Masculinity, Violence, and Bandaid Solutions

[Tansy_Gold]

5. Another issue that's rarely discussed is the role of "evil"

I think I've even seen it here on DU more than once: "Some people are just evil."

And at that point I usually take a deep breath and walk away, because there is no way to debate that point. And it is rarely debated at all.

I could be completely wrong, and I won't take up a whole lot of time on this, but it seems to me that the real danger lies in trying to assign just one cause rather than looking at how all of these factors come together.

"Evil" is the convenient explanation, because it means there's nothing anyone can do about it. We just have to accept it, "it's god's will," what have you. It also means "we" don't have to take any responsibility or any blame. Case closed. Not our fault. He was just evil.

If we reject that explanation -- and I personally do reject it -- then the three other causes (mental illness, availability of/access to guns, culture of masculinity/violence issues) have to be looked at from the same perspective:

1. Can we do anything about it.
2. Do we just have to accept it.
3. Are "we" in any way responsible.

AND analyzed as to how they all work together to produce this horrible scenario.

We have many mentally ill people who do not commit heinous crimes, so mental illness alone is not the cause.

We also have a lot of people who have guns who do not commit heinous crimes, so guns alone are not the cause.

And we have many men (and women) who have been raised in a culture (and perhaps "cult" is almost the better word) of white male privilege AND misogyny who still do not go on to commit heinous crimes.

Unfortunately, fixing ALL of the above is a monumental task, some might even say impossible. There's no clear movement to rein in the gun culture, not even here on DU. Violence in popular culture is still defended. Funding for mental health care -- which is often a life-long treatment rather than a 14-day Rx of antibiotics -- is damned hard to find. And even here on DU the defense (denial) of male privilege remains strong.

It's easy to blame one of the three causes and ignore the others, but I think the debate has to be framed around all three. And that's going to make it more than three times more difficult.