A PERSONAL VIEW ON THE VIRGINIA TECH MASSACRE
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistFeel free to disagree with me on this issue.
After all, this is a free country and we pretty much have our own base opinions.
However, to blame the gunman for the massacre is like blaming the sun for releasing too many solar flares at once--and disrupting our global communications network in the process.
To put things bluntly, we are to blame for the gunman's actions, as much as we were to blame for the teen killers of Columbine.
Think I'm being too lenient on them? No. They did what they did because they felt trapped, had no way out of their current predicament, and saw society as being to uncaring, unforgiving, and inflexible with themselves and their compassion.
Society in itself is the root problem to what ails the world today. We are simply caught up in an endless miasma of sex, violence, drugs, and rock n' roll--to even be able to address the root problems which afflict today's generation of teenagers and younger adults.
So what do we do? We habitually shut them out and lock them away.
"Let someone else deal with the problem!"--is our classic response as a society.
In fact, one letter to my local paper suggested just that: "In order to deal with the problem, we first have to eliminate the danger. So locking them up before they start problems is the best way to go about doing it."
No one wants to deal with this. Just like politicians don't want to have to deal with global warming, gay marriage, universal healthcare, or any other hot-button issue.
Because as a
society, we are too ill-equipped to handle our own problems; though oddly enough, we are seemingly content in dealing with other
nations--but not our own.
So who gets shoved out of the way? People like Cho and me.
Cho was never a killer by design. His record proved that. The only reason why he lashed out in such a manner is because he truly believed that was his only way out. No one would listen to him, no one would pay
attention to him, no one embraced him and asked him what was wrong. In fact, many people shunned him, and laughed at him. And that--in itself--is inherently dangerous and morally unjust.
As a nation, we should feel compassion and humility towards our fellow man. But we rarely do. In fact, we go out of our
way to disparage others, put them down into the ground, and literally make them feel worthless--only because we ourselves are even worth
less in our own minds--than we are in the eyes of other people.
So Cho acted in the way he did. I'm certain he didn't grow up just so he could
kill people. But his actions clearly point to the fact that he was crying out for help, and no one bothered to lift a finger to help him get through this pain he must've been feeling.
Kids these days aren't killers. The guns they buy doesn't make them so. But society is a paranoid and inflexible entity. We only view what we see things as, and label them as such.
So right now, people are saying how much they hate Cho, how much they think of him in such arcane ways, while blubbering for the loss of 32 students.
Truthfully, we could've avoided this had we a better understanding of the young man himself, or the silent triggers which became his ultimate calling card. But we don't.
Kids don't make videos just so they can be on the 'net. They make them to call to witness a
statement of their own personal lives, or the pain they feel growing up. Or some problem they can't deal with on their own because they lack the experience and personal understanding of the ordeals which they face on a daily basis.
So they lash out because--as a society--that's what we expect them to. And then we go right back and punish them for it.
Why?
Because we are
parents of those trouble-making little varmits, and we expect them to fall in line like little ducks in a row. But even as adults, we have long since failed to understand our own children's inner demons and what drives them to drink on many occasions.
Cho's problems were more social and peer issues. And no matter how often he tried to champion his problems the best he could, he simply had no one to fall back on--to unload his problems with.
And when he couldn't, he turned his focus to his writings. It was his only outlet. But yet again, no one could really understand what he was trying to communicate to the outside world--because he was shunned and ridiculed.
That made his problems even worse--and magnified--Cho began to see the world for what it was: Uncaring, inflexible, and cold--because of a few incidents.
He was left traumatized and badly hurt by what went on. And no matter what he tried to do, he could not effectively deal with it.
So he thought the only way he could solve his problems--as he saw them--was teach society a lesson in pain and suffering (as he saw it), and make them realize their own fallacies in dealing with horror and tragedy.
In many ways, these type of school shootings illustrate why we still won't confront and deal with the problems facing our kids. We can always go on and cry out: "Why? Why did this happen?", demand action from our respective governments, but in the end, we will always push away those troubled youths and teens, because we don't have the
capacity to effectively solve their problems.
Let alone our own in society's fragile makeup.
For me, this tragedy, Columbine, and so many other school shootings always opened up a painful wound in myself.
I grew up in a troubled childhood. And like Cho and so many others, I was also shunned and ridiculed by my peers, and sometimes by adults who swore they would help me.
It went on and on, because no one understand the problems I was going through. The struggles which I faced, and the giant obstacles which I had to overcome. I felt on one level--I was going through this alone. I had no one to rely on.
The pressure only mounted, and I was becoming desperate for a way out. I started acting out, treating everything like it was big fucking joke--because I was lost. I had no hope. No future. (As I saw it.)
At one point in my young life (about 14 or 15--I can't say which), I wanted out of this miserable existence. I wanted to kill myself.
And so I went about trying to find ways to go about doing this. For the next two weeks or so, I was looking into methods upon which to end my own life. I debated silently for hours as to what would happen if I did manage to successfully take my life and what the results would be.
Would people pity me or blame me for my own actions--like they are blaming Cho?
Back then, they probably would--as society is blind to the inner wars in which we all carry within ourselves.
But little by little, something inside me started fighting back--telling me that this isn't what I wanted to do with my life. That there had to be another way. All I had to do was find it, and embrace.
I still wanted to kill myself. Buy a gun, shoot myself, do whatever it took to end the pain and suffering I felt as a troubled teen. I even thought about killing other people because I thought it was the only way they could experience the same level of strife I was currently feeling then.
And if you're reading this, then you would understand the words upon which I type: That this is how I was
feeling, and still felt--even though it's been almost 21 years since that time so long ago.
The pain and anguish I felt then still resonates within me now. And it won't go away because I've kept it bottled up for so long. I've managed to overcome my problems only because I found another way out--which would help me deal with my own personal demons.
Committing suicide wasn't the answer for me. And as much as it pains me to share this with people I don't know, maybe sharing it will give people a better understanding as to why people like Cho did what they did.
We're not monsters. We're not killers. We're not murderers by choice or design. We're just people. Teenagers and young adults who need help, but aren't getting it.
It took me a long assed time to finally come out of the fog which I had sunk myself into. It took me 6 weeks to stop thinking about suicide and start focusing on what I had to be thankful for.
I wasn't on medication yet, but I knew that my personal battle had to be fought in other ways, and I needed to find it. But eventually, I won because I didn't give up on myself.
I didn't care if the whole world was against me. I only knew that focusing on
me would help give me the needed strength to see myself through my darkest hours.
I don't blame my past self for doing what I did or thought about doing. But society needs to do more than just locking people up and throwing away the key--when confronted with people like me or Cho.
The media can have its own show circus if it wants to get ratings, but the problems will still persist at a social level. And we need to start dealing with them as a community--not just as individuals.
And though we can call for stricter gun laws and start blaming everyone for this tragedy, we only have ourselves to blame for not helping those who need it the most.
I still have problems of my own. I am impoverished, living on limited income, facing social strife and federal persecution, health problems galore, and a whole lot of issues--including homelessness.
But as an adult, I am a lot stronger now than I was when I was 14 or 15. I have the experience and knowledge necessary to see me through some pretty rough and turbulent times. I also have my wife of 5 years at my side.
However, I don't have the desire or the intent to kill myself or others because I'm going through a bad spell. Those triggers inside me no longer exist.
Find that surprising? Maybe not. Sometimes, a traumatic experience can "burn out" a desire to the point of dormancy. And no matter what, I won't go down that road again.
I simply have too much to live for. Maybe Cho did or maybe he didn't. But he was a troubled young man who only wanted people to help understand what he was going through.
Just like I wanted people to understand what I went through.
I'm not trying to glorify what Cho did--because it would prove that I condone such actions--but I'm not.
I just wish that people would see the underlying problems which continue to plague our society.
Stripping out the sex, violence, and killings in our various media would have absolutely no effect on what we already have ingrained in our psyches.
What I do as a writer doesn't hype up the sex, the violence, or anything else. I am a passionate individual. I treat my work as I would anything else: With reverence. With respect. With honesty. I don't try to hide behind the issues which so many others have long since avoided out of embarrassment.
I
embrace them. But what I pen down doesn't make me an evil person, a sick individual, or a twisted male of 33-years-old. I am simply going through the motions of what was pre-set by society in ages past.
But I look at what I write and I see that what I am doing is having no more influence on people today, than my forebears before me did on their fellows from so long ago.
I can't be held responsible for the actions carried out by my characters. But I won't make any apologies about what goes on in these books of mine. However, I will
not change my style and my voice because there are some people out there who believe that we should all go about acting like kittens towards each other--and pretend that we live in one big perfect world.
Because we
don't.
But what I write should tell people the kind of person I am in real life. And if you don't have an idea, well here is the official
gist of it: I'm a pale fat guy with long auburn hair who loves sitting at his computer in his undies on a daily basis.
And if it wasn't for the fact I had to go do errands, I would be in my BBDs every day.
That's who I am. What I write in my books should make absolutely no difference to others--other than to say: "I'm here to entertain and educate you."
That's my goal in life. That's why I am a writer.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1@yahoo.comLabels: Cho Seung Hsui, society, suicide, teenagers, Virginia Tech, writing
THE WHITE HOUSE’S NEW SPOILED BRAT
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistSimply put:
Bush has
no political capital to spend or a united Republican Party to stand behind anymore–when dictating America’s course in Iraq.
The once staunch President is now a lame duck, people. And though he may make enough noise to sound like he’s still got some
bite left, the Democrats recent moves on the war funding bills undercuts just how
vulnerable Bush is now–compared to 2004.
Bush no longer has the momentum he once had which spelled out his stubborn resoluteness in the face of the reality.
The reality now–for him–is that Congress isn’t going to give him what he wants with no strings attached. That was with the GOP-controlled Congress.
This one’s Democrat
.
(And like Pelosi recently said: “There is a new Congress in town, Mr. President.”)
However, Bush’s attempts to lay blame at the feet of the Democrats–if the new funding doesn’t get to the troops in time (when they have until July at the latest–is even more
shameful than what the Democrats did to make sure that this latest round of funding came with strings attached.
Crying foul because both the people
and Congress wants a marked change in failed war strategies, isn’t the hallmark of a wise and seasoned President of the United States.
It is the sign of a
spoiled brat who isn’t getting his way anymore.
And Bush’s latest temper tantrum illustrates just how far out of touch with mainstream America he really is.
Maybe Daddy should spank?Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1@yahoo.comLabels: Bush, Democrats, GOP, mainstream America, people, President Bush, spoiled brat, vulnerable, war funding, White House
