Monk

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I've lost interest in the cracks, chips, holes and broken places in the lives of men like Cho Seung-Hui, the mass murderer of Virginia Tech. The pain, grievances and self-pity of mass killers are only symptoms of the real explanation. Those who do these things share one common trait. They are raging narcissists. "I died--like Jesus Christ," Cho said in a video sent to NBC.

Psychologists from South Africa to Chicago have begun to recognize that extreme self-centeredness is the forest in these stories, and all the other things-- guns, games, lyrics, pornography--are just trees. To list the traits of the narcissist is enough to prove the point: grandiosity, numbness to the needs and pain of others, emotional isolation, resentment and envy.

-- David Von Drehle for Time

I definitely like this inclination to stop looking at things like porn for these mass crimes. These murderous actors may find some emotional props in racy movies and music, but it is not like these entertainments are conveying some fatal germs that work on the weak mind. If there is a larger cultural answer, it probably is deeper as suggested by Drehle, perhaps resting in part in the narcissism and the 'I am God!' of the culture.

( article )

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This is a temporary post pointing the way to a Mark Steyn column on the school shooting, arguing against the idea that society needs to be more protective of college students. In it he mocks the manhood of the victims in a general argument about how our culture is too passive, breeding that passivity in too many. He also related a similar shooting in Canada that brings out his point more clearly. People need to be better able to defend themselves.

Mark Steyn's "A Culture of Passivity."

Personally, I think it's an interesting point, but it can be overdone. In the Cho case, it looks like we could have had a better reaction from our mental health institutions, as there were evidently a lot of bad warning signs.

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Dr. Michael Welner, a forensic psychologist and consultant to ABC, has some pretty strong words against airing the self-made videos of rampage-killer Seung-hui Cho, even calling the airing "a social catastrophe," arguing that it validates delusional behavior and mental states.

My cynical side wonders if he would be saying the same thing if ABC had been the corporation to receive the videos instead of NBC. But maybe I'm just being funny.

Personally, although it may be the voyeur in me, I prefer having access to the material, instead of being treated like children. Sure, such voyeurism is a bit perverse, but this is the nature of the beast. We learn from it, too.

( article )

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“You have vandalized my heart, raped my soul and torched my conscience,” the gunman, Cho Seung-Hui, said in one video mailed shortly before the shooting at a classroom and his suicide. “Thanks to you, I die like Jesus Christ to inspire generations of the weak and the defenseless people.”

-- Shaila Dewan and Marc Santora for The New York Times

What would Jesus Do? I guess this story makes you think that it depends on who is asking the question.

People at Virginia Tech and the authorities were onto this guy long before this historic rampage in the annals of infamy, but their attempts to have him involuntarily committed to a mental institution failed. Maybe that will become easier in the future, as society may be more willing to err on the side of caution.

Nevertheless, you have to appreciate how Americanized the guy became, with that fascination for both Jesus and guns.

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