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If kids with criminal records and juvy time can "graduate" from the agency I work at, go to Job Corps, and come back a year later telling us how great they're doing and all about the job they have at which they're making more money than I make, I'm not buying your garbage about "legitimate desperation."
Why are you so focused on what's going on in the US anyway? Isn't there enough trouble and violence in South Africa for you to be worried about without trying to tell Americans how to fix their social problems?
Originally posted by Heike
You must enjoy going around in these little circles with me, as you keep doing it. I don't understand why you've evolved such a dislike for me, but I regret it. I try to get along with everyone on here most of the time, even people I disagree with, and in spite of my opinionated and combative nature, I do my best not to let differences of opinion get personal.
I'm tired already of going around in circles with you and I have more enjoyable things to do, like discussing issues with people who have agendas other than proving everything I say wrong.
All you had to do was ask - I will freely and cheerfully admit that I'm probably wrong about lots of things and my opinions are no better or more valid than anyone else's.
You accuse me of getting all my information and ideas from public media and the government, and then you quote government statistics and give me a link to mass media (PBS).
You accuse me of being a misanthrope with negative opinions of humanity, then shoot down every possible reason/excuse I come up with for violent behavior and yourself state that they probably did it "just because they can."
Who's got the negative opinion of humanity here?
You don't even know me but you give me analytical reasons for my own behavior and seem to think they prove something.
You argue my points about media violence causing real violence, and then say "if those kids watched discovery channel and it's 'violent' bloody medical drama's and or documentaries..." You aren't making any sense overall and you don't seem to have any "point" other than trying to make me look bad.
I will not be so childish as to put you on ignore (I have never put anyone on ignore), but I will no longer respond to your posts as long as they remain so personally directed at me.
Although I may at times defend my point of view or opinions, I am not here to defend myself.
(Sorry about going off topic OP, I promise I won't again)
The problem being that a few centuries ago tens of thousands of women were burned for being 'witches'. How many are being burnt to death today and aren't their crimes at least more often 'real'? Did they have violent games and or entertainment back then too?
Some people apparently think sitting your child down in front of the TV is 'good stimulation' and it's nor surprising given the fact that they are both at work and far too tired and worn out to care.
But why would a capitalist society provide kids with that? Isn't the aim to have them constantly busy earning profits for their masters?
Pop culture logic in action. Violent video games = the invasion of Iraq.
How about keeping your negativity and general unhappy relationship with humanity to yourself?.. Is it really too much to ask you not to participate in this culture of negativity about those 'others' that populate other continents and places?
Basically you work from the mistaken assumption that people are 'overstimulated' ( instead of possibly claiming that they are becoming misinformed or distracted ) to move to the illogical ( and according to my knowledge plainly incorrect) conclusion that this causing a escalation in random violence. What increase in random violence are we talking about here?
... senseless violence and immoral behaviour based on not having your 'needs' met has far more to do with American national security states interventionist policies and propaganda ( you can do what you want to others) than it has to do overstimulation or high expectations. This is made obvious by the fact that violence isn't anything near as prevalent in other industrialized western societies.
By presuming that having higher expectations and stimulation levels leads to random violence as if our brains are too primitive to handle all that input without resulting in a chaotic response. Fact is that Swedish, Swiss, French, Germans, Japanese and Korean children and young adults are all subjected to the same levels of stimulation without these alleged violent responses so maybe you can try again and ask what's wrong with American brains/culture?
Why would anyone be insensible enough to attempt extrapolation in this instance when violence against others ( with or without 'proper' motivation; self defense etc) is certainly not a evil in itself?
Why would burning concern you so when not so long ago the 'governments' ( usually unelected) of various nations publicly tortured individuals in ways that doesn't make immolation seem very strange? Why will our society ( now that we have gained so much more control over public affairs) go after these criminals with everything we have? Because society is more immoral or more just? So much for that argument.
children today have the same weak impulse control of two decades ago while having easier access to weapons.
When we take into account the destruction of the American economy, the longer work hours and other societal pressures
youth offenders have become better armed and thus more 'efficient' in causing intentional or unintentional harm.
As for the criminals statistics indicating a far, far higher arrest rates this is hardly surprising given the explosion in policing presence and things such as the 'war on drugs'; what can you expect in a police state?
that's what happens when bullies reduce one's self esteem to levels where you, for lack of confidence, don't even consider a violent and or disproportionate response.
This is very much the result of reactionary propaganda to justify the horrid situation that have resulted from the social devastation resulting from corporate economic depravity.
Well the 'reasons' you provided in my opinion mostly rests on false ideas of what motivates human interaction and are thus in themselves misrepresentations and of little use to do anything other than engender distrust and elitist behaviour and thinking.
Those few who have relatively persistently tried to control world affairs are certainly motivated largely by what they can they can get away with hence their reactionary means and methods.
You mean as long as you can anonymously condemn humanity in general and aren't confronted as your motivations and reasoning it's all fine and dandy? Why is it that people don't inspect themselves for the flaws they so quickly wish to condemn the rest of humanity over?