Posted on 04/25/2007 7:40:37 AM PDT by fgoodwin
AMERICANS BELIEVE that for every problem there is a solution. If we think and work hard enough, we believe we can solve every problem. Of course, we also live with the obdurate presence of contingency and uncertainty. We know that too, for we believe in Murphy's Law.
But the media assume that this tragedy was avoidable and start blaming: the administrators were negligent despite the fact that their hands were tied. The gun store should never have sold firearms to Seung-Hui Cho. All relevant information concerning mentally ill persons should be known to the police and to gun store operators, even if it is against the law to provide such information. What are college administrators to do? Install metal detectors at every entrance to a campus building? Station a police officer at each? Ignore the laws restricting the dissemination of information about students? Search dormitory rooms and inform gun shops of students with mental problems? Issue firearms to teachers and janitors and train them in their use?
We cannot eliminate contingency from life. If we turn society into an armed camp and universities into virtual prisons, there will still be risks. Yes, we should repeal the Buckley Amendment. We should permit persons who are seriously mentally ill to be confined without requiring ironclad proof that they pose an immediate danger. We should restrict the sale of firearms, to the extent possible, to criminals and the mentally ill. But no matter how many laws are passed, they will never remove all contingency from life. Our peace of mind will not be attained by belief in the solution mystique but by having the courage to accept contingency and tragic loss as an unavoidable aspect of human existence.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
John Silber is president emeritus and university professor of philosophy and law at Boston University.
Silber was considered a “hard@ss” when we was president of BU, and the lefties hated him.
“ob·du·rate” - That is a heck of a word.
1. unmoved by persuasion, pity, or tender feelings; stubborn; unyielding.
2. stubbornly resistant to moral influence; persistently impenitent: an obdurate sinner.
There seems to be two extremes to the "perfection" mindset, typical of the ignorant: all or nothing.
All this handwringing, after all the rules were set to enable such a tragedy. With good intentions, of course; never mind that it never works.
The normal law abiding citizen has never been the problem; he is part of the solution, but is prevented from acting the role.
The criminally bent will circumvent every rule, every law, every expectation without a second thought.
The results of that ignorant mindset will never be any different: insane killers will do their thing without the victim's ability to do anything about it.
If we could magically make all firearms disappear, we could just as easily make all the insane disappear.
What's wrong with that insane expectation?
Does he realize how many millions of such people there are out there? A third of the vagrants on the street qualify as well as Cho did. What the university needs to do with someone like Cho who threatens suicide or killing sprees or some other serious action that is possibly related to mental illness or severe personality disorder is to give them the choice of leaving the university (with a refund for the semester) or attending mandatory counseling sessions.
And just WHO makes this little note regarding my mental well being... Some NGO buffoon???
From gun control to people control.
“AMERICANS BELIEVE that for every problem there is.....someone to blame.”
“And just WHO makes this little note regarding my mental well being... Some NGO buffoon???
From gun control to people control.”
Yep, that’s right. Opening up this can of worms will only cause more problems. There’s no perfect solution to a problem, only partial solutions and new problems. That’s why it takes wisdom to make decisions, not knee-jerk reactions.
Risk-Free; Carbon-Free; which is attainable?
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