Evil Geniuses in a Nutshell

Alright, alright - I was about to go to bed and then I watched CTV's news at eleven and had to write. Because I hate news anchors and this is a perfect illustration of why.

The guy who shot up Dawson College apparently dressed in a gothic fashion, was a member of vampirefreaks.com (I know a few members there) and such. The wonderful people on television show this on TV just like the case where the young girl and her much much older boyfriend killed the girls family out west (there was also the involvement of the same site - vampirefreaks.com). Now, I have an issue with the way the media is portraying this, because they are talking about this being a cause or a symptom of somebody who is inherently unstable and possibly violent.

Now I know a number of people who would describe themselves as goth, I know a few members of that website as I mentioned and I know a number of other people who dress in that general fashion but won't define themselves as goth (even if others do - I fit into that last catagory if we're grouping). How many of these people are actually likely to go on such a killing spree? I can't say for sure, but I know for a fact that the majority of them won't. The majority of them are people who aren't really violent on the murder-spree level (though in bed, its a different story ;)) and they share similar interest in clothing, activities and such. The media misshapes this story into a commentary against such people (intentionally or not) and you wonder why they're not so accepted by most people? If you listen to the news story further, you see that he doesn't like people discriminating based on clothing or such and so people who say things like 'well hes a goth and they're violent' are PERPETUATING the real cause of the problem. The media, in general I would argue, promotes this idea of a right 'style' that people should fit into which is another problem that leads to things like this happening - a person who is shut out of society, with few friends who grows dissatisfied with the number of people who look down on him because he likes black so much - eventually he can't take it and he snaps. If you want to stop things like this from happening, you would actually take steps to promote acceptance of all kinds of cultures and such. But regardless, my message is that just because a few people in black who are on Goth websites shoot and kill people, doesn't mean everyone who wears blacks and frequents such websites is likely to shoot and kill people. I know a guy at school, his name is Logan (some of you know who I'm talking about I'm sure) - he wears long black trench coats, makes chainmail, is on vampirefreaks and has a skull on his belt. Would he kill someone? No. He's as harmless as fly and actually a really decent guy. Heck, I get weird looks and I'm incapable of hurting someone even if I wanted to lol.

This tragedy comes with an important lesson - and if we don't learn from the lesson, then there is no upside to the tragedy - and I'd hate to say that there's an upside to a tragedy, because people lost their lives, but we need to consider the motives behind such an act and what it means about society and how can we prevent this from happening. Why he did it is fairly clear in my mind from his journal and such - an extreme dissatisfaction with society and people in general, he had lost all faith in any person is my guess. What does this mean about society? If society can create such a person, then we need to identify how they fell through the cracks - how did we abandon a person - and how can we fix that.

Harper talked about gun control and said that this shows gun control laws don't work. No matter the laws you put in place, people are going to get guns. People can fake being stable while getting the guns, they can lose the stability they had after getting a gun and as long as you control it, there will be a black market in it anyways. The question we should be answering, if we're a society that works as a society should and actually cares for the people in it, is how can we prevent a person from growing so dissatisfied with society that he feels the need to take his own life and the lives of others with him.

And finally, if you agree with this person that a glorious end in a hail of bullets is the way to go... think about it this way. No one is going to remember this message. They won't listen to me and they won't listen to him because he did something that people cannot justify - they will therefore label him evil and possibly insane and therefore his ideas cannot be correct. And therefore, shooting yourself is not the way to go. If you want to make your mark on society, killing is no longer the way to do it. Perhaps we've become desensitized enough to killing that a martyr is just one more face to us. I don't know how you can have an effect or even if its possible to affect society, but I know that killing is not the way.

One more item - they're also trying to pin it on video games and journals in general. I say fuck off. I play violent video games, but I understand that they are a game. Violent video games kill people no more than guns do. As for journals - they were saying things like 'well why didnt anyone pick up on this guys journal that was obviously distressed and going to go on a murder spree'. In retrospect, it looks fairly obvious. But people rant in their journals all the time - some while drunk, some in a high state of emotion and some people just need to let it all out without really meaning it all. Heck I've said some bad things about killing Stephen Harper, but I'd never actually do it. I have better ways and more lasting ways to make my point - plus I don't think I'd enjoy jail lol. On occasion, they really do mean it but don't wonder why people didn't say anything. Most people dismiss it as a rant of someone who isn't serious - and perhaps thats more of a problem, perhaps he didn't felt as though people took his concerns about the world seriously.

Anyways, I'm exhausted on that. My heart, good wishes and thoughts go to the families of those affected by this and the students of Dawson College.

Time for bed - good night and comment if you wish :)