What Is Wrong With Us?

A sociologists perspective on gun violence from Common Dreams.
I think his points are valid as in the american culture of viewing violence
as entertainment. Another amoral and sick industry to make money.

What do I propose? Well, let's start with the idea proposed by Hannah Arendt at the beginning of her book "The Human Condition" in which she wrote: "What I propose therefore is very simple: it is nothing more than to think about what we are doing."

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/07/05/what-wrong-us

Share
up
11 users have voted.

Comments

QMS's picture

all you have to do is compare most European television shows about cops and law enforcement to American ones. The foreign shows can go a whole season without even one scene of blood and gore, while the shows made in the USA will contain several scenes of violence and a whole armory of weapons in a single episode.

From the same article. Makes one wonder if the social manipulators here are creating an atmosphere of acceptable violence for some nefarious purposes. Tolerance for war death and destruction? Numbing the societal psyche?

Hang on to your moral compass.

up
13 users have voted.

question everything

usefewersyllables's picture

@QMS

right on the head. We are very definitely being conditioned to accept eternal war, eternal and escalating random acts of violence, dwindling supplies of the necessities of life, and a willingness to just mutely stumble along and say, 'Well, there's nothing to be done about it anyway".

I wouldn't be at all surprised if dark-suited people from the alphabet agencies show up at production meetings with quotas of gore, and the tacit message of "Nice little TV show you have here. It'd be a shame if anything happened to it...". Wag the dog, baby. Wag the dog...

up
12 users have voted.

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

Lookout's picture

and sadly I don't see it improving.

Video games might be playing a role as well as TV. Seems most are about "eliminating" enemies.

Conflict rather than cooperation is the US modus operandi from capitalism to war. Glad I can hide in the holler.

up
8 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

snoopydawg's picture

Kids and teenagers have been drugged with powerful drugs that once weren’t allowed to be prescribed to them. Drugs for kids who have ADD, ADHD and other ‘behavioral' problems are semi new. The 2 Columbine shooters were on drugs like Prozac and possibly some anti psychotic ones as well.

The Evidence for Antidepressants Causing Mass Shootings

Prior to the Covid vaccinations, psychiatric medications were the mass prescribed medication that had the worst risk to benefit ratio on the market. In addition to rarely providing benefit to patients, there are a wide range of severe complications that commonly result from psychiatric medications. Likewise, I and many colleagues believe the widespread adoption of psychotropic drugs has distorted the cognition of the demographic of the country which frequently utilizes them (which to some extent stratifies by political orientation) and has created a wide range of detrimental shifts in our society.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have a similar primary mechanism of action to cocaine. SSRIs blocks the reuptake of Serotonin, SNRIs, also commonly prescribed block the reuptake of Serotonin and Norepinephrine (henceforth “SSRI refers to both SSRI and SNRI), and Cocaine blocks the reuptake of Serotonin, Norepinephrine and Dopamine. SSRIs (and SNRIs) were originally used as anti-depressants, then gradually had their use marketed into other areas and along the way have amassed a massive body count.

Once the first SSRI entered the market in 1988, Prozac quickly distinguished itself as a particularly dangerous medications and after nine years, the FDA received 39,000 adverse event reports for Prozac, a number far greater than for any other drug. This included hundreds of suicides, atrocious violent crimes, hostility and aggression, psychosis, confusion, distorted thinking, convulsions, amnesia and sexual dysfunction (longterm or permanent sexual dysfunction is one of the most commonly reported side effects from anti-depressants, which is ironic given that the medication is supposed to make you less, not more depressed).

SSRI homicides are common, and a website exists that has compiled thousands upon thousands of documented occurrences.

There are many serious issues with psychiatric medications. For brevity, this article will exclusively focus on their tendency to cause horrific violent crimes. This was known long before they entered the market by both the drug companies and the FDA. While, there is a large amount of evidence for this correlation, it is the one topic that is never up for debate when a mass shooting occurs.

I was prescribed Prozac after talking to a doctor for 30 minutes and was thrown into a manic state within a week with fun thoughts of suicidal ideation. Just out of the blue I’d think of killing myself. Not fun. I don’t remember if I had anger issues because of the drug but I was already having them because of a head injury. 20 years ago I had to see a psychiatrist in a pain management group and after meeting me for the first time after 15 minutes he decided I needed an anti psychotic drug that had just been released. Yeah I had no plans on subjecting myself to that again so after a week I called and said the side effects were too much. Neither doctor was aware of the head injury that might have caused me to react badly to both drugs.

How many kids are being put on these dangerous drugs without proper investigation into what is causing their problems? Many kids would do better with talk therapy instead of being drugged and destroyed. Read any information about drugs in the PDR and it says that how they work isn’t known. I agree with that.

Alex Berensen says the Chicago shooter was on THC and he thinks that causes psychosis. His substack is full of essays on it. I think the verdict is still out, but who knows? But I do wonder what could cause someone to decide to commit mass murder? Especially on the scale that it mostly only happens in America. I think our lack of social support plays into it which we can thank our government whores for not giving it to us.

ETA

Central to the case were SmithKline Beecham internal documents showing the company was aware that a small number of people could become agitated or violent from Paxil. Despite this knowledge, paroxetine packaging deliberately did not include a warning about suicide, violence or aggression.

The internal documents, stamped “confidential,” list the results of tests involving more than 2,000 healthy volunteers taking either Paxil or placebo. Some volunteers experienced anxiety, nightmares, hallucinations and other side effects – definitely caused by the drug – within two days of taking it. Two volunteers attempted suicide after 11 and 18 days, respectively…Ten years after the verdict, GSK still denies that Paxil can cause people to commit homicide and suicide and that there are withdrawal problems.”

After reading more of the article I came to the conclusion that these drugs are knowingly given to us without any warnings of the extreme reactions because they don’t care if we do kill each other. The adverse effects were known before they were approved and are known now, but still allowed to be given to us. Not sure why we have a government agency that is supposed to protect us unless it’s just so that dangerous products can be put on the market. It’s like how many people could have been saved during Covid if we all had quality medical insurance?

up
9 users have voted.
Cassiodorus's picture

how would America create violent police forces? You know, like those who took down the Occupy movement.

up
7 users have voted.

The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.

The Liberal Moonbat's picture

I noticed The Onion was doing one of its now-customary reactions to another mass-shooting.

As for the rest of you: I'm sorry to tell you this, but you seriously all sound like a bunch of old farts Fathers Against Rude Television Tipper Gore-impersonators.

Violence on TV!
VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES!!!

Hi, your cuddly little Moonbat here; have I told you about my hobbies?

up
2 users have voted.

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

usefewersyllables's picture

@The Liberal Moonbat

America is a Gun, by Brian Bilston

And yes, I am in fact an old fart, and furthermore I am one who is uninterested in being annihiliated for someone else's carefully cultivated and/or trained pleasure. You mileage may vary, though.

up
6 users have voted.

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

QMS's picture

@usefewersyllables

of what various countries represent.
Thanks for that.

I think I shall never see
another country so obsessed
with guns as much as we.

up
6 users have voted.

question everything