the news out of Winnipeg regarding the two teens and their .... plans to kill lots of people has me reeling again. Reference is made to lots of these types of shootings, in the US and Canada in particular. I can certainly atest to the year of 2008 being somewhat horrifying from my perspective (the Real Value of 2008 is.....TBD). At the time, I spoke about this and one response was, well some of these people come from countries where what we see as horrifying is not so? This is reference to regimes that create inequalities, oppression, outright aggression and any other host of unplesantries to the human body and spirit. That's not what I see that we have but mine is only one perspective. But the fact that it is the perspective of reporters to specifically point out that Canada and the US have "numerous incidents" of what I will refer to as deviant behaviour is peculiar to me. Do we really? More numerous than in other parts of the world? If so, is this an further expression of the social realities we have created with massive consumerism and growth for the sake of growth? The trade and fiscal imbalances across the globe are unquestionable. Does this also translate into a set of social circumstances and the perfect environment where this type of deviant behaviour will flourish?
The gang violence in our city has been reaching new levels. Broad daylight public drive by shootings. Innocent bystanders murdered. Ordinary citizens terrified. Just as the source of this violence is a function of the demand for drugs and other avails of organized crime, I see deviant behaviour as a function of the direction modern society as taken, with all its entitlement, lack of accountability, and enormous expectations of what is a successful life.
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