I did not write the following piece:

I didn’t writ this, it was written by an old friend Robert Bidinotto. I freely stole it from his Facebook post, but I thought it so important that it should be shared on my Facebook page and here as well. Robert, you done good kid, you done good.

THOUGHTS DURING THE GUN-CONTROL DEBATE: During my days doing investigative crime articles for Reader’s Digest, I had the (dubious) opportunity to saturate myself in case studies of various sociopaths and to read the studies of, and interview, a host of top experts on criminal psychology. After culling through all of it looking for answers as to why these people do what they do, I came to the conclusion that there are these universally present ingredients:

1. Low self-esteem, leading to a “social victim” self-image

2. Cultivating some excuse/rationale for violent retaliation against one’s “victimizers.” (These excuses can be simple and personal, or elaborate and even ideological.)

3. Constant “rehearsal,” through fantasy, about (re)gaining power and control in one’s life, through violence and “revenge.”

4. In cases of serial crimes, a pattern of escalating acts of violence against select targets. In cases of sudden mass murders, a long-fantasized, rehearsed, and planned quasi-”military” strike of “righteous slaughter” against anonymous representatives of the hated “society,” or against some symbolic target group of tormentors, often touched off by some kind of “last straw” insult or failure in the perp’s life.

You see these elements again and again and again. That’s how criminal profilers can so accurately draw up a predictive portrait of some unknown perpetrator in these crimes.

Guns are not the cause of any of this. They are just one means to nihilistic ends. The spree attacker who stabbed 14 people with an Exacto-knife this week says he had fantasized about doing that since the age of eight. Serial killers like Ted Bundy lived in a fantasy world of sadistic porn, their crimes escalated from “peeping Tom,” to stalking, to breaking-and-entering girls’ residences, to violent assaults — then to kidnapping, rape, torture, strangulation, etc., ad nauseum. Neither of these losers used guns.

If you study violent repeat criminals, you’ll find that they are constantly losing themselves in a mental universe of violent role-playing. And violent role-playing games are MUCH more realistic in depicting scenes of carnage and bloodshed — and in stimulating violent fantasies — than shooting at some bland paper target in the controlled environment of a firing range.

Focusing on gun control is entirely beside the point. If these creatures don’t have access to guns, they’ll find another brutal way to strike. Serial rapists and murderers rarely use guns; they prefer more “personal” means of hurting. The worst mass murder in an American school took place many decades ago; the perpetrator was a farmer who used three fertilizer-based bombs to slaughter scores of kids, teachers, and administrators. Ditto, the Oklahoma City bombers.

Feel-good gun-control measures, which only deprive law-abiding citizens of their right to self-defense, are futile, because nihilistic killers, by definition, will NEVER obey any laws, including gun laws. They’ll find other means — bombs, poison, knives, automobiles, airplanes, or simple arson — to slaughter others.

What parents, families, friends, and co-workers should focus on instead are tell-tale signs of any of the behavioral characteristics I mentioned above. Only a small minority of people who exhibit the first three characteristics will finally “act out” their fantasies; but all of those who DO take such violent actions exhibit those first three characteristics.

Sadly, a subjectivist, morally relativistic society where people have been taught that “anything goes” and that the highest value is attaining instant fame and “celebrity,” is a breeding ground for such creatures. And a host of “progressive” intellectuals are only too eager to offer deterministic excuses and legal defenses for them, enabling widespread sociopathic conduct. A society without moral moorings, that encourages and rewards narcissism, is not up to the task of minimizing sociopathy — which is only one step removed from narcissism.

I lifted it from GM Roper over at The Constitutionalist’s Corner. Please, feel free to check out all his work.

Chat ya later…

Thanks for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, and Wear Red on Fridays!

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All the birthdays in the household happened, without loss of blood or other bodily fluid. The “real” anniversary passed by without fanfare, just a quiet observation by those involved (long-time readers will remember that we moved our anniversary to May, to better unclutter the holiday season – the same year that MEG would later be born in the middle of the holiday season …). Inventory at the store is progressing. Looks like it may be safe to say that 2011 is moving right along.

That’s not to say there aren’t things I’ve already noticed. I did witness an incredible intersection of local driving foibles and teenaged disregard for anything not on the screen of the phone, though. Don’t worry, no bloodshed here either:

One morning, headed to the babysitter, I stopped at the light south of Centennial Independence High on 75th. A student, her head bowed to the Screen Of All That Is Needed with earbuds stuffed in, was walking in the crosswalk on the north side of the intersection. A young (female, on the phone) driver in a white SUV started her turn from the cross street onto northbound 75th. My eyes widened as I realized I was about to witness a bloody mess. At the last possible second (and I do mean the last possible second, as in, the student’s coat snagged on the bug deflector on the SUV) the driver slammed the brakes. The student shrugged her coat back on her shoulder and, without missing a step, a sidelong glance, or even a curious look as to WHY she need to shrug her coat back on, kept on crossing without taking her eyes off the Screen Of All Knowledge. The driver, in what appears to be typical fashion these days, waited for the interruption to move out of her way, then sped north.

Two things:

1. Pedestrians, while they do have the right of way, also have the responsibility of self-preservation.

2. Drivers have the responsibility of driving safely, not the right to drive on the streets.

I have noticed lately that right and responsibility are being confused by people who should know better. Should, but don’t, because their education is targeted more towards passing a test than actually learning how to learn.

And, in a totally unrelated but more important (in my universe) development, GM Roper has joined my “Daily” list. Note that “Daily” is in quotes – since there is no handy word that means “occasionally, but not every day, unless I have more than one day off in a row”. Be that as it may, head over there when you get a chance and tell him I said “hi”.

In another development, on par with GM joining my blog list, is the loss of a blogging powerhouse. Basti (real name: Bill) passed away on January 2, 2011. Rob over at American and Proud has a post up. I think that Bill’s last post is most appropriate for him. May he rest peacefully now that his part is done.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!