Borillar
Platinum Member
Humanity's capacity for evil is just the flip side of its capacity for good. You can't really have the one without the other.
As far as preventing it goes, the place for us to start is with being honest about the topic. We get nowhere by pretending it's all about the tools used, or that evil doesn't exist, or that evil is a mental disorder, or that we can eliminate the bad in human nature by passing enough laws, imposing ridiculous politically-correct behavior rules, and wishing really hard.
Indeed. In the face of such events, how can anyone deny that evil exists? But what can be done about it? Can we make it harder for evil people to obtain the tools for their murderous intent? Do we have to become like the "wild west" of a century and a half ago with everybody carrying guns?
No, Einstein, you cannot "make it harder for evil people to obtain tools for their murderous intent". You are never going to turn the entire world into a giant Romper Room set with nothing but safety scissors and fat crayons in it. Say it with me now: THE TOOLS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM. If I decided to kill you, I could do it with a crochet hook. Are you going to outlaw crochet hooks (the security guards at the courthouse in my town actually do not allow you to bring crochet hooks or knitting needles into the building now)? I could bludgeon you to death with a heavy object. Are you going to outlaw all objects that weigh over a certain amount? Arson's pretty popular with mass murderers. Are you going to outlaw anything flammable? All poisonous substances?
Use your frigging head for something other than keeping your ears apart.
Yeah Freud, but can you go to a crowded theater and kill 12 people and injure 70 with a crochet hook before someone overpowers you or everyone runs away? Not bloody likely. You might get 1 or 2 at best. You can't stop evil altogether, you can only hope to contain it or slow it down.
So, your solution is machine guns for toddlers then?