When a family man in his 50s crashes his plane into an Austin building, we read his suicide note, label it a "rant" and determine he was crazy so that we can quickly move on to watching our reality shows or tune in to the latest concerning Tiger Woods.When a professor shoots her colleagues, the media digs into her past and finds examples of behaviors that quickly and neatly explain why she did what she did this week at an Alabama university. Most folks conclude she must be crazy. The television news wraps up the story in 60 seconds and we switch over to the Jersey Shore to see what the "Situation" is up to. Talk about crazy.
We don't like to think about tragedies like these too much. We just want a tidy explanation to soothe our uneasiness. Simple labels and resolving sound bites on the evening news or home page to alleviate worries that the world might be going to hell. We want to be assured that these are just isolated incidents and not some affliction that is spreading throughout humankind like a virus.
Then there are the more common disturbances we witness and quickly classify before moving on to the next thing. Watch this video news report about a fight that occurred at a Chuck E. Cheese near Memphis. At first, it seems like a Saturday Night Live skit. Here's a sound bite: Stupid people do stupid things. Of course, the reasons behind this incident and the ignorance displayed during the interview, aren't as simple as that.
Let's face it, we're not a shining example of an enlightened species.
The universe probably looks down on us with a degree of disappointment. We run around brawling over parking spaces and shooting everything that moves, including some of the most beautiful creatures on Earth. We kick older people to the curb, like their wisdom or values can't possibly benefit us. We abuse drugs, alcohol and anything else that makes us feel good for a few moments. And the crazies get into fights at Chuck E. Cheese.
We were put on this planet for a reason. I don't know what the specific reason is, but I am guessing it has something to do with evolving to a higher state of consciousness. I think we're built with the potential to be more aware -- aware that tigers are nearly extinct, that education matters, that holding a door for an old lady is still a good thing -- so that we can move forward in our collective development. Are we living up to that potential or just becoming more crazy?
Anyone with an opinion about anything beyond the flavor of the day runs the risk of sounding like someone getting ready to fuel up the old Piper Cub. I guess I should be more careful not to "rant" about society's ills, even during a week where it seems rather obvious to me that there are growing stress fractures in the foundation of our society.
I completely agree with your conclusion, but I'm not so sure about how you got to it. By the way, the line "growing stress fractures in the foundation of our society" is brilliantly put.
ReplyDeleteCrazy people have always been with us and always will be. A relatively small and unchanging percentage of us came equipped with bad wiring.
I think two things are simultaneously at play here.
1. Society is indeed suffering stress fractures that are causing crazy people to do things they wouldn't if things weren't beginning to wobble. In a healthy society, the guy who kamikazied into the IRS office in Austin would have been subject to checks and balances that would have prevented his action. He'd still be crazy, but he wouldn't be dead.
2. Improved technology and access to information has made crazy people capable of doing more harm.
Just a theory.
Maybe it's the shifting of the planet's magnetic fields or microwaves blasting our brain cells with all these new inventions. Too many people living near too many cellphone towers? Or maybe it's just the global economic woes adding pressure to the cooker. Bad parenting? Too much junk food? Chemicals in the drinking water?
ReplyDeleteWhat's changed in the last decade or so?
I do feel a profound shift lately, and I guess my point is that we live in a culture of immediacy that maybe isn't the healthiest thing. We want answers now, and we don't want to dig too deeply beyond the surface explanations...he's crazy, she's crazy, etc. So maybe the answers we are given aren't really getting at the root causes of why people are snapping. We don't seem to follow up. Look at the Virginia Tech shootings. Absolutely no follow-up that would have prevented that tragedy. The underwear bomber...again, no followup or follow through. We just sort slap labels on people, and send them on their way. Then they explode.
Yeah, there are some badly wired people, but what's pushing them over the edge in such a manner that they now fly planes into buildings and shoot up campuses...and on smaller scales, fight to the death over who was first in line and then post the brawl on YouTube.
Strange times that are likely to get stranger until we can figure out what the heck is going on.