I'll happily add in consumerism to the mix and agree with you 50. But aren't any of you at all concerned, in the least, with some of the other things I have mentioned?
Y'all think our overly sexualized and violent media culture has no part in this? That our cyber-life isn't a factor?
You always have bullies. There will always be socially awkward people. We've had access to guns throughout our history.
Today we are consumed with things, sex, violence, getting what we want when we want it. We ply dangerous prescription drugs like they are candy and we live lives within an a cyber-virtual-reality world that is very different than the one I grew up in. These are the things that I see that are different than days gone past.
And all that coupled with sinful hearts is a toxic mix.
I agree that there's a difference between feeling good mentally and living well and that while the drug therapy may (let me stress may) bring some things into balance internally, there still needs to be some kind of talk therapy (and that doesn't necessarily have to take the form of meeting with a psychologist) to bring behaviors into balance (which doesn't necessarily mean conforming to strict societal norms).
Bedell, I agree that the rampant consumerism and global marketplace for items has served to divide and isolate a lot of people, both children and adults. Add to that the stylized sex and violence delivered through the entertainment industry, which I think does contribute to the warped responses we often see in these types of instances.
As for your earlier question about the growing popularity of handguns, I have no concrete idea. I've never owned one and never wanted to own one. Among the furthest things from my mind. I don't begrudge gun owners their rights and I while I think there is a need to have an on-going discussion about gun policy, I don't know if that debate is served well by incidents like this one because everyone runs to their corner and shouts to the breezes. I think much of the popularity comes from another one of the media's pet drumbeat messages, which is "you are not safe." To me (and this will probably rankle some), it's almost like gun ownership is a psychotropic drug of a different sort in that it makes one "feel better" about their current situation. It may not solve anything, but it likely brings some sense of security to many.
And gun owners, please don't take that as a criticism of your gun ownership. You have a right to feel secure and if this helps and you are a responsible gun owner, I have no problem with that. I will say (and this certainly is not a comment on all gun owners), there are some who continue to arm up because they never feel secure and some of those folks need to sit down with somebody and get to the heart of that issue within themselves.
weso, I work with schools and there's a big push to get more mental health services available to kids. There are a number of impediments, cost being primary, but there's no question something has to be done in this regard.
I've been reading some of the late Robert Nisbet's stuff, which is pretty good. He decried the collapse of community and the intermediary institutions (family, guild, union, church, lodge, etc.) that exist between the individual and the state (and the notion of a unitary culture). I think Nisbet misses the fact that some of this happened due to the continuing emigration from small rural communities to larger suburban and exurban communities that don't have free-standing local economies and cultures and that changes the context dramatically (and the state had little to do with that emigration). I've rambled, but I think as a society, we have yet to fully adjust to the huge change in the culture that has resulted from the emptying out of small town rural America into ever-expanding metropolitan areas. It is very difficult for many to find a place for themselves in the new communities and the global economy and I think that leads to the anomie we see acted out periodically. We may be "happier" in one sense, but less "secure" in a more important sense.
