World Citizen Blog

Re: Subjective Reality and Nonviolence

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33 dead students…

That Is, 33 lives were taken in an anger act at Virginia Tech by a 19-year old.

Steve Pavlina recently published some of his thoughts on his blog about that tragic event. Well, I could say I would agree with the most of his points, but also would like to add some of ours.

From that Steve’s post, I could tell that he belongs to that group of people who try to avoid social problems by blaming somebody, that could be another person, or even himself:
If there�s violence in the world, it�s because there�s violence in your consciousness. It�s because your own thoughts are disharmonious. Within your own mind you attack yourself, splintering your consciousness and pitting some parts of yourself against the others. This manifests in the objective world as various forms of violence.

And, then another chapter from his post:
The outrage pattern

We�re taught that it�s socially acceptable to run the outrage pattern in response to certain events that are labeled as tragic, such as the death of 33 students. �Oh my goodness, oh my soul! How could such a horrific tragedy occur?� Of course, we�re encouraged to overlook the fact that 150,000 people die on this planet every single day. Perhaps those other 149,967 were supposed to be doomed, so it�s OK.

Perhaps even more acceptable is to invest a little energy in attacking �the problem.� �Everyone join me in supporting gun control! Yeah, let�s banish those evil pieces of metal!�

Throw in some philosophizing for a more sophisticated outrage algorithm. �It�s only American culture that has this problem because of their glorification of violence.�

And then there�s the morally responsible outrage pattern. �Oh, those poor victims� families! Please join me in donating to the fund for family members of fallen students!� Mail somebody a check, and you�re golden.

Now before you start drafting that email to set me straight, let me say that I don�t have a problem with the objective approach if you want to use it. If that�s your dominant belief system, go for it. The subjective perspective, however, suggests that these responses aren�t going to have much of an impact, either subjectively or objectively. All they�ll do is change the way the problem manifests, but they�ll never resolve it.

Indeed, we can just sit down in the infamous Yoga position and try to meditate, and all the problems in our society just go away, excellent! “What’s next on TV?..”

I’ve seen similar blog posts as the reaction to similar events before. They Are All The Same. They seem like a call to the action, but, in reality, it’s just a way to escape the reality.

USA culture is built on fear, and it’s cultivated through the upcoming generations through ignorance and stubbornness, behind the thick walls of the “true religion”. Is there any other country where a 19-year old walks into an University and shoots 30+ people just because of his mental problems? I did not hear of any… Yes, we need to look into ourselves, but it’s not a solution, the solution will be to educate people what’s wrong and what’s right, and not base it on a religion, but common sense and responsibility as a part of a community.

And the whole misconception of possessing personal firearms for needs of protecting yourself and your family against the government? Does not make much of any sense. Not anymore in 21st century. Guns wont help against neuro-paralytic gas and artillery, but help to make money for hospitals and arms producing business.

In our opinion, what has happen in Virginia Tech is the outcome of our educational and welfare systems. When the school gives up to teach the moral subjects, and parents dont know anything about moral principles (and being a good role model), kids are trying to reinvent the wheel, and such “research” sometimes is very dangerous.

Steve, this post is not personally against you (nor it’s an attack on you), we are respect and like your ideas, but as a typical middle class representative of US society, you are a good subject to look at.