[http://rkba.org/letters/blaming-society.txt] Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 23:52:30 -0700 From: Jeff Chan Subject: Blaming Society Leads To Mass Murders The idea of blaming society at large for problems instead of taking individual responsibility could be behind the psychology of these school mass murders. The murderers who do this feel that "society" is responsible for their troubles and seek to punish it. They do this by attacking everyone around them. They believe that society "owes" them happiness or something equivalent and when it doesn't deliver they feel betrayed. In reality the trouble lies with the individuals themselves. They are not raised to take responsibility for their problems and lay the blame on "society" instead. In performing mass murders they "taking others with them" where others are part of the society they perceive as having injured them, and punishing their amorphous enemy "society" at large. "Society" becomes a substitute for taking responsibility for their own actions and problems and this perceived enemy grows in place of handling their own lives and facing their own difficulties. I raise this point because some such as President Clinton have blamed the ails of society on too much individualism, when I believe the opposite is true. By denying responsibility for their own condition and demonizing society instead, they refute individualism and blame everyone else, assigning collective guilt. If you want a better society, start by raising better individuals. Never blame someone else for your own failings or let your children do the same. That, I believe, is the root of the problem. Teach your children to take responsibility for their own actions. That, I believe, is the beginning of the solution. Jeff Chan