The copy cat age

With all the mass shootings we've been having, this weekend in Texas again and I just saw on the news another attempted mass shooting in Iowa Monday UPDATE: 15-year-old charged with attempted murder in shooting , how much of social media is really to blame for the direction our country, even our world is going in?
I'm 32 and lived through unfortunate events like Columbine, Oklahoma City and such, but at the rate this has been happening, seemingly every day, there has to be a common catalyst for all of this, because honestly how can any of us feel completely safe just walking in stores now?

Just curious what everyone's thoughts are.

That and the incessant media coverage when they do happen. I don’t even watch the ****ing news. In my eyes large media outlets have become nothing more than smut peddling National Enquirer types now.

Unless it’s divisive or shock worthy, they put it on the ticker where no one will see it.

Lots of things contributing to the state of society, imho:

1) Media coverage. The people who commit mass shootings are attention whores deep down inside. Stop giving them the attention they crave. If they know they won't get any attention, maybe it will cause them to think twice.
2) The participation trophy generation, and a lack of coping skills. No, not everyone is a winner. Learn to deal with it; get motivated by it.
3) Social media, and MSM. If it bleeds, it leads, which means people think the sky is falling 24/7, and there's no good left in the world.
4) Mental health has been ignored for too long. Not everyone needs to be on uppers or downers or SRIs, or whatever. But when people are having issues, the solution isn't to tell everyone to just "man up".
5) Instant gratification. Virtually anything can be had with the click of mouse, now. Kids rarely have to work for anything, and don't learn to enjoy the process of working for something.

And that's just for starters.

I do not subscribe to conspiracy theories, but it does seem shockingly convenient that any time some big political bust is about to go down, there's a shooting to divert our attention.

That being said I do agree that media, and especially social media, are to blame.

I also subscribe to the belief that the push for gun free zones and safe places is creating prime targets for these type of events. If shooters knew more people were packing I guarantee they'd think twice, because they'd probably never make it in the door. Granted then these attention whores just shift to bombs or something and the end result is the same... I'm on a rant now, but you get the idea.

BlckBox04 said:

With all the mass shootings we've been having, this weekend in Texas again and I just saw on the news another attempted mass shooting in Iowa Monday UPDATE: 15-year-old charged with attempted murder in shooting , how much of social media is really to blame for the direction our country, even our world is going in?
I'm 32 and lived through unfortunate events like Columbine, Oklahoma City and such, but at the rate this has been happening, seemingly every day, there has to be a common catalyst for all of this, because honestly how can any of us feel completely safe just walking in stores now?

Just curious what everyone's thoughts are.

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Its simple...the common catalyst is guns and the availability of weapons.

See how dumb that sounds? I think @Coiled03 has a pretty good list going. I think social media plays a HUGE role in it. I also think absentee parents are a big problem. It is a lot of work to be "present" in your child's life (ask me how I know). With most households having two working parents to just make ends meet and scrape by, that creates a situation where parents are less involved and know less about their kids. I also think that the divorce rate that puts kids in a situation where they are raised by one parent or split time between both parents in a "rocky" situation lead to a lot of kids falling through the cracks, then they end up becoming adults with issues. One more thing...people are generally close-minded in my opinion, which spawns misunderstanding and hate. FWIW I also think you can be "woke" and close-minded (most people who consider themselves liberal are in fact actually close-minded, which is ironic).

For the life of me I can't wrap my head around why people think that guns are the problem...check that, yes I can. It is the "easy" way out. This problem is so much more complex than guns and anyone who doesn't recognize that is a bloody fool.

jpro said:

For the life of me I can't wrap my head around why people think that guns are the problem...check that, yes I can. It is the "easy" way out. This problem is so much more complex than guns and anyone who doesn't recognize that is a bloody fool.

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I 100% agree with this, people just want somewhere to put the blame and then think they've helped instead of taking REAL actionable steps.

Voltwings said:

I 100% agree with this, people just want somewhere to put the blame and then think they've helped instead of taking REAL actionable steps.

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Exactly. If there was an issue we could isolate as "the problem" I would 100% support tackling "the problem" with everything we have. However, it isn't that simple...not even close!

The media is largely to blame IMO. Guns being used in homicides has been on decline for decades as has violent crime as a whole for the US. Over the last decade+ mass shootings have also been relatively consistent. So while violent crime and crimes involving a gun have declined, mass shootings have stayed the same. Guns are certainly not the problem since the amount of guns available in the US on a per capita basis has also increased during the same period. Maybe it’s video games? Lol no it’s the damn media and the attention they give to these lunatics.

Mass Shootings Aren't Becoming More Common–and Evidence Contradicts Stereotypes about the Shooters | Christopher J. Ferguson

Didn’t need a gun

8 students killed in Chinese elementary school attack

You are safer now than you were 20 years ago. That is a statistical fact. Nearly all of this is on the shoulders of the media.

1. they tell you about every little terrible thing (unless a brown person did it)
2. they tell you about crap in texas when you're thousands of miles away.
3. they tell you that its more frequent even though that is total bullshit
4. they perpetuate false narratives that embolden cowards like antifa and other nihilistic douchebags to do evil.
5. they spawn copy cats because of all of these things
6. they report on the copy cats and act like its an epidemic

its total bullshit. if you want to feel safe carry a weapon and empty half a mag into the chest of whatever piece of garbage decides to harm someone near you.

I agree with a lot of what has been said including social media being a cancer for society.

I also think that people want attention, whether negative or positive, and that leads them to do stupid things.

I also think that the decline in the use of capital punishment allows people to commit terrible crimes with little fear of being executed. When these people are found guilty of mass shootings, they need to be executed within a couple of weeks after the trial is over. Absolutely no appealing all the way to the supreme court.

There were 43 mass shootings in the US between 1998 and 2012. The average victim count is somewhere around 10 victims. That gives us a 0.0000001 chance in a year. That isn't quite right, though, since most attacks are not truly random, but targeted, which decreases the probability of being a victim drastically if you don't meet the criteria. One common criterion is that you spend most of your time in a Gun Free Zone, which most people do not.

You need to be more afraid of being killed in a car accident.

There's always been whacko's in the world and there always will be. Not a whole lot we can do about it until we reopen all of the psych facilities and start institutionalizing these nutjobs again.

U.M.

Uncle Meat said:

There's always been whacko's in the world and there always will be. Not a whole lot we can do about it until we reopen all of the psych facilities and start institutionalizing these nutjobs again.

U.M.

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they aren't crazy. they are evil. they need to be put down. you don't keep dogs around after they attack someone.

Kids suffer from the Napoleon Complex when they learn the truths about life. When they find out, first hand, others are prettier, smarter, better at something, richer, etc.., they don't know how to take it besides acting out.

SolarYellow said:

Kids suffer from the Napoleon Complex when they learn the truths about life. When they find out, first hand, others are prettier, smarter, better at something, richer, etc.., they don't know how to take it besides acting out.

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That, and the instant notoriety they usually get (dead or alive) after a mass shooting...through social media and the MSM. Notoriety that some crave. A nobody becomes a "somebody".

Here is what I see as why we see this happening.

1. Blame- blame has shifted from the person to the tool.

2. Social Media- kind of goes to a blame thing and fame. Social Media looks for a why and it makes a person famous.

3. Society- we have put too much of an emphasis on fame. Look at all these “Social Media Influencers” that want fame and cannot or refuse to work a real job or career.

4. Politics- politics is money not progress. Politicians know they can stay in power and make more money in hope and promises and division.


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personally, i think it all started with participation trophies.

when one of my children invariably receives something like that I will unabashedly explain to them that it is a shameful monument intended to mock them not for losing but for being so bad at losing that they got a trophy for it.

the everyone being equal stuff and not learning at a young age you can't always get what you want in life is also a definite major contributing factor I think.

Agree with kids growing up these days not having to work for anything. I worked the summer after sophomore year in high school and earned enough to by my first car. Had to give up my summer but the accomplishment was good. That rarely happens these days. Know someone who bought his son a mustang that he promptly went out and totaled. So what’s he do? Buys him another GT mustang. On top of paying for his college this kid has no idea what goes on in the real world. Hopefully he was raised right and it turns out okay but a lot of time these kids expect everything to be given to them. Sorry Charlie real world is not like that.

HillbillyHotRod said:

Agree with kids growing up these days not having to work for anything. I worked the summer after sophomore year in high school and earned enough to by my first car. Had to give up my summer but the accomplishment was good. That rarely happens these days. Know someone who bought his son a mustang that he promptly went out and totaled. So what’s he do? Buys him another GT mustang. On top of paying for his college this kid has no idea what goes on in the real world. Hopefully he was raised right and it turns out okay but a lot of time these kids expect everything to be given to them. Sorry Charlie real world is not like that.

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I live in a pretty wealthy area and if I had a penny for how many times I've seen 17,18,19 yr old kids driving around in brand new BMW's, Range Rovers, Mercedes I would be able to retire a significantly rich man.