by Brokeback Watchtower 75 Replies latest social current
There are studies that suggest that since the "women's movement" young males are becoming increasingly lost because large numbers of fathers are either absent entirely or are distant
That may be a very minor contributor to the problem at best but hardly a major factor in my opinion.I'm leaning toward gun laws and easy gun access as a major contributor, it think that's what make the US have this major problem were as the rest of the world doesn't have this problem to the degree the US does.
MORPHEUS- Your assertions are completely false too, since you want to play the " I'm totally right, you're totally wrong game " . Your " all or nothing " reasoning - or - " black & white " reasoning is not the way the real world works. Some of what you stated was correct, some incorrect . You took a little of what I said about " poor and underprivileged " and blew it into an exaggerated version of what I stated.
You totally ignored THIS part of my post which stated , " It's the sickness in society where youths abandoned by non existent support systems fall through the cracks in this world and take their anger out in violent ways . " That is a FACT.
The mental health system is depleted , especially since many mental health facilities have been closed down , so families are left to deal with situations by themselves by housing either young mentally unstable teenagers or adult kids in their 20's or 30's and trying to assist monitoring their meds. Even older adults like the Vegas shooter was off his nut and roaming around in society waiting to explode like a time bomb. Very true, MANY thousands of people are walking around like ticking time bombs , various ages, various social statuses- I get that- but even middle classed Americans are seeing that their finances and money do not go as far as they did before.
We see people's stress levels of suffering injustices pushing them over the edge. And we see these mentally unstable people arming themselves to the tooth to get even with what they perceive ( incorrectly I might add ) that in desperation they see no hope ; so their mental state is so unbalanced and skewed that they try to take out innocent bystanders with them.
It's wrong, yes it's sick, it's unethical, and criminal these actions they take - but it's just a symptom of deeper problems within our society of how people deal with oppression. To say that many folks only get to this state of mental imbalance all on their own , only within their own minds - is ridiculous denial that outside influences and life experiences with others can accelerate their pain. It's black & white thinking to reason that way- dare I say " cult " type thinking. O.K. Thanks for listening, I think
https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-United-States-have-so-many-school-shootings-compared-to-other-countries/answer/Brian-Collins-56/share
This was a thoughtful piece l read yesterday that connects the dots on remarks that l hear on this thread. We may find ourselves on the “same page “ after all. Enough to get a little more granular in the conversation.
I marked this in my mind when you first posted it. But you haven’t said what things are being deemed bad or in need of correction. I can’t know what you mean here.
Men were once highly thought of by society when they banded together, were tough, brave, take charge, daring, aggressive etc. and the ones that were that way were more likely to survive. More and more, being aggressive, being able to take charge and being tough are not all that necessary for survival but most men and boys to varying degrees are hard wired to be that way and there aren't many outlets for it any more.
In times of peace or plenty, men invented games or customs that allowed them to join together and let off steam, be aggressive, be competitive and feel a sense of belonging, camaraderie and accomplishment. Often their work involved physical exertion and provided them with a sense of accomplishment and camaraderie and belonging. Today, a lot boys are holed up in their rooms sitting behind computer screens isolating themselves from actual human contact.They have no outlet for the hard wired tendencies they possess and are sometimes given the message that these tendencies are bad or wrong. The men in their life may be absent or unsure of their own role as males. The resulting resentment and frustration they feel festers into mental illness.
Men are usually happy to let women do their thing but women often want to change men, reel them in, tamp them down and ratchet back their male tendencies. Boys typically don't want to join the girls softball team or be girl scouts but today, boys are required to allow girls to join in every activity that they do and they are expected to change their behavior to accommodate the girls. If a boy wanted to be on the girls softball team, he'd likely be mocked his peers and his sexuality might even be questioned but when a girl wants to join in and activity that is typically male, she is encouraged and even thought of as admirable.
My sons were on the high school wrestling team and sometimes there'd be a girl on the opposing team. The boys often didn't know what to do or where to put their hands. The felt bad if they won because it meant they just beaten a girl and if they lost, they felt bad because they were beaten by a girl.
Anyway, it's a complex issue and I'm oversimplifying things here but there are studies that show how the changing role of men and boys in our society combined with our countries unhealthy relationship with guns and the resulting inadequacies in the gun control regulations and the upsurge in the ability for anyone to get instant media attention is at the root of why we're seeing an upsurge in young males going on shooting sprees.
dare I say " cult " type thinking - Flipper
That's EXACTLY what the Watchtower does - Neuela
I really HATE it when people accuse those who disagree with them to be cult-like. It is the worst possible insult you could use on an ex-cult forum.
The difference to this problem from one country to another is not so much with the psychological problems of teenagers growing up attending schools but more to the accessibility to guns by these teens.
but more to the accessibility to guns - Fink
Canada has no shortage of guns.
Of course it's a truism that if these kids had no access to guns they wouldn't commit mass shootings but that hardly addresses the question.
Interesting points Pete Zahut and truth_b_known
If the problem is a combination of factors then that those observations have to be a strong candidates.
Today, a lot boys are holed up in their rooms sitting behind computer screens isolating themselves from actual human contact.They have no outlet for the hard wired tendencies they possess and are sometimes given the message that these tendencies are bad or wrong. The men in their life may be absent or unsure of their own role as males. The resulting resentment and frustration they feel festers into mental illness.
Petzahut, I find this very interesting, and I think it is important to honor maleness as well as femaleness and to have healthy outlets for this. I think you may be on to something as a stress relieving factor could have a healthy outcome for male aggressive drives.(This is why Shadow work is so good get to know your repressed tendencies, and honor them, so they don't sneak up on you and bite you in the ass), I hope some major well respected psychologist give us some pointers on this. I'm all for being one's authentic self in a healthy way for them and society in general. One thing sadly lacking in US culture is Rites of Passage which I think might be a solution but how do to get the general public all on board?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rite_of_passage
I wonder what advice CG Jung would give?
Canada has no shortage of guns.
Certainly nowhere near the per capita procession of the US.
For example in the greater Vancouver district (2.5 million) there is about 3 or 4 gun shops and gun possession and regulation is even stricter here in comparison to anywhere in the States, even more so to hand guns.
This known and recognized fact is an important element to the problem
