Some More Thoughts on the Claresholm Shooting

Well.

Following up on my last post, the details of the shooting in Claresholm last week have pretty much been released, including the tragic description of events given by the lone survivor, Shayna Conway.

And, sadly, I discover my daughter was in a biology class with Mitch Maclean, and my son played football and was well acquainted with the killer.

So the tragedy in this city hits home, and hit home closer yesterday when I spoke with my law partner who performed the funeral service for the killer and struggled to attempt to bring comfort to the families and friends attending the funeral.

I truly can't imagine the pain of the families of all of those killed, including the family of the man who committed the murders and the shooting of Shayna Conway.  I look to my own children, and say, how would I go on were either of them either victim or perpetrator.  It would take incredible effort to do so, no question.

But then I think about what happened, and I wonder.  Not to diminish my scorn for the shooter, who deserves no sympathy nor tears - but one must ask, why?

I wonder if this is something that could have happened at any time, or if there is something unique in our current culture that makes this sort of tragedy more likely.

A brief review of online information suggests that, yes, in fact, we have more mass-shootings today than we did in the 40's and 50's, and that mass-shootings in the 30's and 20's were most likely killings of families by financially depressed husbands and fathers - different from the picture of what happened in Claresholm, or Dawson College, or l'ecole Polytechnique.

So, then, why?

All sorts of theories.

Though, notably, there is a crushing silence from anyone discussing the impact (or lack thereof) of the gun registry on this crime.

My two cents?

The society of entitlement.  The blame-shift from "me" to "everyone else".  The growing message that the responsibility for our welfare rests with the government, with our parents, with our spouses, girlfriends and boyfriends.. with anyone but ME.

And accompanying the message sent that someone else is responsible for your happiness, is the flip side of that same coin that YOU cannot make yourself happy.  It's a very disempowering message when someone tells you that if you have a problem you should look to someone else to make it better, because you are effectively sending a message at the same time that "you" are weak and powerless.

So then.

We have an angry young man, who is scorned by his girlfriend, and he is angry and upset.  How can someone deny me my wants?  And worse, not only is he suddenly met, maybe for the first real time in his life, with the message that YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT..  but accompanying that message is a pervasive sense that he doesn't have the power to be happy on his own.  That his sense of worth and happiness has been placed in someone else's hands, and they have taken it away from him.

And it's tragic.

Because instead of sending our children the message that the world is their oyster, we might do them more favors if we raise them with the message that sometimes the world is a piece of crap.  That their wants and even needs won't always be satisfied.  That there will be pain and adversity and difficulty.  And the only person they can, ultimately, call upon to make it better is themselves.  That they may be bullied, or abused, or hurt - and the answer is not to look outward for a solution - but to look inward.  Because they have the power and the obligation to help themselves.

That relationships are not necessarily permanent.  That 40 to 50% of all marriages end in divorce.  And that they should prepare themselves for the reality that the "love of their life" might sometime let them down..  not to raise them as cynics, but to raise them to look inward for their sense of worth and contentment.. not outward.

I was talking to my daughter this week, and I spoke to her of the tragedy to the victims of the shooting and their families, and the family of the shooter.. and I suggested to her that it struck me that this young man was so twisted that he couldn't see his ability to be happy, to have a functioning life, without his girlfriend, that he subjected all of these families, including his own, to years, and in some cases, a lifetime of sorrow.

And I suggested to my daughter that love is a wonderful thing, but to be careful that she never gives the keys to her own sense of worth, to her own happiness to another human being.  That she hold that close to herself.

And she then surprised me.

As we were talking, she pulled out her phone, and read to me a message she had saved, written by none other than Hunter S. Thompson:

“We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and -- in spite of True Romance magazines -- we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely -- at least, not all the time -- but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don't see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.”    Hunter S. Thompson, The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967

At first glance this may seem somewhat Nihilistic, but when you think about it, it isn't.  It's an affirmation that, to borrow a phrase, "Yes you can!" 

You have power and control over your own happiness, and you delude yourself if you stupidly try to place that responsibility in someone else's hands.

With sometimes tragic results.

Shit.. The World Sucks Today

I have to just vent today.

Early yesterday morning three young adults were murdered about 45 minutes north of Lethbridge.. And while I didn't know them, they are roughly the same age as my son and daughter, who are 20 and 22 and who I love more than words can describe.

And so.

As I learn more about the Clareshom shooting, I cannot help but imagine the pain and anguish of the parents of Mitch Maclean, Tanner Craswell, and Tabitha Stepple - the young people murdered, and the mixed pain and relief of the parents of Shayna Conway, the loan survivor of the shooting who was wounded but reported to be recovering.

I truly can't imagine the horror of losing a child like this... To just consider the possibility creates a tightness in my chest and a sadness that I know is being multiplied a thousand times by their parents and loved ones. A day ago they were vital and energetic young people, and then they are just gone. The reality of that loss is almost too stunning to comprehend.

And then I get angry.

I get angry at a Media that over and over again glamorizes and endorses the "blamelessness" of the individuals who carry out this mindless stupidity. In the weeks to come, no doubt, we will hear about how the shooter was abused, or bullied, or emotionally damaged in some way... And blame will be passed on to the government, to the schools, to the parents, to anyone else BUT the killer.

Not here.

Nope.

My little contribution to the world wide web will be unequivocal. The as yet unnamed shooter, who will never be named here, was a piece of human garbage, who, sadly, was given an opportunity to live and breath on this earth, like the worthwhile and vital young people whose lives he stole.

Let's not mince words, nor diminish his responsibility... He was a piece of shit who should be remembered as such. Shed no tears for his passing, simply feel regret that he was ever born at all.

THAT is the memory which should be left, if any, of this cowardly little bastard... And perhaps, he is best just forgotten.

Oh.

And one closing comment.

Yet again, it is painfully obvious that the gun registry is a useless piece of garbage, which, so clearly, did absolutely nothing to prevent or even diminish the likelihood of this tragedy.

Send a letter to Allan Rock and Jean Chretien today and say, "Thanks for nothing."

Ok.

I'm done venting.

I called both my kids this morning to let them know they are loved.. Maybe today would be a good day for you to do the same.

Guest Writer: Michael Moore - Let's Help The Poor.. but not ALL the poor.

Hi.

My name is Michael Moore.

You might know me by my documentaries, which are completely accurate in every respect - for example - did you know that no one in Canada locks their doors at night?

Anyhoo.

Today, I'm writing about the class war.  About how the rich get richer, but the poor get poorer.

But, before I begin, a little disclosure.  While I wear a stupid baseball hat, and try to look like I'm a common man, actually, I'm wealthy.  You may have missed it, but if you pay any attention to my general demeanor at all, you  would see that I'm just a little bit better than the rest of you.  As I once explained:

I'm a millionaire, I'm a multi-millionaire, I'm filthy rich. You know why I'm a multi-millionaire? 'Cause multi-millions like what I do. That's pretty good, isn't it? There's millions that believe in what I do. Pretty cool, huh?

Of course when it comes to WalMart and Nike, well, that's different.  It isn't "pretty good" that millions of people like what THEY do, because, well, they export jobs outside of the country, relying on goods manufactured in places that pay so much less than employees in the United States that good old Americans are losing jobs.

And that's just unfair.

Because, well, while we think that there should be a sharing of the wealth in the United States, the idea that AMERICANS, in general, should share their wealth with places like Mexico, and Korea, and elsewhere, is, well..  not "pretty good".

So.

To explain.

We need to take money from the wealthy in America, and give it to the poor and lower middle-class IN AMERICA.

Yes, we have welfare and we still have over 90% employment, but from my point of view, countries like Vietnam have no business taking our jobs.  Because SHARING isn't for everyone - it's just for the chosen people.  The Occupiers.  The autoworkers.   IN AMERICA.

Yes - I'm a big supporter of sending money to the poor through Al Gore's ponzi scheme of carbon trading, but that's money from CORPORATIONS.. not from people.

Well.

Yes, people do own shares in corporations, including people like, oh, autoworkers with pensions, and school teachers and policemen..

And, Yes.. when we pointlessly strip profit from these corporations, it is true that the loss of profit will negatively impact the value of millions of working people's pension funds, 401K's and RRSP's..  and, I suppose, could result in jobs moving from North America to those countries we would send money too.

And, Yes, when we establish a higher standard of living in places like Vietnam by increasing investment and employment in those countries, building new factories, and roads and homes..  that is sorta like what happened when the British and French colonized North America.. and yes, while the standard of living in the U.S. was kinda crappy for a while.. I guess it did turn out rather well for the Americans and Canadians in the long run.

But we have ours now.

We don't need to share anymore. 

Except INSIDE our borders.

With fat, pseudo common-men like, well, me.

Because, damn it, when I profit, that's simply an affirmation of my decency, every dollar amounting to a "vote of confidence" if you will (for me..  not for WalMart).