Anger Shootings - Can we No Longer Control Our Anger?

In a violent, well armed society there is bound to be some collateral damage.



Pray that it's not one of your loved ones!

originally posted by: olaru12

originally posted by: Isurrender73


Our leaders believe arming rebels and killing is a way to solve diplomatic problems. As long as our leadership see murder as a moderate resolution of differences, the citizenry will reflect our leaders.

America has always been a warrior country. We worship and respect violence. Look at our heros, our entertainment, our sports...... And we always settle our differences with violence; even to the extent of invading countries and killing their citizens, that actually posed no threat to us. Is it any wonder that that mindset permeates the culture and society in general? Winning is the only thing that matters.

God help us!

10 years ago, nobody I knew carried a gun...now everyone does. Even me!

"We've got the only national anthem that mentions f***ing rockets and bombs in the goddamn thing!"

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

The inability to appreciate the miracle that is life. Some would not hesitate to put themselves in a life or death situation to save someone they have never met, just because life is so precious, but some have no regard for other lives, nor do they care what happens to others.

This goes way beyond a sickness, it's become a way of life. Maybe it's video games, maybe it's the decades of idiotic wars where soldiers are killed or dismembered regularly. Maybe it's the lack of religious guidance, maybe it's chemtrails. I don't know, but to me, it seems as if this disregard for humanity is getting more "popular".

I doubt any of us can make this change. All we can do it watch, and hope we don't run into someone like that on a bad day.

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

The rot starts at the top. Special interests are constantly lobbying our legislators to force their will on others... under color of law... at the point of a gun wielded by government employees. It's no wonder that some people adopt the same attitude, and just leave out the middle man. Folks can parse it, rationalize it, and justify it any way they want. But it is what it is.

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

Yes, people have been killing people forever, but for accidentally bumping into someone? And having a proper draw-duel is a different animal altogether than pulling a gun on an unsuspecting person, just because you're angry.

It's hard to say how common it was then as opposed to now, but I suspect there's an underlying difference in the reasons and means that they're doing it today.

I don't think so. Duels were probably a bad example in that they weren't necessarily spur of the moment but the point I was trying to make was that for some people feeling slighted was ALWAYS a good enough reason to kill somebody else and most modern societies are far less permissive of this behavior.

Pop culture tends to glorify a capacity for violence, particularly in younger men but is it responsible for violence or is it simply reflecting a reality born of our own biology? I tend to believe that it's the latter. Hell, if I'm being totally honest, while I wouldn't respond to an insult with murder, I'm not above kicking somebody's ass.

originally posted by: Open_Minded Skeptic
1) US culture is steeped in violence. It could be argued that violence is worshiped in this culture. We see it everywhere, both subtly and flagrantly.

Excellent point. Maybe that's why it's hard to find a good movie I like. Many are so violent I refuse to watch them. But I think violence really "feeds" a lot of people's frustrations.

Since anger is a derivative emotion of fear, it's easy to see how frightened people can become crazy-angry at the drop of a hat.
...
And that's not even taking into account the fear being pumped into the culture daily... fear of drugs, cops, Muslims, disease, "immigrants", you name it.

Absolutely! Look behind the anger, and you will find fear. And we have known for centuries how effective fear can be, when controlling a populace.

3) It is my belief that the rise of smart-phones and cameras, pushed to the culture the way they have been, has resulted in a substantial increase in levels of narcissism in the culture. For example examine the "selfie" picture phenomenon. People go to great lengths, and do really stupid things, just to take a picture of themselves doing it, so they can "share" it.

No kidding. It's like if a person has an experience, it's not the experience that they derive pleasure from, but the sharing it (or proving it) to other people that's most important.

Great post!

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

I would caution you to remember that the amount of people who use firearms for crimes is a very small percentage of actual firearm owners. Also, keep in mind that most assaults have nothing to do with firearms, either.

With that said, though, I would question why anyone feels a need to ever resort to offensive violence, gun or no gun.

I have my own theories and concerns, but even so, it doesn't change the fact that we're also humans, and until we have no natural aggression as a species, violent outburst--often for irrational reasons--will continue.

Part of it is our instant-gratification mentality that we've developed. Guns are pretty instant and seen as a "problem solver". They give the person waving it around a sense of power and control in a world where no one feels they have either.

I don't see it so much as an "anger" issue, but rather an issue on how we deal with our anger. People get angry all over the world, anger is a pretty universal emotion.

Guns are all over the world too -- so this isn't strictly an issue of guns.

As I said, I think this is a cultural issue.

Who hasn't heard the words "I want Johnny to feel free to express himself while the runt is screaming in a supermarket.
Then get chastised because of one's lack of tolerance when you act against it.
WELL here we are, Johnny just expressed himself and I expect more in the future.

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

My questions: What is causing people to turn to their firearms when they get angry?

I refer to it as the American gun fetish, the reinforcement of the idea that a gun can solve all your problems. A big part of this is, of course, media coverage of mass shootings and shootings in general. Folks like the Aurora shooter get their moments of fame, their face in the sun. Even those killers who shoot themselves or are gunned down by police are talked about until news reporters are blue in the face. They delve into the personal history, they rebuild a complete psychological profile and in many of these cases they detail how the killer got the weapons they did.

In short they are giving people who are close to the edge a bit of a nudge that you too can take things into your own hands and just shoot a bunch of people if you are angry/depressed/unstable/suicidal. They think they can get glory, have themselves go down in history and commit suicide in the process... all because of the media circus that ensues.

Now in the case of something like a road rage shooting there are any number of factors at play, I'm not going to sit here and say that the gun fetish is the only thing exacerbating the situation. There are a lot of individual situations and it is hard to draw a correlation other than we're dealing with shootings and things would have likely gone a bit differently if the gun wasn't involved.

We live in a country where lethal force is as easy as pulling a trigger and getting a gun is as easy as going to a gun show and buying one. Even in cases of simple home defense people think a GUN, a deadly weapon designed for the sole purpose of killing animals/humans is the BEST OPTION. Some robber breaks in and your first instinct is supposed to be to shoot them? Unfortunately guns have tons and tons of money in marketing and lobbyists but non-lethal options like tasers, rubber bullets, pepper spray, etc are generally downplayed and in many cases are marketed to women for some reason.

For some reason the answer to your problems is always a gun.

Buy a gun.

Always have it ready.

Never know when you're gonna need it.

Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

The government might go rogue. A burglar might break in. Emergencies happen. The other person in a conflict may also be armed. They're cool and fun to collect AND it's your "god given" right.

Add that to a population of over 300 million people all of which feel entitled to own a gun and many of whom do. Many feel compelled to buy because of that same paranoia and fetishistic worship of guns that permeates our society. We don't feel safe, we don't feel secure, and guns are easy to get. And those same feelings occur to the unstable, to those being pushed by society or who are depressed or extremely stressed.

It sounds hippie dippie and stupid but we need a campaign that sends a message that lethal response is not always the answer, violence is rarely the answer. And we also need to stop glorifying these shooters so much on TV, unfortunately such a thing is difficult because we live in the age of information.

Want a gun so you can hunt and feed your family? Sounds perfectly reasonable. Want a gun to defend your home? Still reasonable BUT you have a lot of options on how to protect your family and possessions that don't involve deadly weapons.

Guns are not always the answer and in a nation where some people are over-medicated and some people are under-medicated and plenty of people are unstable even without showing warning signs it is a dangerous thing to have such lax gun laws and a media and powerful gun lobby that glorifies guns and violence as the answer to everything from home defense to what to do on the weekend to de-stress.

a reply to: cavtrooper7

You make a good point. Kids today are raised differently from when I was a kid. I mean, I remember seeing kids throwing temper tantrums in the store and my mom would turn to me and let me know, with a glance, that I will NEVER behave like that. And she was right.

I turned out all right, even though any tantrums I may have wanted to have were suppressed. And Lord knows I can express myself till the cows come home today!

I always make it a point to tell strangers when they have well-behaved children. I think they should be acknowledged for teaching their kids how to behave in public.

a reply to: Titen-Sxull

And for the longest time in this country (historically speaking) guns WERE the answer to just about all problems. They provided food, kept us safe from marauding thieves, helped us win a war of independence and tame the west.

And all of this is just recent memory -- within the past 200 years.

Americans are very much frontiersmen ... but only now without a frontier.

I'd like to see some stats on the perpetrators of these kinds of assaults - race, income, education, geography, prior criminal history, etc.

Some people simply view violence as a justified response. People fight and assault each other all the time over some of the most petty sh*t. Someone's white Jordan's got scuffed. Someone tried to talk to my girl. I didn't like the way you looked at me. The list goes on and on.

Given how frustrating it is being in bumper to bumper traffic can be, it doesn't surprise me when someone who is already mentally and emotionally unstable snaps. This is why you see the occasional assault on an airline. People packed in like sardines and frustration builds.

Normal people learn how to ignore these frustrations and move on. Many people never learn these skills either in life or don't have the mental capacity to do so.

This is a country of 325 million people of varying intelligence levels, races, economic background, religions, cultures, etc. Statistically, you are going to have a few nut jobs do some stupid sh*t. It is just unavoidable. No laws will ever prevent these types of incidents from happening.

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

Same here, well -- I *want* to thank parents for doing an awesome job raising their kids, but I don't. As an adult male the looks you get from mothers when you mention their child is pretty chilling. In my experience its better to ignore women and their children, as strange adult males are seen as a potential threat. And honestly, I don't really blame them for being protective.

a reply to: Iamnotadoctor

Ok so then there'd be anger car crashes, anger stabbings, anger beatings. Enough with the guns are the only reason people kill debate, so old.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom

Part of it is our instant-gratification mentality that we've developed. Guns are pretty instant and seen as a "problem solver". They give the person waving it around a sense of power and control in a world where no one feels they have either.

The sad reality is resorting to that type of violence is a problem creator as your personal woes are just beginning.

I don't see it so much as an "anger" issue, but rather an issue on how we deal with our anger. People get angry all over the world, anger is a pretty universal emotion.

Guns are all over the world too -- so this isn't strictly an issue of guns.

As I said, I think this is a cultural issue.

I agree that it is a cultural issue, part of it is that we see how easy it appears in media that we can solve a problem through violence in foreign relations. But that is not the only problem, I think we are in some ways quite inured to violence we view/participate in other with outlets and activities we take place in as a society.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
In my experience its better to ignore women and their children, as strange adult males are seen as a potential threat.

How anyone could think you are a 'strange' person is beyond me. I just do not see it.

Maybe you should sell your dilapidated, candy-filled van.

Couple that thinned skinned attitude with the entitlement mentality and you have a recipe for disaster.

a reply to: KawRider9


That could very well be part of the problem. Kids growing up today don't know how to take losing with dignity or being able to walk away when things don't go there way. I had to experience the "no loser" "no score keeping" in children's sports when my kids were growing up. I kept telling my wife, they were setting these kids up for failure, because in the real world, you always have winners and losers.

They're still doing it today in the classroom by dumbing down the curriculum to cater to kids who are apathetic to learning. There's always consequences when society thinks they're protecting children, but at the same time ends up doing more harm than good.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Exactly...you were immigrants to a wild land that you wanted to tame and survive in. Now its too late...you can't shut the gate after the horse has bolted so guns will stay

My own view is that most have become totally desensitized to violence and horror over the years since the invention of the multiple forms of media and ease of access thereto. The movie industry in particular are constantly trying to outdo themselves with new gore new horror new acts of violence just to keep the public interested. Bit of a catch 22 situation.

There is another way of looking at it too....it is said that men are becoming "feminised" and feel less macho particularly in the USA where machismo is such a part of culture. I feel certain that swinging a gun around makes some men feel more manly...and quite probably without the back up of a gun they wouldn't do anymore than stick a finger up at situations that they feel provoke them. Its like the bully kid with all his mates..without them behind him he's nothing!

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

I remember when the media was all a buzz about the "Me Generation". I never understood what was desirable about a generation that revolved around selfishness, but people bought into it.

I hated the popular commercials where parents were lying and deceiving their children so they could steal their food or dessert. Yet here we are.

Why are we surprised when we have people programmed that the only thing of importance is them, and their satisfaction? People who are programmed to believe that they come first, that they are the priority, and nothing else matters. People who are so wrapped up in themselves that they actually believe someone wants to receive a picture of them every minute of the day, for the rest of their lives. That they want to know every detail of their day, including, waking, eating and crapping.

Why are we surprised when devices are preferred over human companionship? My mother refuses to go to brunch with my Brother after church on Sundays anymore. She says she sits at the table with my brother, his four boys and his wife, and they all are on their devices watching something or playing a game. She says when she tries to hold a conversation, they are constantly distracted, because they are trying to talk with her and remain connected with their devices.

It is not so much about controlling anger as it is about mutual respect. No one gives a damn about anyone else anymore. It is all about "Me." "Me" is the only one that matters. Anyone that is an annoyance, they have the right to be sacrificed, because "Me's" happiness and satisfaction is the only thing that matters.

Want to see what our society really looks like? Pay attention to what you are consuming, because what you think is just fun and entertainment is shaping your mind and your conscience, as it is planned.