Crazy killers. Crazy society.

So we’ve got this Virginia Tech tragedy and it’s horrible.  It’s nuts and it freaks me out that somebody could be so unbelievably upset about how they’ve been treated that they turn a gun on me and shoot me – anywhere, any place.
I’ve been reading various stories about the events that unfolded – that Cho mailed to NBC a video confessional diatribe and explanation as to why he was succumbed to kill.  I then read some articles by “expert psychologists” describing what causes a person to get “psychotic” and engage in mass murderous activity as Cho had done.   By virtue of his confession, I doubt he was completely insane.  If one labeled a killer insane – I’d consider every gang member carrying a gun in every large metropolis by the same token.

Here’s the way I see it: there are a lot of ostracized children out there that get picked on in grade school; sometimes to the point at which they *wish* they could do some damage.  They feel alienated and effectively turn *into* aliens because society (as a whole) has managed to set them apart and at a distance.   Cho executed on a plan that I’m sure other so-labeled outcasts have concocted many times in the past.  Imagine if you simply put a gun in the hand of one of these frustrated kids.  I’m not sympathizing with Cho – what I’m saying is that society is partly to blame for this and that while it’s easy to compress explanations and accountability into one person (Cho), it’s much harder to divide it up and take partial or major responsibility.

It’s sad that Americans must now live in a state of fear both in the global arena and domestically.  I know that there was a time when I took safety for granted and the real “bad places” were the bad neighborhoods in the city.  It’s slowly becoming the case that your own neighborhood – perhaps even your own neighbor – could be dangerous.

If Cho were alive and if it were possible to rewind back and fix the problem, what would the solution be?  One could analyze and study his personality and lock him up as a psycotic threat to society.  Or, if we rewind much earlier in his life, just being kind and accepting of him as a person might have prevented this tragedy.  What would the earlier accomplish other than saving the world from *one* potential threat – while others with the same complaints itch to make their statement at the expense of other innocent people?