I've been watching the news and the interviews of survivors of the latest "mass" shooting, workplace violence, whatever you want to call it. I've come to one very disturbing conclusion.
Many of my fellow citizens are indeed sheep.
I don't say this with joy or a "I told ya so" attitude.
I say this with shock.
A person was walking around the Navy Yard, shooting people. Hopefully we'll see reports where people fought back gallantly. Hopefully we'll hear reports of people deciding that fleeing was the better part of valor.
Instead what I'm hearing is that people simply "sheltered in place."!!!!!
A killer is on the loose and you huddle in your office under a desk praying that he won't come kill you?
You do the most passive thing possible instead of reverting to the natural FIGHT OR FLIGHT instinct?
What the fuck is happening to us???? Correction. What the fuck is happening to them?
Many of my fellow citizens are indeed sheep.
I don't say this with joy or a "I told ya so" attitude.
I say this with shock.
A person was walking around the Navy Yard, shooting people. Hopefully we'll see reports where people fought back gallantly. Hopefully we'll hear reports of people deciding that fleeing was the better part of valor.
Instead what I'm hearing is that people simply "sheltered in place."!!!!!
A killer is on the loose and you huddle in your office under a desk praying that he won't come kill you?
You do the most passive thing possible instead of reverting to the natural FIGHT OR FLIGHT instinct?
What the fuck is happening to us???? Correction. What the fuck is happening to them?
They sheltered because they did not carried guns to fight back.
ReplyDeleteI agree, they sheltered because they were law abiding citizens who were prevented, by law, from bringing self defence to work with them. Make guns illegal, and only criminals have guns. Aside from the sicko(s) who did this, I blame the applicable legislatures that disarmed the public. But I'm sure we'll hear calls for even more gun control. Sad. I make these comments as a Sgt with 11 years with local law enforcement. When seconds count, we're minutes away.
ReplyDeletei'm evolving on this issue.
Deletelaw abiding can't equal dead when someone else decides to break the law. so with that in mind i think that i'll carry everywhere, even if that means that i break "laws" that say that i'm entering a so called safe zone.
safe zones are only safe for madmen killers. everyone else is just a target.
that isn't a just law and even if the govt can't understand, my God will.
I don't think you need to evolve. Your basic premise is good. Fight or flight is natural, cowering under a desk three floors away is not.
DeleteYes, being armed everywhere levels the playing field but let's come back to the situation. You have an armed shooter (single) progressing through the Navy Yard. You have multiple buildings full of military staff (staff, not necessarily combat personnel) a leader should have emerged and gathering a fire team or squad sized group brought down a single attacker with their mass. If they are able to arm themselves with bats or sticks or knives they have a that much greater chance of ending the situation quickly.
From what I know of the event, that did not occur. SHEEP, not fighters, not leaders, pure freeze up mentality.
Bill - the blame may lie to some extent with the legislatures but I think it goes deeper than that. It goes to personal accountability. In the last 70 - 80 years we have lost many things but the two most important things (IMO) are our concept of work (work ethic) and our personal accountability for our actions. We have become a culture that waits for someone else to do that, or give us direction. We have fewer individuals that go out and "make things happen" and more individuals that wait for things to occur.
Good points from both of you, I think that what we are seeing though is a symptom of a greater problem.
The macro issue is simply it is better that a few innocents die than the masses be armed because the latter is a threat to the state or power elites.
ReplyDeletei keep hearing that and quite honestly thats the only answer to the issue....as grotesque as it might seem there is no other answer. for some reason the big cities are scared to death of the possibility of its people being armed and yet we have the police that are incapable of defending the public
DeleteIt also reinforces the idea that "guns" are dangerous in the mind of the masses not other humans which then feeds into the disarmament argument.
DeleteSay what you like about Afghanistan at least there you can own a gun without question. ;)
Gun free building where trained men, some highly trained, some with combat experience, some with Top Secret clearances, can not carry or have access to weapons. On a gun free base where only a small number of security personnel have access to weapons. In a city that is a basically a huge gun free zone. What could go wrong.
ReplyDeleteWhy do so many act like livestock, Vicitmology being pushed into everyone from birth on at every opportunity. Every failure, lack of emotional control, and weakness of man has an excuse. The world is upside down, weakness is pushed via media and Hollywood as cool and strength is pushed as evil oppressive.
ReplyDeleteAs for these killers the problem is the DRUGS prescription headshrinker drugs to be precise. Pushing dope in the form of psychotropic drugs into people that lack the skills to control their emotions to begin with is insanity. These drugs are mood/mind altering that have wild side effects in a percentage of people, with the right circumstances, and especially when mixed with other legal and/or illegal drugs.
Just seen this.......
ReplyDeletehttp://news.sky.com/story/1142883/girl-14-snatched-in-atlanta-break-in
God protect her.