Why are we so homicidal now?

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Charlemagne_III

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In the last few months and years it has become almost routine to turn on the evening news and hear of human slaughter in the streets, malls, and schoolyards of America. When I was in school in the 1950s, this was virtually unheard of, and especially the business of children killing other children.

What has happened to us? What are the changes in society that have most contributed to the modern frequency of mass killings? How is our society so different from what it was in the 1950s that we have come to this pass?
 
Charlemagne_III said:
In the last few months and years it has become almost routine to turn on the evening news and hear of human slaughter in the streets, malls, and schoolyards of America. When I was in school in the 1950s, this was virtually unheard of, and especially the business of children killing other children.

What has happened to us? What are the changes in society that have most contributed to the modern frequency of mass killings? How is our society so different from what it was in the 1950s that we have come to this pass?
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The homicide rate has been declining pretty steadily declining since the '90’s. Withing the past few years we’ve dropped down to less than 5 homicides per 100,000, which hasn’t been the case since the mid '60’s.

Some of that could be attributed to advances in medicine (fewer homicides because more victims end up surviving), but assault rates have been trending down in much the same way.
 
I think sensationalistic reporting makes it seem worse. Maybe in the 1950s there was more reporting of real news.
 
That’s a good question! I think some of it may have to do with reporting things now that wasn’t reported in the past, but I do also believe that things have changed and people are doing things today more frequently than in the past. Like School shootings for example. When I was in school, no such animal existed, no one ever heard of or even thought about doing any kind of school shootings. There were no medal detectors in my school, and my school did not have to have random drug sweeps etc. like schools today. So things have definitely changed for the worse. When I was in school, talking in class and cutting class was like the worst thing.
 
Though others suggest a decrease in homicides I have to say I think things are worse. I am old enough to remember the worst thing a kid might do in school is get in a simple fist fight. Both would get suspended for a week and the matter resolved. Now a gun and/or a knife seems to be the way of resolving issues.

I think there is a decreased respect for life, and increased expectation of entitlement, a gross neglect of God or even a lack of fear of God, too many legal experts finding excuses for nasty behavior and no sense of discipline or patience. Also, there seems to be no real consequences for bullying behavior and a bit too much psycho-babble. (Always finding an excuse for a kid being a brat, not behaving or being a bully.)

We need a different approach because what we are doing now sure is not working.
 
Contraception > abortion > euthanasia > eugenics > fetal research > etc. etc. etc.

Keep lowering the value and dignity of human life and it will come back to bite us.
 
Could it be because of individualism that is highly valued? That raise competition that most of the time created unhealthy atmosphere?
 
KnowtheSilence said:
The homicide rate has been declining pretty steadily declining since the '90’s. Withing the past few years we’ve dropped down to less than 5 homicides per 100,000, which hasn’t been the case since the mid '60’s.
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Do you think this is true of shootings in the public arenas? 🤷
 
Charlemagne_III said:
In the last few months and years it has become almost routine to turn on the evening news and hear of human slaughter in the streets, malls, and schoolyards of America. When I was in school in the 1950s, this was virtually unheard of, and especially the business of children killing other children.

What has happened to us? What are the changes in society that have most contributed to the modern frequency of mass killings? How is our society so different from what it was in the 1950s that we have come to this pass?
Click to expand...
Because Satan rules more and more souls each day. Demons are far more at work today than in the 50s or 60s. also consider why each homicide is a huge news event used to shock the nation and get gun control passed. Obviously a mass shooting is big news but the was it is reported these days paves te way for more gun control.
 
As mentioned above, homicide rates are actually declining.

What is increasing is our access to news about slayings.

Because we HEAR about more slayings, we deduce that rate of slaying is increasing. But that is not necessarily true. It is a type of Observational Bias.

Imagine if all our information came, once again, from our local paper, similar to what would have occurred in the 60’s. Would anyone make the same claim?
 
Brendan said:
As mentioned above, homicide rates are actually declining.

What is increasing is our access to news about slayings.

Because we HEAR about more slayings, we deduce that rate of slaying is increasing. But that is not necessarily true. It is a type of Observational Bias.

Imagine if all our information came, once again, from our local paper, similar to what would have occurred in the 60’s. Would anyone make the same claim?
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Precisely…the make great stories to fill the 24 hour cycle.
 
I think it is a combination.
  1. Mentally ill people have been pushed out of the ER and any long term medical insurance coverage. This began in the 60’s when many of the mental institutions were closed.
  2. A realization of hopelessness, depression sets in and people without hope of God and life have so little to live for that going out in a blaze of false glory starts to appeal to them just for the adrenalin rush and suicidal mania. The culture opens the door to making this seem more acceptable to the unstably minded.
So when the two conditions are put together more often there are these horrible atrocities committed among the depressed and less energetic multitudes.
 
Charlemagne_III said:
In the last few months and years it has become almost routine to turn on the evening news and hear of human slaughter in the streets, malls, and schoolyards of America. When I was in school in the 1950s, this was virtually unheard of, and especially the business of children killing other children.

What has happened to us? What are the changes in society that have most contributed to the modern frequency of mass killings? How is our society so different from what it was in the 1950s that we have come to this pass?
Click to expand...
We? No. I was there in the 1950s. It was cool to carry a switchblade and the leader might have a gun, mainly to show off and intimidate others.

Who brought illegal drugs into this country? In increasing amounts and in increasing potency?

Crack anyone?

AK-47s? From where? By who?

And violent songs about busting a cap and disrespecting everybody? All you need is a cool ride, dope and money. Women is just *itches.

A loss of RESPECT for yourself, your neighbor and everyone else except your crew. Or gang.

I read a very good article in a newspaper when they were still publishing a little more news. A gang leader from the 1950s was amazed at what punk kids were doing today.

Check it out. Everything’s dark. Everything’s graphic. Meditate on that day and night. Broken homes, kids growing up with nothing to hope for. Sell dope, or join the Army, or get on dope, and do what it takes to get more.

Of the little TV I watch, it’s really dark - the world is painted really dark. Something to lift your spirits? It’s rare. Very rare.

Peace,
Ed
 
Charlemagne_III said:
In the last few months and years it has become almost routine to turn on the evening news and hear of human slaughter in the streets, malls, and schoolyards of America. When I was in school in the 1950s, this was virtually unheard of, and especially the business of children killing other children.

What has happened to us? What are the changes in society that have most contributed to the modern frequency of mass killings? How is our society so different from what it was in the 1950s that we have come to this pass?
Click to expand...
Over 87 years ago, a man (whose name I will not honor by mentioning) murdered 38 young school children and 6 adults in Bath Township, Michigan. Seething with apparent hatred over an election, he blew up his own home to murder his terminally ill wife, then blew up half of the local school, and finally drove a suicide car bomb into a group of local officials when he showed up to admire his handiwork. The death toll would have been higher yet (double if not more) if all the bombs he had planted and timed had exploded.

The fall has always been with us, and always will be, as long as we’re in charge. For those living today, our childhoods were not actually more innocent - they just seem that way. Even I have fond memories of mine - even though the crack and AIDS epidemics raged during it. Today it is merely thrust into our face more often.
 
I have studied many newspapers from the early to late 1800s, and killings were very common in my rural area. In fact, there were often acquittals based on reasons you would not hear today…crimes of passion and the like.

There are billions more of us in the last 50 years. It only seems natural that there would be more killings, but relatively the same percentages.
 
Charlemagne_III said:
Do you think this is true of shootings in the public arenas? 🤷
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Based on what I can find, yes in the sense that they peaked in the 80’s/90’s and appear to be declining, no in the sense that they are more common than they were in the 50’s.
 
KnowtheSilence said:
Based on what I can find, yes in the sense that they peaked in the 80’s/90’s and appear to be declining, no in the sense that they are more common than they were in the 50’s.
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I spent all my teen years in the 1950s and I cannot remember hearing about anything like what we hear today of mass killings on school property, in malls, and in the workplace. I know if they had happened they would have been really big news, as they are today. Perhaps even bigger because so out of character with the age.
 
Charlemagne_III said:
I spent all my teen years in the 1950s and I cannot remember hearing about anything like what we hear today of mass killings on school property, in malls, and in the workplace. I know if they had happened they would have been really big news, as they are today. Perhaps even bigger because so out of character with the age.
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Here are two examples I was able to find from 1949 and 1950. And of course, there was this in the late 1950’s.
 
It seems to me that two strains of thought are being developed in this thread.

First, that there has been a quickening and more pervasicve spread of homicidal violence on a mass scale in America.

Second, that this is not really anything new.

I think it is something new in the lifetime of most young people today. Yes, there has always been homicidal violence in America, but on the mass scale and indiscriminate level that we see today, I do not think so. Something has happened to change the world. We now expect, and are not really shocked anymore, by the scale of violence in the malls, the schoolyards, and our neighborhoods.

Yet we seem powerless to collectively understand why this is happening, or collectively do anything about it. It just keeps happening. Rulers promise to do something, but they do not seem to do anything but order more cameras installed everywhere to record the carnage.
 
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