Random Thoughts on Campus Killers

So I’ve been reading BBC news… there’s a lot of stories, articles, and speculations regarding this Cho Seung-hui character. For those who aren’t familiar, this is the guy who went on a rampage & murdered 32 people at Virginia Tech.

I find it very interesting how all these different professionals (i.e. psychologists, behavioral therapists, etc.) are trying to piece together an accurate profile of these so-called “campus killers”. They list a series of “common factors” between this Cho fellow and other school shooters like Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, and Kimveer Gill. Here are a couple of similarities they pointed out:

“…an acute rejection episode – such as a break up with a girlfriend, teasing, or bullying”

“A fascination with guns and explosives…”

“a pre-occupation with death…”

“…anti-social loners with some kind of grievance and/or revenge as a motive.”

“underlying psychological problems… such as severe cases of grandiosity and possibly either bipolar depression or schizophrenia.”

These are indeed very common factors in every school shooting which has taken place to date. And what I find fascinating is the fact that, of these factors, none of them can be faulted to the person doing the shooting. That’s right, not a one of them. In cases of psychological problems, the person suffering with such trauma cannot be blamed for their ailment, as they did not choose to have it, nor do they particularly want it. It was something they were born with, and therefore cannot control without external care, such as medication and psychological treatment.

As for the other factors? These are all attributed to outside influences directly impacting the psyche of the person in question. Let’s take them one at a time.

Fascination with guns? Please… with all the movies, TV shows, video games, YouTube videos, and other such media outlets that are centered around violence with firearms? Our whole damn society has a fascination with guns. Every kid, at some time or another, has played a “shoot the bad-guys” game of some sort. Classic childhood games, like “Cowboys-and-Indians”, “Cops-and-Robbers”, “Martian Invaders”, “House” (what, you never played a game of “House” where you didn’t shoot someone? I guess my childhood was a smidge different…). At any rate, it has absolutely no bearing on this subject. Next topic.

Breakups, teasing, and bullying are generally caused by individuals for purposes only known to themselves. Granted, this type of behavior has existed for thousands of years… people (children especially) have bullied, teased, and toyed with the emotions of others dating back as far as written history will allow. Authors, movie-makers, song-writers, even mythology & religious institutions tell stories of a group of people oppressing another, and the oppressed ones rising up & overthrowing their oppressors. These “underdogs” are generally regarded as heroic and valiant for their efforts. It just seems to me that, given the widespread availability of these stories & parables, those who would bully, tease, dump, or otherwise oppress individuals who are “different” than what the ‘ideal’ society deems acceptable, would understand the consequences to their actions. There’s enough material out there to teach people that bullying others only leads to destruction.

And if you’re the kind of person who has been bullied for quite some time without just cause, would you attempt to socialize with anyone? If bullying (which is a form of abuse) and rejection are what you have been conditioned to expect from people, you would not want to take any chances of suffering further abuse or rejection at the hands of anyone else. Hence where the “anti-social loner” behavior comes from.

Yet socialization is one of mankind’s basic needs, it is essential to survival… food, shelter, acceptance. I say it’s a necessity because at the dawn of human existence, we weren’t at the top of the food chain. There were a lot of big-toothed critters running around looking for a tasty man-snack to gobble. It was only through collaborative group efforts of primitive “tribal” groups that mankind was able to rise up & overcome their carnivorous prehistoric oppressors (hmmm… that sounds familiar). Without the acceptance of the group for protection, you were left on your own to face Mr. T-Rex. This premise is evident in most, if not all, animal groups on earth today. Socialization, The Need to Belong, is an in-born, natural evolutionary instinct geared for survival.

But if you’re rejected by your peers… nay, abused by your peers… and the balance of your instinctual needs is out of whack, you’re going to feel as though you can’t “survive”. So naturally, you’re going to be pre-occupied with death, as your own survival needs are not being met. And that pain, that loss, that lack of human essentials, is enough to make anyone want to die.

Which also leads in the feelings of “revenge”. A group of individuals, due to their cruel actions, have started this whole chain-reaction of fear & negative emotions, thereby prohibiting you from attaining that which is essential to your survival… wouldn’t you be pretty pissed-off too? I get mad at my wife because she bakes a batch of cookies, but then tells me I can’t have one until they’re cooled. Dammit, I need those cookies! That delectable chocolatey goodness is essential to the survival of my sweet-tooth, and yet you oppress me & deny me that which I need? WRETCHED WOMAN, THOU WILT PAY FOR THIS VILE TRANSGRESSION!!! ::blank stare:: Where was I? Oh yeah, revenge. So yeah, you get the point.

I guess this is where my ignorance shows through. I can’t figure out why these “bully” types can’t figure it out? It’s a very simple concept… push someone hard enough, and they will push back. Hell, common sense says that animals will not attack unless provoked. A snake only strikes when it feels cornered and has nowhere to go. And the snake doesn’t play fair… the snake doesn’t play at all. You hit it with a stick, it will withdraw and flee. If you chase it and continue hitting it, IT WILL INJECT LETHAL VENOM INTO YOUR BODY! Stick vs. lethal venom… hell no it’s not fair. But it wasn’t fair for you to hit the damn snake in the first place… nor was it fair to continue hitting it after it turned away to flee. You get what you deserve.

I won’t sit here and say that I condone the actions of such individuals like Cho and the “Trenchcoat Mafia”. But I will say that it is very easy to justify their actions. My suggestion? If you’re on the oppressing side… it would be wise to stop now & make amends. Otherwise, photos of your parents weeping over your corpse may end up on the front page of BBC news.

~ by The Ratt on April 8, 2008.