Positive Liberty

If I were given to writing brief, cynical synopses, I might write something like the following…

Day One.

“This is why we need stronger gun control laws.”

“This is why we need weaker gun control laws.”

“The two of you have it all wrong. I’m going to take the moral high ground and condemn you for even thinking about gun control at a time like this.”

Day Two.

“Aha! He was a Muslim! Figures that the MSM would cover it up.”

“Aha! He was a lit student! They’re so hateful, those literature types. And besides, he was a pretty lousy Muslim, even by the fundies’ standards.”

“Well maybe. But he was a pretty lousy lit student, too.”

“Point taken.”

Day Three.

“He played violent video games.”

“Why, so he did!”

“I do believe we’ve found an appropriate object for the blame game that must necessarily follow any inexplicable tragedy.”

“Indeed. I’m so very glad we’ve found something we can all agree to hate and fear together.”

“Yes, it’s splendid. Let’s pass some new laws immediately.”

“And then pat each other on the back?”

“And then pat each other on the back.”

“Gosh, I’m feeling better already.”

Lets take things day by day.

Day One: Our usual moral high ground — that of cold, ironic detachment — has been poisoned. The best advice in situations like these? Get over yourselves.

I did not lose anyone close to me, so while I certainly feel shocked and horrified by the events at Virginia Tech, I am not incapacitated by my grief, and I think it’s silly to play more-grieving-than-thou. The people who heroically resisted the killer didn’t fret about whether they showed an appropriate level of grief. They got down to business and did what they could do, even in horrific circumstances.

Day Two: To my mind, this is the most promising lead on the bizarre tag “Ismail Ax” written on the killer’s arm: Its origin appears to have been Korean, not Muslim (though the just-revealed NBC documents may tell us a good deal more).

Yes, it would be perverse if the guy was a Muslim militant, and if someone knew yet declined to report this fact. The jury’s still out though, and it’s a bad idea to rush to conclusions. Keep in mind that as I write this, it’s still only Day Three, which means a lot of facts are still to be determined. Which brings me to….

Day Three: For those of you attracted to Dr. Phil’s video-game-killer thesis, consider this post by the indispensable Radley Balko, who notes that school violence has actually declined as violent video games grew more realistic and more popular. Catharsis, not conditioning, seems to be the operant model.

As I have written repeatedly on this blog, the greatest challenge of modern times may just be how to react sanely to the wide varieties of risk presented by modern technologies, particularly those of social organization: To react in a way that mitigates risk while preserving liberty, spontaneity, and humanity — this is the great challenge, of which spree killers are only a particularly gruesome subset. The urge is always to ban, unconditionally — yet so often this is the very worst strategic response to risk.

Meanwhile, if you want some good sane thinking about spree killers in general, see this post by Zach Wendling, which does much to clarify matters regarding risk, liberty, and individuality. It may well be the best piece of writing I have seen in response to the massacre.

Lastly, and as usual, Spiked also has a sensible commentary, this time by Frank Furedi:

Some commentators have even demanded greater vigilance against ‘loners’. The idea that somehow people who don’t fit in should be placed under surveillance and treated as potential psychopaths speaks volumes about the illiberal temper of our times.

A mature society can accept the fact that, occasionally, human beings do very destructive things; a confident society does not have to search for special meaning in every act of human degradation. We will never really know why he did it. However, what we can do is talk to each other a little more, look out for each other, and not turn away when someone is hurting.

As an unrepentant loner, though not nearly a sociopathic one, I can testify that Furedi’s prescription at least won’t do any harm. Know someone who is lonely? Talk to them. And listen to them. And heal.