting key maker. Carry a copy on you –keep your original in the safety deposit box. Have a special artist make a special key for your safety deposit box and make a copy so you can put the original in a hole at the end of the earth next to a unicorn or no! wait! keep it in a buried unmarked chest in your neighbors yard!?*!
Whew. I think this time I’m sticking with the status quo and waiting for a better plan.

now back to the bullshit of the art world. i’ve realized my degree is worthless. no one wants to employ artists. they want artists to be assimlated so they can work for a company barely using their skills and zero creativity. they dont want our brilliance, they want our photoshop skills. fuck that shit. i was tricked! i am an artist it is what i do i am inspired and i create. there’s no way of changing me into a drone. it cannot be undone. i am capable of giving the world a revolution i have been trained formally; i spent 5 years in a private art institution which now looks like it was just a fantasyland place for artists to go and spend some time with others like themselves. then they graduate and realize what i have. the world doesnt have a place for us. we’re outcasts. we’re too eccentric or inventive or creative. no body wants that and if they do give them my contact info.
so we work other jobs to pay the bills and watch our beautiful gifts taper away and become of less importance. it is a tragedy! i want to pull out my camera and create but then i realize that nobody is going to want to buy what i make or even give two shits about my masterpiece. i want to create and i want to have that ability. i loathe that i am not free to work on anything at any given time.

i forsee anger followed by depression followed by complacency.

i will continue to create when i can. i want to i need to it is who i am. creative manifestation is what gives my soul satisfaction. so i will continue on and on and probably with no purpose. no one will buy it no one will care because it does not serve the practical/money making world. still, i will work on even if just to satisfy my creative itch. even if that means my work will only serve me.

D-Span goes to all the same places that the other networks do and brings back roughly the same stuff, only even less insightful and far, far less timely.