Interesting piece on VT killer motives

[timmgirvan]

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...612688,00.html I'm not a big fan of psychology,but was reading an artcle and this position struck me as a valid response to many of societys' ills. Take a look if you will...

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by timmgirvan

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...612688,00.html I'm not a big fan of psychology,but was reading an artcle and this position struck me as a valid response to many of societys' ills. Take a look if you will...

I pretty much agree with the article....I think we create an environment which fosters the growth of narcissistic personalities by devaluing human life as a society though...I see such things as abortion, euthanasia, racism, sexism and a generalized disregard for the lives of others as weaving a tapestry of "meism" (me-ism) which nurtures the development of homicidal narcissism!

[timmgirvan]

Originally Posted by somerfrost

I pretty much agree with the article....I think we create an environment which fosters the growth of narcissistic personalities by devaluing human life as a society though...I see such things as abortion, euthanasia, racism, sexism and a generalized disregard for the lives of others as weaving a tapestry of "meism" (me-ism) which nurtures the development of homicidal narcissism!

Eureka!! Somer...we agree on something important. Thank you for your input, and for reading it!

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by Cardus

Who is the "we," though? And why does this devaluing occur? Who promotes it?

We is society....throughout human history, those that are deemed "different" are devalued...first we convince ourselves that they are "different", then that translates into either "weak" or "evil" or simply "less". Pagans were slaughtered by the church, jews throughout history either because they were "evil" (blamed for killing Jesus) or greedy etc., black people were enslaved because they were "less than human", often seen as property...the list is endless. Of course, those in power manipulate the process to their own ends..ie: Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot. Women face the same thing...the "weaker" sex and so on. Nothing about this is new except we have become a society focused on self..."what's in it for me?" We have lost the regard for life and replaced it with quality of life...life is only important if it meets our standards. We feel we have the right to judge others by our standards and if they don't live up to same, they are "inferior or less"....and that which is "less" can be disregarded...so, we don't root for our favorite ball team, we hate other teams and fans, we belittle and ridicule opposing opinions. Again, this has been the nature of the human mindset for a long time but today, children are exposed earlier to those who are deemed "different" and taught to hate or at least disregard them earlier...so doesn't it figure that a narcissistic personality would flourish in such a state? How does a kid become such a monster that he takes handguns and executes innocent people at random? Because he sees them as "irrelevent" in his self-centered world. Make no mistake, I'm not defending this creep, he will be held responsible for his acts...but he won't be the last monster that springs forth from a society that devalues life.