Ramblings of a Dark Soul
Chilling evidence reveals itself time and again that human society is incredibly multi-faceted and there are times when a potent mix of arrested personality complex comes head-to-head with a society not knowing how to deal with those critically alienated failures of the human soul to develop normally. Behaviour that transcends the norm, that moves illogically but inexorably toward blind hostility that strikes out in frustration against society appalls and frightens people. While psychotic mannerisms with their inherent threats are observed with fascinated horror we draw back, uncertain how to react.When dark musings and obvious failures to connect are aligned with a complete withdrawal, the signals sent to strangers are that one should withdraw, we're unable to cope. But when these symptoms of psychosis and neurosis are presented to those closest to the person and remain unacknowledged, what then? What was the role of the parents, the sibling in this young man's psychic disintegration into petulant malevolence? This young man, Cho Seung Hui, an American product of a society that offers unequalled opportunities under a veneer of discrimination.
He was only too aware of his failings, although he obviously interpreted them differently than most would. It was not his fault that society failed to absorb him, to recognize his superiority; it was that of the very society that he so obviously disowned and scorned and, post murder-rampage lectured and hectored and mocked, knowing he would finally obtain the celebrity notoriety he craved. It's just not possible for most ordinary people with normal impulses and behaviour patterns to absorb the extent of self-hatred and outward-directed hatred this man exhibited.
We can't understand or rationalize this kind of deep and deliberate detestation for others on an individual scale, little wonder our minds can't wrap around the depth of hatred evinced for others on a larger scale, when we're aware that in this world we inhabit there exists large groups of people affiliated by ideology, religion, militantism and determination to extinguish the lives of untold numbers of people in their deadly outreach for revenge and domination. Primitive tribalism which presents as modern-day Islamofascism has just been presented on a minor scale.
All the signs were there to read and to interpret in the years previous to Cho Seung Hui's final exhibition of revenge against the society he felt excluded and failed to appreciate his qualities. This spoiled, self-absorbed vengeful child planned and executed a drama he knew would arrest everyone's attention, and finally his malevolent powers would draw the recognition he craved. In the photographs the media displayed he presented with facial contortions resembling those of a disobedient child defying authority, blaming the world for denying him.
The deadly carnage he brought to Virginia Tech needn't have come as such a complete surprise. Mr. Cho's frail connection to normalcy, his outright rejection of innocent connection to the society he moved within, his troublingly malignant classroom prose, his unwillingness to be seen as just another body in a faceless world of academic excellence, his acting out to bring attention to himself served to prove to him that none of these devices held the key to the lock that held brightness from his soul.
All the evidence of his illogical mind, his resentful demeanor, his unsettling and unwanted overtures, should have alerted those in authority at the university. Mental health authorities clearly felt his bizarre anti-social manner posed a threat, and they said as much. Going so far as to claim in one document that he was: "mentally ill and in need of hospitalization and presents an imminent danger to self or others". This is a statement so clear in its judgement it is simply not open to any dissembling interpretations.
Mr. Cho's troubling existence weighed sufficiently heavily on one of his instructors that she took steps to document her concerns and bring them to the attention of the institute's authorities as well as its policing contingent. An acquaintance of the man had informed campus police that it was his opinion Mr. Cho was suicidal. All the concerning and danger flags were there, and all appeared to have been received with unconcern.
Yet there were others on campus who claimed he couldn't, on the basis of his manner, be singled out, ostensibly because within the student body there were others whose behaviour might have been similarly hostile and alienated. "If we had known, we would have gotten rid of him...but it wasn't obvious...he got under the radar." Thus, according to one of the educators at Virginia Tech, all was not as it seemed. How obvious must things be before they are understood to pose a high risk?
But this is also news, and news of a type that people happen to be fascinated with. Out of the blue, like a strike of lightening a rare occurrence which has an individual become frighteningly other than what he appears; a deadly risk to all those among whom he moves. He cold bloodedly and with full intent murders 32 people. One of those murders, that of an elderly Holocaust survivor provides the only sweet note of grace in the entire tragedy, in his sacrifice of self in the defence of his students.
Otherwise it was a free-for-all of news gathering and dissemination, knowing few boundaries of decency. All the news anchors at CBS and NBC were jettisoning pre-prepared plans for the night in favour of live commentary on the shootings and the news spread like wildfire in short order across the world. Seeking to position themselves as number one for the latest revelations on the event, large news organizations paid Internet search firms to boost traffic heading to their websites. An orgy of conspicuous tragedy consumption and distribution.
And the politicians? All rushing to the podium to express their deep regret and sorrow for the victims' families. All denouncing the senseless loss of life. None venturing into the minefield of gun control, for none wish to draw unwanted attention of that type to themselves during this critical time leading up to federal elections. Someone else beside the demented murderer got his 15 seconds of fame, an on-line temporary imposter unwilling to shed light on his not actually being the guilty party involved until he'd received sufficient ego-boosting 'hits'.
When things began to turn ugly, he admitted he wasn't involved, was just personally gun-happy and happy to demonstrate his love for firearms on his web site. But his brief fling with infamy has brought him attention and he affirms for many the Second Amendment right to bear arms within the United States, asserting that had students in general been permitted to wear unconcealed weapons the death toll at the Institute would have been fewer.
The breathtaking lack of intelligent appraisal, the arrogant stance of those who support the right to bear arms is beyond contempt. As is the walking-on-eggshells stance of American politicians. They all deserve applause for exercising their rights as proud Americans.
May they proudly mourn.
Labels: Heroes and Villains
posted by Pieface @ Friday, April 20, 2007
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