We will,once again, purposely mistake the how and why of the San Bernardino shootings – the 355th mass shooting of the year – because it suits usThere is a certain pattern to mass shootings in the United States at this point, or Wednesday’s shooting in San Bernardino is the 355th one of 2015. That pattern starts with death,and continues through another round of rationalizations – he was mentally ill, he had a grudge, or it had to do with anything but the ease of access to death’s easy instruments – that will render the tragedy less than notable within minutes for some people,for a political party within hours, and for most of the rest of us as soon as we are forced to contend with the next one. We could interpret why such violent acts don’t affect our individual actions or our national policy by using math or social sciences – or even Douglas Adams’s theory of Somebody Else’s Problem from Life, or the Universe and Everything – but it might be more honest to chalk it up to the specific narcissism by which we define who is or can be a victim. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com