I have been pondering this subject for sometime—“desensitization of our population.” Enjoyed reading your column (“All the world’s a stage?” Aug. 7). I believe that as a whole, our society can’t grasp the bigger picture, and we focus on what appears to be the fix, which really doesn’t fix anything. You give the example of the brouhaha the Isla Vista shooting caused, the father going national with “not one more” and wanting more gun control laws. No one seems to see that these “shooters” have social issues created by ourselves, parenting, social media. More gun control will not “fix” the problem, but look how much time on air the father was given, and he didn’t even address the issue. What created the desensitization of these individuals has to be explored.
Take the Carl’s Jr. pornographic ad (which is switched up occasionally to another porno ad) that is shown nightly on our local channels. It is viewed as “acceptable,” and no one seems to be appalled that our kids are watching porn. They don’t even understand that Carl’s Jr. is showing “Lust and Gluttony,” telling everyone it is OK. We seem to have “lost our way.” Where are the strong fathers who know right from wrong and monitor and teach their children and speak out against society’s wrongs?
Why did the boy do the shootings in Isla Vista? It appears he had been “desensitized” somewhere along his history to feel it was OK to randomly kill. From what I viewed, he appeared to have accumulated hatred toward others.
As an initial indication—he didn’t appear happy or accepted in pics they showed with his stepbrother.
You may recall serial killers Ted Bundy and Charles Manson. Bundy was interviewed numerous times throughout the years before he was executed, and he over and over again spoke of being “desensitized” through looking at violent pornographic material and becoming “desensitized” and needing more to actually “feel” that sensation like “an addiction.” We can’t get enough—and have lost our ability to discern. Manson said that we as a society created him. There are individuals that are drawn toward darkness. Why do we help lead them?
This article appears in Aug 21-28, 2014.