"The past is only the future with the lights on" -- +44
There was a story on February 20th on CNN.com about some teens that murdered a homeless man. Generally this wouldn't register a blip on my daily radar because I avoid most "news" like the plague. I personally hate how the media will hype up a particular aspect of a story in order to sensationalize it and in doing so often forgets to *gasp* actually report the facts. So on my daily trip to Penny Arcade I found this article and the subsequent blog post by Gabe.
I read the CNN article and my first thought was "Nice touch on equating murder to playing a violent video game"...Seriously, that angle's been done and quite frankly I'm bored of it. I've played "violent" video games since I was big enough to hold the Atari controller, as have most gamers, and roughly 99.9% of us aren't out there killing people. My second thought was to immediately place blame on the parents. Like Gabe says in his blog post..."What kind of crazy fuck takes poop from his butt and rubs it on someone? I’ll tell you right now I’ve never seen that in Grand Theft Auto. These kids were twelve kinds of nuts and that’s a fact. Their parents either made them nuts or weren’t paying attention while they went nuts on their own."
Sadly, instead of focusing on the fact that these kids are indeed crazy and using this unfortunate event to examine the where, when, and why of what went so very wrong in these children's lives and how our juvenile system can be corrected the media will take the easy way out. They'll place the blame on the violence of video games, or TV, or Eminem lyrics because that's a far easier pill to swallow than actually having to admit that this kid was f-ed up long before he was able to play video games. Gabe followed up his post with a letter written by one of the "parents" of one of the teens and I'm glad he did. The media would have never printed their side of the story simply because it sheds some light on a side of humanity few are ever willing to admit to. From the day their child is born parents believe with all their heart that they can from that moment foward begin to mold their child into a decent human being....because if they don't believe that then the alternative is what?
Every parent makes mistakes raising their children but most generally try to do the best they can. These parents of one of the teens did what they could from therapy, to punishment, to rewards, but nothing worked. This teen is now behind bars serving 15 years and it's exactly where he needs to be, but is it enough? There is something inherently wrong with him. Why is it so hard for people to accept that evil just is? That some people actually like to kill? That when behavior cannot be corrected it's better for everyone to just implement the death penalty? In 15 years (or sooner) when this kid is paroled he'll go back to drugs and other crimes and it's highly he'll kill again. How do I know? I don't. But notice my quote at the beginning of this blog...You cannot deny that the patterns of peoples lives are in fact shaped by their past.
If you are reading this I ask that you do not comment about the death penalty. I'm not blogging about the death penalty or whether or not you support it. I don't want any religious zealots (I am religious by the way) talking about "Thou shalt not kill"...I'm already familiar with the commandments thanks! I believe in separation of church and state so the religious position holds no credibility in this debate and quite frankly I don't care.
I'm simply pointing out the lesser discussed side of humanity that you won't read about because it doesn't create enough media hype to justify it ever being printed. I'm pretty sure this goes back to my blog on personal responsibility and what's wrong with society. Stop trying to place blame on something, anything, to somehow rationalize something you can't fathom in order to protect your own idealistic utopian views on humanity. I don't find it difficult to accept that a 14 year old can open fire into a school killing his or her peers or that a 15 year old can kill in cold blood and both of them regretting none of it. I don't need to think it's the parent's fault, or a case of watching too many episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I can admit that some people are just plain crazy and no amount of help, or jail time will ever fix them.
Perhaps I'm jaded but it makes me sick listening to people justify why someone so clearly evil deserves a second chance at life because of their age. Stop confusing youth with innocence. Being young does not mean you are unable to make choices between right and wrong. I don't remember my parents ever having to sit me down and have the "Please don't murder people talk" and yet I've managed to make it 25 years without killing someone. I just find it terribly difficult to listen to or read media bullshit chalk it up to violent video games or some other nonsense because it's easier to sell then the notion that there are actually human beings out there who are in fact crazy enough to need to be euthanized. Sorry CNN or *insert any other media name*, but next time try a different angle. Maybe the kid lost his puppy when he was five and it caused separation anxiety and a long term disconnect from reality or something else media worthy, but however you decided to spin a murder I can guarantee you I'm not buying it anytime soon.
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