Our culture is an angry and violent one. Why? What is wrong within our society that entitles others to commit acts of violence? Why is our culture so angry? It isn't as though anger and violence is new to our society; maybe it's the proliferation of media broadcasts that makes it 'in our faces' each time it happens.
In eighth grade, a friend of mine was shot and killed at Deer Creek Junior High. It was a senseless act; a boy with a gun pointing at another boy, and then pulling the trigger, shooting him. I didn't understand why my friend had to die or why the other boy shot him.
Over the past 30 years, mass shootings have occurred around the world. These particular shootings didn't occur during war; they have occurred in malls, restaurants, schools, camps, post offices, workplaces, and theatres. Innocent lives are senselessly taken by someone with an agenda. The most frequent targets, at least in my opinion, seem to be children. Again, why? Because they are innocent? I struggle to make sense of these random acts of violence.
It stems, I think, from some deeply rooted anger, and it seeps into our daily lives. How many drivers suffer from the indignity of the "bird"? Many seem to take their aggression with them into their vehicles and tailgate or commit acts of road rage: cutting off other drivers, driving too fast for road conditions, slamming on brakes. Why the anger? Yes, people make mistakes, but do those mistakes warrant the violence demonstrated on our roads?
We are angry at the grocery store when lines move too slowly; we grow angry quickly with clerks in stores who don't help us quickly enough or who don't know the answers to our questions. We are impatient and angry with people who aren't walking fast enough, so we have to huff and puff our way around them, letting them know they inconvenienced us.
Does it seem like we've lost the ability to deal with others positively? It seems so to me. We don't know how to handle conflict, so we escalate it to violent levels. Violence, it appears, is the answer to all our problems. Don't like how someone looks at you? Call them a name and flip them off. Someone cuts you off in traffic? Pull out a gun and point it at them.
We watch cartoons, movies, and television shows filled with violence. We play video games filled with violence. We read comics filled with violence. Some of the most popular authors are authors who use violence in their books. We are a violent culture.
Now, what are we doing to do about it?
