Tyler Hunt

Last night, my wife and I were discussing the tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech yesterday. The first question that popped into her mind was, “how could someone do something like that?” My answer was “sin.” People very often make the assumption that people are inherently good, and then, sometime after they’re born, they become corrupted by their environment. This leads people to make claims like the one that video games were responsible for the Columbine killings. When you live instead under the assumption that people are inherently evil, the world tends to make a lot more sense.

Bucky Schwarz makes a good point, as well, and that’s that the freedoms we have in our country could be blamed for making killings such as this possible:

No doubt this will inevitably lead to an investigation as to why “a crazed killer was able to kill 32 innocent students.” I’ll give you a hint, it’s a strange little philosophy called freedom. Ever heard of it? Apparently, in a country where you’re allowed to have certain freedoms, there is a risk that someone might abuse those freedoms. Crazy, I know, but some guy that probably wasn’t that important once said, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” Whether that means vigilance against a tyrannical government, or vigilance against a would be abuser-of-freedoms, the fact remains; when we have the freedom to do as we choose, we must constantly be ready to protect those freedoms. The irony, of course, is that the government, the body elected to protect us (among other things) is trying as hard as it possibly can to take away the ability for one to protect one’s freedoms, but that is best saved for another post.

I believe it goes without saying that the alternatives to this kind of freedom are much worse. However, things in United States seem to be progressing to the point where people need to be reminded of the freedoms that people like Thomas Jefferson worked so hard to engrain into the core of our society and our government. That work has long since left the minds of the people and most of those in power, and every year we see more of our freedoms erode. One of the questions that entered my mind upon contemplating the shootings was, “what absurd new laws will be enacted as a result of this incident?” Apparently, Bucky’s thoughts ran along these lines as well:

But I digress, this will inevitably lead to more security at school, because, as we all know, there is nothing more important than our future, and we must protect that future. And what’s the best way to protect it? Rent-A-Cops! Guys who can’t make it into a real police force. These guys will check bags, check dorm rooms and apartments, tear through cars, and rifle through your personal shit, but it’s okay, because we can’t put a price on safety, can we? (and obviously, violating the privacy of law-abiding citizens is the best way to keep people safe, isn’t it?) And inevitably, some asshole will use the memory of the people killed today to convince people that we can’t let a tragedy like this happen again. Naturally, the only way to prevent such a tragedy is more laws and security, at all times.

Sarcasm aside, the answer to crime and terrorism isn’t more stringent security. Those restrictions only lead to the elevation of criminal tactics, which leads to an endless cycle of new crimes and new laws until we reach the point when we can no longer consider this to be a free country. Here’s the gist of the issue: if we’re going to pretend that morals are relative, then there’s no room to be upset by mass murder or terrorism. Those people must have just been doing what they thought was right. Without the same adherence to a concrete set of absolute values that our forefathers held, this country is doomed to fail.